Christmas in Tudor England wasn’t a single day, it was a season.
And Twelfth Night was its final, glittering crescendo.

In this final episode of my Tudor Advent and Christmas series, I explore how Tudor people marked the end of Christmas with feasting, music, disguisings, misrule, and the famous Twelfth Night cake, complete with a hidden bean or pea to crown a King (or Lord of Misrule) for the night.

I also explain:

• When Twelfth Night actually was — the 5th or the 6th of January
• Why Epiphany mattered both socially and spiritually
• How Tudor court celebrations turned halls into living theatre
• And how these traditions still survive today, including here in Spain with the Roscón de Reyes

Twelfth Night mattered because it ended Christmas properly, rather than Christmas  ...