The History of Christmas

Ancient Times

The date of Christmas, the Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, December 25th, was chosen by the ancient Church, now the Roman Catholic Church. The date is exactly 9 months after the date of the Annunciation, or when Mary, the mother of Jesus, was told by the angel Gabriel she was pregnant with the Son of God. This date also corresponded with the Roman winter solstice. Traditionally, this season was a time of feasting and festivity, due to the lack of work after the harvest season was completed. Contrary to popular belief, the celebration was originally considered sinful and the event of Christmas was barely acknowledged.

Middle Ages and the Reformation

The celebration of Christmas itself was not considered a major event during medieval times. Instead, a winter celebration was more widely celebrated. It was not until the crowning of Charlemagne, which occurred on Christmas Day in 800, did Europeans start recognizing the significance of the holiday. By the 12th century, the traditions of Advent, the 40 days before Christmas and the "Twelve Days of Christmas," the days between Christmas Day and the Epiphany, were firmly in place. In 1377, the biggest Christmas feast recorded up to that point took place in England and was hosted by King Richard II.

The Turning Point

In 1843, Charles Dickens wrote his famous book titled A Christmas Carol. The publication of this book changed the entire view of Christmas from that point on. Until then, Christmas was seen as a time to drink in excess and gorge on food. Dickens?s story, however, painted the holiday as one of a time of giving to loved ones and the importance of bringing family together. Soon, Christmas became a world-wide holiday synonymous with love, compassion, and sharing.

Traditions

The Christmas Tree: The use of a Christmas tree indoors appears to have begun in Germany. Christians would bring trees into their homes to decorate. In some areas evergreen trees were so scarce that families would build a Christmas pyramid, simple wooden structures decorated with branches and candles.

The English Royalty helped popularize this symbol in England by decorating the first Christmas tree at Windsor Castle in 1841. Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, decorated the first English Christmas Tree with candles, candies, fruits and gingerbread.

When the German immigrants went to America they also brought along their Christmas trees traditions. One of the first public displays of a Christmas tree was set up by German settlers in Pennsylvania. At the time, many still considered the tree to be a symbol of the pagans and it wasn?t until the late 1800s that Americans began accepting it as a part of the Christmas celebration.

Caroling: Caroling or "celebrating in song" is a Christmas tradition that allows the beauty of music to be shared in performance. There are two types of carols ? traditional and religious. In the early days, carols were sung by "waits" or bands of men and boys singing outdoors, usually for money. By the 14th century these traditional carols, often accompanied with dancing, were firmly ingrained as part of the festivities surrounding Christmas.

Caroling is one of the many Christmas traditions that bring together both young and old. One such celebration is "Carols by Candlelight," an outdoor sing-along of Christmas carols in Australia. At dusk, anywhere from five to fifty thousand people come together to sing carols while holding candles or torches. This tradition began in 1937 after Norman Banks of Melbourne, Australia saw an old widow holding a single candle, singing along to the radio by herself. Although originally confined to Australia, "Carols by Candlelight" has now spread to New Zealand, South Africa and parts of Canada, while the tradition of caroling continues to flourish all over the world.

Santa Claus: The legend of Santa Claus began ages ago and has been passed down throughout the generations. Each Christian culture has its own version of who Santa Claus really is. In the United States, Santa became popular due to an illustrator and cartoonist named Thomas Nast. Americans and others around the world have adopted his drawings of Santa Claus as the official holiday figure.

In France, Pere Noel, whose English translation means Father Christmas, is depicted as a kind old man with the traditional red fur suit trimmed with white fur. He?s rivaled in some parts of France by Aunt Airie, a fairy who wears a cape and gives gifts while traveling on her donkey.

Throughout Scandinavia, there was a wide-held belief that there were tiny magical creatures called nisse who lived in attics and basements to bring people good luck. When they discovered Santa Claus, they gave the nisse a red suit and a long white beard and called him Julenisse.

Not all Santa figures are male. According to legend, La Befana was an old woman from Palestine who refused an offer to go with the Magi to see the baby Jesus because she had too much housework to do. Ever since, La Befana, which means "The Epiphany" in Italian, wanders throughout Italy on January 5th in search of the Christ child. In her travels, she stops at all the houses of the children and leaves presents for them to make up for not having joined the Magi.

Very similar to the legend of La Befana was Babushka. She was a witch-like old woman who gave the Magi wrong directions on their trip to Bethlehem. In order to atone for her trick, she was condemned to roam around Russia on Epiphany Eve, giving presents to all good children. Babushka was very popular in Russia until the Communist Revolution, after which she was outlawed due to her religious association.

All the Santa figures around the world still incorporate the tradition of celebrating the season by giving gifts, especially to children. While the story of how they came about has been altered in different cultures, the basic premise of Santa Claus remains the same across the globe.