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A Tudor Christmas with Alison Weir and Siobhan Clarke - Monday 27 Nov (LHF)
Monday 27 November, 6.30pm to 7.30pm (IN PERSON)
Christmas in Tudor times was a period of feasting, revelry and merrymaking `to drive the cold winter away'. A carnival atmosphere presided at court, with a twelve-day-long festival of entertainments, pageants, theatre productions and `disguisings', when even the king and queen dressed up in costume to fool their courtiers.
Throughout the festive season, all ranks of subjects were freed for a short time from everyday cares to indulge in eating, drinking, dancing and game-playing. We might assume that our modern Christmas owes much to the Victorians. In fact, as Alison Weir and Siobhan Clarke reveal in this fascinating book, many of our favourite Christmas traditions date back much further. Carol-singing, present-giving, mulled wine and mince pies were all just as popular in Tudor times, and even Father Christmas and roast turkey dinners have their origins in this period. The festival was so beloved by English people that Christmas traditions survived remarkably unchanged in this age of tumultuous religious upheaval.
Beautifully illustrated with original line drawings throughout, this enchanting compendium will fascinate anyone with an interest in Tudor life - and anyone who loves Christmas.
About the speakers:
Alison Weir - A popular historian and novelist, British author Alison Weir first started writing as a teenager, penning a three-volume history of the Tudors before she was fifteen. At the same time she started the research that would eventually become the basis of her first published book, Britain’s Royal Families, in 1989. Now one of Britain’s bestselling authors, Alison Weir’s other non-fiction works include Richard III and the Princes in the Tower, Elizabeth, the Queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine,Isabella, Katherine Swynford, Queens of the Conquest and A Tudor Christmas.
In 2006, Weir published her first novel, Innocent Traitor. Her other fictional works include The Captive Queen, A Dangerous Inheritance and she is currently working on the Six Tudor Queens series, focusing on the lives of the wives of Henry VIII.
Siobhan Clarke has worked for Historic Royal Palaces for 20 years and is based at Hampton Court Palace, where she trained as a Costumed Interpreter before becoming an HRP Guide Lecturer. As well as specialising in 16th century dress, she delivers lectures on the history and art of Hampton Court, the Tower of London, the Banqueting House and Kensington Palace. She lectures abroad for luxury cruise lines and, within the UK, for the National Trust and U3A. She has featured on BBC Radio Women's Hour and PBS Television's Secrets of Henry VIII's Palace.
Her other published works include The Tudors: The Crown, the Dynasty, the Golden Age with Linda Collins and King and Collector: Henry VIII and the art of Kingship with Linda Collins.
Additional information
- Website: www.eventbrite.com/cc/the-london-history-festival-2023-2689729
- Cost: £5 / £3 (concessions)
- Time:
- Event Image: Image