What was the Grand Tour? What kind of person embarked on it?
The Grand Tour is a term historians retrospectively apply to travel undertaken from the late 16th and early 17th century, and was not widely used by contemporaries until the middle of the 18th century. It really refers to an extended period of European travel usually associated with young men from the British upper-classes. On the tour they were expected to acquire taste, education, social experience and all the kinds of cultural capital that would make one qualified to be a member of the elite. Most of them would have had a travelling tutor whose role it was to provide education, a point of contact with the parents and to exercise restraint over the young man’s behaviour. But they weren’t the only people making tours of Europe at this time. People began to travel for health, to publish travel writing (which was a very popular genre of literature) and some simply to gain experience of other countries. In the second half of the 18th century there was increasing prosperity in England. So the social profile of who can afford to travel broadens to include middle-class professions such as merchants, professionals, lawyers, minor gentry and also families, including women. So it’s not just about the education of elite young men.
How did the concept of the Grand Tour begin?
Esta historia es de la edición Issue 130 de All About History UK.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición Issue 130 de All About History UK.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE
Guy Ritchie's entertaining WWII thriller throws light on Operation Postmaster
SURVIVING A FINANCIAL CRISIS
Jame DiBiasio explores how financiers can learn from the mistakes of the past
FORT KNOX BULLION DEPOSITORY
United States 1937-present
MUSSOLINI HAD JOINED THE ALLIES?
Driven by ambition, Italy's participation in the Axis war effort led to the collapse of its empire, the fall of the Fascist Party and Mussolini's death Interview
BATTLE OF DETTINGEN
DETTINGEN (MODERN-DAY KARLSTEIN AM MAIN, GERMANY), 27 JUNE 1743
THE USSR's FAKE OLYMPICS,
Having boycotted the 1984 games in Los Angeles, the Soviet Union hosted its own competition
Hürrem Sultan
From slave girl to imperial consort, how one girl captured the heart of an emperor to become the most powerful woman in Ottoman history
OVERTHROWING THE MONGOLS
How a Buddhist rebellion toppled the mighty empire and began the rise of the Ming dynasty Written
MAKING A MONSTER
Natalie Lawrence explores the creation of enchanted creatures through 15,000 years of history Interview
SECRETS OF THE PYRAMIDS
From sacred rituals to hidden treasure, uncover why these world wonders were built