The Lions and Lilies Advent Calendar – 2013

Posted on December 24, 2013 by Lions and Lilies

For those who were following the advent calendar on our facebook page, we have answered the request from some to see it again in its entirety. Please enjoy our 24 days of a Medieval Christmas!

Welcome to Lions and Lilies Advent Calendar

DEC 1

The Kissing Bush

A Medieval Christmas did not have a Christmas tree. Instead they hung a large bunch of holly on a wooden frame from a slender chain in the hall. It was known as the kissing bush.

DEC 2

Nativity Box

In medieval England and Europe an early form of the Nativity scene developed which incorporated an ‘advent image’ or a ‘vessel cup’. It consisted of a box, often with a lid that was covered with a linen square and contained two dolls representing Mary and the baby Jesus. The box was decorated with ribbons and flowers (and sometimes apples) and it was thought to be very unlucky if you had not seen one before Christmas Eve.

DEC 3

The Yule Log

The largest possible log the hearth could hold was cut from a tree and brought into the hall on Christmas Eve and lit. It was to be kept burning for the entire twelve days of Christmas so that its last embers still smoulder on Twelfth Night. A small section of the last piece would be carefully preserved to ignite the new Yule log in the following year.

DEC 4

Deck the Halls

The medieval practice of decking churches and halls with greens for the season had its roots in ancient custom. The early Church had banned the use of evergreens because of their ties with pagan winter festivals, but by the Middle Ages, these plants had been given Christian interpretations and were brought in to brighten and decorate during the shorter dark and cold days of winter.

DEC 5

Letting in the Season

Before the ceremonies of the Christmas feast can begin, the festive joy must be invited into the hall. This is called ‘Letting-In the Season.’ Usually it is a ‘mummer,’ dressed in green and wearing bands of bells. Wassail! He dances his way in, inviting good fortune to fly in with him. He must be dark-haired too (for Judas was thought to have been a red-head!)

DEC 6

The Feast of Saint Nicholas the Bishop

December 6th is the feast of Saint Nicholas the Bishop who is remembered for secretly assisting and providing gifts for the poor. He became associated with Christmas with the idea of the wise men presenting gifts to the baby Jesus.

DEC 7

Yule Candle

Before the Christmas food was served a ceremonial light would be lit. A gigantic candle was placed on the high table so that all in the hall could see and admire it. Specially crafted throughout the year and made from multiple layers of coloured wax, one for every month, taking twelve months to complete. The base was surrounded by holly. The candle was lit each night of the twelve day celebration and extinguished on Twelfth Night.

DEC 8

Christmas Roast

A wide variety of what we might consider unusual fowl appeared on the medieval Christmas menu, such as swans and peacocks. The cook would strive to present the birds in artful ways by decorating the roasted carcass with the bird’s own feathers.

DEC 9

The Yule Boar

Among the preparations for winter is the hunt and one of the favourites was the hunt for the Yuletide boar. Great praise was lavished upon the hunter who managed to snare the beast for the Christmas table, often the centrepiece complete with an apple or orange in its mouth. Carried out on a huge tray, it was delivered to the high table with much pomp and ceremony.

DEC 10

Christmas Mead

No medieval Christmas was complete without a goblet of warm, spiced mead. Many families had their own recipes, passed from one generation to the next, but all contained the basic ingredient of honey with added variations of fruit and spices, warmed traditionally by having a hot poker plunged into the jug.

DEC 11

Mumming

A mummer was an amateur actor who performed in village plays at harvest time and special feasts. Often they performed in masks to hide their identity, a pagan tradition in which they were enticing back the sun to end the long winter but if their identity was revealed, the magic would fail. In medieval times, mummers were hired to entertain with religious plays at Yuletide. Using a wagon as a stage, they could move from village to village, performing.

DEC 12

Mince Pies

Mince Pies were so called because they contained shredded or minced meat and were baked in oblong shaped pans or casings, to represent Jesus’ crib. The pies were not considered authentic unless the contained three particular spices (cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg) – the three gifts presented to the Christ child by the Magi, the three wise men from the East.

DEC 13

Multi-bird Roast

In addition to serving whole birds in plumage, another creative dish was the multi-roast.

Some historians claim that these roasts emerged during the middle ages, while others believe they can be traced back to ancient times. At Christmastide, a twelve-bird roast would have included such birds as a woodcock, partridge, pigeon, pheasant, quail, guinea fowl, mallard, aylesbury duck, chicken, duck, and a goose, all within a swan, one bird for each month. The birds would be carefully boned out and folded, one within the other, the smaller birds side-by-side. One multi-roast could feed up to 130 people. But such creations were not limited to just birds. A medieval recipe book Le Viandier de Tailleven (origins late 13thC, early 14thC) gave us the ‘Helmeted Cock’ in which the capon rides a pig and is outfitted in the coat of arms of the honoured Lord. And in Greenland 400 auks (a type of seabird) were stuffed inside a seal!

DEC 14

Advent
From the thirteenth century, the four week period leading up to Christmas was celebrated as Advent. It was also considered to be the start of the church year.

The fourth century saw the introduction of the holidays of All Saints and All Souls, followed on November 11th by the feast of Saint Martin or Martinmas. The next four weeks were then a time of preparation, penance and fasting similar to those of lent.

DEC 15

Yule Dolls

Yule dolls were gingerbread figures made with honey, nutmeg, saffron, lemon and currants. Eyes and nose are raisins and the smiling mouth is a curl of orange peel. The first piece could be offered to a favourite animal incorporating the ancient custom of giving gifts of food to the animals so they will be healthy for spring. They were served only during the twelve days of Christmas and thought to be best eaten with a tankard of perry!

DEC 16

Wassail
Wassail (Old English wæs hæl,) is a medieval toast or salute which literally means ‘be you healthy.’ It originates both from the salute ‘Waes Hail’ and the drink of wassail, a hot mulled cider traditionally drunk at Christmas. ‘Wassailing’ was an ancient southern English custom of visiting orchards in cider-producing regions of England, reciting incantations and singing to the trees to promote a good apple harvest for the coming year. Wassailing also has its origins in Yulesinging or Caroling and during the medieval period the wassail was a reciprocal exchange between the feudal lords and their peasants as a form of recipient-initiated charitable giving, to be distinguished from begging, whereby the singers would receive food and drink in return for a blessing, delivered in the form of a song or carol.

DEC 17

Frumenty

Frumenty is a sweet simple dish made of cracked wheat (hence its name which derives from the Latin word frumentum meaning ‘grain’), boiled milk, egg yolks, honey, fruit and spices and was considered a real treat. The mixture was left to cool and eaten with a spoon. One of the oldest documented recipes for frumenty survives in a 1390 manuscript The Forme of Cury written by a master cook from the court of Richard II (Black Prince’s son, 1377-1390). It is one of the oldest cookery manuscripts in the English language. The preamble to the manuscript explains that the The Forme of Cury contains recipes for ‘common pottages and common meats for the household, as they should be made, craftily and wholesomely,’ as well as food designed to impress at royal banquets. Frumenty falls into both categories and there’s a basic recipe for cooking the dish with broth but there’s also frumenty with porpoise, a dish fit for kings!

DEC 18

Christmas Pudding
Christmas puddings in Medieval England may have had the same shape and dark rich colour that we see today, but they certainly would not have tasted very similar. The medieval pudding was made with a spicy kind of porridge, or frumenty. Once the wheat had been boiled, currants and dried fruit were stirred in. The yolks of eggs were also added and, if available, spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg. The mixture was left to cool and set before being served.

DEC 19

Umble Pie

In the 14th century, the numbles (or noumbles, nomblys, noubles) was the name given to the heart, liver, entrails etc. of animals, especially of deer – what we now call offal or lights. The word numbles became ‘umble’ and it is often used to refer to the pie of lesser value than the pie with the rich meat. Therefore, the poor would often eat ‘umble’ pie. Nowadays, if you have taken a tumble in life and have to live a standard of life you would not usually be used to, it is said that you are having to eat ‘humble pie.’

DEC 20

Nativity Play
Saint Francis of Assisi performed Midnight Mass in Greccio on Christmas Eve 1223 in front of a life-size nativity scene (crib or creche) built by Giovanni Velita, with live animals. This is often credited as the first nativity play. Medieval society loved entertainment and in particular plays. Christmas offered ample opportunity for everyone to become involved in the presentations, which were performed both in open public spaces and within larger private homes, with the Nativity Play being a particular favourite.

DEC 21

Frankincense and Myrrh

Drawn from the tale of Christ’s birth, frankincense and myrrh were prominently displayed in the homes of wealthy people during the Middle Ages. The two precious tree resins were presented to the baby Jesus at his birth and were later often placed in or near nativity scenes. Housed in elaborately carved trunks, the resins were also burnt as incense and thrown into the fireplace to perfume the smoke. Today, frankincense and myrrh are readily available at import stores and are an effective way of lending atmosphere to homes decorated in the medieval style.

DEC 22

We Wish You a Merry Christmas
Carolling, or traveling to different homes to offer or sing Christmas cheer evolved, as we know, from the tradition of ‘Wassailing’. No one is quite sure when the custom started, but it did give us the song, ‘Here We Come-A-Wassailing’ — sung as carollers wished good cheer to their neighbors in the hope of getting a gift in return. The song gradually became the popular ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’ — its last verse, ‘Bring us some figgy pudding’ stems from the wassailers’ original intent of requesting food in return for a blessing.

DEC 23

The Shepherds’ Play

The Shepherds’ Play (also known as The Second Shepherds’ Play/pageant) is a famous medieval mystery play. It acts as a prelude to the nativity play where it becomes clear that Christ is coming to Earth to redeem the world from its sins. Although the underlying tone of The Shepherd’s Play is serious, many of the antics that occur among the shepherds are extremely farcical in nature. The biblical portion of the play, a retelling of the Visitation of the Shepherds, comes only after a longer, invented story that mirrors it, in which the shepherds, before visiting the holy baby outside in a manger, must first rescue one of their sheep that has been hidden in a cradle indoors by a comically evil sheep-stealing couple. Once they have discovered and punished the thieves, the storyline switches to the familiar one of the three shepherds being told of the birth of Christ. Although nothing is known about the author, or the origins of the play, it is agreed by several scholars that it dates sometime between 1400-1450.

DEC 24

12 Day of Christmas
The Twelve Days of Christmas are the festive days beginning Christmas Day (25 December) – which was also known as Christmastide and Twelvetide. The Twelfth Day of Christmas is always on Epiphany Eve (5 January), but the Twelfth Night can either precede or follow the Twelfth Day according to which Christian tradition is followed;

Day 1 – 25 December: Christmas Day.
Day 2 – 26 December: St. Stephen’s Day. This day is mentioned in the carol ‘Good King Wenceslas.’
Day 3 – 27 December: Feast of Saint John the Evangelist and Apostle.
Day 4 – 28 December: The Feast of the Holy Innocents, the young male children ordered murdered in Bethlehem by King Herod, according to the Gospel of Matthew. The traditional Christmas song “The Coventry Carol” describes this event.
Day 5 – 29 December: The feast day of Saint Thomas Becket.
Day 6 – 30 December: The feast of the Holy Family.
Day 7 – 31 December: The feast of Saint Sylvester. In Scotland this day is known as Hogmanay.
Day 8 – 1 January: The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. Before the Second Vatican Council, it was also observed as the Feast of the Holy Circumcision of Jesus.
Day 9 – 2 January: Octave day of St. Stephen or the feast day of St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen. In England, the Lichfield Martyrs are also celebrated on this day.
Day 10 – 3 January: Feast of Saint Genevieve or the most holy name of Jesus.
Day 11 – 4 January: The octave day of the feast of the Holy Innocents or the feast of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American saint. In medieval times this was The Feast of Saint Simon Stylites.
Day 12 – 5 January: In the UK this was the Feast of St. Edward the Confessor, King of England. The rest of Europe feasted St. Julian the Hospitaller on this day. The evening of the 5 January is also Twelfth Night.

Lions and Lilies

wish all their readers a very Merry Christmas

A safe and prosperous New Year

Christmas in the Middle Ages with Sir Justyn (Part 3)

Posted on December 23, 2013 by Cathy A

The ladies at Lions and Lilies are currently much engaged with the production of a Christmas gift for their loyal readers so would like to thank Sir Justyn for his chivalrous gift of a three part Christmas blog.

Christmas in the modern world is heavily associated with a hearty Christmas meal, shared by family and friends and it was not so different in the middle ages. Advent was a time of fasting – which commenced on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and ended on Christmas day. A great deal of feasting and celebration occurred during this time and realistically only the most devout and self- disciplined worshippers would be able to fast during advent. The rich could actually pay someone in the church to fast on their behalf!

There are some differences in the dishes offered on the medieval menu and the way they were served. Roast meat was common; however, the medieval diet also included such animals as venison, duck, rabbit, pigeon, goose, peacock and even swan.

Christmas Eve was an occasion for a seafood feast and as Advent remained in place until Christmas Day, meat, cheese and milk were forbidden. The seafood feast might include everything from fried, roasted or baked fish with a variety of sauces, as well oysters, mussels, crabs, lobster, clams, and assorted shellfish, all served in an array of manner and form.

Even the lower class made merry with abundant food. Chickens, pork and pigeon were perhaps the most common of meats for the lower classes with boar being the most celebrated. The pig was usually fattened specifically for the event and spit roasted with a marinade or basted in spices and wine. The boars head was dressed and served as an entremets, primarily decorative in purpose, and sometimes a mock boar’s head, made of cake or other such food, was served as a subtlety. Poultry was a main staple of the medieval diet with chicken, duck and goose all present. Delicacies also included birds such as pheasant, quail, pigeon, peacock and swan. Turkey was not available for the simple fact that it was not introduced until the 16^th century, from the New World.

Christmas was also a time for drinking – in fact any time was a time for drinking! Wassail (hot mulled cider), piment (sweetened, spiced wines of which included clarrey and hippocras) and caudell –a medieval ancestor of egg nog, were all consumed at Christmas. Of course you would also find such staples as ales, meads and wines that were present all year round.

Many recipes of medieval Christmas food and beverages can still be found today and I highly recommend you to seek them out and try them yourself. A great resource is the Eslite d’ Corps group pages, specifically on EdC Medieval Cooking. Here you can share ideas, experiences and comments regarding anything culinary in the middle ages.

Merry Christmas All from Sir Justyn and his Eslite d’ Corps!

Justin Webb a.k.a. Sir Justyn is a professional medieval performer, educator, medieval combat instructor and author, internationally renowned for public speaking and displays. He has performed, taught and spoken not only in Australia but also in England and France. He is also the leading member of Eslite d’ Corps, a high quality 14thC Living History group. You can learn more about Sir Justyn at www.sirjustyn.com and on his Facebook page.

Christmas in the Middle Ages with Sir Justyn (Part 2)

Posted on December 16, 2013 by Cathy A

Have you ever wondered where some of our Christmas traditions originated, such as holly, ivy and mistletoe? Many people believe they are a modern inclusion but the Romans used all three plants in a midwinter festival called Saturnalia, a celebration and feast day in honour of the Roman deity Saturn, during which participants made merry with abundant food and drink, exchanged gifts and enjoyed a carnival atmosphere. Saturn, being an agricultural god, was associated with evergreens as they represented hope and renewed life. Though the Christian church of the Middle Ages frowned upon the use of the plants because of their connection to pagan rituals, they continued to adorn the homes of commonfolk at Yuletide.

However certain conditions needed to be met if one was to decorate with holly, ivy or mistletoe. They could not be taken inside before Christmas Eve or removed before Twelfth Night. In some parts of medieval Europe they had to be burned when disposing of them and yet in other places this was considered to be bad luck and instead they had to be left outdoors to wither and rot. It was also believed that pixies and sprites lived within them, but were restrained from creating havoc by the power of Christ during Christmas, however this protection would disappear after the Twelfth Night and the creatures could escape and cause all manner of mischief.

This was period in history when modern faith and ancient superstition collided and eventually merged into modern traditions. Even today many people believe it is bad luck to set up a tree too early and just as it is to leave it up after Twelfth Night!

But what did these evergreens symbolise?

Holly brought good luck to the home and protected it from lightning, witches, goblins and other evil spirits.

Ivy was not usually used inside because of a common association with death. It was believed that if you had ivy growing outside it was a sign of a good future but if it died or did not prosper it was a sign of impending doom. Symbolically, Ivy was used to decorate the outside of a home to remind people that while things were joyous and good inside, the threat of death and misfortune was ever present.

Old superstitions held that mistletoe was the most dangerous of the three evergreens because it could be used in magic and was associated with paganism. Mistletoe had a place not just in Roman mythology but also in Celtic and Norse traditions, with ‘kissing under the mistletoe’ a Viking belief propagated by them as they spread across Europe in the Dark Ages. The plant was forbidden anywhere within church walls, except, strangely enough in the cathedral of the City of York, ‘The York Minster’, where every year a large bunch of mistletoe was placed upon the altar. Perhaps the most popular aspect of mistletoe was the licence it gave people to flirt and kiss under it during celebration which incidentally might be the very reason the church disapproved of it.

Christmas trees were also a little different in the Middle Ages. The evergreen fir tree was considered the ‘Christmas’ tree and common legend has it that the first fir grew from a pagan oak destroyed by a Saint, sometimes thought to be St Wilfrid and other times St Bonafice. The Christmas fir remained outside and was decorated as a part of a communal celebration.

The medieval equivalent of the modern concept of a Christmas tree was called the ‘kissing bough,’ which was essentially a ball of greenery of winter plants (remember, no ivy inside!) decorated with apples, candles, berries and a sprig of mistletoe hanging from the bottom centre. It was then hung from the middle of the room.

As readers have likely already noted, saints played a big part in the lives of medieval people and, of course, Christmas was no exception. The most famous saint whose feast day falls in December is St Nicholas the Gift Giver, renowned for his efforts in helping the less fortunate. But held in higher importance was St Martin, whose feast day on 11^th November heralded the commencement of the Christmas season. This occasion was not just a holiday but a time that marked the start of preparations for December festivities. St Thomas was recognised on 21^st December and coincided with Winter Solstice, St Stephen’s day was December 26^th and was celebrated with mumming plays, sword dances and observations of ancient superstitions such as the bleeding of work animals. Other Christmas saints included St Thomas Becket, St Lucy, St John the Evangelist and St Francis of Assisi and for each saint there was another feast and celebration. The 28^th of December cannot be overlooked – called Holy Innocents Day, commemorating the slaughter of all boys under the age of two during the reign of King Herod after he heard of the birth of Jesus, however, quite understandably, this was not a joyous occasion but rather a solemn one. It was believed that anything new that started on this day was doomed to utter failure and all work or agreements of any kind were avoided on this occasion.

Christmas in the Middle Ages with Sir Justyn (Part 1)

Posted on December 10, 2013 by Cathy A

We think of Christmas as a time spent in the company of family and friends, a holiday or deserved break from the year’s labours. Some people view it as an exercise in capitalism and greed, others as a strictly religious affair. But what we don’t realise is that ‘Christmas’ existed long before the modern era, in fact you might be surprised to learn that during the Middle Ages people celebrated Christmas by giving each other gifts and decorating their homes. They went carolling, feasted on seasonal foods and drink and celebrated the Feast of Saint Nicholas, the Wondermaker, albeit on December 6^th not on the 25^th.

Singing and dancing was extremely popular. Much like parts of continental Europe or in the Middle East today, whole communities would come together and take part in singing and dancing. If you imagine a hundred small villages and towns having an old fashioned country medieval barn dance, then you are fairly close to how they may have celebrated Christmas 700 years ago.

Carols and hymns were a frequently sung during this period. Carols were more of a secular type of song, where as hymns were religious in nature. The distinction has not really changed when compared to today except that many songs we call carols were hymns in the Middle Ages. Carols were often ribald and light hearted and were easy to learn, whereas hymns were more austere and sung the year round.

Theatre was also a popular December form of entertainment. Plays, pageants, mumming and allegorical or festive tournaments were all forms of theatre. Plays often conveyed strong moral points and were originally performed by monks. They were used as a way to teach common folk Biblical tales or retell the life of a saint but they often degenerated into ribald stories with slapstick characters eventually causing them to be banned from church grounds, excluding the clergy to take part. Pageants were something a little grander. There was no stage present but rather wagons constructed with two levels that could be moved to a given place in a town or city with adequate performance space.

Mumming was a form of medieval street theatre which included plays, costumes, music and dance. Groups of mummers would frolic from neighbourhood to neighbourhood in a form of both structured and improvised theatre performance. It was very important that the mummers were incognito. They would apply makeup, masks, cloaks and hoods in very much the same way as is seen in today’s Mardi Gras, but perhaps more recognisably as Carnivale or a Masque Ball. The requirement of disguise was the result of a superstition that went back to pagan times in that the mummers were summoning or performing the sun back to shorten the winter. It was claimed that if a mummer’s identity was revealed the magic would fail and the winter would be long and harsh. In the Middle Ages it was not such a superstition as a courtesy. It was bad manners to publically point out the identity of a mummer not for reasons of pagan superstition but for the sake of maintaining the mystery of the performance.