A Tudor Christmas: Feasts, Festivities, and Fantastic Entertainment

Join us for our fourth installment of our partnership with the Smithsonian Rural Initiative. We will be hosting 12 sessions the Smithsonian Series, featuring “A Tudor Christmas: Feasts, Festivities, and Fantastic Entertainment” on Thursday, December 10th, at 5:30pm.

Please register for this event by calling 570-622-8880, or emailing [email protected]

The Tudors made the most of each of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Step into that world with historian Carol Ann Lloyd-Stanger and get a colorful glimpse into how members of the Tudor dynasty and their courtiers marked the festive season—as well as how the rest of the country celebrated Christmas in their homes.

Explore life at court during the holiday period, a fantasy land where the king dressed in disguise, courtiers wore finery that could cost a year’s wages, and the Lord of Misrule directed antics and activities forbidden the rest of the year. Learn about the Christmastide traditions, including extravagant gift-giving ceremonies on New Year’s Day, where everything from humble baked goods to bags of gold coins and exquisite jewelry were celebrated and displayed.

Lloyd-Stanger examines the religious and social traditions behind the seasonal celebrations, where church services and open houses brought different levels of society the chance to mark a 12-day holiday with feasts and travel. Throughout grand manors, workers might get a chance to see the famous Tudor Christmas pie: goose stuffed with chicken stuffed with partridge stuffed with pigeon, all baked into a pastry “coffin.”

Lloyd-Stanger also reveals court intrigue among the most famous Tudor monarchs, Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. See how Henry struggled to keep various wives—present and future—content during several seasons and married another on New Year’s Day, while Elizabeth I had to dodge the odd marriage proposal and keep track of numerous presents, sometimes turning the gift-giving ceremony into a chance to regift something on the spot. Revel with the Lord of Misrule and enjoy a Tudor Christmas to remember.

Lloyd-Stanger specializes in England’s Tudor period and Shakespeare. She is the author of The Tudors by Numbers and Courting the Virgin Queen.