The Tudors were a lively bunch; Christmas was no exception for them. There are some parts of the Tudors Chirstmas that we would recognise to this day. The most obvious thing that we would recognise about the Tudor Christmas is the religious aspect of it. The Tudors treated Christmas as a religious celebration, we still do today to some exctent. It was about celebrating the birth of Jesus. The time of celebrating the nativety. Going to church for the Tudors was a very important part of the Christmas celebrations. People during the Tudor era also had a long holiday, in todays terms. Today we have few days of work, a few days at Christmas, a few days at New Year - if we are lucky. However, for the Tudors, their time off was longer. They had a total of twelve days of from work. This was known as the Twelve Days. The Twelve Days of Christmas largely focused around giving a break to those who worked on the land. During Tudor times, this would have been the majority of people. Although serious feasting was largely reserved for the well-off. Such as royalty and the upper-classes. Those of the lower classes also feasted. We would recognise some of the things which Tudors ate at Christmas. Such as mince pies. However, those who could afford it, dined by eating goose. Even though it was the Victorians who popularized the eating of Turkey at Christmas, it can traced way back to Henry VIII. Henry VIII is the first king we know of who ate turkey on Christmas day. Besides the feasting, carol singing was also a popular part of Christmas celebrtions for the Tudors. Carol singing during the Tudor era, is thought to have been done to spread the story of the nativity. Yule log burning was also popular during the era. On Christmas Eve, Yule logs were wrapped in ribbons. They were then placed on the hearth. And were left to burn for the tweleve days of Christmas. Some of the Tudor celebrations which surrounded Christmas are unfamiliar to us. And some are very familiar to us.
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