Today is St. Nicholas Day, a day devoted to children in the Tudor period. During the feast of St. Nicholas, a boy from the choir would be chosen as the Boy Bishop, a tradition that dated from the Anglo Saxon period. He would do do everything a Bishop would do, except lead mass. He would lead processions around the community, conduct Church services, and wear the full Bishop’s dress. This would continue until the Holy Innocents Day (28th December).
Many of the great cathedrals adopted this custom including York, Winchester, Salisbury Canterbury and Westminster. Henry VIII abolished Boy Bishops however a few churches, including Hereford and Salisbury Cathedrals, continue the practice today.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.
Suggested link:
Episode 008: Christmas celebrations in Tudor England
From the shop:
Lots of Christmas gift ideas for your Tudor loved ones over at The Tudor Fair!
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast, one of the longest running indie history podcasts, going since 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. She writes books, created the original Tudor Planner (a yearly diary filled with Tudor history) and in 2019 created the world's first Tudorcon (you can "attend" online this year!). She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.