In this last blog, we looked at 8 reasons why the Victorians shaped modern Christmas. In this one, we will look at how Christmas was celebrated during the Tudor era.
Christmas was pretty different before the Victorians came along. In some ways, we wouldn't recognize the Christmas that was celebrated before the Victorians. While in other ways, we would recognize some of the things surrounding Tudor Christmas celebrations. Let's therefore, take a look at how the Tudors celebrated Christmas. #Food Like Christmas today, Christmas food was a big part of the Tudor Christmas celebrations. Unlike today though, Tudor Christmas food was somewhat different to ours today. There were many foods at Christmas that the Tudors ate, that we today do not. Such as eating real meats within mince pies. They also ate things such as pies with different kinds of meats and fruitcakes at Christmas. What was different in the Tudor era, is that feasts at Christmas were usually something that only the wealthy could afford. Whereas today, most of us have some sort of feast at Christmas. What you wouldn't recognize about the Tudors eating habits is this, during Christmas Eve, Tudors were not allowed to eat specific meals, such as meats, eggs and cheese. On Christmas Day, however, the Tudors could eat anything they wanted and it was the peak of the Christmas feasting season. However, their main meal at the feast would have been different from what we ate today. For most Tudors at Christmas time, they could not afford the luxurious foods that the wealthiest dined on. That was foods such as goose, peacock and eventually turkey. The first record of turkey being eaten anywhere in the British Isles, was with Henry VIII, in 1923. Before that, it was usually goose, swan or peacock that the rich ate for Christmas dinner. Eating turkey didn't really take off under Henry VIII, it was the Victorians who made eating turkey a popular dish at Christmas. When Henry VIII died, it was his two daughters who ascended the throne. First, it was Mary I and then it was Elizabeth I. It was Elizabeth I who introduced people eating goose again - she ordered that people eat goose again at Christmas. Goose was the most popular dish during Christmas Day, all the way up to the Victorian era.
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#Decorations
Decorations were very different in the Tudor era. Although Christmas trees were present and part of Christmas celebrations in Germany at this time, they were not part of the Tudor celebrations. The Tudor decorations were very different and to a large extent, underwhelming and minimalistic, compared to what they are today. The decorations centred around evergreens, holly and wreaths. You could say that their decorations were largely natural and nature-based. #The Yule Log We are all familiar with yule logs at Christmas, what would be strange to us, is the customs and celebrations of the yule log at Christmas during the Tudor era. The yule log was something that was decorated at Christmas time. It was brought into the house, decorated, usually with ribbons, and then it would be burned in the fireplace. It would burn in the fireplace throughout the 12 days of Christmas. #The Twelve Days of Christmas The twelve days of Christmas is not something that is celebrated in the modern world. Today, Christmas is usually celebrated on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Then, New Year's Eve and New Years Day are celebrated, both of which are part of the festive celebrations. Making our celebrations a total of five days.
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In the Tudor era though, it was very different. The Christmas celebrations would go on for a total of 12 days. During those 12 days, work would cease to exist, so poor people could get time off work to go and see their family and celebrate Christmas.
#Things That Were Missing There were many things that were missing from Tudor Christmas celebrations because they had not been invented yet. Things such as Christmas cards, Christmas crackers, Christmas trees and most decorations were not part of the Tudor Christmas, as they had not been invented yet. In some ways, the celebrations surrounding Christmas were very different during the Tudor era, while, in other ways, they were pretty much the same. For the richest people in society, it would have been a time for great feasting and exchanging gifts. The Tudors did not exchange gifts during Christmas Day though, they exchanged gifts during New Years Day. For the poorest in society, it was a time to get off time at work and spend that time with their family. It's less documented how the poorest Tudors celebrated Christmas, and no doubt, it was less extravagant than their rich counterparts. However, one thing that would have been common amongst both rich and poor, was that Christmas was much more a religious festival than it is today. The holiday was centred around going to mass and celebrating the birth of Jesus. It was a much more prominent feature of the celebrations that we see today. Sources: https://www.theanneboleynfiles.com/resources/tudor-life/tudor-christmas/ https://www.historyanswers.co.uk/medieval-renaissance/on-the-12th-day-of-christmas-my-tudor-love-brought-to-me/ https://www.tudorsociety.com/tudor-christmas-food-by-sarah-bryson/ http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/tudor-england/tudor-christmas/
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