A LITTLE ROMAN CHRISTMAS HISTORY FOR YOU............History Nativity of Christ - medieval illustration from the Hortus deliciarum of Herrad of Landsberg (12th century) The Chronography of 354 AD contains early evidence of the celebration on December 25 of a Christian liturgical feast of the birth of Jesus. This was in Rome, while in Eastern Christianity the birth of Jesus was already celebrated in connection with the Epiphany on January 6.[56][57] The December 25 celebration was imported into the East later: in Antioch by John Chrysostom towards the end of the 4th century,[57] probably in 388, and in Alexandria only in the following century.[58] Even in the West, the January 6 celebration of the nativity of Jesus seems to have continued until after 380.[59] In 245, Origen of Alexandria, writing about Leviticus 12:1–8, commented that Scripture mentions only sinners as celebrating their birthdays, namely Pharaoh, who then had his chief baker hanged (Genesis 40:20–22), and Herod, who then had John the Baptist beheaded (Mark 6:21–27), and mentions saints as cursing the day of their birth, namely Jeremiah (Jeremiah 20:14–15) and Job (Job 3:1–16).[60] In 303, Arnobius ridiculed the idea of celebrating the birthdays of gods, a passage cited as evidence that Arnobius was unaware of any nativity celebration.[61] Since Christmas does not celebrate Christs birth as God but as man, this is not evidence against Christmas being a feast at this time.[7] The fact the Donatists of North Africa celebrated Christmas may indicate that the feast was established by the time that church was created in 311.[citation needed] Many popular customs associated with Christmas developed independently of the commemoration of Jesus birth, with certain elements having origins in pre-Christian festivals that were celebrated around the winter solstice by pagan populations who were later converted to Christianity. These elements, including the Yule log from Yule and gift giving from Saturnalia,[62] became syncretized into Christmas over the centuries. The prevailing atmosphere of Christmas has also continually evolved since the holidays inception, ranging from a sometimes raucous, drunken, carnival-like state in the Middle Ages,[63] to a tamer family-oriented and children-centered theme introduced in a 19th-century reformation.[64][65] Additionally, the celebration of Christmas was banned on more than one occasion within certain Protestant groups, such as the Puritans, due to concerns that it was too pagan or unbiblical.[66][67] Mosaic of Jesus as Christo Sole (Christ the Sun) in Mausoleum M in the pre-fourth-century necropolis under St Peters Basilica in Rome.[68] Relation to concurrent celebrations Prior to and through the early Christian centuries, winter festivals—especially those centered on the winter solstice—were the most popular of the year in many European pagan cultures. Reasons included the fact that less agricultural work needs to be done during the winter, as well as an expectation of better weather as spring approached.[69] Many modern Christmas customs have been directly influenced by such festivals, including gift-giving and merrymaking from the Roman Saturnalia, greenery, lights, and charity from the Roman New Year, and Yule logs and various foods from Germanic feasts.[70] Pagan Scandinavia celebrated a winter festival called Yule, held in the late December to early January period.[71] As northern Europe was the last part to Christianize, its pagan traditions had a major influence on Christmas there, an example being the Koleda,[72] which was incorporated into the Christmas carol. Scandinavians still call Christmas Jul. In English, the word Yule is synonymous with Christmas,[73] a usage first recorded in 900.[citation needed] Dies Natalis Solis Invicti Main article: Sol Invictus Dies Natalis Solis Invicti means the birthday of the Unconquered Sun, a festival inaugurated by the Roman emperor Aurelian to celebrate the sun god and celebrated at the winter solstice, 25 December.[74][75] During the reign of the emperor Constantine, Christian writers assimilated this feast as the birthday of Jesus, associating him with the sun of righteousness mentioned in Malachi 4:2 (Sol Iustitiae).[74][75] In his work Adversus Haereses, Irenaeus (c. 130–202) identified the conception of Jesus as March 25 and linked it to the crucifixion, with the birth of Jesus nine months after on December 25.[76] Celebration of the conception of Jesus, known as the Annunciation, became associated with the spring equinox, thus led to Christmas coinciding with the winter solstice.[76] An anonymous work known as De Pascha Computus (243) linked the idea that creation began at the spring equinox, on 25 March with the conception or birth (the word nascor can mean either) of Jesus on 28 March, the day of the creation of the sun in the Genesis account. One translation reads: O the splendid and divine providence of the Lord, that on that day, the very day, on which the sun was made, the 28 March, a Wednesday, Christ should be born. For this reason Malachi the prophet, speaking about him to the people, fittingly said, Unto you shall the sun of righteousness arise, and healing is in his wings.[7][77] In the fourth century, John Chrysostom, who promoted the celebration on 25 December, commented on the connection: But Our Lord, too, is born in the month of December ... the eight before the calends of January [25 December] ..., But they call it the Birthday of the Unconquered. Who indeed is so unconquered as Our Lord ...? Or, if they say that it is the birthday of the Sun, He is the Sun of Justice.[7] With regard to a December religious feast of the sun as a god (Sol), as distinct from a solstice feast of the (re)birth of the astronomical sun, one scholar has commented that, while the winter solstice on or around December 25 was well established in the Roman imperial calendar, there is no evidence that a religious celebration of Sol on that day antedated the celebration of Christmas.[78] Thomas Talley has shown that, although the Emperor Aurelians dedication of a temple to the sun god in the Campus Martius (C.E. 274) probably took place on the Birthday of the Invincible Sun on December 25, the cult of the sun in pagan Rome ironically did not celebrate the winter solstice nor any of the other quarter-tense days, as one might expect.[76] The Oxford Companion to Christian Thought remarks on the uncertainty about the order of precedence between the religious celebrations of the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun and of the birthday of Jesus, stating that the hypothesis that 25 December was chosen for celebrating the birth of Jesus on the basis of the belief that his conception occurred on 25 March potentially establishes 25 December as a Christian festival before Aurelians decree, which, when promulgated, might have provided for the Christian feast both opportunity and challenge.[79] Feast established The Chronography of 354, an illuminated manuscript compiled in Rome, is an early reference to the date of the nativity as December 25.[80] In the East, early Christians celebrated the birth of Christ as part of Epiphany (January 6), although this festival emphasized celebration of the baptism of Jesus.[81] Christmas was promoted in the Christian East as part of the revival of Catholicism following the death of the pro-Arian Emperor Valens at the Battle of Adrianople in 378. The feast was introduced to Constantinople in 379, and to Antioch in about 380. The feast disappeared after Gregory of Nazianzus resigned as bishop in 381, although it was reintroduced by John Chrysostom in about 400.[7] The Council of Tours of 567 established Advent as the season of preparation for Christmas and declared the twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany to be one unified festal cycle, thus giving significance to both December 25 and January 6, a solution that would coordinate the solar Julian calendar with the lunar calendars of its provinces in the east.[82][12][28][29][27][30] Canon XVII adopted by the Council of Tours indicatesd the fast days that monks were to observe: In December until Christmas, they are to fast each day. Since between Christmas and Epiphany there are feasts on each day, they shall have a full meal, except during the three-day period on which, in order to tread Gentile customs down, our fathers established that private litanies for the Calends of January be chanted in the churches, and that on the Calends itself Mass of the Circumcision be celebrated at the eighth hour for Gods favour. The Council made a similar observation that a succession of saints feasts each day in August meant that throughout that month monks did not fast.[83] The Examination and Trial of Father Christmas, (1686), published shortly after Christmas was reinstated as a holy day in England. Middle Ages In the Early Middle Ages, Christmas Day was overshadowed by Epiphany, which in western Christianity focused on the visit of the magi. But the medieval calendar was dominated by Christmas-related holidays. The forty days before Christmas became the forty days of St. Martin (which began on November 11, the feast of St. Martin of Tours), now known as Advent.[63] In Italy, former Saturnalian traditions were attached to Advent.[63] Around the 12th century, these traditions transferred again to the Twelve Days of Christmas (December 25 – January 5); a time that appears in the liturgical calendars as Christmastide or Twelve Holy Days.[63] The prominence of Christmas Day increased gradually after Charlemagne was crowned Emperor on Christmas Day in 800. King Edmund the Martyr was anointed on Christmas in 855 and King William I of England was crowned on Christmas Day 1066. By the High Middle Ages, the holiday had become so prominent that chroniclers routinely noted where various magnates celebrated Christmas. King Richard II of England hosted a Christmas feast in 1377 at which twenty-eight oxen and three hundred sheep were eaten.[63] The Yule boar was a common feature of medieval Christmas feasts. Caroling also became popular, and was originally a group of dancers who sang. The group was composed of a lead singer and a ring of dancers that provided the chorus. Various writers of the time condemned caroling as lewd, indicating that the unruly traditions of Saturnalia and Yule may have continued in this form.[63] Misrule—drunkenness, promiscuity, gambling—was also an important aspect of the festival. In England, gifts were exchanged on New Years Day, and there was special Christmas ale.[63] Christmas during the Middle Ages was a public festival that incorporated ivy, holly, and other evergreens.[84] Christmas gift-giving during the Middle Ages was usually between people with legal relationships, such as tenant and landlord.[84] The annual indulgence in eating, dancing, singing, sporting, and card playing escalated in England, and by the 17th century the Christmas season featured lavish dinners, elaborate masques, and pageants. In 1607, King James I insisted that a play be acted on Christmas night and that the court indulge in games.[85] It was during the Reformation in 16th–17th-century Europe that many Protestants changed the gift bringer to the Christ Child or Christkindl, and the date of giving gifts changed from December 6 to Christmas Eve.[86] Reformation to the 18th century Ebenezer Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Present. From Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol, 1843. Following the Protestant Reformation, many of the new denominations, including the Anglican Church and Lutheran Church, continued to celebrate Christmas.[87] In 1629, the Anglican poet John Milton penned On the Morning of Christs Nativity, a poem that has since been read by many during Christmastide.[88][89] Donald Heinz, a professor at California State University, states that Martin Luther inaugurated a period in which Germany would produce a unique culture of Christmas, much copied in North America.[90] Among the congregations of the Dutch Reformed Church, Christmas was celebrated as one of the principal evangelical feasts.[91] However, in 17th century England, some groups such as the Puritans, strongly condemned the celebration of Christmas, considering it a Catholic invention and the trappings of popery or the rags of the Beast.[66] In contrast, the established Anglican Church pressed for a more elaborate observance of feasts, penitential seasons, and saints days. The calendar reform became a major point of tension between the Anglican party and the Puritan party.[92] The Catholic Church also responded, promoting the festival in a more religiously oriented form. King Charles I of England directed his noblemen and gentry to return to their landed estates in midwinter to keep up their old-style Christmas generosity.[85] Following the Parliamentarian victory over Charles I during the English Civil War, Englands Puritan rulers banned Christmas in 1647.[66][verification needed] Protests followed as pro-Christmas rioting broke out in several cities and for weeks Canterbury was controlled by the rioters, who decorated doorways with holly and shouted royalist slogans.[66] The book, The Vindication of Christmas (London, 1652), argued against the Puritans, and makes note of Old English Christmas traditions, dinner, roast apples on the fire, card playing, dances with plow-boys and maidservants, and carol singing. The Restoration of King Charles II in 1660 ended the ban, but many Calvinist clergymen still disapproved of Christmas celebration. As such, in Scotland, the Presbyterian Church of Scotland discouraged the observance of Christmas, and though James VI commanded its celebration in 1618, attendance at church was scant.[93] The Parliament of Scotland officially abolished the observance of Christmas in 1640, claiming that the church had been purged of all superstitious observation of days.[94] It was not until 1958 that Christmas again became a Scottish public holiday.[95] Despite the disapproval of many people in Britain, others continued to celebrate the Christmas season. Following the Restoration, Poor Robins Almanack contained the lines: Now thanks to God for Charles return Whose absence made old Christmas mourn For then we scarcely did it know Whether it Christmas were or no[96] The diary of James Woodforde, from the latter half of the 18th century, details the observance of Christmas and celebrations associated with the season over a number of years.[97] In Colonial America, the Puritans of New England shared radical Protestant disapproval of Christmas. Celebration was outlawed in Boston from 1659 to 1681. The ban by the Pilgrims was revoked in 1681 by English governor Sir Edmund Andros, however it was not until the mid-19th century that celebrating Christmas became fashionable in the Boston region.[67] At the same time, Christian residents of Virginia and New York observed the holiday freely. Pennsylvania German Settlers, pre-eminently the Moravian settlers of Bethlehem, Nazareth and Lititz in Pennsylvania and the Wachovia Settlements in North Carolina, were enthusiastic celebrators of Christmas. The Moravians in Bethlehem had the first Christmas trees in America as well as the first Nativity Scenes.[98] Christmas fell out of favor in the United States after the American Revolution, when it was considered an English custom.[99] George Washington attacked Hessian (German) mercenaries on the day after Christmas during the Battle of Trenton on December 26, 1776, Christmas being much more popular in Germany than in America at this time. 19th century In the early 19th century, writers imagined Tudor Christmas as a time of heartfelt celebration. In 1843, Charles Dickens wrote the novel A Christmas Carol that helped revive the spirit of Christmas and seasonal merriment.[64][65] Its instant popularity played a major role in portraying Christmas as a holiday emphasizing family, goodwill, and compassion.[100] The Queens Christmas tree at Windsor Castle, published in the Illustrated London News, 1848, and republished in Godeys Ladys Book, Philadelphia, December 1850 Dickens sought to construct Christmas as a family-centered festival of generosity, in contrast to the community-based and church-centered observations, the observance of which had dwindled during the late 18th century and early 19th century.[101] Superimposing his humanitarian vision of the holiday, in what has been termed Carol Philosophy,[12] Dickens influenced many aspects of Christmas that are celebrated today in Western culture, such as family gatherings, seasonal food and drink, dancing, games, and a festive generosity of spirit.[102] A prominent phrase from the tale, Merry Christmas, was popularized following the appearance of the story.[103] This coincided with the appearance of the Oxford Movement and the growth of Anglo-Catholicism, which led a revival in traditional rituals and religious observances.[104] The term Scrooge became a synonym for miser, with Bah! Humbug! dismissive of the festive spirit.[105] In 1843, the first commercial Christmas card was produced by Sir Henry Cole.[106] The revival of the Christmas Carol began with William Sandys Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern (1833), with the first appearance in print of The First Noel, I Saw Three Ships, Hark the Herald Angels Sing and God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen, popularized in Dickens A Christmas Carol. In Britain, the Christmas tree was introduced in the early 19th century following the personal union with the Kingdom of Hanover by Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of King George III. In 1832, the future Queen Victoria wrote about her delight at having a Christmas tree, hung with lights, ornaments, and presents placed round it.[107] After her marriage to her German cousin Prince Albert, by 1841 the custom became more widespread throughout Britain.[108] An image of the British royal family with their Christmas tree at Windsor Castle created a sensation when it was published in the Illustrated London News in 1848. A modified version of this image was published in the United States in 1850.[109][110] By the 1870s, putting up a Christmas tree had become common in America.[109] A Norwegian Christmas, 1846 painting by Adolph Tidemand In America, interest in Christmas had been revived in the 1820s by several short stories by Washington Irving which appear in his The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. and Old Christmas. Irvings stories depicted harmonious warm-hearted English Christmas festivities he experienced while staying in Aston Hall, Birmingham, England, that had largely been abandoned,[111] and he used the tract Vindication of Christmas (1652) of Old English Christmas traditions, that he had transcribed into his journal as a format for his stories.[85] In 1822, Clement Clarke Moore wrote the poem A Visit From St. Nicholas (popularly known by its first line: Twas the Night Before Christmas).[112] The poem helped popularize the tradition of exchanging gifts, and seasonal Christmas shopping began to assume economic importance.[113] This also started the cultural conflict between the holidays spiritual significance and its associated commercialism that some see as corrupting the holiday. In her 1850 book The First Christmas in New England, Harriet Beecher Stowe includes a character who complains that the true meaning of Christmas was lost in a shopping spree.[114] While the celebration of Christmas was not yet customary in some regions in the U.S., Henry Wadsworth Longfellow detected a transition state about Christmas here in New England in 1856. The old puritan feeling prevents it from being a cheerful, hearty holiday; though every year makes it more so.[115] In Reading, Pennsylvania, a newspaper remarked in 1861, Even our presbyterian friends who have hitherto steadfastly ignored Christmas—threw open their church doors and assembled in force to celebrate the anniversary of the Saviors birth.[115] The First Congregational Church of Rockford, Illinois, although of genuine Puritan stock, was preparing for a grand Christmas jubilee, a news correspondent reported in 1864.[115] By 1860, fourteen states including several from New England had adopted Christmas as a legal holiday.[116] In 1875, Louis Prang introduced the Christmas card to Americans. He has been called the father of the American Christmas card.[117] In 1885, Christmas was formally declared a United States federal holiday.[118] 20th century Up to the 1950s, in the UK, many Christmas customs were restricted to the upper classes and better-off families. The mass of the population had not adopted many of the Christmas rituals that later became general. The Christmas tree was rare. Christmas dinner might be beef — certainly not turkey. In their stockings children might get an apple, orange and sweets. Full celebration of a family Christmas with all the trimmings only became widespread with increased prosperity from the 1950s.[119] National papers were published on Christmas Day until 1912. Post was still delivered on Christmas Day until 1961. League football matches continued in Scotland until the 1970s while in England they ceased at the end of the 1950s.[120][121] Under the state atheism of the Soviet Union, after its foundation in 1917, Christmas celebrations—along with other Christian holidays—were prohibited.[122] The League of Militant Atheists encouraged school pupils to campaign against Christmas traditions, such as the Christmas tree, as well as other Christian holidays, including Easter; the League established an antireligious holiday to be the 31st of each month as a replacement.[123] Furthermore, on Christmas Day, children in Moscow were encouraged to spit on crucifixes as protest against this holiday.[124] It was not until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 that the persecution ended and Christmas was celebrated for the first time in Russia after seven decades.[125]
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