The Tudor Dynasty began with Henry VII and flourished just over a hundred years until it wilted with the death of Elizabeth I in1603.
The Twelve Days festivities provided a welcome break for the working folk in the days of the Tudor Dynasty. This was the time when all work ceased except for those who cared for livestock and other animals. Even spinning, the major occupation for women, was banned during this holiday. They placed flowers in the spinning wheels to prevent their use. However it seems that the cooks must have been working for feasting was the most popular activity of the festival.
Fowl Feasting
The royalty and the nobles were the ones who truly feasted, and they dined primarily on various kinds of spiced meat with an assortment of ales and rich beverages. Poultry and other types of fowl were favorite meats consumed by the royals who were not interested in vegetarian dishes. However brussels sprouts were reported for the first time in cooking recipes. Swan and goose were the favorite birds for the Christmas feast in rich households.
Queen Elizabeth I favored the goose for her own table. After the defeat of the Spanish Armada, this was the first meal she enjoyed, and she ordered that goose should be on the Christmas menu on every table across the land as a fitting tribute to the English sailors who fought off the Spanish. However since goose was an expensive luxury, it's doubtful that this order was obeyed by the common folk.
A Christmas Pie generally consisted of a turkey which was stuffed with a goose which was stuffed with a chicken which was stuffed with a partridge, which was finally stuffed with a pigeon--five birds to make up one pie. But that's not all--the dish was served in a pastry case called a coffin and in the final presentation, the Christmas Pie was surrounded by rabbit meat, small game birds and more wild fowl on its huge platter which was placed in the center of the banquet table.
In 1519 the first turkey was introduced into England and Henry VIII was one of the first to add it to his Christmas menu. As the popularity of the bird increased, farmers started transporting the turkeys to London from Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk by walking huge flocks along the roads. This journey usually started in August so that the birds would be in London in time for the holiday season. The famous portrait of Henry VIII munching on the turkey drumstick was apparently not far off the mark.
Holiday Activities
Henry VIII introduced a new law in 1541, the Unlawful Games Act, which banned all sports-like activities on Christmas Day except archery. The intent served to ban all dangerous sports. Later leaping and vaulting were added to the permitted list. The reason being that these activities kept the young men strong and in shape.
Edward VI, the son of Henry VIII, passed a law in 1551 which required everyone to walk to church on Christmas Day and this law, although not enforced, is still on the books.
The Lord of Misrule, a hold-over from the Roman Days of Saturnalia and the Medieval Christmas, still reigned for a day at the Tudor Court and the villages and cities across the land as well. However his activities were more restrained than during the middle ages, and he was now responsible for arranging harmless games like Blindman's Bluff, jokes, mumming and costume parties.
Mumming was an ancient entertainment in Britain which included minstrels, morris dancers, men on stilts, musicians who performed secular songs like "London Bridge Is Broken Down," and the St. George and the Dragon Story.
Gambling, card games and dice were popular, especially during the reign of Henry VII. The parliament passed a law, prohibiting servants and apprentices from gambling, for the practice was thought to be an idle pastime leading to crime in the lower classes. However the nobles did not obey the law, especially Henry VIII, a habitual gambler.
Other Activities
Although these are considered sports now, several of these activities were allowed under Unlawful Games Act.
Tennis was an indoor game in Tudor times. Played on a covered court, it was a game only for the rich who could afford to build and maintain the courts. Henry VIII loved the game, although he was not a good player and usually lost. He built tennis courts at Hampton and Whitehall.
The lower classes played balloon ball, hand ball, ring ball and bandy ball with either bats or their hands. Football was also a favorite, although the rules were nothing like the game as it is played today. One historian referred to it as "nothing but beastly fury and extreme violence." On second thought, maybe it is not that different today, after all.
Cudgel play may be best remembered from the legendary scuffle Little John had with Robin Hood on a narrow bridge across a creek in the days of yore. It was still popular in Tudor England as it was played by two opponents fighting with long sticks. The goal was to draw first blood from the opponent's head. Wrestling and kicking matches were also popular.
Hunting
Henry VIII was especially fond of archery and was supposed to be the best archer in England. He passed another law requiring that every male subject keep a long bow in his home and be proficient in its use. The fathers were required to teach the skill to their sons. Henry abided by his own law and taught the skill to Edward VI who also became a skillful archer.
Mary, Queen of Scots, and Elizabeth I were good huntresses. Most of the gentry used longbows when hunting, but hawking was also very popular.
Hunting was pastime only for those who could afford it. It was a crime for others to hunt in the royal forests with imprisonment and heavy fines inflicted on those who might get caught in the act. Churchmen and nobles were allowed to kill one or two deer each year, but they had to blow a horn to announce that they were not stealing their quarry from the king's royal forest.
Other Entertainments
Intellectual pursuits weren't very popular during the days of the Tudors. Few people could read and there were even fewer books available. Shakespeare's plays weren't presented until theaters were built during the reign of Elizabeth I. William Caxton brought the first printing press to England in 1476 and it quickly became popular. Bibles were printed in English and the best-seller was Foxe's Book of Martyrs during Elizabeth's time.
Music was always popular among the wealthy classes and the well educated gentry could play an instrument such as a lute. Flutes, organs, harpsichords and bagpipes were also available.
After the Tudor Dynasty in the 1650's, Christmas was banned in England for several years when the Puritan, Oliver Cromwell ruled the republic, then known as The Commonwealth of England. Christmas carols were also silenced at that time. Although politics required that Christmas go undercover for a few years, it surfaced again with a renewed vigor during the Victorian era.
Source:
The Battle For Christmas by Stephen Nissenbaum; Vintage; 1997
Diane Evans - I am a retired civil engineer as well as a member of Sisters in Crime and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.
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