Hello, I'm Matt Lewis.

And I'm Dr. Eleanor Yonaga.

And we're just popping up here to tell you some insider info.

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Hello, I'm Dr. Eleanor Yonaga and welcome to Gone Medieval from History Hit, the podcast

that delves into the greatest millennium in human history. We uncover the greatest mysteries,

the gobsmacking details, and the latest groundbreaking research from the Vikings to the Normans,

from kings to popes, to the Crusades. We delve into the rebellions,

plots, and murders that tell us who we really were, and how we got here.

For many of us, it's Christmas time.

One of those times of year when we think a lot about tradition.

We love to put up Christmas trees and bring out the old ornaments our Nana's made for us.

We stick to fairly strict menus to put on a proper traditional Christmas spread.

And there's probably one or two family traditions that you and your loved ones keep alive

that don't necessarily translate to everyone you know.

My mom, the celebrated eggnog, for example, seems to both attract and repel my English mates in equal measure.

But for all of this talk of tradition, what we do at Christmas doesn't necessarily have much

...