Here’s the challenge, read it: I warrant there’s vinegar and pepper in’t.
Twelfth Night, 3, 4

I doubt your guests will guess that these refreshing tarts contain both pepper and vinegar, two flavors not ordinarily associated with dessert. Peppercorns, popular since the time of ancient Greece and Rome, were often included in sweet dishes in Shakespeare’s day. In Medieval times this valuable spice was traded as money. “Peppercorn rent”, a legal term for a symbolic or nominal payment, is still used in England today.

4 large naval oranges
3 lemons
2 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground 5 color peppercorns
3 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup white wine
2 tablespoons verjus or white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
15 ready-made tiny phyllo tart shells, (1 inch diameter)

Using a vegetable peeler, but the peel from the oranges and lemons, removing any of the white pith. Soak the peels for 10 minutes in cold water. Drain and coarsely chop the peels.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the peels, pepper, ginger, sugar, and wine, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature and stir in the verjus and honey.

Spoon the filling into the tart shells and serve.

© Shakespeare’s Kitchen: Renaissance Recipes for the Contemporary Cook by Francine Segan.

I picked and cut most of their festival purses; and had not the old man come in with a whoo-bub against his daughter and the king’s son and scared my choughs from the chaff, I had not left a purse alive in the whole army.
A Winter’s Tale, 4, 4

In Shakespeare’s day, meat turnovers like these were called “purses” because they looked like the small change holder people wore attached to their belt. The expression “cut purse” referred to a thief who cut the cord to steal the purse, an all too common occurrence in those days before policed streets.

The savory filling of tangy candied ginger and sweet dried fruit make these purses worth stealing! Enjoy them with a glass of cold ale before heading off to see your favorite production of Shakespeare or while watching one of the many great movies inspired by his work.

8 ounces ground round or ground sirloin
1/4 teaspoon ground rosemary
1/3 cup currants
6 dates, finely chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped candied ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pinch of freshly milled black pepper
pie dough, homemade or store bought
1 large egg, beaten

Place the beef, rosemary, currants, dates, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, salt, and pepper in a bowl and mix well. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours, or overnight. Remove the meat from the refrigerator 1 hour before baking.

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Roll out the Renaissance Dough 1/8 inch thick on a floured work surface. Using a 3-inch round ring cutter, cut out 24 dough circles. Place 1 1/2 tablespoons of the meat mixture onto each circle, fold in half, and pinch the edges to seal. Brush the purses with the egg and place on a well-greased, nonstick baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Original recipe: To make pursses or Cremitaries
Take a litle mary, small raysons, and Dates, let the stones bee taken away, these being beaten together in a Morter, season it with Ginger, Sinemon, and Sugar, then put it in a fine paste, and bake them or fry them, so done in the serving of them cast blaunch powder upon them:
The Good Husewifes Jewell, 1587

© Shakespeare’s Kitchen: Renaissance Recipes for the Contemporary Cook by Francine Segan.

The gatehouse and rooms around the clock are also well known as they were the sumptuous chambers of Anne Boleyn. They were adapted for her as she, understandably, didn’t want to use Katharine of Aragon’s old rooms, which stand directly opposite hers – an interesting juxtaposition. The gatehouse is known today as Anne Boleyn’s gate, and sadly, work was still underway on Anne Boleyn’s apartments above that gate on the day the King had her executed.  Her rooms today have been enveloped by, ironically, the Young Henry Exhibit as well as parts of the gift shops.  However, as romantic as the notion may be, the gatehouse would not have been called Anne Boleyn’s Gate during the Tudor period. Alas, the name allegedly comes from the Victorian period, as do the entwined H&As in its ceiling.

Ladies in waiting were companions at church, at cards, at dance, and at hunt. They tended to their mistress when she was  ill, or anxious and also shared in her joy and pleasures.  They did not do menial tasks  — there were servants for that — but they did remain in charge of important elements of the Queen’s household, for example, her jewelry and her clothing. They were gatekeepers, and during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I small bribes were often offered to her ladies for access to Her Grace. The Queen was expected to assist her maids of honor in becoming polished and finding a good match, and they were in turn to be loyal and obedient. Married women had more freedom, better rooms, and usually, closer contact with the queen.

In her excellent book, Ladies in Waiting, Anne Somerset quotes a lady-in-waiting to Queen Caroline as saying, “Courts are mysterious places … Intrigues, jealousies, heart-burnings, lies, dissimulations thrive in (courts)as mushrooms in a hot-bed.” This is exactly the kind of place where one wants to know whom one can trust.  Somerset goes on to tell us that, “At a time when virtually every profession was an exclusively masculine preserve, the position of lady-in-waiting to the Queen was almost the only occupation that an upperclass Englishwoman could with propriety pursue.” Although direct control was out of their hands, the power of influence, of knowledge, of gossip, and of relationship networks  was within the firm grasp of these ladies.  Appointment was not only by the personal choice of the queen or the king, but a political decision as well. Queen Victoria’s first stand took place when her new Prime Minister, Robert Peel, meant to replace some of the ladies in her household to reflect the bipartisan English government and keep an even political balance. According to Maureen Waller in Sovereign Ladies, Victoria was adamant. “‘I cannot give up any of my ladies,’ she told him at their second meeting. ‘What, Ma’am!’ Peel queried, ‘Does your Majesty mean to retain them all?’ ‘All’, she replied.”

Keeping the political balance in mind was a concern during the Tudor years, too. Ladies from all of the important households were appointed to be among the Queen’s ladies, though she held her closest personal friends in closest confidence. Of course Queen Katherine of Aragon understandably preferred the ladies who had served her for most of her life right till her death. Henry told his sixth wife, Queen Kateryn Parr that she may, “choose whichever women she liked to pass the time with her in amusing manners or otherwise accompany her for her leisure.” Parr chose like-minded friends when she could. Queens often surrounded themselves with family members, hoping that they could trust in their loyalty because as the queen gained more influence, so advanced her family.

Sadly in Queen Anne Boleyn’s case, family seems to have been less than worthy of her generosity and trust. Among those thought to have betrayed her in the end were her sister-in-law, Jane Parker, Lady Rochford, and some of her Howard relatives. Among those better deserving of her friendship were the Wyatt sisters and Nan Zouche, all of whom shared Anne’s joie de vivre and reformist sympathies, and remained true friends to her till the end.

Within a few days, the mighty trees began to weary. The deciduous, bereft of the ability to bend and yield, became brittle and snapped at the least blow of the wind. Whole branches abruptly snapped off,  leaving a forest of amputees. The firs, more flexible, held up better, but they also were more generous in catching and collecting snow, and after a certain weight, they, too, fell. The trees that seemed to make it all right were those who were able to lean into a mightier tree nearby, resting until the wind and snow stopped and the sun melted away their great load.

I thought how this reminded me of our Christian faith. We are not exempted from the ice that suddenly delivers many tiny, stinging troubles that pelt and pile upon us till we are ready to snap and break. Nor are we excused from heavier loads. This is not heaven yet. But we are given a promise, that we have Someone we can lean upon, upon whom we can rest and transfer the weight of our cares and sorrows. He props us, as it were, till the stormy cycle passes (and it always does) and our burdens melt away, allowing us to stand true and straight again.

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”

Matthew 11:28

Surrounded by a double moat, this historic castle began life as a lowly farmhouse on land awarded to Walter de Hevere by William the Conqueror in 1066. In 1270, Walter de Hevere’s grandson, William, built an impressive stone gatehouse and bailey on the site of the farmhouse. Tall, crenellated twin towers flanked the gatehouse, featuring cross-shaped arrow slits, a portcullis and a drawbridge to defend the castle. St. Peter’s Church at Hever is adjacent to the castle, and dates back more than eight hundred years.

The Boleyn connection to the castle began in 1459, when the property came into the hands of Geoffrey Bullen. Bullen was a wealthy mercer, or dealer in expensive fabrics, who became Lord Mayor of London the same year. His rise in prominence, first as an alderman and then as Lord Mayor, would have required Sir Geoffrey to maintain a home befitting his station. He was responsible for transforming the stone fortification into a comfortable and impressive Tudor dwelling for his family. Geoffrey Bullen’s son, William, inherited the castle from his father, and then in 1505 passed it down to his own son, Sir Thomas Boleyn.

Historians don’t agree on whether or not Anne Boleyn was born at Hever Castle, but it’s certain she lived at least part of her childhood there. It isn’t hard to imagine Anne and her siblings, Mary and George, running through the ancient bailey walls, strolling along the nearby River Eden and exploring the imposing twin towers.  Most certainly, the sturdy walls of the castle’s Long Gallery were the site of many leave-takings as both Anne Boleyn and her sister, Mary, traveled back and forth from England to France. An interesting architectural note, common among the great homes of this era—the sisters’ bedrooms were actually quite small and cramped in comparison with Hever Castle’s public rooms.

There were no doubt dozens of servants in a house this size, not only to care for the Boleyns and their home, but also to attend to the large stables and expansive grounds at Hever Castle. The expectation that the Boleyn family would entertain traveling nobility expanded the household regularly. Henry VIII, himself, did eventually come to this castle in the English countryside. Under the bows of an ancient oak, King Henry made known his affection for the fascinating Anne Boleyn. He would visit Hever Castle several times during his pursuit of Anne. This lovely castle with a fascinating history remained in the Boleyn family until the death of Thomas Boleyn in 1539, at which time it reverted to the Crown.  Hever was among the properties Henry awarded to his wife Anne of Cleves when he divorced her.

Resources:
http://www.hevercastle.co.uk

http://www.timetravel-britain.com/articles/castles/hever.shtml

Tudor Christmas Gifts

The Tudors gave gifts at the New Year. Every important person was expected to give the monarch a New Year’s gift and then receive one in return. This was considered so important that a list, called the Gift Roll, of all gifts was kept. Acceptance or rejection of a gift was vital as this quite often had a hidden meaning! For example, in 1532 Henry VIII accepted Anne Boleyn’s gift but rejected Katherine of Aragon’s; Anne and Henry were married the following year.  The women of Henry’s court are listed as giving him embroidered shirts, and other craftsmen would show off their skills, too. For example, the Hans Holbein painting of Edward was given as a Christmas gift.

Another example of the meaning behind Tudor gift-giving occured when Sir Philip Sidney enraged Elizabeth I by suggesting she should not marry; for the New Year he gave her a jeweled whip to show subjection to her will. In 1568 Elizabeth I was given a pair of cambric sleeves by Mr. Adams, schoolmaster of Queen’s pages.

Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, was a very successful gift giver; he gave silk stockings in the 1st year of Elizabeth’s reign and also possibly the world’s first wrist watch. Epigrams were often sent as New Year’s gifts and contained one or two verses, like a short poem, usually with a sarcastic or satirical thought. From 1582 Elizabeth began to receive New Year gifts of gold, silver and rock crystal handled forks – forks were new to the country, and therefore, to court!

Tudor Christmas Traditions

Christmas and New Years was the greatest festival celebrated by the Tudors. Advent was a time of fasting; Christmas Eve was particularly strictly kept with no meat, cheese or eggs. Celebrations began on Christmas Day when the genealogy of Christ was sung while everyone held lighted tapers. The Monarch was required to attend mass and would be expected to wear new clothes. He would progress from the Privy Chamber to the Chapel Royal dressed in coronation robes of purple and/or scarlet complete with crown.

The whole 12 days of Christmas was celebrated (25th December – 6th January), but not every day was celebrated equally. All work stopped except looking after animals; spinning was even banned as this was the most common occupation, for women and flowers were placed around the spinning wheels. People would visit friends and it was seen as very much a community celebration. Work re-started on Plough Monday, the first Monday after 12th night.

In Tudor Times the most sumptuous feast were held on 25th Dec, 1st Jan and 6th Jan. In 1532/33, the preparation for the 12th night feast at Greenwich palace required the building of a temporary boiling and working house. Up to 24 courses would be served, much more than was needed for the guests but it was a status symbol. Left over food was always used to feed the poor.

Tudor Christmas had a definite purpose. Because society was very strictly organised, these celebrations acted as a pressure release, a time when everything was turned on its head, the world turned inside out and upside down. Certain sections of society were even allowed an unusual degree of freedom. For example, in ecclesiastical communities, the tradition of the boy bishop was practised. A choir or alter boy would be elected for a short period either on 6th December (St Nicholas Day) or 28th December (Holy Innocents Day) with the idea being that it showed the boys the honour and dignity of holy orders. This was banned in 1541 because it was seen as mocking the church authorities and by implication the head of the church, who of course was Henry VIII. However, the practice possibly dates back to the 10th century and never completely died out. The tradition is still continued at Hereford, Gloucester, Westminster (RC) and Salisbury cathedrals to this day.

There was a similar tradition in secular circles. They had the Lord of Misrule. He was like a mock king and supervised entertainments or rather unruly events involving drinking, revelry, role reversal and general chaos. One of the games the Tudors would have been familiar with was Blind Mans Bluff! The inspiration for this Lord of Misrule was the earlier 11th century tradition of The Feast of Fools.

Another example of role reversal which started in the Tudor period is that of Barring Out, where pupils would take possession of the school by locking the staff out until certain demands regarding playtimes and homework were met. It was particularly common in Northern counties and was usually around the 6th December which is St Nicholas Day (the patron saint of children).

A favorite Tudor Christmas tradition was the performing of plays. There are records from the early 16th century that both Oxford and Cambridge colleges employed travelling players in their Christmas entertainments. There are also records of a play being performed for Cardinal Wolsey at Grays Inn during Christmas 1526. Coventry mystery plays which the Coventry carol was written for, tell the story of Herod’s murder of the innocents. Mystery plays are still performed in Coventry even today.

The Tudors also possibly practiced the Viking custom of burning a Yule Log. The Log would be decorated on Christmas Eve for the 12 days of Christmas and then burned. It was considered lucky to keep some remains to help light the following years log.

All sports on Christmas day were banned by Henry VIII in 1541 (except archery of course). In theory gambling, tennis, bowls and other games were forbidden to all but the very wealthy except at Christmas! Jousting was also a popular sport during the Christmas period.   In 1551, Edward VI passed a law that everyone had to walk to church on Christmas day; it’s still on the books today. A Tudor Christmas was always a 2 week period of concerted power, politics, and networking as the monarch would be surrounded by courtiers, nobility and other important people.

Originally published at www.localhistories.org

Tudor Christmas Decorations

The Tudors did not have Christmas trees, although they were around in the 16th century. Those are a Baltic/northern German tradition and even then, they are not recorded until about 1520. The first known record of a Christmas tree was in Riga, Latvia.

The decorations the English in Tudor times would have used would have included natural evergreens like holly, ivy, yew, mistletoe, box and laurel. They would not have decorated their  houses until Christmas Eve as it was thought to be unlucky to do it before then. The more modern tradition of fairy lights is said to originate from the 16th century “Legend of Martin Luther”. Luther was walking in the snow-covered woods and, seeing stars through the trees, was struck by their beauty. He took a tree home and put candles on it; that’s why we have fairy lights!

Tudor Christmas Carols

The earliest recorded collection of Christmas carols dates from 1521, published by Wynken de Worde, and includes The Boars Head Carol. Carol means “a dance with a song” and carols flourished throughout Tudor times as a way to celebrate and to spread the message of the nativity. Other Christmas carols the Tudors would have been familiar with include The Coventry Carol, While Shepherds Watched, The First Nowell, Angels from the Realms of Glory, Ding Dong Merrily on High (French in origin), In Dulci Jubilo, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. Wassail carols, of which there are  many, were also popular and most areas of the country have their own version.

Originally published at www.localhistories.org

According to historian Eric Ives, “The courtier, the ‘perfect knight’, was supposed to sublimate his relations with the ladies of the court by choosing a ‘mistress’ and serving her faithfully and exclusively. He formed part of her circle, wooed her with poems, songs and gifts, and he might wear her favor and joust in her honor … in return, the suitor must look for one thing only, ‘kindness’ – understanding and platonic friendship.” Many of the plays and entertainments in Henry the Eighth’s court reflected these values and Henry himself, early in his reign, was very chivalrous and courtly indeed.

Andreas Capellanus, in his definitive twelfth century book, The Art of Courtly Love, set out to inform “lovers” which gifts could be offered, (among them a girdle, a purse, a ring, or gloves) and to clarify the signs and signals that indicated such a love game was underway – or on the wane.  This way the participants, and those around them at court, would know that the game was afoot.  Physical attraction was one of many factors in courtly love, but sexual expression was not necessarily an element of the relationship. Cappellanus further posits that a beautiful figure, excellence of character, and extreme readiness of speech are required for a man or woman to fall in love, with character being the most noble element
of all.

The longest game of courtly love, played out before all of Europe, was undoubtedly between Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII.  The relationship started out as courtly flirtation but as sometimes happened, it then progressed to a more serious, deeper connection with a significant goal in outcome and purpose.  Although their courtly relationship did not follow each of the thirty-one rules Capellanus lists from the “King of Love,” it did dovetail with some of them – a few of which have been examined below.

Rule II. He who is not jealous cannot love. This rule immediately brings to mind the incident between Henry and Thomas Wyatt during a game of bowls. Thomas Wyatt used one of Anne’s ribbons and bauble to mark distance, and he meant to use it to provoke or test Henry’s jealousy.  Henry, predictably, flew into a possessive bluster.  Anne recovered nicely from Wyatt’s foolishness, but there was no further doubting that she was Caesar’s and not to be touched.

Rule IV. It is well known that love is always increasing or decreasing. One of the most extraordinary things about Henry’s affection for Anne is that she was able to not only capture it but build upon it over a remarkable period of time – seven years from 1525 when it was clear he had fallen for her, to 1533 when their public marriage took place – allegedly,  without physical consummation. He did not become bored or disinterested in her companionship. This was no mean feat when one considers Henry’s short attention span. He wrote tender love letters to Anne, some of which still exist, a powerful demonstration of his growing love as Henry loathed writing.

Rule XI. It is not proper to love any woman whom one would be ashamed to seek to marry. Much has been made of the fact that Anne “held out” sexually from Henry for personal reasons, and that Henry wanted his heirs by her to be legitimate, two among other valid reasons why they did not simply have an affair. But there is strong evidence to suggest that Henry found Anne worthy of marriage – he crowned her –and took great pride in displaying her before all the court. In Anne it is clear that for some time Henry believed he’d found a spirited soul mate who was as vibrant as he was and he desired for her to be his wife.

Rule XIV. The easy attainment of love makes it of little value; difficulty of attainment makes it prized. We’re often reminded that Henry left his wife and broke away from the Roman Catholic Church during his pursuit to marry Anne, courting war and ill will in the process. But Anne, too, made sacrifices.  Her child-bearing years were quickly slipping by; there was a rush to judgment as she was reviled by much of the populace as a usurper; she had no official role nor position; and, finally, there was no guarantee that she would even have her marriage.  Both of them risked much. Only one of them, in the end, lost everything.

Rule XXVIII. A slight presumption causes a lover to suspect his beloved. In the end, it took very little to convince Henry that Anne had betrayed him, a ridiculous acceptance of circumstances that demanded Anne be in places she clearly was not and act in ways that would never have gone unnoticed and that were in stark contrast to her character. One must ask, why? Cappellanus answers that question for us, too. “…when love has definitely begun to decline, it quickly comes to an end unless something comes to save it.”

At the point when the King’s affections began their precipitous drop, long after their game of courtly love was over and well into their marriage, the only thing that could have saved Anne was the son she miscarried.  Chivalric values included integrity, protecting the vulnerable, and acting with self-sacrificing honor. Sadly, Henry did not turn out to be the “perfect knight” Ives speaks of.  In Capellanus’s concluding section, The Rejection of Love, he references, “…lovers who have been driven by love to think of killing their wives and they have even put them to a very cruel death – a thing which all will agree is an infamous crime.”

Unfortunately, this evil came to pass.  In Anne’s final months, Henry was likely not driven to this crime by love of another woman, although he clearly had one in mind, but perhaps primarily out of love for himself, a nonvalorous motivation indeed.

Written by Sandra Byrd, this article first appeared at the website On The Tudor Trail.  Please visit that site for a treasure of riches about Anne Boleyn.