A Tudor Easter
A Tudor Easter
So, you wake up in April 1555 and Easter is approaching. This is not a time of fluffy chicks, cute bunnies and Easter eggs with gawdy wrapping. It is not an excuse for going to the pub on Sunday, eating a leg of lamb and lying on a sofa surrounded by crème eggs. In 1555 it was a time of strict religious celebration – more important than Christmas. And under the reign of Mary Tudor and her radical Catholic bishops, you would be preparing for a weekend of prayer and religious ceremony.
At this point you are nearing the end of Lent – forty days of fasting in every way. You have been banned from eating meat – though fish was allowed. If fish was short and the rich complained then a Bishop might have decreed chicken to be fish on a few Fridays – because what are a few feathers when the rich are hungry? You would also have abstained from all dairy and even some root vegetables considered to be ‘too much of the earth’. Wives, husbands and lovers have been expected to sleep apart and so the coming weekend will also be one of ‘high hopes’ for many. So, the ordinary person is looking forward to and Easter Sunday of good food, good company and a ‘good time’.
But this is the reign of Mary Tudor and so your merriment is likely well hidden, for she has brought to the fore the religiosity of Easter. On Maundy Thursday, she will hold a great ceremony in which she will publicly wash the feet of the poor and hand out maundy coins in a symbolic show of being anointed by God but also the servant of the people. In doing this she is aligning herself with Christ and his washing of his disciples’ feet with sweet oils.
The following day, Good Friday, will be a day of rituals in every church. It will start with a mass and the creeping of the cross. If you are young this will seem a new and strange custom as it has been little seen since Henry VIII decided he did not like the ceremony and his son, Edward, banned it as ‘catholic superstition.’ But now you will see a crucifix raised at the front of the church, atop the alter. Then the clergymen will go to the back and crawl on hands and knees until they reach the cross and kiss the feet of Jesus. This done, you will sit as the crucifix is brought around the congregation and you are all expected to follow suit. Then the service moves to the creation of the Easter sepulchre. You will watch as the priest approaches a stone or wooden niche that represents the tomb of Christ. In it he will place the host and an image of Jesus. The niche is closed with a cloth to represent the closing of the tomb and candles are lit around it. Then step forward members of the church who will stand guard just as the Bible states that Roman soldiers guarded the tomb of Jesus.
If you are sick, especially with Scrofula (a form of TB), you will be clamouring to attend the church in which Queen Mary Tudor will be doing her own creeping of the cross and attending mass. For you believe you have the King’s Evil and only her touch may heal you. If you are very lucky, you will be chosen to move to a room at the side of the church where she will ask you forward as the priest repeats the gospel of Mark. She will lay her hands on your neck, moving them in the shape of the cross while repeating a prayer. She will be kind and will not turn away from your sores and ulcers as she believes that God is passing the power of healing through her hands to you. After being touched, you will be given an angel – a touch-piece coin blessed by her and holding the power of healing. They are punched with a hole and a ribbon pulled through and you would promise never to part with it unless in extreme need. Or maybe you are troubled by cramps or epilepsy and have had your ring blessed by her. From today onwards it will be your cramp ring and you will wear it believing she is curing you.
On Easter Sunday you will arise early and do the traditional spring clean of your dwelling – sweeping through and laying down sweet rushes on the floor. Then to church where the lights around the niche-tomb will be extinguished and relit to symbolise the resurrection.
But what if these ceremonies do not suit your beliefs? What if you have been drawn to Protestantism? Likely you are keeping very quiet. Because the streets are littered with pamphlets setting out the terrible burnings happening across England and Wales. Since February, fourteen men have died on a pyre and went screaming to their God. If you do not hold Mary’s views, you are in mortal danger.
But not all is grim. For there are other traditions which might have given a little cheer. Eggs were given as gifts as they have been off the menu since shrove Tuesday forty days ago; in the markets and on your table you might find pax cakes – little griddle cakes of flour, egg, water and spices (if you had money for spice); green tansy omelettes were prepared; hot cross buns were handed out by priests; Simnel cakes were baked – but decorated with flowers and not the 11 balls of marzipan we see today; if you were a servant or apprentice you might be given leave to go home to visit your family; if you are rich you might have a rich meal of lamb, venison or veal – just like today.
Happy Tudor Easter.
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For more information and insight:
Claire’s chats at The Tudor Society website: https://www.tudorsociety.com/good-friday-tudor-times/#comment-72517
Recipe for pax cakes and other Easter treats: https://thetudortravelguide.com/2019/03/30/tudor-easter-recipes/#:~:text=During%20the%20Tudor%20period%2C%20Easter,sadly%20without%20any%20culinary%20specifics.
Book: Alison Sim, Pleasures and pastimes in Tudor England
