Living and dying in the sixteenth century

History Extra has an online article by Dr Steven Gunn from Merton College in Oxford.based on his research into Coroner’s records from the sixteenth century.

I imagine that the type of risks he has uncovered were not in any way special to the sixteenth century and would have been similarly likely during the preceding centuries, and indeed until relatively modern times. 

One very frequent cause of death was drowning  - as indeed it still is in the summer months - but compounded by the fact that swimming as we know it today was not a commonly or especially acquired skill at the time.

If taking a dip in the local stream or pond was a risk for men and boys then fetching water for domestic use was a risk for their wives and sister as they trudged along slippery paths by running water.

Not only do these records reveal accidental deaths, but also significant aspects of the daily lifves of the victims and witnesses. Things that were so mundane as not to feature in the more important records of government do feature in these records and in other medieval and early modern archival sources.

The article can be read at The most common accidental way to die in Tudor England reveals surprising truths about daily life

You may need to be a subscriber to History Extra to access it.

It was, as I understand it, whilst doing his research into these records as a source for the period that Dr Gunn found the records of the coroner’s inquest into the death of Amy Robsart - Lady Robert Dudley - at Cumnor Plaace in 1560.