We are going to talk about how the Tudors would have celebrated New Year’s, how our Tudor friends would have been ringing in the new year. Modern New Year’s Day often finds us nursing the aftermath of the night before. The overindulgence of Christmas often gives way to resolutions of dieting and sober January. But imagine stepping back in time to the courts of the 16th century were New Year’s was not just a day, but eight grand culmination of prolonged festivities that actually were keeping ongoing until the 6th of January.
Right in the middle of everything, our Tudor ancestors knew no bounds in celebrating this time of year. Embracing a season of joy, grandeur, and elaborate customs that spanned for weeks. So let’s dig right into it.
The Tudor festive season kicked off with All Hallow, the start of November and extended all the way to Candlemass in early February. Think about it, it’s dark and it’s cold and you’re running out of food and you got to have some stuff to think about and do throughout the long winter months to keep you occupied and in a good mood, right. So our Tudor friends would have been celebrating as much as they could from November all the way through to early February.
This prolonged period of celebration stands in contrast to our modern often commercialized festivities that typically wind down after New Year’s Day. For the Tudors, the festive season was a prolonged escape from the harsh realities of 16th-century life. At a time, like I said, when the cold and dark of winter were combated, not just with fire and feasting, but with an abundance of joy and revelry.
Central to the celebrations at the court of Henry VIII, he was known for his opulence, his grandeur. Greenwich Palace, the birthplace of Henry in 1491 was at the heart of these festivities. Imagine the scene, a palace bustling with over a thousand courtiers, all gathering to eat, drink and partake in the merriment. The air would have been thick with a sense of roasting meats and the sound of laughter and music. The king himself ever the centerpiece would down new sumptuous clothes showcasing his wealth and status.
This was a world where extravagance knew no bounds. Records indicate that in the first Christmas of his reign in 1509, the young king who was just 18 years old spent the equivalent of 13 and a half million pounds in today’s money on celebrations. And that was almost the entire year’s worth of tax revenue. I think the tax revenue that year was about 16 million pounds. Again, the equivalent.
So Henry really went all out. The magnitude of these festivities was such that they were seen as an essential aspect of the King’s rule. Henry VIII’s court was a spectacle of excess, a deliberate display of the Monarchy’s power and magnificence. From the Yule log, which was lit on Christmas Eve and kept burning throughout the 12 days of Christmas, to elaborate feasts and gains, every element was designed to awe and entertain.
The Lord of Misrule, a mock king appointed to preside over the Christmas revelries, added a layer of whimsy and inversion to the court’s hierarchy, allowing for a temporary albeit controlled chaos. These celebrations were not just about merriment. They were a crucial part of Tudor politics away for the king to assert his authority and for courtiers to jostle for favour. The splendor of the court at Greenwich during these times was a Testament to the power and prestige of the Tudor monarchy, a vivid illustration of a world where the celebration of New Year’s was a regal affair, deeply intertwined with social and political fabric of the time.
As the Tudor festive season reached its peak, New Year’s Day stood out as a highlight, particularly marked by the tradition of gift-giving. A practice that held significant social and political connotations. In Tudor England New Year’s Day eclipsed, even Christmas in importance, especially at the royal court. This day was not just about the exchange of gifts. It was a carefully choreographed display of loyalty, wealth, and political acumen.
Henry used New Year’s gift-giving as a means to both display his magnificence and assess the allegiance of his courtiers. One of the most notable examples of this practice involved Cardinal Wolsey, one of Henry’s most trusted advisors and a figure of immense power in his own right. Wolsey presented Henry with a gold cup, worth a hundred pounds for New Year’s gift and that was the equivalent of over 50,000 pounds today. This gift was not just a token of goodwill, it was a symbol of Wolsey’s loyalty and a testament to his wealth and influence. The gifts given to Henry often carried such undercurrents of political legions and were used by the king to gauge the loyalty and status of his courtiers.
The practice of gift-giving reached new heights during the reign of Henry’s daughter, Elizabeth. Under her rule, New Year’s gift exchange evolved into an elaborate and highly regulated affair. Elizabeth was acutely aware of the political power of such gestures and even dictated the value of gifts to be given based on the rank of the giver. This not only reinforced the social hierarchy, but also ensured a continuous flow of luxury items and wealth into the royal coffers.
Elizabeth court’s on influx of thousands of gifts each year, ranging from jewelry and silk stockings to gold toothpicks. The giving of gifts was not just a matter of tradition. It was a means of securing favor with the queen. A well-chosen gift could repair an estranged relationship or elevate a court to a standing.
For instance, Sir Phillip Sidney after falling out of favor for opposing Elizabeth’s potential marriage to the Duke Alençon, presented her with a jeweled whip. This gift symbolizing his subjection to her will, played a key role in regaining the Queen’s favor.
The significance of these gifts was further amplified by the elaborate ceremonies surrounding their presentation. Courtiers would vie with each other to present the most extravagant gifts and the monarchs reception of these gifts was a closely watched indicator of their favor or disfavor. The act of gift-giving at the Tudor court was a delicate dance of politics and power where the right gift could elevate one status or conversely a misstep could lead to disgrace. Some of the other Tudor festive customs are based on traditions are steeped in history and cultural significance. We’re going to talk about two of them today, the Yule log and Wassailing, which were pivotal in shaping the character of Tudor celebrations.
The Yule log is a tradition thought to have Viking origins, and was a central figure in the Tudor Christmas and New Year festivities. This custom involved selecting a large log, often an entire tree trunk, and bringing it into the home with great ceremony on Christmas Eve. The log was then placed in the hearth and lit using remnants of the previous year’s log, symbolizing the continuity and eternal cycle of the seasons.
In Tudor times, the Yule log was not merely a source of warmth and light. During the darkest days of winter, it held a deeper, almost mystical significance. It was believed that the log would protect the home from evil spirits and misfortune in the coming year. The log was kept burning throughout the 12 days of Christmas and its charred remains were carefully preserved to light the next year’s Yule log, thus ensuring the household’s safety and prosperity.
This tradition was rooted in pagan rituals, and it was seemly woven into the fabric of Tudor Christmas and New Year’s celebrations. Embodying the blend of Christian and pagan practices that were typical, both of this era and continue today really. The burning of the Yule log was a communal activity, bringing families and communities together, symbolizing, unity, and triumph of light over darkness.
Wassailing was another key tradition during the Tudor festive season with roots in Anglo-Saxon customs. The term wassail comes from old English phrase which is wes hál meaning be thou hail, or be in good health. The practice of wassailing involves a communal drink from a wassail bowl filled with hot ale or cider sugar, spices and apples with a crust of bread at the bottom.
It is of course said that people would dip their cups in and get a cup from the wassail bowl, and whoever reached the end and got the bread, had to give a speech in honor of the host, and that is where the term “toast” comes from. I haven’t read any better explanation of where the word toast comes from, so I’m going to just kind of go with that.
The wassail bowl was more than just a vessel for a festive drink. It was a symbol of communal well-being and goodwill. The most important person in the household would take the first drink and then pass the bowl around. This practice of shared drinking from a single bowl, alien to us now, especially after the last couple of years, was a common and meaningful gesture in Tudor society.
Descriptions of Tudor wassailing suggest a range of practices from formal ceremonies involving stewards and treasurers to more relaxed, communal. Regardless of the form, wassailing was a way of fostering community spirit, celebrating the season, and wishing good health and prosperity to all participants.
Of course, one of the things about the Tudor New Year celebrations was that they were intertwined with their unique perception of the calendar year. A concept that underwent significant transformation during the 16th century. I did an episode where I talked about this when I did the episode on clocks several years ago. So you can check that out, but basically in the Tudor period for the first part of the Tudor period, the New Year was believed to begin on March 25th, a date that coincided with the Feast of
Annunciation.
This feast day also known as Lady Day, celebrated the announcement by the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus marking the Incarnation of Christ. This religious significance added a sacred dimension to the beginning of the new year. Intertwining Christian belief with the passage of time.
For the Tudors, marking the new year in late March was not merely a religious act. It was a reflection of their understanding of the natural world and the cycles of seasons. This date followed the Vernal Equinox, symbolizing new beginnings and awakening of nature. After the long winter, a fitting time, really for the commencement of a new year, I think we kind of all feel it ourselves when it gets to be springtime and we want to like spring clean and all of that, that feeling of rebirth and renewal that comes as the flowers, bloom and everything like that, so that is when the Tudors, the early part of the Tudors had their New Year celebration.
But in the 16th century, we saw a significant shift in the understanding and marking of the new year. And this change was part of a broader transformation in Europe as different regions and kingdoms began adopting January 1st as the start of the new year. A practice that was standardized with the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1582.
This transition to January 1st was not immediate or universally accepted in Tudor, England. It represented a shift from a calendar marked by religious feasts to a more secular and standardized system. For a society deeply steeped in religious tradition, this change was both significant and gradual. The impact on the celebrations was profound.
While previously New Year’s festivities were part of a larger, ongoing festive period, culminating in late March, the adoption of January 1st as the beginning of the new year placed a new emphasis on the date. It did begin to take on its own identity as a day of celebration, distinct from Christmas. The transition in the Tudor calendar reflects a pivotal moment in the history of timekeeping. A period where old traditions met new systems and societal celebrations adapted accordingly.
As we explore how the Tudors celebrated New Year’s, it’s crucial to appreciate this historical context. As the 16th century was this period of transition that saw the melding of old customs with emerging practices shaping the way the new year was welcomed and celebrated.
Now let’s talk about gifts. Like we said, the process of gift exchange at the Tudor court was a carefully orchestrated affair with each gift carrying weighty significance. One of the most telling examples of this is the contrast in King Henry VIII’s reception of gifts from two of his Queens, Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn in 1532 during a very pivotal moment in Tudor history.
Henry accepted an elaborate set of Pyrenean boar spears from Anne Boleyn his soon-to-be queen while coldly rejecting a gold cup from his estranged wife, Katherine of Aragon. This act was not mere preference of one gift over another. It was a clear political statement. The acceptance of Anne’s gift symbolized to her rising influence and Henry’s favor towards her. While the rejection of Katherine’s gift was a stark indication of her diminishing standing in court.
This practice was not limited to the royal family. Nobles and courtiers were acutely aware that the gifts they presented to the Monarch could significantly impact their political fortunes. A well-received gift could elevate one status, bring political advantages or even reconcile estranged relationships with the monarchy. Gifts at the Tudor court are powerful tools then in the subtle game of politics. They were used to demonstrate loyalty, assert status and curry favor.
The value, uniqueness, and appropriateness of a gift were crucial. Extravagant and thoughtful gifts were often employed to gain the monarchs favor or regain lost esteem. We talked about Sir Philip Sidney’s gift and then similarly, the Duke of Norfolk while in prison for his involvement in the revolt, attempted to
regain Elizabeth’s favor with a lavish jewel. However, Elizabeth’s rejection of
this gift foreshadowed his eventual execution.
Demonstrating the high stakes involved in these exchanges, gift-giving in the Tudor court then was a strategic exercise. We think we get stressed out about gifts these days, like, I can’t even imagine the stress involved in gift-giving at the Tudor court. That’s just, just too much. I don’t know. I couldn’t do it.
So then we are going to leave it here for right now. Our Tudor friends renowned for their grandeur and opulence, approach the new year with a sense of magnificence and ceremony that far exceeds our modern celebration. For the Tudors, New Year’s was not merely a transition from one year to the next, but a crucial milestone marked by elaborate rituals, displays of power and intricate social customs.
As we celebrate our own New Year, perhaps we can draw inspiration from our Tudor, friends, finding joy and meaning in our traditions and remembering the rich historical tapestry from which they have evolved.
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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 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.