Alright, welcome to the British History Podcast Christmas Special.

Now as you already know, this show is freeing to dependent due to member support.

And as thanks for helping keep the community going, I offer members only content such

as extra episodes and rough transcripts.

And if you sign up for a yearly membership this month, you'll also get buttons, stickers,

and a special surprise gift.

So if you're interested in supporting the show and helping us out, you can do so over

at the British History Podcast.com.

It also makes an awesome Christmas gift.

And thank you very much to Patricia, Jonathan, and Joaquin for joining up already.

Alright, this year for our Christmas Special, I thought I'd give you an idea of what

Christmas was like for some of the people in Middle Ages Britain.

Now Christmas in the Middle Ages was quite different from our modern experience in many

ways.

And like with everything else, it would have varied from location to location.

However, in general, the celebration would have been guided by a book called The Use

of Serum.

Now the use was compiled at Salisbury Cathedral, and it quickly became the predominant ceremonial

book in England and Scotland, and remained a best seller until about the 16th century,

with the rise of Protestantism in England.

So while there are always variations from town to town, and by now you probably instinctively

know that there isn't a monolithic English or Scottish culture, but rather just a patchwork

...