168-594: Father Christmas is the traditional English name for the personification of Christmas . Although now known as a Christmas gift-bringer , and typically considered to be synonymous with Santa Claus , he was originally part of a much older and unrelated English folkloric tradition. The recognisably modern figure of the English Father Christmas developed in the late Victorian period , but Christmas had been personified for centuries before then. English personifications of Christmas were first recorded in
336-502: A Protestant, as any i'my Parish." The stage directions to The Springs Glorie , a 1638 court masque by Thomas Nabbes , state, "Christmas is personated by an old reverend Gentleman in a furr'd gown and cappe &c." Shrovetide and Christmas dispute precedence, and Shrovetide issues a challenge: "I say Christmas you are past date, you are out of the Almanack. Resigne, resigne." To which Christmas responds: "Resigne to thee! I that am
504-700: A Scottish invasion; and it paved the way for a union of the two kingdoms in 1603 when the Scottish king James VI inherited the English throne as James I and launched the Stuart era. When the treaty was signed, Mary was in Paris as the wife of the French King Francis II . When he died in 1561, she returned to Scotland as Queen of Scotland. However, when Elizabeth refused to recognise her as the heir to
672-568: A ballad collected by Samuel Pepys , celebrated the revival of festivities in the latter part of the century: "Old Christmass is come for to keep open house / He scorns to be guilty of starving a mouse, / Then come boyes and welcome, for dyet the chief / Plumb pudding, Goose, Capon, minc't pies & Roast beef". As interest in Christmas customs waned, Father Christmas's profile declined. He still continued to be regarded as Christmas's presiding spirit, although his occasional earlier associations with
840-542: A bringer of gifts. The popular American myth of Santa Claus arrived in England in the 1850s and Father Christmas started to take on Santa Claus's attributes. By the 1880s the new customs had become established, with the nocturnal visitor sometimes being known as Santa Claus and sometimes as Father Christmas. He was often illustrated wearing a long red hooded gown trimmed with white fur. Most residual distinctions between Father Christmas and Santa Claus largely faded away in
1008-529: A classical model as Botticelli does, personifications in art tend to be relatively static, and found together in sets, whether of statues decorating buildings or paintings, prints or media such as porcelain figures. Sometimes one or more virtues take on and invariably conquer vices. Other paintings by Botticelli are exceptions to such simple compositions, in particular his Primavera and The Birth of Venus , in both of which several figures form complex allegories. An unusually powerful single personification figure
1176-555: A continuing consolidation of Catholic strength." Catholic historians, such as John Lingard , argued Mary's policies failed not because they were wrong but because she had too short a reign to establish them. In other countries, the Catholic Counter-Reformation was spearheaded by Jesuit missionaries; Mary's chief religious advisor, Cardinal Pole, refused to allow the Jesuits in England. Spain was widely seen as
1344-450: A cradle". In Britain, the first evidence of a child writing letters to Father Christmas requesting gift has been found in 1895. The figure of Santa Claus had originated in the US, drawing at least partly upon Dutch St Nicolas traditions. A New York publication of 1821, A New-Year’s Present , contained an illustrated poem Old Santeclaus with Much Delight in which a Santa Claus figure on
1512-483: A detailed description of a lost painting by Apelles (4th century BC) called the Calumny of Apelles , which some Renaissance painters followed, most famously Botticelli . This included eight personifications of virtues and vices: Hope, Repentance, Perfidy, Calumny, Fraud, Rancour, Ignorance, Suspicion, as well as two other figures. Platonism , which in some manifestations proposed systems involving numbers of spirits,
1680-412: A devise to alter the succession, but that was not legal, for only Parliament could amend its own acts. Edward's Privy Council kept his death secret for three days to install Lady Jane, but Northumberland had neglected to take control of Princess Mary. She fled and organised a band of supporters, who proclaimed her Queen across the country. The Privy Council abandoned Northumberland, and proclaimed Mary to be
1848-616: A dialogue between the author and "Lady Philosophy". Fortuna and the Wheel of Fortune were prominent and memorable in this, which helped to make the latter a favourite medieval trope. Both authors were Christians, and the origins in the pagan classical religions of the standard range of personifications had been left well behind. A medieval creation was the Four Daughters of God , a shortened group of virtues consisting of: Truth, Righteousness or Justice, Mercy, and Peace. There were also
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#17327729489802016-467: A discussion between a town crier and a Royalist gentlewoman enquiring after Old Father Christmas who 'is gone from hence'. Its anonymous author, a parliamentarian , presents Father Christmas in a negative light, concentrating on his allegedly popish attributes: "For age, this hoarie headed man was of great yeares, and as white as snow; he entred the Romish Kallender time out of mind; [he]
2184-606: A female personification is treated at some length, and makes speeches. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from the Book of Revelation can be regarded as personification figures, although the text does not specify what all personify. According to James J. Paxson in his book on the subject " all personification figures prior to the sixth century A.D. were ... female"; but major rivers have male personifications much earlier, and are more often male, which often extends to "Water" in
2352-639: A fleet that destroyed the French fleet in Scotland. Finally she sent 8,000 troops north. The death of Mary of Guise allowed England, France and Scotland to come to terms in the Treaty of Edinburgh in 1560, which had a far-reaching impact. France permanently withdrew all its forces from Scotland. It ensured the success of the Reformation in Scotland; it began a century of peace with France; it ended any threat of
2520-426: A fur gown, crowned with a holly wreath, and riding a yule goat . In an extended allegory, Hervey imagines his contemporary Old Father Christmas as a white-bearded magician dressed in a long robe and crowned with holly. His children are identified as Roast Beef (Sir Loin) and his faithful squire or bottle-holder Plum Pudding; the slender figure of Wassail with her fount of perpetual youth; a 'tricksy spirit' who bears
2688-606: A good House, or else I do not know of One besides." When invited to spend Christmas with the squire, he comments "I will ... else I shall forget Christmas, for aught I see." Similar opinions were expressed in Round About Our Coal Fire ... with some curious Memories of Old Father Christmas; Shewing what Hospitality was in former Times, and how little there remains of it at present (1734, reprinted with Father Christmas subtitle 1796). David Garrick 's popular 1774 Drury Lane production of A Christmas Tale included
2856-448: A long brown robe which fell down about his feet, and on it were sewed little spots of white cloth to represent snow". Personification Personification is the representation of a thing or abstraction as a person. It is, in other words, considered an embodiment or an incarnation. In the arts , many things are commonly personified. These include numerous types of places, especially cities, countries , and continents , elements of
3024-708: A long-running effect on shaping antisemitic views in the United Kingdom . The first written records of the Romani people in Scotland begin in 1505 and in England around 1513 or 1514. First believed to come from 'little Egypt', an English exonym given to an area around part of the Peloponnese peninsula in what is now modern-day Greece , the people were first called "Egyptians" in literature and from which
3192-464: A male personification for the governing assembly of free citizens, and Boule , a female one for the ruling council. These appear in art but are often hard to identify if not labelled. Personification in the Bible is mostly limited to passing phrases which can probably be regarded as literary flourishes, with the important and much-discussed exception of Wisdom in the Book of Proverbs , 1–9, where
3360-575: A means of defending Christmas from attacks by radical Protestants . Responding to a perceived decline in the levels of Christmas hospitality provided by the gentry, Ben Jonson in Christmas, His Masque (1616) dressed his Old Christmas in out-of-date fashions: "attir'd in round Hose, long Stockings, a close Doublet, a high crownd Hat with a Broach, a long thin beard, a Truncheon, little Ruffes, white shoes, his Scarffes, and Garters tyed crosse". Surrounded by guards, Christmas asserts his rightful place in
3528-406: A miserly Christmas character who refuses to keep the feast. He is reminded by Summer of the traditional role that he ought to be playing: "Christmas, how chance thou com’st not as the rest, / Accompanied with some music, or some song? / A merry carol would have graced thee well; / Thy ancestors have used it heretofore." Early 17th century writers used the techniques of personification and allegory as
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#17327729489803696-508: A modern administration. He injected Tudor power into the darker corners of the realm and radically altered the role of the Parliament of England . This transition happened in the 1530s, Elton argued, and must be regarded as part of a planned revolution. Elton's point was that before Cromwell the realm could be viewed as the King's private estate writ large, where most administration was done by
3864-574: A modest level of fees. A JP's duties involved a great deal of paperwork – primarily in Latin – and attracted a surprisingly strong cast of candidates. For example, The 55 JPs in Devonshire holding office in 1592 included: Other local officials included constables, church-wardens, mayors, and city aldermen. The cultural achievements of the Elizabethan era have long attracted scholars, and since
4032-427: A pack on his back, in which is good store of all sorts, besides the fine knacks that he got out of their husbands' pockets for household provisions for him. He got Prentises, Servants, and Schollars many play dayes, and therefore was well beloved by them also, and made all merry with Bagpipes, Fiddles, and other musicks, Giggs, Dances, and Mummings." The character of 'Christmas' (also called 'father Christmas') speaks in
4200-545: A pamphlet of 1652, immediately after the English Civil War , published anonymously by the satirical Royalist poet John Taylor : The Vindication of Christmas or, His Twelve Yeares' Observations upon the Times . A frontispiece illustrates an old, bearded Christmas in a brimmed hat, a long open robe and undersleeves. Christmas laments the pitiful quandary he has fallen into since he came into "this headlesse countrey". "I
4368-549: A permanent administrative and logistical structure, funded by tax revenue. His personal attention was concentrated on land, where he founded the royal dockyards, planted trees for shipbuilding, enacted laws for in land navigation, guarded the coastline with fortifications, set up a school for navigation and designated the roles of officers and sailors. He closely supervised the construction of all his warships and their guns, knowing their designs, speed, tonnage, armaments and battle tactics. He encouraged his naval architects, who perfected
4536-424: A personified Christmas character who announced "Behold a personage well known to fame; / Once lov'd and honour'd – Christmas is my name! /.../ I, English hearts rejoic'd in days of yore; / for new strange modes, imported by the score, / You will not sure turn Christmas out of door!" By the late 18th century Father Christmas had become a stock character in the Christmas folk plays later known as mummers plays . During
4704-549: A predominantly Calvinist theology. Mary, Queen of Scots (1542–1587) was a devout Catholic and next in line for the throne of England after Elizabeth. Her status became a major domestic and international issue for England. especially after the death of King James IV at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. The upshot was years of struggle for control of the throne, nominally held by the infant King James V (1512–1542, r. 1513–42), until he came of age in 1528. Mary of Guise (1515–1560)
4872-530: A reindeer sleigh brings presents for good children and a "long, black birchen rod" for use on the bad ones. In 1823 came the famous poem A Visit from St. Nicholas , usually attributed to the New York writer Clement Clarke Moore , which developed the character further. Moore's poem became immensely popular and Santa Claus customs, initially localized in the Dutch American areas, were becoming general in
5040-496: A serious issue. The growing number of departments meant many new salaried bureaucrats. There were further financial and administrative difficulties in 1540–58, aggravated by war, debasement, corruption and inefficiency, which were mainly caused by Somerset. After Cromwell's fall, William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester , the Lord Treasurer , produced further reforms to simplify the arrangements, reforms which united most of
5208-479: A small community in London during this time period. Notably, this was not the first written record of Jews in England which begins around the 1070s , but it was a new wave of migration and community development in England. Hector Nunez and Roderigo Lopez were both Jews and leading physicians during 1570s and 1580s Elizabethan England. Lopez's believed involvement in a plot to poison Elizabeth I may have had
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5376-580: A standing national army. Working closely with Thomas Cramner , the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dudley pursued an aggressively Protestant religious policy. They promoted radical reformers to high Church positions, with the Catholic bishops under attack. The use of the Book of Common Prayer became law in 1549; prayers were to be in English not Latin. The Mass was no longer to be celebrated, and preaching became
5544-597: A strong element of liberty, perhaps culminating in the Statue of Liberty . The long poem Liberty by the Scottish James Thomson (1734), is a lengthy monologue spoken by the " Goddess of Liberty ", describing her travels through the ancient world, and then English and British history, before the resolution of the Glorious Revolution of 1688 confirms her position there. Thomson also wrote
5712-506: A successful military career. When the boy king was crowned, Somerset became Lord Protector of the realm and in effect ruled England from 1547 to 1549. Seymour led expensive, inconclusive wars with Scotland. His religious policies angered Catholics. Purgatory was rejected so there was no more need for prayers to saints, relics, and statues, nor for masses for the dead. Some 2400 permanent endowments called chantries had been established that supported thousands of priests who celebrated masses for
5880-473: A very cautious hand. The 1559 treaty with France called for peace and she was unwilling to violate it, especially since England had no allies at the time. Supporting rebels against the lawful ruler violated Elizabeth's deeply held claims to the legitimacy of all royalty. On the other hand, a French victory in Scotland would establish a Catholic state on the northern border supported by a powerful French enemy. Elizabeth first sent money, then sent artillery, then sent
6048-499: A year later. Mary was the daughter of Henry VIII by Catherine of Aragon (the first wife); she closely identified with her Catholic, Spanish heritage. She was next in line for the throne. However, in 1553 as Edward VI lay dying, he and the Duke of Northumberland plotted to make his first cousin once removed, Lady Jane Grey , the new monarch. Northumberland wanted to keep control of the government, and promote Protestantism. Edward signed
6216-648: Is "no other than the Pelz Nickel of Germany ... the good Saint Nicholas of Russia ... He arrives in Germany about a fortnight before Christmas, but as may be supposed from all the visits he has to pay there, and the length of his voyage, he does not arrive in America, until this eve." In 1851 advertisements began appearing in Liverpool newspapers for a new transatlantic passenger service to and from New York aboard
6384-490: Is characterised by variants of a couplet closely reminiscent of John Taylor 's "But welcome or not welcome, I am come..." from 1652. The oldest extant speech is from Truro, Cornwall in the late 1780s: During the Victorian period , Christmas customs enjoyed a significant revival, including the figure of Father Christmas himself as the emblem of 'good cheer'. His physical appearance at this time became more variable, and he
6552-473: Is depicted in Melencolia I (1514) an engraving by Albrecht Dürer . Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time ( c. 1545 ) by Agnolo Bronzino has five personifications, apart from Venus and Cupid. In all these cases, the meaning of the work remains uncertain, despite intensive academic discussion, and even the identity of the figures continues to be argued over. Around 300 BC, Demetrius of Phalerum
6720-450: Is old ...; he was full and fat as any dumb Docter of them all. He looked under the consecrated Laune sleeves as big as Bul-beefe ... but, since the catholike liquor is taken from him, he is much wasted, so that he hath looked very thin and ill of late ... But yet some other markes that you may know him by, is that the wanton Women dote after him; he helped them to so many new Gownes, Hatts, and Hankerches, and other fine knacks, of which he hath
6888-473: Is something of a mixture of styles, sometimes formal and classical, at others a woman of the streets of Paris personified. The Dutch Maiden is one of the earliest of these figures, and was mainly visual from the start, her efforts to repulse unwelcome Spanish advances shown in 16th-century popular prints . Tudor period In England and Wales , the Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603, including
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7056-732: Is the first writer on rhetoric to describe prosopopoeia, which was already a well-established device in rhetoric and literature, from Homer onwards. Quintilian 's lengthy Institutio Oratoria gives a comprehensive account, and a taxonomy of common personifications; no more comprehensive account was written until after the Renaissance. The main Renaissance humanists to deal with the subject at length were Erasmus in his De copia and Petrus Mosellanus in Tabulae de schematibus et tropis , who were copied by other writers throughout
7224-553: The Oxford English Dictionary ). King portrays Father Christmas as a white-haired old man who is on trial for his life based on evidence laid against him by the Commonwealth . Father Christmas's counsel mounts the defence: "Me thinks my Lord, the very Clouds blush, to see this old Gentleman thus egregiously abused. if at any time any have abused themselves by immoderate eating, and drinking or otherwise spoil
7392-455: The Church of England but maintaining Catholic doctrines , Edward imposing a very strict Protestantism, Mary attempting to reinstate Catholicism, and Elizabeth arriving at a compromise position that defined the not-quite-Protestant Church of England. It began with the insistent demands of Henry VIII for an annulment of his marriage that Pope Clement VII refused to grant. Historians agree that
7560-513: The Elizabethan era during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603). The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England, which began with the reign of Henry VII . Under the Tudor dynasty , art, architecture, trade, exploration, and commerce flourished. Historian John Guy (1988) argued that "England was economically healthier, more expensive, and more optimistic under
7728-491: The Four Elements . The predominance of females is at least partly because Latin grammar gives nouns for abstractions the female gender. Pairs of winged victories decorated the spandrels of Roman triumphal arches and similar spaces, and ancient Roman coinage was an especially rich source of images, many carrying their name, which was helpful for medieval and Renaissance antiquarians. Sets of tyches representing
7896-563: The Late Middle Ages incorporated both sacred and secular themes. In Norwich in January 1443, at a traditional battle between the flesh and the spirit (represented by Christmas and Lent), John Gladman, crowned and disguised as 'King of Christmas', rode behind a pageant of the months "disguysed as the seson requird" on a horse decorated with tinfoil. In most of England the archaic word ' Yule ' had been replaced by ' Christmas ' by
8064-569: The Lord of Misrule died out with the disappearance of the Lord of Misrule himself. The historian Ronald Hutton notes, "after a taste of genuine misrule during the Interregnum nobody in the ruling elite seems to have had any stomach for simulating it." Hutton also found "patterns of entertainment at late Stuart Christmases are remarkably timeless [and] nothing very much seems to have altered during
8232-454: The Marian persecutions . However, a historiographical revisionism since the 1980s has to some degree improved her reputation among scholars. Christopher Haigh's bold reappraisal of the religious history of Mary's reign painted the revival of religious festivities and a general satisfaction, if not enthusiasm, at the return of the old Catholic practices. Her re-establishment of Roman Catholicism
8400-533: The Palazzo Pubblico of Siena . In the Allegory of Bad Government Tyranny is enthroned, with Avarice, Pride, and Vainglory above him. Beside him on the magistrate's bench sit Cruelty, Deceit, Fraud, Fury, Division, and War, while Justice lies tightly bound below. The so-called Mantegna Tarocchi ( c. 1465 –75) are sets of fifty educational cards depicting personifications of social classes,
8568-600: The Protestant Church and protests against attempts to exclude him: "Why Gentlemen, doe you know what you doe? ha! would you ha'kept me out? Christmas, old Christmas? Christmas of London, and Captaine Christmas? ... they would not let me in: I must come another time! a good jeast, as if I could come more then once a yeare; why, I am no dangerous person, and so I told my friends, o'the Guard. I am old Gregorie Christmas still, and though I come out of Popes-head-alley as good
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#17327729489808736-590: The Restoration in 1660, Father Christmas's profile declined. His character was maintained during the late 18th and into the 19th century by the Christmas folk plays later known as mummers' plays . Until Victorian times, Father Christmas was concerned with adult feasting and merry-making. He had no particular connection with children, nor with the giving of presents, nocturnal visits, stockings, chimneys or reindeer. But as later Victorian Christmases developed into child-centric family festivals, Father Christmas became
8904-530: The University of Cambridge —King Henry VIII had vigorously and publicly denounced Luther's heresies. More important, the Catholic Church was in a strong condition in 1500. England was devoutly Catholic, it was loyal to the pope, local parishes attracted strong local financial support, religious services were quite popular both at Sunday Mass and at family devotions. Complaints about the monasteries and
9072-419: The golden age in English history in terms of political, social and cultural development, and in comparison with Continental Europe . Calling her "Gloriana" and using the symbol of Britannia starting in 1572, marked the Elizabethan age as a renaissance that inspired national pride through classical ideals, international expansion, and naval triumph over the hated and feared Spanish. Elizabeth's reign marks
9240-457: The seven virtues , made up of the four classical cardinal virtues of prudence , justice , temperance and courage (or fortitude), these going back to Plato 's Republic , with the three theological virtues of faith , hope and charity . The seven deadly sins were their counterparts. The major works of Middle English literature had many personification characters, and often formed what are called "personification allegories" where
9408-403: The 'old, old, very old, gray-bearded gentleman' or his family to aid us in our search after them; and with their good help we will endeavor to restore them to some portion of their ancient honors in England". Father Christmas or Old Christmas, represented as a jolly-faced bearded man often surrounded by plentiful food and drink, started to appear regularly in illustrated magazines of the 1840s. He
9576-585: The 11th century, but in some places 'Yule' survived as the normal dialect term. The City of York maintained an annual St Thomas's Day celebration of The Riding of Yule and his Wife which involved a figure representing Yule who carried bread and a leg of lamb. In 1572, the riding was suppressed on the orders of Edmund Grindal , the Archbishop of York (term 1570–1576), who complained of the "undecent and uncomely disguising" which drew multitudes of people from divine service. Such personifications, illustrating
9744-466: The 15th century, with Father Christmas himself first appearing in the mid 17th century in the aftermath of the English Civil War . The Puritan -controlled English government had legislated to abolish Christmas, considering it popish , and had outlawed its traditional customs. Royalist political pamphleteers , linking the old traditions with their cause, adopted Old Father Christmas as the symbol of 'the good old days' of feasting and good cheer. Following
9912-430: The 16th century. From the late 16th century theoretical writers such as Karel van Mander in his Schilder-boeck (1604) began to treat personification in terms of the visual arts . At the same time the emblem book , describing and illustrating emblematic images that were largely personifications, became enormously popular, both with intellectuals and artists and craftsmen looking for motifs. The most famous of these
10080-426: The 1870s, but now has some actual Hindu temples . Personification is found very widely in classical literature, art and drama, as well as the treatment of personifications as relatively minor deities, or the rather variable category of daemons . In classical Athens, every geographical division of the state for local government purposes had a personified deity which received some cultic attention, as well as Demos ,
10248-432: The 18th century, and such "complaints only grow louder in the nineteenth century". According to Andrew Escobedo, there is now "an unstated scholarly consensus" that "personification is a kind of frozen or hollow version of literal characters", which "depletes the fiction". Personifications, often in sets, frequently appear in medieval art , often illustrating or following literary works. The virtues and vices were probably
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#173277294898010416-454: The 1960s they have conducted intensive research on the social history of England . Main subjects within Tudor social history includes courtship and marriage , the food they consumed and the clothes they wore . Such research has debunked the common misconception that Tudor elites were unclean. Award-winning research published in 2017 by Miranda Kaufmann delves into the lives of 10 of
10584-637: The Christian angel. Generally, personifications lack much in the way of narrative myths , although classical myth at least gave many of them parents among the major Olympian deities . The iconography of several personifications "maintained a remarkable degree of continuity from late antiquity until the 18th century". Female personifications tend to outnumber male ones, at least until modern national personifications , many of which are male. Personifications are very common elements in allegory , and historians and theorists of personification complain that
10752-565: The Crown's financial system to manage the money. He created a new department of state and a new official to collect the proceeds of the dissolution and the First Fruits and Tenths. The Court of Augmentations and number of departments meant a growing number of officials, which made the management of revenue a major activity. Cromwell's new system was highly efficient with far less corruption or secret payoffs or bribery than before. Its drawback
10920-763: The Eagle Line's ship Santa Claus , and returning visitors and emigrants to the British Isles on this and other vessels will have been familiar with the American figure. There were some early adoptions in Britain. A Scottish reference has Santa Claus leaving presents on New Year's Eve 1852, with children "hanging their stockings up on each side of the fire-place, in their sleeping apartments, at night, and waiting patiently till morning, to see what Santa Claus puts into them during their slumbers". In Ireland in 1853, on
11088-559: The English throne, Mary rejected the Treaty of Edinburgh. She made an unfortunate marriage to Lord Darnley who mistreated her and murdered her Italian favourite David Rizzio . Darnley in turn was murdered by the Earl of Bothwell . He was acquitted of murder; she quickly married Bothwell. Most people at the time thought she was deeply involved in adultery or murder; historians have argued at length and are undecided. However rebellion broke out and
11256-549: The French Roman de la Rose (13th century). The English mystery plays and the later morality plays have many personifications as characters, alongside their biblical figures. Frau Minne , the spirit of courtly love in German medieval literature, had equivalents in other vernaculars. In Italian literature Petrach 's Triomphi , finished in 1374, is based around a procession of personifications carried on "cars", as
11424-470: The Italian technique of mounting guns in the waist of the ship, thus lowering the centre of gravity and making it a better platform. He supervised the smallest details and enjoyed nothing more than presiding over the launching of a new ship. He drained his treasury on military and naval affairs, diverting the revenues from new taxes and the sales of monastery lands. Elton argues that Henry indeed built up
11592-529: The King of good cheere and feasting, though I come but once a yeare to raigne over bak't, boyled, roast and plum-porridge, will have being in despight of thy lard-ship." This sort of character was to feature repeatedly over the next 250 years in pictures, stage plays and folk dramas. Initially known as 'Sir Christmas' or 'Lord Christmas', he later became increasingly referred to as 'Father Christmas'. The rise of puritanism led to accusations of popery in connection with pre- reformation Christmas traditions. When
11760-559: The King's household servants rather than separate state offices. By masterminding these reforms, Cromwell laid the foundations of England's future stability and success. Cromwell's luck ran out when he picked the wrong bride for the King; he was beheaded for treason. More recently historians have emphasised that the king and others played powerful roles as well. The king had an annual income of about £100,000, but he needed much more in order to suppress rebellions and finance his foreign adventures. In 1533, for example, military expenditures on
11928-632: The Protestant nobles defeated the Queen's forces in 1567. She was forced to abdicate in favour of her infant son James VI; she fled to England, where Elizabeth confined her in house arrest for 19 years. Mary engaged in numerous complex plots to assassinate Elizabeth and become queen herself. Finally Elizabeth caught her plotting the Babington Plot and had her executed in 1587. Elizabeth's final two decades saw mounting problems that were left for
12096-529: The Puritans took control of government in the mid-1640s they made concerted efforts to abolish Christmas and to outlaw its traditional customs. For 15 years from around 1644, before and during the Interregnum of 1649-1660 , the celebration of Christmas in England was forbidden. The suppression was given greater legal weight from June 1647 when parliament passed an Ordinance for Abolishing of Festivals which formally abolished Christmas in its entirety, along with
12264-639: The Regent became alarmed that widespread Scottish hostility against French rule was strengthening the partisan cause, so she banned unauthorised preaching. But the fiery preacher John Knox sent Scotland aflame with his preaching, leading the coalition of powerful Scottish nobles, calling themselves the Lords of the Congregation raised the rebellion to overthrow the Catholic Church and seize its lands. The Lords appealed to Elizabeth for English help, but she played
12432-460: The Roses . Henry engaged in a number of administrative, economic and diplomatic initiatives. He paid very close attention to detail and, instead of spending lavishly, concentrated on raising new revenues. His new taxes were unpopular, and when Henry VIII succeeded him, he executed Henry VII's two most hated tax collectors. Henry VIII, flamboyant, energetic, militaristic and headstrong, remains one of
12600-501: The Stuarts to solve after 1603. John Cramsie, in reviewing the recent scholarship in 2003, argues: Elizabeth remained a strong leader, but almost all of her earlier advisers had died or retired. Robert Cecil (1563–1612) took over the role of leading advisor long held by his father Lord Burghley. Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex (1567–1601) was her most prominent general, a role previously held by his stepfather Robert Dudley , who
12768-524: The Thames under command of Sir Edmund Howard. It was the most powerful naval force to date in English history: 24 ships led by the 1600 ton "Henry Imperial"; the fleet carried 5000 combat marines and 3000 sailors. It forced the outnumbered French fleet back to its ports, took control of the English Channel, and blockaded Brest. Henry was the first king to organise the navy as a permanent force, with
12936-620: The Tudors" than at any time since the Roman occupation . Following the Black Death (1348) and the agricultural depression of the late 15th century, the population of England began to increase. In 1520, it was around 2.3 million. By 1600 it had almost doubled to 4 million. The growing population stimulated economic growth, accelerated the commercialisation of agriculture, increased the production and export of wool, encouraged trade, and promoted
13104-673: The United States by the middle of the century. The January 1848 edition of Howitt's Journal of Literature and Popular Progress , published in London, carried an illustrated article entitled "New Year's Eve in Different Nations". This noted that one of the chief features of the American New Year's Eve was a custom carried over from the Dutch, namely the arrival of Santa Claus with gifts for the children. Santa Claus
13272-415: The action going, and when the medieval versifier went out on one fine spring morning and lay down on a grassy bank, one of these ladies rarely failed to appear to him in his sleep and to explain her own nature to him in any number of lines". Personification as an artistic device is easier to discuss when belief in the personification as an actual spiritual being has died down; this seems to have happened in
13440-456: The ancient Graeco-Roman world, probably even before Christianisation . In other cultures, especially Hinduism and Buddhism , many personification figures still retain their religious significance, which is why they are not covered here. For example, Bharat Mata was devised as a Hindu goddess figure to act as a national personification by intellectuals in the Indian independence movement from
13608-533: The around 360 recorded persons of Black African heritage, the majority of whom lived out their lives as free persons, living in England or otherwise a part of Tudor English society between 1500 and 1640, showing some of the first recorded evidence of Black British people after the Roman period . Jews , mainly Marranos from Portugal or Spain fleeing persecution from the Inquisition began developing
13776-502: The artistic practice of it has greatly declined. Among a number of key works, The Allegory of Love: A Study in Medieval Tradition ( 1936 ), by C. S. Lewis was an exploration of courtly love in medieval and Renaissance literature. The classical repertoire of virtues, seasons, cities and so forth supplied the majority of subjects until the 19th century, but some new personifications became required. The 16th century saw
13944-452: The bishops were uncommon. The kings backed the popes and by the time Luther appeared on the scene, England was among the strongest supporters of orthodox Catholicism, and seemed a most unlikely place for a religious revolution. Henry VII , founder of the House of Tudor , became King of England by defeating King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field , the culmination of the Wars of
14112-449: The book include both Santa Claus (complete with sleigh, stocking and chimney), leaving presents on Christmas Eve and—separately—Old Father Christmas. The Stocking of the title tells of how in England, "a great many years ago", it saw Father Christmas enter with his traditional refrain "Oh! here come I, old father Christmas, welcome or not ..." He wore a crown of yew and ivy, and he carried a long staff topped with holly-berries. His dress "was
14280-575: The bowl and is on the best of terms with the Turkey; Mumming; Misrule, with a feather in his cap; the Lord of Twelfth Night under a state-canopy of cake and wearing his ancient crown; Saint Distaff looking like an old maid ("she used to be a sad romp; but her merriest days we fear are over"); Carol singing; the Waits; and the twin-faced Janus . Hervey ends by lamenting the lost "uproarious merriment" of Christmas, and calls on his readers "who know anything of
14448-750: The centerpiece of church services. Purgatory , Protestantism declared, was a Catholic superstition that falsified the Scriptures. Prayers for the dead were useless because no one was actually in Purgatory. It followed that prayers to saints, veneration of relics, and adoration of statues were all useless superstitions that had to end. For centuries devout Englishman had created endowments called chantries designed as good works that generated grace to help them get out of purgatory after they died. Many chantries were altars or chapels inside churches, or endowments that supported thousands of priests who said Masses for
14616-402: The character wearing not only a holly wreath but also a gown with a hood. In a Hampshire folk play of 1860 Father Christmas is portrayed as a disabled soldier: "[he] wore breeches and stockings, carried a begging-box, and conveyed himself upon two sticks; his arms were striped with chevrons like a noncommissioned officer." In the latter part of the 19th century and the early years of the next
14784-484: The character wears a holly wreath , is shown sitting among food, drink and wassail bowl , and is dressed in the traditional loose furred gown—but in green rather than the red that later become ubiquitous. Old Father Christmas continued to make his annual appearance in Christmas folk plays throughout the 19th century, his appearance varying considerably according to local custom. Sometimes, as in Hervey's book of 1836, he
14952-536: The coinage. The cost of war in the short reign of Edward VI was another £1,387,000. After 1540, the Privy Coffers were responsible for 'secret affairs', in particular for the financing of war. The Royal Mint was used to generate revenue by debasing the coinage; the government's profit in 1547–51 was £1.2 million. However, under the direction of regent Northumberland, Edward's wars were brought to an end. The mint no longer generated extra revenue after debasement
15120-402: The continent. The interpretation by Geoffrey Elton in 1960 is representative of the orthodox interpretation. He argued that: Social historians after 1960 investigated English religion at the local level, and discovered the dissatisfaction had not been so widespread. The Lollardy movement had largely expired, and the pamphleteering of continental reformers hardly reached beyond a few scholars at
15288-447: The country. He was overthrown by his former ally John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland . Until recent decades, Somerset's reputation with historians was high, in view of his many proclamations that appeared to back the common people against a rapacious landowning class. In the early 20th century this line was taken by the influential A. F. Pollard , to be echoed by Edward VI's leading biographer W. K. Jordan . A more critical approach
15456-535: The creatures, it is none of this old mans fault; neither ought he to suffer for it; for example the Sun and the Moon are by the heathens worship’d are they therefore bad because idolized? so if any abuse this old man, they are bad for abusing him, not he bad, for being abused." The jury acquits. Following the Restoration in 1660, most traditional Christmas celebrations were revived, although as these were no longer contentious
15624-511: The crown's finance under the exchequer. The courts of general surveyors and augmentations were fused into a new Court of Augmentations, and this was later absorbed into the exchequer along with the First Fruits and Tenths. At the end of his reign, Henry VII's peacetime income was about £113,000, of which customs on imports amounted to about £40,000. There was little debt, and he left his son a large treasury. Henry VIII spent heavily on luxuries, such as tapestries and palaces, but his peacetime budget
15792-411: The dead, or operated schools or hospitals in order to earn grace for the soul in purgatory. The endowments were seized (by the king? Somerset?) in 1547. Historians have contrasted the efficiency of Somerset's takeover of power in 1547 with the subsequent ineptitude of his rule. By autumn 1549, his costly wars had lost momentum, the crown faced financial ruin, and riots and rebellions had broken out around
15960-554: The dead. In addition there were many schools and hospitals established as good works. In 1547 a new law closed down 2,374 chantries and seized their assets. Although the Act required the money to go to "charitable" ends and the "public good," most of it appears to have gone to friends of the Court. Historian A. G. Dickens has concluded: The new Protestant orthodoxy for the Church of England
16128-427: The decisive turning point in English religious history, as a predominantly Catholic nation at the beginning of her reign was predominantly Protestant by the end. Although Elizabeth executed 250 Catholic priests, she also executed some extreme Puritans, and on the whole she sought a moderately conservative position that mixed Royal control of the church (with no people role), combined with predominantly Catholic ritual, and
16296-589: The early years of the 20th century, and modern dictionaries consider the terms Father Christmas and Santa Claus to be synonymous. The custom of merrymaking and feasting at Christmastide first appears in the historical record during the High Middle Ages (c 1100–1300). This almost certainly represented a continuation of pre-Christian midwinter celebrations in Britain of which—as the historian Ronald Hutton has pointed out—"we have no details at all". Personifications came later, and when they did they reflected
16464-536: The enemy, and her marriage to King Philip II of Spain was deeply unpopular, even though he had practically no role in English government and they had no children. The military loss of Calais to France was a bitter humiliation to English pride. Failed harvests increased public discontent. Although Mary's rule was ultimately ineffectual and unpopular, her innovations regarding fiscal reform, naval expansion, and colonial exploration were later lauded as Elizabethan accomplishments. Historians often depict Elizabeth's reign as
16632-463: The established religion, setting up an undertone of anti-clericalism that indicated a rightness for reform. A secondary influence was the intellectual impact of certain English reformers, such as the long-term impact of John Wycliffe (1328–1384) and his " Lollardy " reform movement, together with a stream of Reformation treatises and pamphlets from Martin Luther , John Calvin , and other reformers on
16800-525: The existing custom. The first known English personification of Christmas was associated with merry-making, singing and drinking. A carol attributed to Richard Smart, Rector of Plymtree in Devon from 1435 to 1477, has 'Sir Christemas' announcing the news of Christ's birth and encouraging his listeners to drink: " Buvez bien par toute la compagnie , / Make good cheer and be right merry, / And sing with us now joyfully: Nowell, nowell." Many Christmas customs of
16968-525: The fifth and seventeenth centuries". Late antique philosophical books that made heavy use of personification and were especially influential in the Middle Ages included the Psychomachia of Prudentius (early 5th century), with an elaborate plot centered around battles between the virtues and vices, and The Consolation of Philosophy ( c. 524 ) by Boethius , which takes the form of
17136-494: The firm support of the king, and with special powers over the church given by the Pope, Wolsey dominated civic affairs, administration, the law, the church, and foreign-policy. He was amazingly energetic and far-reaching. In terms of achievements, he built a great fortune for himself, and was a major benefactor of arts, humanities and education. He projected numerous reforms, but in the end English government had not changed much. For all
17304-582: The folk play tradition in England rapidly faded, and the plays almost died out after the First World War taking their ability to influence the character of Father Christmas with them. In pre-Victorian personifications, Father Christmas had been concerned essentially with adult feasting and games. He had no particular connection with children, nor with the giving of presents. But as Victorian Christmases developed into family festivals centred mainly on children, Father Christmas started to be associated with
17472-467: The following century they became probably the most widespread of all calendar customs. Hundreds of villages had their own mummers who performed traditional plays around the neighbourhood, especially at the big houses. Father Christmas appears as a character in plays of the Southern England type, being mostly confined to plays from the south and west of England and Wales. His ritual opening speech
17640-619: The gentry through compromise, consensus, and the inclusion of opposing factions. He was in charge of mobilising the militia if necessary for defence, or to assist the monarch in military operations. In Yorkshire in 1588, the Lord Lieutenant was the Earl of Huntington, who urgently needed to prepare defences in the face of the threatened invasion from the Spanish Armada. The Queen's Privy Council urgently called upon him to mobilise
17808-403: The giving of gifts. The Cornish Quaker diarist Barclay Fox relates a family party given on 26 December 1842 that featured "the venerable effigies of Father Christmas with scarlet coat & cocked hat, stuck all over with presents for the guests, by his side the old year, a most dismal & haggard old beldame in a night cap and spectacles, then 1843 [the new year], a promising baby asleep in
17976-446: The great theme of Tudor history was the Reformation, the transformation of England from Catholicism to Protestantism. The main events, constitutional changes, and players at the national level have long been known, and the major controversies about them largely resolved. Historians until the late 20th century thought that the causes were a widespread dissatisfaction or even disgust with the evils, corruptions, failures, and contradictions of
18144-400: The growth of London . The high wages and abundance of available land seen in the late 15th and early 16th centuries were replaced with low wages and a land shortage. Various inflationary pressures, perhaps due to an influx of New World gold and a rising population, set the stage for social upheaval, with the gap between the rich and poor widening. This was a period of significant change for
18312-402: The head of his numerous and uproarious family, might ride his goat through the streets of the city and the lanes of the village, but he dismounted to sit for some few moments by each man's hearth; while some one or another of his merry sons would break away, to visit the remote farm-houses or show their laughing faces at many a poor man's door." Seymour's illustration shows Old Christmas dressed in
18480-409: The historic documentary sources become fewer. In 1678 Josiah King reprinted his 1658 pamphlet with additional material. In this version, the restored Father Christmas is looking better: "[he] look't so smug and pleasant, his cherry cheeks appeared through his thin milk white locks, like [b]lushing Roses vail'd with snow white Tiffany ... the true Emblem of Joy and Innocence." Old Christmass Returnd ,
18648-522: The king the protector and only supreme head of the church and clergy of England. After Henry imposed a heavy fine on the bishops, they nearly all complied. The laws of treason were greatly strengthened so that verbal dissent alone was treasonous. There were some short-lived popular rebellions that were quickly suppressed. The league level in terms of the aristocracy and the Church was supportive. The highly visible main refusals came from Bishop Fisher and Chancellor Thomas More ; they were both executed. Among
18816-477: The king. Henry worked closely with Parliament in passing a series of laws that implemented the break. Englishmen could no longer appeal to Rome. All the decisions were to be made in England, ultimately by the King himself, and in practice by top aides such as Cardinal Wolsey and Thomas Cromwell . Parliament proved highly supportive, with little dissent. The decisive moves came with the Act of Supremacy in 1534 that made
18984-687: The local government operated at the county level (also called "shire") were the sheriff and the Lord Lieutenant . The power of the sheriff had declined since medieval days, but the position was still very prestigious. A sheriff was appointed for a one-year term, with no renewal, by the Privy Council. He was paid many small fees, but they probably did not meet the sheriff's expenses in terms of hospitality and hiring his under-sheriffs and bailiffs. The sheriff held court every month to deal with civil and criminal cases. He supervised elections, ran
19152-484: The local jail and meted out punishments. His subordinates provided staffing for the county's justices of the peace. The Lord Lieutenant was a new office created by Henry VIII to represent the royal power in each county. He was a person with good enough connections at court to be selected by the sovereign and served at the monarch's pleasure, often for decades. He had limited powers of direct control, so successful Lords Lieutenant worked with deputy lieutenants and dealt with
19320-658: The lyrics for Rule Britannia , and the two personifications were often combined as a personified "British Liberty", to whom a large monument was erected in the 1750s on his estate at Gibside by a Whig magnate . But, sometimes alongside these formal figures, a new type of national personification has arisen, typified by John Bull (1712) and Uncle Sam ( c. 1812 ). Both began as figures in more or less satirical literature but achieved their prominence when taken into political cartoons and other visual media. The post-revolutionary Marianne in France, official since 1792,
19488-401: The major cities of the empire were used in the decorative arts . Most imaginable virtues and virtually every Roman province was personified on coins at some point, the provinces often initially seated dejected as "CAPTA" ("taken") after its conquest, and later standing, creating images such as Britannia that were often revived in the Renaissance or later. Lucian (2nd century AD) records
19656-406: The majority of the rural population, with manorial lords beginning the process of enclosure of village lands that previously had been open to everyone. The Reformation transformed English religion during the Tudor period. The five sovereigns, Henry VII , Henry VIII , Edward VI , Mary I , and Elizabeth I , had entirely different approaches, with Henry VIII replacing the pope as the head of
19824-450: The medieval fondness for pageantry and symbolism, extended throughout the Tudor and Stuart periods with Lord of Misrule characters, sometimes called 'Captain Christmas', 'Prince Christmas' or 'The Christmas Lord', presiding over feasting and entertainment in grand houses, university colleges and Inns of Court . In his allegorical play Summer's Last Will and Testament , written in about 1592, Thomas Nashe introduced for comic effect
19992-412: The militia were not actually used. During the civil wars of the mid-17th century, the Lord Lieutenant played an even more important role in mobilising his county either for King Charles I or for Parliament. The day-to-day business of local government was in the hands of several dozen justices of the peace (JPs) in each county. They handled routine police administrative functions, and were paid through
20160-426: The militia, and report on the availability of men and horses. Huntington's challenge was to overcome the reluctance of many militia men, the shortages of arms, training mishaps, and jealousy among the gentry as to who would command which unit. Despite Huntingdon's last-minute efforts, the mobilisation of 1588 revealed a reluctant society that only grudgingly answered the call to arms. The Armada never landed troops, and
20328-503: The monks farmed and most of which was leased to local gentry. Taking ownership meant the rents went to the king. Selling the land to the gentry at a bargain price brought in £1 million in one-time revenue and gave the gentry a stake in the administration. The clerical payments from First Fruits and Tenths , which previously went to the pope, now went to the king. Altogether, between 1536 and Henry's death, his government collected £1.3 million; this huge influx of money caused Cromwell to change
20496-540: The most common, and the virtues appear in many large sculptural programmes, for example the exteriors of Chartres Cathedral and Amiens Cathedral . In painting, both virtues and vices are personified along the lowest zone of the walls of the Scrovegni Chapel by Giotto ( c. 1305 ), and are the main figures in Ambrogio Lorenzetti 's Allegory of Good and Bad Government (1338–39) in
20664-576: The most visible kings of England, primarily because of his six marriages, all of which were designed to produce a male heir, and his heavy retribution in executing many top officials and aristocrats. In foreign-policy, he focused on fighting France—with minimal success—and had to deal with Scotland, Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire, often with military mobilisation or actual highly expensive warfare that led to high taxes. The chief military success came over Scotland. The main policy development
20832-411: The natural world such as the trees or four seasons , four elements , four cardinal winds , five senses , and abstractions such as virtues, especially the four cardinal virtues and seven deadly sins , the nine Muses , or death . In many polytheistic early religions, deities had a strong element of personification, suggested by descriptions such as "god of". In ancient Greek religion , and
21000-627: The new personification of the Americas and made the four continents an appealing new set, four figures being better suited to many contexts than three. The 18th-century discovery of Australia was not so quickly followed by an addition to the set, if only for reasons of geometry; Australia is not included in the continents at the corners of the Albert Memorial (1860s). This does have a set of three-figure groups representing agriculture , commerce , engineering and manufacturing , typical of
21168-414: The next century either." The diaries of 18th and early 19th century clergy take little note of any Christmas traditions. In The Country Squire , a play of 1732, Old Christmas is depicted as someone who is rarely-found: a generous squire. The character Scabbard remarks, "Men are grown so ... stingy, now-a-days, that there is scarce One, in ten Parishes, makes any House-keeping. ... Squire Christmas ... keeps
21336-540: The northern border cost £25,000, while the 1534 rebellion in Ireland cost £38,000. Suppressing the Pilgrimage of Grace cost £50,000, and the king's new palaces were expensive. Meanwhile, customs revenue was slipping. The Church had an annual revenue of about £300,000; a new tax of 10% was imposed which brought in about £30,000. To get even larger sums it was proposed to seize the lands owned by monasteries, some of which
21504-510: The organisation and infrastructure of the Navy, but it was not a useful weapon for his style of warfare. It lacked a useful strategy. It did serve for defence against invasion, and for enhancing England's international prestige. Professor Sara Nair James says that between 1515 and 1529, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey , "would be the most powerful man in England except, possibly, for the king." Historian John Guy explains Wolsey's methods: Operating with
21672-479: The other hand, presents were being left on Christmas Eve according to a character in a newspaper short story who says "... tomorrow will be Christmas. What will Santa Claus bring us?" A poem published in Belfast in 1858 includes the lines "The children sleep; they dream of him, the fairy, / Kind Santa Claus, who with a right good will / Comes down the chimney with a footstep airy ..." A Visit from St. Nicholas
21840-633: The other traditional church festivals of Easter and Whitsun . It was in this context that Royalist pamphleteers linked the old traditions of Christmas with the cause of King and Church, while radical puritans argued for the suppression of Christmas both in its religious and its secular aspects. In the hands of Royalist pamphlet writers , Old Father Christmas served as the symbol and spokesman of 'the good old days' of feasting and good cheer, and it became popular for Christmastide's defenders to present him as lamenting past times. The Arraignment, Conviction and Imprisoning of Christmas (January 1646) describes
22008-515: The pageants of Lyons , a major printing center, along with "Typosine", a new muse of printing. A large gilt-bronze statue by Evelyn Beatrice Longman , something of a specialist in "allegorical" statues, was commissioned by AT&T for the top of their New York headquarters. Since 1916 it has been titled at different times as the Genius of Telegraphy , Genius of Electricity , and since the 1930s Spirit of Communication . Shakespeare's spirit Ariel
22176-504: The planets and heavenly bodies, and also social classes. A new pair, once common on the portals of large churches, are Ecclesia and Synagoga . Death envisaged as a skeleton, often with a scythe and hour-glass , is a late medieval innovation, that became very common after the Black Death . However, it is rarely seen in funerary art "before the Counter-Reformation ". When not illustrating literary texts, or following
22344-466: The porches of cathedrals, crowds around our public monuments, marks our coins and our banknotes, and turns up in our cartoons and our posters; these females variously attired, of course, came to life on the medieval stage, they greeted the Prince on his entry into a city, they were invoked in innumerable speeches, they quarreled or embraced in endless epics where they struggled for the soul of the hero or set
22512-506: The pro-reformation factions suddenly seized control of the new king, and of the Regency Council, under the leadership of Edward Seymour . Bishop Gardiner was discredited, and the Duke of Norfolk was imprisoned for all of the new king's reign. The short reign of Edward VI marked the triumph of Protestantism in England. Somerset, the elder brother of the late Queen Jane Seymour (married to Henry VIII) and uncle to King Edward VI had
22680-457: The promise, there was very little achievement of note. From the king's perspective, his greatest failure was an inability to get a divorce when Henry VIII needed a new wife to give him a son who would be the undisputed heir to the throne. Historians agree that Wolsey was a disappointment. In the end, he conspired with Henry's enemies, and died of natural causes before he could be beheaded. Historian Geoffrey Elton argued that Thomas Cromwell , who
22848-409: The related ancient Roman religion , this was perhaps especially strong, in particular among the minor deities. Many such deities, such as the tyches or tutelary deities for major cities, survived the arrival of Christianity , now as symbolic personifications stripped of religious significance. An exception was the winged goddess of victory, Victoria / Nike , who developed into the visualisation of
23016-530: The requirements for large public schemes of the period. A rather late example is the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House in New York City (1901–07), which has large groups for the four continents by the entrance, and 12 figures personifying seafaring nations from history high on the facade. The invention of movable type printing saw Dame Imprimerie ("Lady Printing Press") introduced to
23184-452: The senior aristocrats, trouble came from the Pole family, which supported Reginald Pole who was in exile in continental Europe. Henry destroyed the rest of the family, executing its leaders, and seizing all its property. The second stage involved the seizure of the monasteries. The monasteries operating religious and charitable institutions were closed, the monks and nuns were pensioned off, and
23352-549: The southern Father Christmas replacing the northern Beelzebub character in a hybrid play. A spectator to a Worcestershire version of the St George play in 1856 noted, "Beelzebub was identical with Old Father Christmas." A mummers play mentioned in The Book of Days (1864) opened with "Old Father Christmas, bearing, as emblematic devices, the holly bough, wassail-bowl, &c". A corresponding illustration (below right) shows
23520-411: The sovereign after nine days of the pretended Jane Grey. Queen Mary imprisoned Lady Jane and executed Northumberland. Mary is remembered for her vigorous efforts to restore Roman Catholicism after Edward's short-lived crusade to minimise Catholicism in England. Protestant historians have long denigrated her reign, emphasising that in just five years she burned several hundred Protestants at the stake in
23688-594: The two have been too often confused, or discussion of them dominated by allegory. Single images of personifications tend to be titled as an "allegory", arguably incorrectly. By the late 20th century personification seemed largely out of fashion, but the semi-personificatory superhero figures of many comic book series came in the 21st century to dominate popular cinema in a number of superhero film franchises. According to Ernst Gombrich , "we tend to take it for granted rather than to ask questions about this extraordinary predominantly feminine population which greets us from
23856-671: The valuable lands were sold to friends of the King, thereby producing a large, wealthy, gentry class that supported Henry. In terms of theology and ritual there was little change, as Henry wanted to keep most elements of Catholicism and detested the "heresies" of Martin Luther and the other reformers. Biographer J.J. Scarisbrick says that Henry deserved his traditional title of "Father of the English navy." It became his personal weapon. He inherited seven small warships from his father, and added two dozen more by 1514. In addition to those built in England, he bought up Italian and Hanseatic warships. By March 1513, he proudly watched his fleet sail down
24024-431: The wars against Scotland £954,000; the naval wars cost £149,000 and large sums were spent to build and maintain inland and coastal fortifications. The total cost of war and defence between 1539 and 1547 was well over £2,000,000, although the accounting procedures were too primitive to give an accurate total. Adding it all up, approximately 35% came from taxes, 32% from selling land and monastery holdings, and 30% from debasing
24192-402: The way that popular customs were seen, and most of the 19th century writers who bemoaned the state of contemporary Christmases were, at least to some extent, yearning for the mythical Merry England version. Thomas Hervey 's The Book of Christmas (1836), illustrated by Robert Seymour , exemplifies this view. In Hervey's personification of the lost charitable festival, "Old Father Christmas, at
24360-470: The whole work is an allegory, largely driven by personifications. These include Piers Plowman by William Langland ( c. 1370 –90), where most of the characters are clear personifications named as their qualities, and several works by Geoffrey Chaucer , such as The House of Fame (1379–80). However, Chaucer tends to take his personifications in the direction of being more complex characters and give them different names, as when he adapts part of
24528-525: The word " Gypsy " is derived. Discriminatory laws were passed in response to their arrival, including the Egyptians Act 1530 and the Egyptians Act 1554 . The Tudor myth is a particular tradition in English history , historiography , and literature that presents the period of the 15th century, including the Wars of the Roses , as a dark age of anarchy and bloodshed, and sees the Tudor period of
24696-521: Was naturally conducive to personification and allegory , and is an influence on the uses of it from classical times through various revivals up to the Baroque period. According to Andrew Escobedo, "literary personification marshalls inanimate things, such as passions, abstract ideas, and rivers, and makes them perform actions in the landscape of the narrative." He dates "the rise and fall of its [personification's] literary popularity" to "roughly, between
24864-402: Was Henry VIII's chief minister from 1532 to 1540, not only removed control of the Church of England from the hands of the Pope, but transformed England with an unprecedented modern, bureaucratic government. Cromwell (1485–1540) replaced medieval government-as-household-management. Cromwell introduced reforms into the administration that delineated the King's household from the state and created
25032-550: Was Henry's taking full control of the Church of England. This followed from his break from Rome, which was caused by the refusal of the Pope to annul his original marriage. Henry thereby introduced a very mild variation of the Protestant Reformation. There were two main aspects. First Henry rejected the Pope as the head of the Church in England, insisting that national sovereignty required the Absolute supremacy of
25200-484: Was a French woman close to the French throne. She ruled as the regent for her teenaged daughter Queen Mary, 1554–1560. The regent and her daughter were both strong proponents of Catholicism and attempted to suppress the rapid growth of Protestantism in Scotland. Mary of Guise was a strong opponent of Protestantism, and worked to maintain a close alliance between Scotland and France, called the Auld Alliance . In 1559
25368-414: Was a bloodthirsty tyrant. In the mid-20th century, H. F. M. Prescott attempted to redress the tradition that Mary was intolerant and authoritarian by writing more objectively, and scholarship since then has tended to view the older, simpler, partisan assessments of Mary with greater scepticism. Haigh concluded that the "last years of Mary's reign were not a gruesome preparation for Protestant victory, but
25536-484: Was adopted by the sculptor Eric Gill as a personification of broadcasting, and features in his sculptures on Broadcasting House in London (opened 1932). A number of national personifications stick to the old formulas, with a female in classical dress, carrying attributes suggesting power, wealth, or other virtues. Libertas , the Roman goddess of liberty , had been important under the Roman Republic , and
25704-524: Was becoming fashionable in courtly festivities; it was illustrated by many different artists. Dante has several personification characters, but prefers using real persons to represent most sins and virtues. In Elizabethan literature many of the characters in Edmund Spenser 's enormous epic The Faerie Queene , though given different names, are effectively personifications, especially of virtues. The Pilgrim's Progress (1678) by John Bunyan
25872-419: Was by no means always portrayed as the old and bearded figure imagined by 17th century writers. In his 1808 poem Marmion , Walter Scott wrote: Scott's phrase Merry England has been adopted by historians to describe the romantic notion that there was a Golden Age of the English past, allegedly since lost, that was characterised by universal hospitality and charity. The notion had a profound influence on
26040-554: Was dressed in a variety of costumes and usually had holly on his head, as in these illustrations from the Illustrated London News : Charles Dickens 's 1843 novel A Christmas Carol was highly influential, and has been credited both with reviving interest in Christmas in England and with shaping the themes attached to it. A famous image from the novel is John Leech's illustration of the ' Ghost of Christmas Present '. Although not explicitly named Father Christmas,
26208-474: Was expressed in the Forty-Two Articles of Faith in 1553. But when the king suddenly died, Dudley's last-minute efforts to make his daughter-in-law Lady Jane Grey the new sovereign failed after only nine days of her reign. Queen Mary took over and had him beheaded and had Jane Grey beheaded after Thomas Wyatt's Protestant rebellion against the marriage of the queen and Philip II of Spain less than
26376-450: Was generally satisfactory. The heavy strain came from warfare, including building defences, building a Navy, suppressing insurrections, warring with Scotland, and engaging in very expensive continental warfare. Henry's Continental wars won him little glory or diplomatic influence, and no territory. Nevertheless, warfare 1511 to 1514 with three large expeditions and two smaller ones cost £912,000. The Boulogne campaign of 1544 cost £1,342,000 and
26544-414: Was in good hope that so long a misery would have made them glad to bid a merry Christmas welcome. But welcome or not welcome, I am come...." He concludes with a verse: "Lets dance and sing, and make good chear, / For Christmas comes but once a year." In 1658 Josiah King published The Examination and Tryall of Old Father Christmas (the earliest citation for the specific term 'Father Christmas' recognised by
26712-641: Was initiated by M. L. Bush and Dale Hoak in the mid-1970s. Since then, Somerset has often been portrayed as an arrogant ruler, devoid of the political and administrative skills necessary for governing the Tudor state. Dudley by contrast moved quickly after taking over an almost bankrupt administration in 1549. Working with his top aide William Cecil , Dudley ended the costly wars with France and Scotland and tackled finances in ways that led to some economic recovery. To prevent further uprisings he introduced countrywide policing, appointed Lords Lieutenants who were in close contact with London, and set up what amounted to
26880-402: Was portrayed (below left) as a hunchback. One unusual portrayal (below centre) was described several times by William Sandys between 1830 and 1852, all in essentially the same terms: "Father Christmas is represented as a grotesque old man, with a large mask and comic wig, and a huge club in his hand." This representation is considered by the folklore scholar Peter Millington to be the result of
27048-743: Was published in England in December 1853 in Notes and Queries . An explanatory note states that the St Nicholas figure is known as Santa Claus in New York State and as Krishkinkle in Pennsylvania . 1854 marked the first English publication of Carl Krinkin; or, The Christmas Stocking by the popular American author Susan Warner . The novel was published three times in London in 1854–5, and there were several later editions. Characters in
27216-585: Was reversed by her younger half-sister and successor Elizabeth I . Protestant writers at the time took a highly negative view, blasting her as "Bloody Mary". John Knox attacked her in his First Blast of the Trumpet against the Monstrous Regiment of Women (1558), and she was prominently vilified in Actes and Monuments (1563), by John Foxe . Foxe's book taught Protestants for centuries that Mary
27384-513: Was somewhat uncomfortably co-opted by the empire; it was not seen as an innate right, but as granted to some under Roman law. She had appeared on the coins of the assassins of Julius Caesar , defenders of the Roman republic . The medieval republics, mostly in Italy, greatly valued their liberty, and often use the word, but produce very few direct personifications. With the rise of nationalism and new states, many nationalist personifications included
27552-408: Was stopped in 1551. Although Henry was only in his mid-50s, his health deteriorated rapidly in 1546. At the time the conservative faction, led by Bishop Stephen Gardiner and Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk that was oppose to religious reformation seemed to be in power, and was poised to take control of the regency of the nine-year-old boy who was heir to the throne. However, when the king died,
27720-457: Was the Iconologia of Cesare Ripa , first published unillustrated in 1593, but from 1603 published in many different illustrated editions, using different artists. This set at least the identifying attributes carried by many personifications until the 19th century. From the 20th century into the 21st, the past use of personification has received greatly increased critical attention, just as
27888-457: Was the last great personification allegory in English literature, from a strongly Protestant position (though see Thomson's Liberty below). A work like Shelley 's The Triumph of Life , unfinished at his death in 1822, which to many earlier writers would have called for personifications to be included, avoids them, as does most Romantic literature, apart from that of William Blake . Leading critics had begun to complain about personification in
28056-554: Was the love of Elizabeth's life; and the adventurer/historian Sir Walter Raleigh (1552–1618) was a new face on the scene. The three new men formed a triangle of interlocking and opposing forces that was hard to break into. The first vacancy came in 1601, when Devereux was executed for attempting to take the Queen prisoner and seize power. After Elizabeth died the new king kept on Cecil as his chief advisor, and beheaded Raleigh. Numerous popular uprisings occurred; all suppressed by royal authorities. The largest were: The main officials of
28224-409: Was the multiplication of departments whose sole unifying agent was Cromwell; his fall caused confusion and uncertainty; the solution was even greater reliance on bureaucratic institutions and the new Privy Council. In dramatic contrast to his father, Henry VIII spent heavily, in terms of military operations in Britain and in France, and in building a great network of palaces. How to pay for it remained
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