“A Tudor Christmas”
A presentation by Martin Sinot-Smith
Martin bounded onto the stage in full Tudor costume as The Lord of Sulgrave Manor House and he guided us through not only the Tudor Christmas but the very origins of The Christmas Festival.
He explained that the Mid-Winter Festival celebrated before Christianity was based on the Winter Solstice 21 December. The Festival celebrated the return of the sun, the life giver and was 12 days of joviality hoping for the return of the sun for growing crops. In 336 AD Pope Julius I decided to persuade the tribes of Northern Europe to convert to Christianity rather than to worship the mountains, the wind, the sea and of course the sky. To achieve this he designated 25 December which was in the middle of their Winter Festival as a special day with a Mass to celebrate the Birth of Christ.
Many of the traditions of the original Yuletide Winter Festivals continued through to the Tudor times and through to today and Martin illustrated this through the Yulelog, The Ashen Faggot, the Kissing Ring and the Advent Calendar. He described the gigantic 12 day orgies and the drinking of “Wassail” which was considered a Good Health Greeting. The burning of the holly and the ivy at the end of the 12 days released the screaming evil spirits.
We will all stop and think as we eat our mince pies to remember the original hefty meat pies and we will always remember the aspects of Christmas which Martin explained but also we will remember how fabulous his presentation was. My Christmases will now always be more meaningful than ever before.
Victoria Polland
He explained that the Mid-Winter Festival celebrated before Christianity was based on the Winter Solstice 21 December. The Festival celebrated the return of the sun, the life giver and was 12 days of joviality hoping for the return of the sun for growing crops. In 336 AD Pope Julius I decided to persuade the tribes of Northern Europe to convert to Christianity rather than to worship the mountains, the wind, the sea and of course the sky. To achieve this he designated 25 December which was in the middle of their Winter Festival as a special day with a Mass to celebrate the Birth of Christ.
Many of the traditions of the original Yuletide Winter Festivals continued through to the Tudor times and through to today and Martin illustrated this through the Yulelog, The Ashen Faggot, the Kissing Ring and the Advent Calendar. He described the gigantic 12 day orgies and the drinking of “Wassail” which was considered a Good Health Greeting. The burning of the holly and the ivy at the end of the 12 days released the screaming evil spirits.
We will all stop and think as we eat our mince pies to remember the original hefty meat pies and we will always remember the aspects of Christmas which Martin explained but also we will remember how fabulous his presentation was. My Christmases will now always be more meaningful than ever before.
Victoria Polland