Literacy - Page 1 of 2

At the beginning of the Tudor period, England had the benefit of an education system that had been maintained by the Church throughout the Middle Ages. All over the kingdom there were Grammar schools attached to cathedrals and monasteries, although some were independent foundations. Most of the pupils at these schools were the sons of gentlemen but a few boys from the lower classes, who were seen as exceptionally gifted, were included. Sons of the nobility and royal princes were educated at home by tutors. Girls were taught at special schools attached to religious foundations.

The great majority of children would have received no education, barring a lucky few who attended the ABC schools in their parishes. Here a school master, often the local priest, would have taught the alphabet, very simple arithmetic, and probably enough Latin for prayers.

The captain and senior officers on board the Mary Rose would have been educated and literate, although unfortunately, any papers on board when she sank have not survived. Of the nine embossed leather book covers found, five were stored within personal chests. Tiny fragments of paper were sometimes found within the covers. A book cover bearing the inscription, "The word of God endureth in Eternity", which subsequently became the motto for the Stationers Company, was discovered under a bench within the pilot's cabin

An inkpot made of cowhorn was recovered from the upper deck in the stern, this was associated with two feather quills, the bibs bearing apparent ink stains, found in the same area.

Small personal seals (signets) were used with wax to mark the closure of a folded paper. A turned boxwood signet bearing the initials GI was found inside a decorated leather pouch which was stored in a chest. a double-sided lead disc, thought to be a seal, with the date 1542 on one side and a human figure amongst the decoration on the other, was found in the same pouch as the boxwood signet. A silver signet ring, bearing the initial "K" was found on the main deck.

The illiterate and semiliterate mariner and soldier required a method of identifying their personal possessions. Bowls, bill hafts, tiggs, tool handles, knife sheaths and knife handles are amongst the artefacts recovered with simple identification marks scored into the wood. Crudely inscribed names have been found on bowls, drinking vessels and a knife sheath. One bowl bearing a carved name is on display in the Exhibition.

Important features on the ship, including items such as the orlop hatch covers in the stern, were scored with clearly incised marks to show which cover fitted which hatch. Several breech chambers for iron guns were inscribed with the same mark as the gun they fitted, as were the gun wedges.

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