A Tudor Christmas: Part Two
by Wendy Pyatt
Tudor Christmas Traditions
Christmas and New Years was the greatest festival celebrated by the Tudors. Advent was a time of fasting; Christmas Eve was particularly strictly kept with no meat, cheese or eggs. Celebrations began on Christmas Day when the genealogy of Christ was sung while everyone held lighted tapers. The Monarch was required to attend mass and would be expected to wear new clothes. He would progress from the Privy Chamber to the Chapel Royal dressed in coronation robes of purple and/or scarlet complete with crown.
The whole 12 days of Christmas was celebrated (25th December – 6th January), but not every day was celebrated equally. All work stopped except looking after animals; spinning was even banned as this was the most common occupation, for women and flowers were placed around the spinning wheels. People would visit friends and it was seen as very much a community celebration. Work re-started on Plough Monday, the first Monday after 12th night.
In Tudor Times the most sumptuous feast were held on 25th Dec, 1st Jan and 6th Jan. In 1532/33, the preparation for the 12th night feast at Greenwich palace required the building of a temporary boiling and working house. Up to 24 courses would be served, much more than was needed for the guests but it was a status symbol. Left over food was always used to feed the poor.
Tudor Christmas had a definite purpose. Because society was very strictly organised, these celebrations acted as a pressure release, a time when everything was turned on its head, the world turned inside out and upside down. Certain sections of society were even allowed an unusual degree of freedom. For example, in ecclesiastical communities, the tradition of the boy bishop was practised. A choir or alter boy would be elected for a short period either on 6th December (St Nicholas Day) or 28th December (Holy Innocents Day) with the idea being that it showed the boys the honour and dignity of holy orders. This was banned in 1541 because it was seen as mocking the church authorities and by implication the head of the church, who of course was Henry VIII. However, the practice possibly dates back to the 10th century and never completely died out. The tradition is still continued at Hereford, Gloucester, Westminster (RC) and Salisbury cathedrals to this day.
There was a similar tradition in secular circles. They had the Lord of Misrule. He was like a mock king and supervised entertainments or rather unruly events involving drinking, revelry, role reversal and general chaos. One of the games the Tudors would have been familiar with was Blind Mans Bluff! The inspiration for this Lord of Misrule was the earlier 11th century tradition of The Feast of Fools.
Another example of role reversal which started in the Tudor period is that of Barring Out, where pupils would take possession of the school by locking the staff out until certain demands regarding playtimes and homework were met. It was particularly common in Northern counties and was usually around the 6th December which is St Nicholas Day (the patron saint of children).
A favorite Tudor Christmas tradition was the performing of plays. There are records from the early 16th century that both Oxford and Cambridge colleges employed travelling players in their Christmas entertainments. There are also records of a play being performed for Cardinal Wolsey at Grays Inn during Christmas 1526. Coventry mystery plays which the Coventry carol was written for, tell the story of Herod's murder of the innocents. Mystery plays are still performed in Coventry even today.
The Tudors also possibly practiced the Viking custom of burning a Yule Log. The Log would be decorated on Christmas Eve for the 12 days of Christmas and then burned. It was considered lucky to keep some remains to help light the following years log.
All sports on Christmas day were banned by Henry VIII in 1541 (except archery of course). In theory gambling, tennis, bowls and other games were forbidden to all but the very wealthy except at Christmas! Jousting was also a popular sport during the Christmas period. In 1551, Edward VI passed a law that everyone had to walk to church on Christmas day; it's still on the books today. A Tudor Christmas was always a 2 week period of concerted power, politics, and networking as the monarch would be surrounded by courtiers, nobility and other important people.
Originally published at www.localhistories.org
