Wolf Hall Companion

fruits, breadcrumbs and wine. Then, finally, the country broke its fast with the Christmas feast, which heralded the 12 days of Christmas. The Tudor court became a scene of chaotic mirth and opulence, with over 1,000 people dining at the court. For Christmas dinner, almost every household would have enjoyed the seasonal favourite – brawn – a dish made from the head of a cow or pig. For wealthy households, and certainly at court, the feasts were not just about the food, but an extravagant display of wealth and ingenuity. The first course was traditionally a boar’s head, which had been stuffed with mince, smeared with mustard and dressed in rosemary, bay leaves and various exotic spices. An apple was placed in its mouth and it was carried into the Great Hall on a great platter by the Steward of the Household. This was only the beginning. It might take less time to list the meats which did not adorn the great tables of the court, but among other dishes, the king and his court would have feasted on swan, peacock, goose, pheasant and an assortment of game birds and fowl. Turkeys were introduced during Henry’s reign, and he was one of the first kings to include it as part of the Christmas feast. The Tudor Christmas pie was also a spectacle. A carnivore’s delight, the contents consisted of a turkey, stuffed with a goose, stuffed with a chicken, stuffed with a partridge and then stuffed with a pigeon. These were sealed within a pastry case called a coffin, and served alongside hare, and any other birds that had not made it into the main pastry case.

Not that Christmas was simply about eating. The 12 days of revelry were punctuated by a host of festive activities, from pageants to masques, all presided over by the Lord of Misrule, rather than the king, who also had to obey the temporary Lord throughout the festivities. ‘Boy bishops’, chorister boys chosen from cathedral choirs, took the place of adult prelates and were allowed the same privileges as Lords of Misrule. Appointed on St Nicholas Day, 6 December, they ‘held office’ until 28 or 29 December; they were treated as if they were actual bishops, enjoyed real episcopal power and took all the services the adult bishop would have taken, with Mass being the only exception.

Throughout the series, Cromwell experiences very different Christmases. Before the death of his wife and daughters, he remembers making his daughter Grace a set of wings for the nativity play, but rather than the usual goose feathers, he makes them out of peacock feathers. It is also at Christmastide when Anne Boleyn first appears at court, dancing during the Christmas feast, in a yellow dress. Moving forwards through the years of Wolf Hall, Cromwell is summoned just after Christmas, at a time when it was believed that again the walls between this world and the afterlife thinned, and the dead walked among the living. Henry tells of a dream in which he saw his dead brother, Prince Arthur:

He looked sad, so sad. He seemed to say I stood in his place. He seemed to say, you have taken my kingdom, and you have used my wife. He has come back to make me ashamed.

We also see Cromwell’s household coming together for their own festivities throughout the 1530s as Cromwell’s position at court strengthens. It was the custom to exchange gifts at New Year, and for the court these presents could be deeply political. In Wolf Hall, Henry rather greedily questions Chapuys, the Imperial ambassador, about the offerings he may receive from the Emperor, adding ‘The French have already made me great gifts.’

The Feast of the Epiphany on 6 January marked the end of the processions, feasts and festivities, but the Yuletide season officially ended on 2 February, with the solemn celebration of Candlemas, the feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary. Every church would be aglow with hundreds of candles when the king and queen made their procession to Mass. A new year had begun, but it was anyone’s guess during Henry’s reign who would live to see it out.

THE TRAPPINGS OF A GENTLEMAN

Sport and pastimes in Tudor England evolved depending on the preferences of each monarch. Henry VII was fond of hunting throughout his life, and despite his deteriorating eyesight in his later years, he continued to indulge in the sport. Henry VIII, however, excelled at everything in his youth. The court bubbled with entertainment – gambling, playing shuffleboard and tennis in Henry’s palaces and, in good weather, hunting, hawking, archery contests and racing greyhounds. But sport and leisure were controlled by the government, dictating crucial aspects according to one’s rank and ensuring a distance between commoners and the nobility. Henry VIII passed a law in 1512 which banned commoners from indulging in leisurely pursuits such as tennis, cards, dice, bowls and skittles. Only during the Christmas season were these laws relaxed, but there were still certain activities, such as jousting and hunting, that belonged solely to the higher echelons of society.

H

UNTING

Like jousting, one had to be of a certain rank or status to be able to participate in the hunt. And, like jousting, it was believed that hunting kept one physically and mentally fit in preparation for war, should one arise. The royal hunt was quite the spectacle, with the nobles of the court, including women, riding out on horseback with their respective dogs – spaniels, buckhounds or greyhounds. Certain breeds were used to track the animal, while others would be used to bring it down. Even the dogs one owned were a symbol of status or position and a matter of pride – the wrong size or colour could expose one to mockery, which Gregory Cromwell tries to explain to his father in Wolf Hall. His black greyhounds are a source of amusement, ‘They say, why would you have dogs that people can’t see at night? Only felons have dogs like that.’

The hunt