Tudor Quill Pen

Product Description: This Tudor Quill Pen is made from a real feather attached to a ribbon covered pen that has a biro nib. There are 5 different colours available, blue, purple, black, pink and red. The quill pen measures approximately 30-35 centimetres long, however lengths will vary as the feather is a natural product. The quill is supplied with a colourful information card. On the front there is a portrait image of Henry VIII and a Grant of Arms. On the back is historical information about the quill pen, the use of quills at school and about the Tudor alphabet. The quill and card are held in a clear hanging bag.

Information: The writing Quill pen came into use in the seventh century. It was the main writing instrument until the introduction of metallic pens and pen nibs that took over in the 1800’s. Some of the best quill pens were made from the flight feathers of geese. The word pen comes from the Latin word “Penna” which means feather.

After plucking the wing feathers, the barrel or the shaft needed to be carved. To cut the pens a sharp knife was needed, hence the word “penknife”.

In Tudor times (1485-1603) only boys went to school while girls stayed at home and learned to do housework. The boys learned Latin, English, music, grammar and religion. When they wrote they used a quill, or wrote on chalkboards with white chalk.

The Tudor alphabet contained 24 letters (our present day English alphabet has 26 letters). The letters “u” and “v” were the same letters as “i” and “j”. The “j” was usually used as the capital form of the “i” in the alphabet. The “u” was used only in the middle of a word, and the “v” was used at the beginning. There was another Tudor letter that resembled a “y” which was used to represent the “th” sound. So the word “the” was written in a similar way as “ye” would be spelt in the present day. Some words were also spelt with an additional “e” at the end.