Try free for 30 days

  • How to Behave Badly in Renaissance Britain

  • By: Ruth Goodman
  • Narrated by: Ruth Goodman
  • Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (21 ratings)

1 credit a month to use on any title, yours to keep (you’ll use your first credit on this title).
Stream or download thousands of included titles.
Access to exclusive deals and discounts.
$16.45 a month after 30 day trial. Cancel anytime.
How to Behave Badly in Renaissance Britain cover art

How to Behave Badly in Renaissance Britain

By: Ruth Goodman
Narrated by: Ruth Goodman
Try for $0.00

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.

Publisher's Summary

Contains an exclusive Q&A with the author, Ruth Goodman.

Historian and popular TV presenter Ruth Goodman offers up a history of offensive language, insulting gestures, insolent behaviour, brawling and scandal in the 16th and 17th centuries - with practical tips on just how to horrify the neighbours.

From royalty to peasantry, every age has its bad eggs, those who break all the rules and rub everyone up the wrong way. But their niggling, antisocial and irritating ways tell us about not only what upset people but also what mattered to them, how their society functioned and what kind of world they lived in.

In this brilliantly nitty-gritty exploration of real life in the Tudor and Stuart age, you will discover:

  • How to choose the perfect insult, whether it be draggletail, varlet, flap, saucy fellow, strumpet, ninny-hammer or stinkard
  • Why quoting Shakespeare was very poor form
  • The politics behind men kissing each other on the lips
  • Why flashing the inside of your hat could repulse someone
  • The best way to mock accents, preachers, soldiers and pretty much everything else besides

Ruth Goodman draws upon advice books and manuals, court cases and sermons, drama and imagery to outline bad behaviour from the gauche to the galling, the subtle to the outrageous. It is a celebration of drunkards, scolds, harridans and cross-dressers in a time when calling a man a fool could get someone killed and cursing wasn't just rude - it worked!

©2018 Ruth Goodman (P)2018 Michael O'Mara Books

Critic Reviews

"Ruth is the queen of living history - long may she reign!" (Lucy Worsley)

More from the same

What listeners say about How to Behave Badly in Renaissance Britain

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    15
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    17
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    14
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Jen
  • 22-02-2022

Couldn't finish it

I've enjoyed other books by Ruth Goodman, but this one was just tedious. Rather than any insight or storytelling, it was just a list of things that were considered inappropriate/rude in renaissance times.

Unfortunately Ruth is not a great narrator - the speaks really quickly, gets really loud and "yells" and the pace is just weird.

I returned this book. I really enjoyed How to be a Tudor and How to be a Victorian, but I just can't recommend this one at all.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • cjj
  • 03-10-2019

Love it.

Brilliant in every way, funning, informative and naturally delivered with Ruth's ever engaging enthusiasm.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

love love love so funny and clever

ruth is amazing!! I enjoy all her work. she is so incredibly talented and clever. I couldn't stop listening to this book. her passion is just amazing. keep writing ruth I love all your books.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.