Happy Christmas! Christmas in the Tudor period saw the end of the fasting season of Advent, a period of quiet and meditation on the coming birth of Jesus. Henry VIII was one of the first people to introduce turkey to the Christmas table, as it was first brought to England in the 1520’s, and Henry enjoyed it.
This is the day when the celebrations would begin, with the first day of Christmas, ending in the Epiphany, or Twelfth Night celebrations on January 6. Interestingly, the use of X as an abbreviation for Christ, which comes from the Greek lettering, was first commonly used in the 16th century, though its use in English dates back to the Anglo Saxon Chronicle when intelligent monks would use the abbreviation to show off their Greek skills. However you are celebrating today, I hope you’re having a wonderful day.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com where there is an episode on Tudor Christmas celebrations.
Suggested links:
Episode 008: Christmas celebrations in Tudor England
Supplemental: Tudor Christmas Carols
From the shop:
Tudorholic Collection
Featuring: Tudorholic Mug
Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast,  the original Tudor history podcast, started in 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. In 2019 she created Tudorcon, which is now a yearly event, in addition to writing books, and running TudorFair.com - a whimsical Tudor Merch shop.
She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 30 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history (how exciting when she got to interview Alison for the first time!). In addition to history, she is passionate about travel, and has lived in 3 countries and 4 states (not counting her perpetual state of confusion), and her family (who help her host her YouTube channel occasionally).
