January 5th was 12th night, the final night of Christmas. At court, that mattered. This wasn't a cozy ending to the season.

12th night was when the court put on one last, very public performance before Christmas officially closed.

It was loud, it was expensive, and it was deliberate, and because court life ran on paperwork,

ambassadors' letters and diaries kept by people who like to notice things, we can actually see what

happened on some very specific 12th nights. So today, instead of talking about 12th night in general,

let's look at three real ones spread across the 16th century and watch how the court changes.

Get comfy, grab a beverage, and settle in for a little quick chat about some of the most well-documented 12th nights at the Tudor Court.

Music 12th nights at the Tudor Court. Hey friend, welcome back to the YouTube channel for the Renaissance English History

podcast.

I am your host, Heather, and I have been podcasting on Tudor England since 2009, just

crazy.

Making my show the original Tudor history podcast.

I am, as always, just delighted that you are here with me today to chat about some very famous Tudor 12th nights. Let's get started. We will start early. In January 1512, 12th night at the English court looked

unfamiliar even to the people who were standing in the room. This was the early reign of Henry

the 8th. He had only been king for a couple of years and the culture of his court was still forming.

The chronicler Edward Hall describes an Epiphany Eve

entertainment that stood out because it was new. So Henry entered the hall with 11 others, disguised and

masked after the manner of Italy. They wore rich clothing, cloth of gold, and visors.

Hall is careful to point out that this kind of masking had not been seen in England before,

and this matters, because he's not describing a familiar tradition. He's describing a novelty.

So the king and his companions danced, and then they

invited the ladies of the court to join them, and some did, and some actually refused. And this

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