As the holidays are fast approaching, I thought it might be fun to share with you some of the fascinating information I learned, while researching for my current book KNIGHT OF REDEMPTION, about how medieval people celebrated Christmas.

You'll also find in this edition of the newsletter Sign Up for the November/December Contest and my Christmas Recommended Read.

I wish you all peace and joy, and may your Christmas be bright and merry and filled with love.

The common peasant would not have the means to have a feast of their own, but royalty and nobility vied to see who could outdo the other in the size and scope of their Christmas season display and festivities. Even lesser magnates dispensed hospitality and good cheer to the greatest extent their resources would allow. In the Middle Ages, ninety-five percent of the populace was rural. It was custom in the countryside for barons and magnates to invite-in addition to their guests-servants and retainers of the manor, plus select other villagers, to partake of their feast.

The sumptuousness of the feast varied depending on the extent of the resources of the celebrant. Though the foods served at the feast were wide and varied, a number of dishes were traditional fare of a Medieval Christmas, like boar's head, and roasted peacock and swan.

At many Christmas feasts, boar's head was often brought into the dining hall to the sound of trumpets which commenced the first course of a 3-6 course meal, with each course having numerous dishes to choose from.

The tradition of the boar's head processional was first introduced by the Vikings. They sacrificed the boar to pay tribute to their god, Frey, then brought its head to the table with an apple in its mouth and decked with garlands. This pagan custom gradually became Christianized. Eventually, the animals being slaughtered for the pagan gods were instead being sacrificed for the one true God.

Sometimes at Christmas feasts, several wild foul were also brought to the table with the same grand ceremony as the boar's head. Peacock and swan, delicacies of the rich, were often made to look alive, as though they'd just been persuaded to sit upon the platter to be carried into the feasting-hall. This affect was achieved by the carcass being carefully skinned, feathers and all, then roasted, and then replaced back into its skin. The head and neck were stuffed to ensure they stood up so the bird looked as though it were still alive. Peacock was presented with their full tail and gilded head crest proudly displayed.


Other foods that would be more familiar to us today, but closely associated with Christmas, included mince pie and plum pudding. In medieval times, mince meat pie was known as Christmas pie. The original dish was a large and grand meat pie made of-beef, lamb, goose, chicken-as well as suet, dried fruit, and spices. It was usually oval in shape and easily transformed into a crib with a tiny pastry baby Jesus sculpted and set on top. It was eaten as a main dish of the Christmas feast until the 17th century when England's Puritan-lead Parliament began to curtail Christmas celebrations. The name and shape of the pie gradually changed to avoid any association with the old traditions, and by the late 19th century, the meat and most of the spices had been removed. All that remained were the rich fruits, suet, and plenty of added sugar.

During medieval times, a wide variety of beverages were also available. One alcoholic beverage, though, was brewed especially for consumption during Christmas. It was known as wassail. It was often served hot in a special "wassail bowl", or container made of wood, decorated with ribbons and was passed from person to person. The person passing the bowl declares 'wass hail' (good health in Anglo Saxon). The recipient responds 'drink hail' (drink to health). Customarily, the passing of the bowl is accompanied by a kiss. The recipient takes a drink and passes the bowl to the next person, repeating the salute, and so on through the company. If you're daring enough to try making your own wassail below you'll find a recipe below which I found in Daniel Diehl's Book Medieval Celebrations.A medieval Christmas feast would certainly not be complete without several forms of entertainment. Guests at feasts were treated to singing, dancing, various games, and mummers' plays. Christmas music in the form of hymns and carols were very popular. Hymns were of a religious nature. They were written and sung in Latin by the clergy. Carols were often composed by lay persons. They were written and sung in the vernacular, and brought a new element to the celebration of Christmas. Some were bawdy and related little to the religious festival, while others narrated stories of the Nativity. 
One popular type of entertainment at the medieval Christmas feasts was "mummers' plays". These were plays enacted by masked actors. There were three types of mummer's plays. One was the "Hero/Combat". Another was the "Wooing Ceremony". And the third was the "Sword Dance." All three deal with the themes of death and rebirth, but did so in a different way. Medieval people decorated their homes, manors, and halls with greenery for the Christmas season. Feast halls were draped with holly, ivy and mistletoe. Holly was thought to bring good luck to the home, and to protect it from lightning and witches. But more importantly, holly was connected to the Nativity with the evergreen leaves representing Jesus' eternal life.

Mistletoe has ties to both pagan and Christian legend and was believed to have healing powers. Though the tradition of kissing beneath the mistletoe had pagan origins, it acquired a Christian meaning in the medieval period when a new belief began to circulate that the wood of the cross on which Christ was crucified actually came from mistletoe, rather than the holly. A kissing-bough was often hung from the ceiling. This would consist of a round ball of twigs and greenery, decorated with seasonal fruit, such as apples, under which hung a bunch of mistletoe. Despite clerical disapproval, mistletoe became a firm part of the medieval Christmas tradition.

In the medieval period, the Yule log was ceremoniously carried into the house on Christmas Eve, and put in the fireplace of the main communal room. Often decorated with greenery and ribbon, it was lit with the saved end of the previous year's log and then burnt continuously for the Twelve Days of Christmas, providing much needed light and warmth.

1 � quarts sweet hard cider (you may substitute half medium dry white wine and half American sweet cider if you can't find English cider)

1 cooking apple
� c. butter
2 sticks cinnamon, broken into � inch-long pieces
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp. whole cloves
2 chopped nutmegs or � tsp ground nutmeg

Heat the cider in the saucepan until it simmers. Place the spices in a small square cloth and tie it shut to form a bag. Drop the spice bag in the simmering cider.
Slice the apple in � inch-thick rings, removing the core but leaving the skin in place. Mix the sugar and ground cinnamon in a small bowl. Coat the apple rings in the sugar-cinnamon mixture. Melt the butter in a skillet; when it is hot saut� the coated apple rings until they begin to soften. Remove the spice bag from the cider and pour the cider in a wooden bowl. Pour the saut�ed apples, along with the butter, into the hot cider and serve while steaming hot.

*Makes enough for about eight people.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Diehl, Daniel. Medieval Celebrations: How to Plan Holidays, Weddings, and Reenactments, with Recipes, Customs, Costumes, Decorations, Songs, Dances, and Games. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2001.

Jackson, Sophie. The Medieval Christmas. Stroud: Sutton, 2005.

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