A brief history of the Tudor Room

As you step into the stately chambers of the Tudor Room and the adjoining Coronation Room, all the color and spectacle of "merrie olde England" suddenly return. You are now holding court in "the great hall" with vaulted ceilings, timber crossbeams, heraldic emblems and banners, and clerestory windows that bathe the proceedings in light. Except for the high windows, all these features had established precedence in medieval England as early as the 12th century. But between the late 15th century and the beginning of the 17th century, Tudor England paid high allegiance to its banquet halls in manor houses of the rising middle class and in great colleges that had become established.

Similarly, the Tudor Room is a modern twist on age-old traditions. Built in 1959 as part of the $9.1 million Biddle Continuation Center, it serves as the flagship restaurant of the Indiana Memorial Union, offering fine dining experiences steeped in rich traditions dating back to medieval and Tudor England. A visit to the Tudor Room delights the senses as well as the palate with relics, artwork, and craftsmanship graciously gifted by donors and friends of IU. Our artwork is a mix of early paintings and contemporary pieces by both English artists and artists from our beloved state of Indiana.

Like the tapestries that often hung near the upper end of these halls identifying various courts, the Tudor Room's heraldic banners proclaim the academic divisions of Indiana University. Glinting through three-story high windows, stained-glass coats of arms identify the colleges existing at the time the Tudor Room was built.

The adjoining Coronation Room, completed in 1964, takes its name from the Coronation Throne in Westminster Abbey. A wall-sized painting of a medieval coronation procession sets the tone in this intimate banquet room, another example of the prestige the space holds. No matter which area you sit in, the Tudor Room serves as a place where the local community gathers to celebrate good food, great friends, and special moments.

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