Advent – the four weeks leading up to Christmas is called Advent. In the Tudor period, Advent was a time of fasting which ended on Christmas Day. The main days of celebration were Christmas Day, New Year’s Day and Epiphany.
Twelve Days – The Twelve Days of Christmas (25th December to 5th January) were a time for communities to come together in the Tudor era. Farmers and agricultural labourers would stop working the land and spend time together. They went back to work on Plough Monday, the first Monday after Twelfth Night, or Epiphany (when the three wise men visited the baby Jesus).
Turkey – Turkeys were not introduced to Britain until about the 1520s. It is thought that Henry VIII was one of the first people to have turkey as part of his Christmas feast and this grew in popularity among wealthier people. Goose remained a more popular dish with labouring people until the Victorian period. To meet demand at Christmas, flocks of geese and turkeys were walked the one hundred miles from Norfolk to market in London. The journey took three months and the birds wore special leather boots to protect their feet!
Christmas Carols – The word carol comes from the Latin ‘caraula’ – a dance with a song. Carols were very popular in the Tudor period and they were used to spread the story of the Nativity. In the 17th century, Puritans banned all Christmas festivities and carol singing didn’t become popular again until Victorian times. Whilst the dance element seems to have disappeared over time, the songs celebrating Christmas have endured.
Christmas Trees – In the Tudor period evergreens were used for decoration because they symbolised the promise of new life. Christmas trees as we know them, a decorated fir or spruce, didn’t become popular until the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901).
Lord of Misrule – As part of the Christmas festivities at the Tudor court a Lord of Misrule would be chosen by the monarch. It would be their job to arrange entertainment including processions, masques, plays and feasts, ensuring that everyone made merry over the course of the Twelve Days of Christmas.
Mince Pies – Unlike a modern mince pie, Tudor mince pies contained meat, often mutton to represent the shepherds in the Nativity story. In the 16thcentury, mince pies contained 13 ingredients to symbolise Jesus and his 12 apostles. Many medieval recipes combined savoury and sweet, and dried fruit and spices had to be imported into the country making them expensive. Because the ingredients were costly, such spiced pies were not every day fare but were made as treats for special occasions like Easter and Christmas, which were also preceded by fasting.
Gift Giving – In Tudor England, gift-giving took place on New Year’s Day among members of the upper classes. Gift-giving had great political significance and all royal gifts were recorded in a New Year’s Gift list. How a king or queen responded to a person’s gift was important and determined whether or not they were in royal favour. In 1532 Henry VIII made his feelings clear when he refused a gift from Catherine of Aragon but accepted one from Anne Boleyn. Henry and Anne went on to marry the following year.
Plays and Masques –Plays and masques were popular forms of entertainment throughout the year at court and they were especially integral to the feasts and entertainments at Christmas time. Twelfth Night was the highlight of the Christmas period and Shakespeare’s comedy of the same name was first staged in 1602 at the end of the Christmas season. The 25th of December was a minor feast in comparison!
Boy Bishops – The tradition of the Boy Bishop is one that has existed since the 10th century. A boy from the choir was chosen to lead the community in the church proceedings, apart from the mass. They would lead services from St Nicholas Day (6th December) to Holy Innocents Day (28th December). Henry VIII banned Boy Bishops in 1541 because it could be seen as mocking the church and therefore the king as the Supreme Head of the Church of England. The tradition of the Boy Bishop is still kept alive today by Hereford and Salisbury Cathedrals!
Kissing Bough – The Kissing Bough was one of the most popular Tudor Christmas decorations. Hoops were be woven from ash or willow wood and decorated with evergreens such as holly leaves. It would be hung over the threshold of the house and visitors would embrace underneath it as a gesture of goodwill. Over time, this would evolve to become the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe.
Yule Log – On Christmas Eve the Yule Log would be brought into the home, decorated and lit. The log would burn through the Twelve Days of Christmas. It was thought to be good luck if you kept part of the log to use to light next year’s log with.
The timing of the 12 days also varies. Eastern Orthodox Churches use a different religious calendar (the Julian calendar as opposed to the Gregorian calendar used by Western churches), so their 12 days of Christmas start on January 7 and runs through the Epiphany on January 19. And while Catholics celebrate the Epiphany as a single day, some Protestant churches celebrate it until Ash Wednesday, leading into the season of Lent and Easter.
Gift-giving customs also differ in some cultures. In Latin America, Christians hand out presents on January 6, which they celebrate as Three Kings Day, instead of December 25. And other cultures give gifts all 12 days. Don’t miss these 15 Christmas traditions from around the world.
The 12 days also honor a different feast or saint, before culminating in Twelfth Night, according to U.S. Catholic. They are:
Day 2 (December 26): St. Stephen’s Day, named for the first Christian martyr who was known for his service to the poor and was stoned to death in AD 36.
Day 3 (December 27): St. John the Apostle, a disciple of Jesus who wrote the Fourth Gospel.
Day 4 (December 28): Feast of the Holy Innocents, which remembers the baby boys that were killed when King Herod was looking for Jesus.
Day 5 (December 29): St. Thomas Becket, the former Archbishop of Canterbury who was killed in the twelfth century for challenging King Henry II’s authority over the church.
Day 7 (December 31): New Year’s Eve. One of the earliest popes, Sylvester I, is honored this day. Legend has it he converted the first Roman emperor Constantine to Christianity.
Day 8 (January 1): The feast day celebrates Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Day 9 (January 2): St. Gregory and St. Basil, two important church leaders during the fourth century, are honored on this day.
Day 12 (January 5): The Eve of the Epiphany.
For centuries, Europeans have held large parties to celebrate Twelfth Night, also known as Epiphany Eve. The day has long been a day of feasting in England, while the French and Spanish make a special “king’s cake” to mark the three wise men’s visit to Jesus. (This is why we kiss under the mistletoe.)
In an interesting twist, some Catholic scholars believe that the “12 Days of Christmas” carol, which first appeared in a children’s book in England in 1780, may have served as a teaching tool for persecuted Catholics in England during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Next, check out the surprising history behind your favorite Christmas carols.
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