Episode 35: A Tudor Christmas
Join Hazel as we goback to a Christmas before industrialisation, even before the reformation and Puritan rule, before Christmas trees, Christmas crackers and yes, even Santa Claus.
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What we discuss:
A Tudor Christmas
It does seem that each year Christmas in the shops gets earlier and earlier. And especially with COVID, Christmas decorations, even in my house, went up a little earlier than usual.
And while I’m on the subject of Christmas getting earlier; why oh why do marketors not know when the 12 Days of Christmas are? It seems I am being bombarded by emails and social media posts about them as if they are happening right now.
I’m sorry to burst anyone's bubble but we are currently in the period of advent (29 Nov - 24 Dec). The first day of Christmas is Christmas Day! (hence its name). Perhaps many of us nowadays are too far removed from the real meaning of Christmas to notice this faux pas? But these days meant something to the Tudors.
We are going back to a Christmas before industrialisation, even before the reformation and Puritan rule, before Christmas trees, Christmas crackers and yes, even Santa Claus.
A Tudor Christmas time had clearly defined rules for living. It dictated what they could or couldn’t do and what they could and couldn’t eat. A Tudor Christmas wasn’t so alien as we may believe; Tudors ate mince pies and sang Christmas carols. They even kissed beneath the mistletoe.
What was Christmas like for normal Tudors?
- Advent Fast
- Decorations
- Christmas Day
- Christmas Carols
Other Episodes
046 Beer, The Bard & Historic Buildings of Bankside
045 Drawing London's Buildings
042 John Julius Angerstein: The Man Behind the National Gallery
041 London's Medieval Friaries
040 Charles Dickens in Greenwich
038 The Black Death: London's First Plague
037 Bridgerton & Regency London
034 London's Old Shops - Food & Drink
031 Abandoned London Underground Stations
030 Quirky Street Names - Little Britain
029 The Harp maker of Fitzrovia
024 The Walbrook in Roman London
021 London Area Names - Animal Edition
020 The Great Fire of London - How It Began
017 The Proms & The Royal Albert Hall
016 Women in 1920s London (From Cowgirl to Congress)
014 Postcards From London's Past
013 London Statues: Medical Women
012 The Old Operating Theatre Museum
011 London's Coffeehouses and Commerce
009 Music Halls and Cabaret - from yesterday to today
008 The Monument to the Great Fire of London
006 Hockley in the Hole Clerkenwell
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