Christmas with the Tudors
Christmas in Tudor England was a time for fasting, feasting and poking fun at the status quo.
In Tudor England, the festive season was a tale of contrasts. It began with a period of spiritual preparation for the coming of Christ. Its name, Advent, came from the Latin, advenīre, to come towards. It was a season of fasting, which meant fish, soups and stews instead of roasted meats and pies. Christmas Eve was stricter with no meat, cheese or eggs. As appetites sharpened, excitement built, for it was on Christmas Eve that people decorated their houses and churches for the coming feast. John Stow recalls ‘every man’s house’ in the early 16th century decked with holly and ivy, while candles pierced the winter darkness.
The fast was broken with the Christ Mass in the morning of Christmas Day, but 25 December was only the first of 12 days of merriment and feasting that lasted through to Epiphany on 6 January. We do not need the inelegant ‘Betwixtmas’: these were the Twelve Days of Christmas.
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