Hi, I'm historian Claire Ridgway
I'm the best-selling author of 15 history books and the founder of the TheAnneBoleynFiles.com, Elizabethfiles.com and The Tudor Society.
I help Tudor history lovers worldwide to gain access to experts and resources to discover the real stories behind myths and fiction, so that they grow in knowledge while connecting with like-minded people and indulging their passion for history.
How I can help you...
My latest youtube video
Tudor Carols & Christmas Music
Today we’re stepping into one of the most joyful parts of a Tudor Christmas - the music.
Whether your festive soundtrack is Michael Bublé or Bing Crosby, Tudor England had its ...own musical traditions… and many of their carols are far older than you might expect.
In this episode, we explore:
- How music shaped Tudor Christmas celebrations
- Which carols the Tudors actually knew
- Why carols were originally dances - songs performed in circles, homes, streets, and seasonal revelshe role of the waits
- Music in Tudor homes
- Carols in wassailing traditions
Thank you for joining me for this musical journey through Tudor Yuletide.
If you enjoyed it, please like, subscribe, and click the bell, and tell me in the comments:
Do you have a favourite Christmas carol? Or a Christmas soundtrack?
See you tomorrow for more Tudor Christmas delights!
#TudorChristmas #TudorHistory #ChristmasCarols #MedievalMusic #RenaissanceMusic
#ClaireRidgway #TheAnneBoleynFiles #HistoryYouTube #YuletideHistory
#HistoricalMusic #Waits #CoventryCarol #Gaudete #EarlyMusic
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Tudor Carols & Christmas Music
Today we’re stepping into one of the most joyful parts of a Tudor ...
Today we’re stepping into one of the most joyful parts of a Tudor Christmas - the music.
Whether your festive soundtrack is Michael Bublé or Bing Crosby, Tudor England had its ...own musical traditions… and many of their carols are far older than you might expect.
In this episode, we explore:
- How music shaped Tudor Christmas celebrations
- Which carols the Tudors actually knew
- Why carols were originally dances - songs performed in circles, homes, streets, and seasonal revelshe role of the waits
- Music in Tudor homes
- Carols in wassailing traditions
Thank you for joining me for this musical journey through Tudor Yuletide.
If you enjoyed it, please like, subscribe, and click the bell, and tell me in the comments:
Do you have a favourite Christmas carol? Or a Christmas soundtrack?
See you tomorrow for more Tudor Christmas delights!
#TudorChristmas #TudorHistory #ChristmasCarols #MedievalMusic #RenaissanceMusic
#ClaireRidgway #TheAnneBoleynFiles #HistoryYouTube #YuletideHistory
#HistoricalMusic #Waits #CoventryCarol #Gaudete #EarlyMusic
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Bells, Staves & Misrule
Today we’re stepping into one of the most colourful, energetic, and ...
Today we’re stepping into one of the most colourful, energetic, and wonderfully noisy traditions of the Tudor festive season, Morris dancing.
You might picture modern dancers with bells and handkerchiefs on ...a village green…
but in Tudor England, Morris dancing was bolder, brighter, and far more theatrical.
In this video, we’ll explore:
- What Morris dancing really looked like in the 15th and 16th centuries - bells, ribbons, masks, mock combat, clashing staves, blackened faces, and vibrant costumes
How it became part of court entertainment - including Henry VII’s Christmas revels and Henry VIII’s masques
- Its deep roots in English folk culture - from May Day to Whitsun ales, parish festivals to civic pageantry
- The unforgettable stock characters - Maid Marian (played by a man!), jesters, hobby-horses, Robin Hood, even dragons!
- Why it mattered at Christmas and Twelfth Night - joy, misrule, community, and celebration at the darkest time of year
- And how Morris dancing survives today - a living tradition linking us directly to the Tudor world
If you’ve ever seen Morris dancing and wondered where it came from, or if you simply love the colour, spectacle, and spirit of Tudor celebrations, this episode is for you.
Thank you so much for watching!
If you’re enjoying this festive journey through Tudor Christmas, please like, subscribe, and click the bell - there’s more Yuletide history coming your way tomorrow.
#TudorChristmas #MorrisDancing #TudorHistory #ClaireRidgway #ChristmasTraditions #HistoryYouTube #TwelfthNight #TudorCourt #EnglishFolkDance #YuletideHistory #TheAnneBoleynFiles #HistoryChannel #BritishHistory
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Tudor Yuletide Customs
Yule Logs, Twelfth Night Cakes & the Lord of Misrule Step into a Tudor ...
Yule Logs, Twelfth Night Cakes & the Lord of Misrule
Step into a Tudor Christmas with me!
I’m historian Claire Ridgway, and today’s Advent episode looks at the real Yuletide customs of ...Tudor England, from the dramatic arrival of the Yule log to the playful misrule of Twelfth Night.
Why did Tudor households bring home an enormous log on Christmas Eve?
What role did a humble bean play in choosing the “king” of the festivities?
And how did these rituals blend ancient midwinter beliefs with Christmas celebrations?
Discover the symbolism, the revelry, and the wonderful strangeness of a Tudor Yuletide, a world of firelight, games, and meaning woven into every tradition.
Join me for a journey into the customs that made Christmas magical for the Tudors.
If you’re enjoying this Advent series, please like, subscribe, and ring the bell — more Tudor Christmas delights are on the way!
#TudorChristmas
#YuleLogTraditions
#TwelfthNight
#TudorHistory
#LordOfMisrule
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The Festive Drinks That Kept Henry VIII’s Court Merry
Step into a warm Tudor hall, sit beside the glowing Yule log, and ...
Step into a warm Tudor hall, sit beside the glowing Yule log, and discover the festive drinks that kept Henry VIII’s England merry throughout the cold, dark days of winter.
I’m ...historian and author Claire Ridgway, and for today’s instalment of my Tudor Christmas Advent series, we’re exploring the wonderful world of Tudor winter warmers, from hippocras to buttered beer, from wassail bowls to honey-rich mead.
Before the feasting and celebrations, everyday Tudor life ran on ale, safer than water, weak enough to drink by the pint, and brewed constantly by the women of the household.
But Christmas?
Christmas called for something special.
In this video, discover:
- Hippocras — the spiced Tudor mulled wine Henry VIII adored
- Lambswool — the frothy wassail drink of roasted apples and warm ale
- Mead, Metheglin & Melomel — honey wines sweetened with herbs or fruit
- Christmas Ale — brewed stronger for Yuletide feasts
- Posset — a creamy, curdled Tudor comfort drink
- Buttered Beer — yes, the real Tudor drink (long before Harry Potter!)
- Mulled wine & imported sweet wines enjoyed by the wealthy
These weren’t just beverages — they were hospitality, ritual, community, and the unmistakable flavour of Tudor Christmas.
Which Tudor drink would YOU try first?
Hippocras? Buttered beer? Lambswool?
Let me know in the comments!
Links to my videos on some of these Tudor drinks:
Tudor Buttered Beer - https://youtu.be/0HMxpWVzrvc
Tudor Hippocras - https://youtu.be/yabiVqlV4pw
Lambswool Wassail - https://youtu.be/9GDrnPesC2Y
If you enjoy this cosy dive into Tudor festive life, please like, subscribe, and click the bell to follow along with the rest of my Christmas Advent series.
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Dragons, Masques and Royal Revelry
Dragons that spat fire. Masked dancers sweeping through palace halls. ...
Dragons that spat fire.
Masked dancers sweeping through palace halls.
Henry VIII himself turning up in disguise…
Welcome to Tudor Twelfth Night, the most spectacular, theatrical, and joyfully chaotic night of the entire ...Christmas season.
I’m historian and author Claire Ridgway, and for Day 8 of my Tudor Christmas Advent series, we’re stepping into the dazzling world of masques, mumming, disguisings, pageantry and revelry at the Tudor court.
You’ll discover:
- What Tudor “disguisings” really were
- How mumming evolved into masked processions of luck and mischief
- Why the morris dance became a Tudor Christmas favourite
- The Italian-style masque Henry VIII introduced
- How Edward VI’s court staged elaborate moral allegories, mock battles, and a banquet of 120 dishes
- And how Twelfth Night became the grand, magnificent finale of Christmastide
From wild pageant carts to torchlit dances… from Robin Hood characters to allegorical triumphs… Twelfth Night was where Tudor magnificence reached its peak.
Thank you for joining me for today’s Advent instalment!
If you’re enjoying the series, please like, subscribe, and ring the bell so you don’t miss the next festive deep dive.
#TudorChristmas #TudorHistory #ClaireRidgway #TwelfthNight #Masques #Mumming
#HenryVIII #TudorCourt #ChristmasHistory #AdventSeries
#HistoricalRevels #MedievalChristmas #HistoryYouTube #TudorTraditions
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How the Tudors Decorated for Christmas
Forget fairy lights and tinsel, Tudor Christmas decorations were ...
Forget fairy lights and tinsel, Tudor Christmas decorations were deeply symbolic, richly traditional, and filled with myth and meaning.
Hello, I’m historian and author Claire Ridgway, and welcome to Day 7 ...of my Tudor Christmas Advent series!
Today, we’re stepping inside the Tudor home to discover how people really decorated for Christmas.
In Tudor England, there were no Christmas trees, no early December decorating…
In fact, a Tudor walking into your home right now would think you’d gone completely mad, because they only decorated on Christmas Eve.
Instead of baubles and glitter, their homes were filled with:
- Holly – symbol of Christ’s sacrifice & protection
- Ivy – representing fidelity and strength
- Laurel & rosemary – symbols of eternal life
- Evergreens everywhere, believed to bring luck and keep away evil
You’ll also discover:
- The origin of the kissing bough
- How mistletoe gained its romantic reputation — from Druids to Norse myth
- Why decorations stayed up until Candlemas Eve… but NEVER beyond (unless you wanted goblins!)
- And how London transformed into a city draped entirely in greenery
Plus, we’ll explore the medieval and Tudor tradition of the Christmas crib, from Pope Sixtus III to St Francis of Assisi, and how it lives on beautifully in Spain today.
Tudor Christmas décor wasn’t about sparkle…
It was about symbolism, faith, magic, and midwinter hope.
If you’re enjoying this Advent journey through Tudor traditions, don’t forget to like, subscribe, and ring the bell — many more festive videos are on the way!
#TudorChristmas #TudorHistory #ClaireRidgway #ChristmasHistory
#HistoryYouTube #MedievalChristmas #HollyAndIvy #MistletoeTraditions
#HistoryChannel #AdventSeries #BritishHistory #TwelveDaysOfChristmas
#ChristmasDecor #HistoricalTraditions
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From St Nicholas to Santa Claus
Welcome to Day 6 of my Tudor Christmas Advent series! Today we’re ...
Welcome to Day 6 of my Tudor Christmas Advent series!
Today we’re diving into one of the most enchanting feast days of the Tudor calendar, St Nicholas’s Day, and uncovering how ...this 4th-century bishop eventually became the Santa Claus we know today.
We’ll explore:
The real St Nicholas of Myra, miracle worker and protector of children
The extraordinary Boy Bishop tradition, where a child led church services from 6–28 December
How Henry VII supported the custom… and why Henry VIII banned it
How Hereford and Salisbury Cathedrals still keep the tradition alive today
Why St Nicholas didn’t bring gifts in Tudor England
The medieval legends, chimneys, stockings, secret gold, that shaped later folklore
How Dutch “Sinta Klaas” became Santa in America
Why Father Christmas in Tudor England wasn’t a gift-giver at all
So no, Tudor children didn’t hang stockings, but the stories surrounding St Nicholas created the foundation for Santa Claus, from night-time gift-giving to flying through the sky.
Join me tomorrow for Tudor Christmas Decorations!
And if you’re enjoying this series, don’t forget to like, subscribe, and ring the bell.
#StNicholas #BoyBishop #SantaClausHistory #TudorChristmas #ClaireRidgway #HistoryYouTube #MedievalTraditions #ChristmasOrigins #Sinterklaas #FatherChristmas #TudorHistory
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The REAL Twelve Days of Christmas
Did you know the Tudors didn’t end Christmas on 25th December… they ...
Did you know the Tudors didn’t end Christmas on 25th December… they started it?
I’m historian and author Claire Ridgway, and in today’s episode of my Tudor Christmas Advent series, we’re ...walking through the true Twelve Days of Christmas, a world of church services, feasts, fasting, wine, charity, misrule, and community traditions that modern Christmas barely resembles.
In this video, you’ll learn:
Why Christmas Day was all about worship — not feasting
Why no work (not even spinning!) was allowed throughout the 12 days
How St Stephen’s Day involved charity… AND horse-bleeding and hunting
Why 27 December was the Tudor excuse for endless wine
Why Childermas was the most solemn, and sometimes unsettling, day
Why New Year’s Day gift-giving was the most political moment of the season
How Twelfth Night was celebrated
Why the fun abruptly ended with Plough Monday and St Distaff’s Day
This is the Christmas season the Tudors actually lived — rich, ritual-filled, joyful, sometimes strange, and endlessly fascinating.
If you’re enjoying my Tudor Advent series, please like, subscribe, and ring the bell, there’s more Tudor Christmas magic every day until 24 December!
#TudorChristmas #12DaysOfChristmas #TudorHistory #ChristmasTraditions #ClaireRidgway #HistoryYouTube #MedievalChristmas #TwelfthNight #StStephensDay #Childermas #PloughMonday
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How the Tudors Had Fun by the Fire: Tudor Christmas Games
What did Tudor families do at Christmas once the feasting slowed, the ...
What did Tudor families do at Christmas once the feasting slowed, the music quietened, and the Yule log glowed on the hearth?
They played games, and some of them are still ...incredibly fun today.
Welcome to Day 4 of my Tudor Christmas Advent series! I’m historian and author Claire Ridgway, and today we’re stepping into the warm, bustling world of Tudor fireside entertainment.
From nobles in great halls to sailors aboard the Mary Rose, people in Tudor England filled the long winter evenings with:
- Dice games like Cent, Raffles, and Passage
- Card games from gentle Noddy to high-stakes Primero — Henry VIII’s favourite
- Board games including backgammon (“tables”), chess, Fox and Geese, and Nine Men’s Morris
- Shove-board and early billiards for the elite
- And simple household fun like pick-up sticks
These games weren’t just entertainment.
They were connection - a way for families and communities to share laughter, competition, mischief, and companionship throughout the Twelve Days of Christmas.
If you’re enjoying this festive journey through Tudor history, please like, subscribe, and ring the bell - more Christmas magic is coming tomorrow!
#TudorChristmas #TudorHistory #ChristmasTraditions #HistoryWithClaire #HenryVIII #MedievalGames #TwelveDaysOfChristmas #AnneBoleynFiles #ChristmasHistory
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Gifts Fit for a King or Queen: The Secret Politics of Tudor New Year Gifts
Did you know the Tudors didn’t give gifts at Christmas? For them, New ...
Did you know the Tudors didn’t give gifts at Christmas?
For them, New Year’s Day was the most political, strategic, and nerve-wracking day of the entire festive season; a glittering ritual ...where loyalty was displayed, and favour was won (or lost).
Welcome to Day 3 of my Tudor Christmas Advent series. I’m historian and author Claire Ridgway, and today we’re stepping inside the astonishing world of Tudor gift-giving.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- Why New Year’s Day was the true “gift season”
- How Henry VIII used gifts to reward, punish, and send unmistakable signals
- What Anne Boleyn gave (and what Henry gave her in return!)
- The lavish presents exchanged across the reigns of Mary I and Elizabeth I
- Why gifts were not sentimental… but political tools
From Holbein-designed silver fountains to early wristwatches, from embroidered coats to gold whistles, Tudor New Year’s gifts tell us everything about power, favour, and desire at court.
If you enjoy this deep dive into Tudor ritual, please like, subscribe, and let me know in the comments:
Which Tudor monarch would YOU choose a gift for, and what would you give them?
#TudorChristmas #TudorHistory #HenryVIII #AnneBoleyn #NewYearsDay #RoyalHistory #HistoryWithClaire #TudorCourt #OnThisDay #HistoricalFacts
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£13.5 Million Christmas? Inside Henry VIII’s Royal Feast
Welcome to Day 2 of my Tudor Christmas Advent series! Today, we’re ...
Welcome to Day 2 of my Tudor Christmas Advent series!
Today, we’re stepping into the smoky, bustling, gloriously extravagant royal kitchens of Henry VIII to uncover the unforgettable dishes served at ...a Tudor Christmas feast.
While Advent was a month of fasting and restraint, everything changed the moment Midnight Mass ended on Christmas Day. And nobody feasted with more splendour — or spent more money — than Henry VIII. His very first Christmas as king cost the modern equivalent of £13.5 million!
Join me, historian and author Claire Ridgway, as we explore:
The dazzling meats on the king’s table
The terrifying Tudor showpiece: the “cockatrice”
The ceremonial boar’s head, carried in to trumpets, drums, and song
Sugary marvels like marchpane sculptures, leech, gilded fruits and sugar-plate creations
Tudor Christmas drinks — mulled wine, hippocras, Christmas ale, and lamb’s wool
The original Christmas pie, stuffed with layer upon layer of birds
We’ll also explore what ordinary Tudor families ate, why Christmas food symbolised power, and how feasting became a kind of royal performance.
Thank you for joining me for Day 2 of our journey toward Christmas!
Tomorrow, in Day 3, we’ll dive into Tudor gift-giving — when presents were exchanged and what a king or queen might receive.
If you’re enjoying this Advent series, don’t forget to like, subscribe, and ring the bell so you won’t miss the next video.
Related videos:
Tudor Quince Marmalade - https://youtu.be/LgVJt7yWH2I
Tudor Hippocras - https://youtu.be/yabiVqlV4pw
Tudor Gingerbread - https://youtu.be/nFRvDxsDAPk
Lambswool Wassail - https://youtu.be/9GDrnPesC2Y
#TudorChristmas #HenryVIII #TudorHistory #ChristmasHistory #MedievalChristmas #ClaireRidgway #HistoryYouTube #TwelveDaysOfChristmas #TudorFood #HistoricalCooking #AdventSeries
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What Advent REALLY Meant in Tudor England
Most of us think Advent means calendars, chocolate, and switching on ...
Most of us think Advent means calendars, chocolate, and switching on the Christmas playlist…
But for our medieval and Tudor ancestors, Advent meant something completely different.
Welcome to Day 1 of my ...Tudor Christmas Advent series!
Today we’re stepping into the medieval and Tudor world to explore what Advent really meant, and how it prepared people for the true Christmas feast that didn’t begin until 25 December.
In this episode, I cover:
- Why Advent was more like a mini-Lent — a season of fasting and restraint
- Why Christmas Eve was the strictest fasting day of all
- How the Church shaped December as a time of preparation, not celebration
- The older midwinter traditions behind the season
- Why a Tudor walking into our modern homes would think we’d started Christmas FAR too early
- How Advent set the stage for the Twelve Days of Christmas, with all their feasting, revelry and topsy-turvy fun
For the Tudors, Advent wasn’t about treats, it was about waiting.
Join me every day as we journey through Tudor Advent and Christmas, exploring St Nicholas and the Boy Bishop, Tudor food and drink, wassailing, mumming, the Lord of Misrule and much more.
Do you mark Advent in any special way? Let me know in the comments!
If you’d like to walk through a full Tudor Christmas with me, don’t forget to like, subscribe, and ring the bell for tomorrow’s instalment.
#TudorHistory #TudorChristmas #Advent #HistoryYouTube #ClaireRidgway #MedievalChristmas #TwelveDaysOfChristmas #HistoryNerd #BritishHistory #TudorTok #ChristmasHistory
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I regularly host online Tudor history conferences to connect Tudor history lovers with Tudor historians all from the comfort of their own homes. They comprise talks, live events, live Q&A sessions and resources, and are educational and fun.
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As featured in...
I am a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. I was a contributor for the BBC docudrama The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family, and have been featured in BBC History Extra, USA Today, History of Royals Magazine, the Express, and Refinery 29, as well as on podcasts including Suzannah Lipscomb's Not Just the Tudors, Gareth Russell's Single Malt History, Natalie Grueninger's Talking Tudors, Hever Castle's Inside Hever, James Boulton's Queens of England, and many more.
Praise for Claire's work
"Claire's blog - recently made available in book form - is more rigorous than that of many professional historians." Susan Bordo, author of The Creation of Anne Boleyn: A New Look at England's Most Notorious Queen
"A sumptuously illustrated and impeccably researched history about the domestic life of a family that shaped British history. This is a fascinating window into both the Boleyns' lives at Hever and upper-class life on the eve of the Reformation." - Gareth Russell, Author of Young and Damned and Fair, on The Boleyns of Hever Castle.
"I've been a history buff all my life, both as a reader and as a writer. I thought I knew about Anne and her Boleyn family, Henry VIII and his court, but this book [The Anne Boleyn Collection] fills in so many blanks for me that I will read it more than once...This is a book for the legion of Tudor fiction readers, who want to know the stories behind the myths, the truth behind the legend...Absolutely fascinating read. " - Jeane Westin, Author of His Last Letter
"Claire has produced another must read for Anne Bolyen fans." Leanda de Lisle, author of Tudor: The Family Story, writing about "The Anne Boleyn Collection II.
More about me
I founded the Anne Boleyn Files in 2009, the Tudor Society in 2014 and I have a popular YouTube channel.
I help Tudor history lovers all over the world learn more about history, connect with experts and like-minded people, and uncover the facts behind the fiction, all from the comfort of their own homes.
I'm a former teacher and a recognised expert in Tudor history, and, as the founder of The Tudor Society, I've built a community of history lovers and experts where members can share their passion for history and receive accurate resources and information.
Claire Ridgway's Books
