In The Tudor Period

12. Even the king had to obey the commands of the ‘Lord of Misrule’

The feasting, pageantry and convivial merrymaking were presided over not by the king or the master of the household, but by the ‘Lord of Misrule’, or ‘Master of Merry Disports’, who acted as master of ceremonies and took charge of the Christmas revelry. In the first year of Henry VIII’s reign, his Lord of Misrule impudently asked his sovereign for £5 towards his expenses. “If it shall like Your Grace to give me too much,” he added mischievously, “I will give you none again, and if Your Grace give me too little, I will ask more!” Henry was greatly amused.