-- *Delete this text box* -- Reminder: you can refer to PowerPoint notes for activity information, historical background and all copyright on images and text. What was life like for people at the Mint in Tudor times? Key Stage 2 History This activity is designed to follow: -- A visit to the Coins & Kings exhibition at the Tower of London. -- The Key Stage 2 introductory resource – Minted: Making the nations’ coins at the Tower of London (download it here: http://www.hrp.org.uk/coins) Coins & Kings was produced in partnership between Historic Royal Palaces and the Royal Mint Museum. Coins & Kings exhibition: http://www.hrp.org.uk/coins Coins & Kings teaching resources: http://www.hrp.org.uk/towerlearning Acknowledgements: © Historic Royal Palaces and the Royal Mint Museum Unless indicated all images are © The Royal Mint Museum Illustrations by Tim Archbold Henry VIII gold George noble © Trustees of the British Museum Henry VII silver groat, Edward VI silver shilling and Mary I silver groat © CNG – Classical Numismatic Group, Inc 

The Tudors Henry VIII Mary I Elizabeth I Edward VI Henry VII 1812 The Tudors 1485-1603 Henry VIII 1509-47 Mary I 1553-58 When was the Tudor period? The Tudor dynasty is shown here in the context of the history of the Mint at the Tower of London. Historical notes: The Tudors and the Mint -- England’s main Mint was at the Tower of London throughout the Tudor period. -- All the coins shown here were made at the Mint at the Tower of London. -- One of the Mint’s busiest periods was during Elizabeth I’s reign when she ordered all old coins be brought to the Mint and melted down. The recoinage was a response to her father Henry VIII’s policy of reducing the purity of English silver and gold coins to fund foreign wars and his extravagant lifestyle. His actions caused huge price rises and public unrest as people lost faith in England’s coins. Elizabeth had new, purer coins made with her portrait and gradually trust was restored. The Mint at the Tower -- Edward I established the Mint at the Tower by 1279. -- Coins were made at the Tower for over 500 years. -- In 1812, the Mint moved to a new facility on Tower Hill. Image notes: Henry VIII gold George noble © Trustees of the British Museum Elizabeth gold halfpound © The Royal Mint Museum Henry VII silver groat, Edward VI silver shilling and Mary I silver groat © CNG – Classical Numismatic Group, Inc  Elizabeth I 1558-1603 Edward VI 1547-1553 Henry VII 1485-1509

What was life like in Tudor times? Discussion: What do we already know about Tudor history and society? Discuss and share what pupils already know about the Tudor period. Prompts: -- King Henry VIII had six wives. -- He had two of his wives executed at the Tower of London. -- He had three children: Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I. -- Poverty was a problem. Only a few people at the top of society were very rich. -- It was a time of religious upheaval. -- Tudor England was a farming society. Most of the population lived in small villages and made their living from farming.

What was life like for people at the Mint? Mint Street Main investigation activity -- The activity asks pupils to look at historical sources to consider what they can learn about the lives of people at the Mint. -- Pupils may work in pairs or groups to examine each source. (Optional: print information sheet Money, wages and prices in Tudor England for pupils as background and complementary resource.) -- Ask pupils to consider what each source tells them about the lives of people at the Mint at this time in the Tudor period. -- Recording their research: pupils can record their findings on the framework provided. -- Each group can report back in a class discussion. -- Encourage pupils to reconsider the main question in light of what they have discovered in their investigation of the sources. -- Pupils can reflect on their evidence and sort, select and organise their ideas. Prompts for examining sources: To supplement the main activity question: ‘What can this source tell us about what life was like for people at the Mint?’ Questions for examining sources and finding out about people’s lives: -- Who does this source mention/show/concern? -- What are they doing? What tools might they need or use? -- Where are they? What is their environment like? -- What are they wearing? -- Who are they? Are they rich or poor? Skilled or unskilled? -- What skills were used and needed at the Mint? -- How comfortable or difficult was working at the Mint? Image notes: An excerpt from 'Agas' map of London c1561, this edition published c1633. © City of London, London Metropolitan Archives Key question What was life like for people at the Mint?

A map of the Tower and its surrounding area c1561 Background for prompting: -- The Mint was in a secure location inside the Tower. The Tower was one of the most secure fortresses in the country, due to its concentric walls and its location next to the river with the surrounding moat. -- Most workers at the Mint were agricultural labourers working near their homes in Stepney, Shoreditch and Hackney. -- The Tower was a very important building for the monarch, as at this time it housed the royal armoury, the crown jewels and from Henry VIII’s reign onwards the Tower became a state prison, holding political prisoners who posed a significant threat to the monarch. The White Tower was the highest building in the local area, dominating the London landscape: it was therefore a potent symbol of royal power. Questions: -- Can you find the roads? How might they be different to roads today? How do you think people got to work? -- What is the tallest building in this picture? What does that tell you about where the Mint was? Source: An excerpt from 'Agas' map of London c1561, this edition published c1633. © City of London, London Metropolitan Archives Mint Street and Mint buildings The Tower of London was surrounded by the River Thames, a moat and thick stone walls. A few Mint officials had lodgings at the Tower. Most workers lived in nearby country villages outside the walls of the City of London. Map of London showing the Tower around 1561 A

Queen Elizabeth I gold halfpound Background for prompting: -- Coin design is artistic, intricate, carefully done by skilled engraver. -- Coin designs were engraved onto the face of metal dies. -- The Queen was in charge of the Mint. -- She was rich and powerful and was presented as such on her coins. -- The recoinage of 1560-1 created an enormous amount of work for the Mint. -- Minting didn’t happen all the time. Coins were only made when they were needed. -- Mint workers were expected to report immediately when required. -- Precious metals were used in making coins. Questions: -- What kind of skills did you need to have as an engraver? -- How much work do you think re-making the country’s coins would be? -- What do you think Mint workers did when they weren’t making coins? Source: Queen Elizabeth I halfpound, gold. Made in 1559-78 at the Mint at the Tower of London. © Royal Mint Museum Coin notes: -- Obverse inscription: ‘Elizabeth by the grace of god, queen of England, France and Ireland ’ -- Obverse symbols: Crown shows kingship; fancy clothes are symbols of wealth and power. -- Reverse inscription: SCUTUM FIDEI PROTEGET EAM – ‘The shield of faith shall protect her’, which means Elizabeth’s faith is something she is proud of and that will protect her. This was a time of religious upheaval. -- Reverse inscription: E R – Elizabeth Regina -- Reverse symbols: Fleurs de lis represents queen’s claim to France; lions passant (walking) signify both England and Scotland here (later lions rampant, or standing, used to signify Scotland); crown is a symbol of monarchy  Coin designs were engraved onto the face of metal dies. The dies were then used to strike coins. Engravers used sharp metal punches and a hammer to mark the face of the dies. In 1560 Queen Elizabeth I ordered all the country’s old coins be melted down and re-made with her portrait. Mint workers had to report immediately to the Tower. Halfpound (gold) Made at the Mint between 1559-78 B

Assaying workshop scene set in the 16th century Background for prompting: -- When the Mint made new coins, they would first calculate the amount of silver or gold needed to make up each coin. Samples were weighed and melted in a furnace, and the precious and non-precious metals were separated out by a series of chemical reactions. -- Assaying could be hazardous work. In 1560 a group of German metal workers fell ill at the Mint. They eventually died, probably of arsenic poisoning from the melting process. -- From the top left – two men are making pottery which was used in the process. The two men on the right are melting bullion or coins. The man bottom left is making nitric acid, which was used to separate gold from other metals. Questions: -- Why would they need pottery for making coins? -- How many fires can you see? -- Can you see any hazards? -- What knowledge or skills are being used in this picture? Source: Illustration produced for Coins & Kings exhibition at the Tower of London. The style is after many 16th-century woodcuts that showed various aspects of minting. © Historic Royal Palaces and the Royal Mint Museum Assaying was a way of testing the purity of gold or silver found in coins and metals. Metal was melted using fires and furnaces. This man is making a powerful acid to separate pure gold from other metals. These men are making pottery. Woodcut illustration of the assaying process C

Coin-shaped circles were carefully cut from flat pieces of metal Coin-shaped circles were carefully cut from flat pieces of metal. These coin blanks needed to be the perfect weight. To add the coin design, blanks were hammer struck between two dies which had the design engraved on them. Work at the Mint happened during daylight hours. Summer was preferred to winter for making coins. Minting coins in the Tudor period Background for prompting: -- Making coins involved a number of different skills: making calculations, weighing, striking, melting, cutting blanks etc. -- Some of the work required manual dexterity. -- Coins were made from old or foreign coins or bullion (gold or silver in bulk). -- Minted coins needed to be a precise weight. The bullion or coins were weighed at various points of the process [man in top right]. -- Bullion was melted down [see man at fire] and poured into ingots (rectangular block of gold or silver). It was then beaten or rolled to the thickness of a coin [man with hammer in centre]. -- Blank coin-shaped circles were then cut. This was a very skilled job as the blanker had to ensure each blank was the correct weight by using shears to trim it to the correct size. -- Striking coins was actually the least skilled job in the Mint [man in bottom right]. All that was required was accurate aim and a strong blow. -- Work at the Mint happened during daylight hours and coins were often made during the summer so that they could work throughout the long daylight hours.  -- Summer was also preferred as the winter meant cold numb hands which were slow at Mint work or could lead to accidents. Questions: -- Describe what each person is doing in this picture. What skill are they showing? -- Which job do you think takes more skill: striking coins or cutting blanks? -- Why might summer be better than winter for making coins? Source: Woodcut illustration, Minting the new coinage of 1560-1, Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland, 1577. Minting the new coinage of 1560-61 F

William Foxley was a maker of melting pots at the Mint in the 1540s William Foxley was a maker of melting pots at the Mint in the 1540s. In April 1547 he was discovered asleep at his post. All attempts to wake him failed and he remained asleep for 14 days and 15 nights. Even pricking him with needles and inflicting small burns did not cause him to stir. King Henry VIII‘s doctors could offer no explanation and Henry himself even had a look at the Mint’s curious sleeping beauty. The event did not have lasting effects after Foxley finally woke. He continued to live and work at the Tower for another 40 years until 1587. Even today, it is still not certain why Foxley fell asleep. However, pottery dug up at the Tower of London in 2011 showed evidence of lead and arsenic, both substances that could cause heavy metal poisoning.   This incident involving William Foxley was first reported and written about in Tudor times. The curious story of William Foxley Background for prompting: -- Today it is suspected Foxley would have made specialist pots for the Mint, such as cupels (melting pots), crucibles and receiving flasks for nitric acid, examples of which have been found during excavations on Mint Street. -- People did many different jobs at the Mint. -- The Mint was run on behalf of the king. -- Work at the Mint had the potential to be hazardous. -- Unusual incidents occurred at the Mint. Questions: -- What was William Foxley’s job at the Mint? -- Who examined Foxley? -- How did they try to wake him? -- What does the source suggest as a possible explanation for what happened to Foxley? Do you find the explanation convincing? -- Do you think this incident was surprising or unusual? What do you think people’s reaction was at the time? Source: This text is by modern historians at the Tower of London. Versions of the account also appeared in: -- John Stow, A Survey of London, Reprinted from the text of 1603, ed. by CL Kingsford (Oxford: Clarendon, 1908). -- TH (ed) and HB Wheatley, The History of Sir Richard Whittington, Villom Society: Chap-Books and Folk-Lore Tracts, First series. no. 5 (1885), p.27. Modern description of the story of William Foxley D

E Name Job Wage Richard Ferre Porter £10 pa Thomas Glenton Finer John Lawrence Under-graver Henry Basse Chief graver £30 pa Sir John Godsalve Comptroller £100 pa Sir Edmund Peckham High Treasurer £200 pa George Tisbury Labourer William Foxley Potmaker Thomas Symond Melter £12 pa The only women recorded at the Mint were family members, wives or daughters of Mint workers who lived at the Tower. Often, Mint workers were from the same family. Boys in a Mint family would become an apprentice at a young age and work with older generations of their family. pa = per annum (per year) Selection of Mint workers’ wages, 1547-8 Background for prompting: -- NB: This is not a full list of all employees at the Mint -- Minting was a male occupation. There are no records of any women working at the Mint at the Tower. -- There were many different types of jobs and people involved in making coins at the Mint. -- There was a large difference in pay between the top officials and the less skilled labourers. -- There were people from the different levels of society working at the Mint (eg, Sir Edmund Peckham and Sir John Godsalve). -- Physical jobs typically paid less. Questions: -- Who were the highest and lowest paid Mint workers on this list? What were their jobs? -- Why do you think some people got more pay than others? Source: A selection of a range of wages from Mint records. The National Archives, E/101/302/29; E101/303/5; E101/302/27. Selection of Mint workers’ wages, 1547-8 E

‘A day in the life of the Mint at the Tower’ Create a role play ‘A day in the life of the Mint at the Tower’ Final task suggestions Writing tasks: Job ad: -- Write a job advert for working at the Mint. Include: skills required, ability to work with particular tools and equipment, pay, working conditions, seasonal work etc. Mint Inspector: -- Pretend you’re a business ambassador from another country. Your king wants to set up a new mint and he has sent you to London to see if there is anything you can learn about running a mint. Write a report for the king telling him about the good things you have discovered about how a mint is run and some of the challenges too. You can also tell him about the things that you would like to research more about. Diary entry: -- Choose one of the people from the Mint. Write a first person account of what your day was like. Drama activities: Role plays: -- Ask pupils to use all the information they discovered to create a role play to tell the story of ‘A day in the life of the Mint at the Tower’. -- Group pupils in pairs and ask them to improvise a job interview between a mint official (or the king) and a new applicant. Hot seat: -- Choose several pupils to take on several different roles of people at the Mint (eg, monarch, warden or official, potter, moneyer who strikes coins etc). Using what they have learnt and their imagination, encourage them to answer questions from their classmates.