Today is Maundy Thursday, a day in the Christian calendar which commemorates the Last Supper, that final meal that Jesus Christ had with his disciples before his arrest.
On Maundy Thursday in Tudor times the church was prepared for Easter with water and wine being used to wash the altars. It was also traditional for people to go to confession on this day.
You can read more about the traditions of Maundy Thursday in my article Maundy Thursday and you can read about how Anne Boleyn celebrated this day in 1536 in my article 13 April 1536 – Anne Boleyn and Maundy Thursday.
On this day in history, 17th April…
- 1534 – Sir Thomas More, Henry VIII’s Lord Chancellor, was sent to the Tower of London after refusing to swear the Oath of Succession – click here to read more about it.
Happy Easter to those who celebrate it. Also, does anyone know why the Last Supper is remembered on the Thursday prior to Easter, instead of on the Passover before Easter? I’m Jewish, so I am not sure, but I thought that there were several events between the Last Supper and the Crucifixion (Jesus tried; brought before Pilate, then before Herod, then back to Pilate) that makes me think that there would be more than one day between the two.
If you see an article I wrote in 2011, see https://www.theanneboleynfiles.com/maundy-thursday/, I talk about the theory advanced by Colin Humphreys regarding this.
Happy 2014 Easter for Sunday everyone too 🙂 Thankyou Claire for this website yet again – we’re so inundated with Hollywood stories and silly short term things everywhere we go these days that it’s refreshing to read a website where traditions and values were important 500 years ago as they are still today to so many people.
Kind regards,
Kaz.