The Fortnightly Groundling April 23, 1560

Copyright 2009 Stuart Koblentz

In Tudor England, the common man and woman lived for any news about anything going on around them - and there was a lot of stuff going on.  Given the intrigue left behind by the late King, Henry VIII, his son, his two daughters, pretenders to the throne and all the noble men (and women) who got sucked into the intrigue and ended up either surviving or getting their heads chopped off for puicking the worng side, one needed a magazine that could keep it and the rumors all together in one publication. 

The problem was that most common folk had no idea how to read, so pictures were very important as well, because everyone understands pictures, unless one was blind, and help for that was year away from appearing.  The Groundling was terribly popular and could be found by the money changers at any local market until Oliver Cromwell put and end to the publication during his reign.  But then his head ended up on a pike, and the publication started up again as people were wildly interested in knowing who was running the country "now".