English Heritage

25 December – Christmas Day

Christmas Day, the first day of Christmas, began with Midnight Mass. Church bells rang, candles were lit, and at last the celebrations could begin! Everyone wore their best clothes. At court, Henry VIII wore new clothes on Christmas Day, and new things were given to royal attendants and servants too.

After going to church in the morning, people sat down to their Christmas feast. Plum porridge (a thick meat broth made with plums, spices, dried fruits and wine) was served first. Then, there were roasted meats like boar, venison and birds, as well as brawn, a Tudor Christmas favourite. It was made using pork or boar meat, served sliced and decorated with herbs and fruits. It was so popular at court that at Greenwich Palace, extra cooking space had to be added to make more! For poorer people, meat was a luxury that they often could not afford, but at Christmas, they would have goose as a festive treat.

Alongside the meat, both rich and poor people ate pies, stuffing, frumenty (a kind of sweet porridge made with wheat, eggs, milk, spices, fruits and sugar) and puddings. Brussels sprouts might even have been on the Tudor Christmas Day menu – the first reference to them is from 1538.  They also enjoyed mince pies and gingerbread. 

27 December – The Feast of St John

The third day of Christmas was the Feast of St John, who was said to have miraculously drunk a glass of poisoned wine without becoming ill. Because of this, people celebrated by drinking a lot of wine. Imported European wines were very expensive, and rich people bought lots of wine for Christmas as a way to show off their wealth. Everyone drank ale, which was much cheaper, as well as a drink called ‘Lambs Wool’, which was made by adding spices and apples to beer.

Wassailing was an important Tudor Christmas tradition, and both rich and poor people took part. A large wooden bowl was filled with hot ale or cider, sugar, spices and apples, with a crust of bread at the bottom. It was offered to the most important person in the household first, who would make a toast by shouting ‘Wassail!’ (meaning for your health), then have a drink and pass it on. The next person would then shout ‘Drinkhail!’ before having a sip – and the bowl would be passed around everyone.

31 December – New year's Eve

New Year’s Eve, the seventh day of Christmas, was traditionally a day for playing games and sports. Rich people hunted and played cards and dice at all times of the year, but Christmas games were livelier than ever! Some ‘parlour games’ that we still play today were also enjoyed by the Tudors, including Blind Man’s Buff and Hide-and-Seek.

For poor people who worked very hard during the rest of the year, Christmas was a chance to relax and have some free time. In fact, Henry VIII even made a law that working men could only play certain games (including football, tennis, dice and cards) at Christmas – so they had to make the most of their opportunity! He also decided that to make sure England’s army always had good archers, the only sport people could do on Christmas Day was archery. Because of this, it became very popular.

During this time the weather was much colder than it is today. This lasted for about 200 years and was known as the ‘Little Ice Age’. In winter, it became so cold that the River Thames regularly froze, and people held fairs and markets, called ‘Frost Fairs’ on the ice. In 1564, courtiers practised their archery, shooting at targets on the ice, and people even played football on the frozen Thames!

5 January – Twelfth Night

The twelfth day of Christmas was known as Twelfth Night. It marked the night before the feast of the Epiphany, the coming of the wise men to visit the baby Jesus in Bethlehem. Twelfth Night might have signalled the end of Christmas, but people celebrated it with great feasts, games and plays. At the Tudor court, there were masques (a kind of play) and huge banquets. In 1532, a temporary kitchen was set up in the grounds of Greenwich Palace, to help make the 200 dishes which were served up to the guests!

Included in the feasts was a Twelfth Night cake. It was a huge fruit cake, tasting a bit like a giant brioche, and was baked with a coin or dried bean hidden in the mixture on each half of the cake. Men and women took slices from opposite sides of the cake, and whoever found the bean or coin in their piece became the king or queen of the bean. It was their job to host the evening's entertainment, of singing, dancing and games.

The next day, people celebrated the final feast of Christmas – the Epiphany. After church services, they ate roasted lamb, and Epiphany tart, a kind of giant jam tart made in the shape of a star. While people left up their decorations until Candlemas on 2 February, the twelve days of Christmas were over for another year.