On this day in Tudor history, May Day, the Evil May Day Riot took place in London; Henry VIII left the 1536 May Day joust abruptly and never saw Anne Boleyn again; and Sir Edmund Knyvet, a hot-tempered courtier, died…
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#OTD in Tudor history – 1 May
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May 1 – May Day
Happy May Day!
Yes, today, 1st May is May Day in the UK.
May Day was seen as the first day of summer and had its roots in ancient celebrations of fertility. It was celebrated with special processions, plays and pantomimes, pageants, Morris dancing and the crowning of a May Queen. There would also be a Maypole, a tall wooden pole that was painted or decorated with crests, greenery and flowers. Later in history, this Maypole was hung with ribbons and people would dance around it, weaving the ribbons in different patterns.
People would also “bring in the May”, i.e. collect flowers and branches to make garlands and wreaths.
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1 May – Evil May Day Riot, May Day and a hot-tempered courtier
On this day in Tudor history, 1st May 1517, foreign traders in London had their shops and property vandalised and damaged by a mob of angry apprentices and labourers.
What sparked off this “Evil May Day Riot”? What happened to the troublemakers? And how did Queen Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII’s sisters, Margaret and Mary, get involved? I explain…
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1 May – May Day
Today is May Day – Happy May Day!
Did the Tudors celebrate May Day? If so, what did they do?
Find out in this #TudorHistoryShorts video…
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Happy May Day!
Happy May Day! Today, 1st May, is May Day, a special day in Tudor England. Today, in the UK, the May Day holiday is the first Monday in May so today is a normal working day, what a shame. Here in Spain, it is a bank holiday, but is the “Day of the Worker” and just time to relax, rather than to do anything special.
In the Tudor period, 1st May was was seen as the first day of summer. May Day had its roots in ancient celebrations of fertility and was celebrated with special processions, plays and pantomimes, pageants, Morris dancing and the crowning of a May Queen. There would also be a Maypole, a tall wooden pole decorated with greenery and flowers and hung with ribbons. People would hold the ribbons and dance around the Maypole weaving the ribbons together in patterns.
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Morris Dancing
In this week’s Claire Chats video talk, I look at the history of the tradition that we see in towns and villages all around the UK on May Day – morris dancing.
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Maypoles and rioting
1st May is May Day, a day to celebrate the start of summer and you can read more about how it was celebrated and see a video of Maypole dancing in my article “May Day”.
However, it wasn’t always a day of fun and dancing, in 1517 there was a riot.
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May Feast Days
1 May, or May Day, was seen as the first day of summer and had its roots in ancient celebrations of fertility. It was celebrated with special processions, plays and pantomimes, pageants, Morris dancing and the crowning of a May Queen. There would also be a Maypole, a tall wooden pole decorated with greenery and flowers and hung with ribbons. People would hold the ribbons and dance around the Maypole weaving the ribbons together in patterns.
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May Day Quiz
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May Day
1 May was seen as the first day of summer and had its roots in ancient celebrations of fertility. It was celebrated with special processions, plays and pantomimes, pageants, Morris dancing and the crowning of a May Queen. There would also be a Maypole, a tall wooden pole decorated with greenery and flowers and hung with ribbons. People would hold the ribbons and dance around the Maypole weaving the ribbons together in patterns.
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May 2016 Tudor Life Magazine
