Gone Medieval

A Medieval New Year

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Episode notes

In the medieval world, January 1 wasn’t actually New Year’s Day (that was March 25), but the anniversary of Jesus’s circumcision (according to the church). In fact, unlike many Christmas traditions, there’s very little in the way of New Years traditions we still do today that have medieval origins. Nevertheless, this was still a time of feasts, parties, and the medieval equivalent of the Black Friday sales (think less angry queues and more nobility buying themselves fancy swords and jewel encrusted model ships). In this special episode, Matt Lewis explains what medieval society got up to around this time of year, and why medieval new year was actually March 25.  Don’t forget to leave us a rating and review while you're here! For more Gone Medieval content, subscribe to our Medieval Monday newsletter here. If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to the Android or Apple store Music: Able - Joseph S Greenier, David John Vanacore Walk Tall - Johannes Bornlof  Dreams of Tomorrow - Daniel James Nolan Godsend - Johannes Bornlof Galivant - Bradley Andrew Segal, Bong H. Jung, Chang Wooi Kang Reverse - Matthew Burnette Heath, Noel Arthur Goff, Kristen Lee Agee We Wish You A Merry Christmas - Kevin MacLeod / unknown (english christmas carol), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Worst - Brian Scott Carr, Kristen Lee Agee Vad Rost, Vad Ljuvlig Rost Jag Hor - Kurt Lyndon  

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