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History

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Pre-Christian winter festivals

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A winter festival was traditionally the most popular festival of the year in many cultures, in part because there was less agricultural work to be done during the winter. From a religious point of view, Christmas is less significant than Easter and other holidays, and the early church strongly opposed the celebration of birthdays. The prominence of Christmas in modern times reflects the continuing influence of the winter festival tradition, including the following festivals:

Saturnalia

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Main article: Saturnalia

In Roman times, the best-known winter festival was Saturnalia, which was popular throughout Italy. Saturnalia was a time of general relaxation, feasting, merry-making, and a cessation of formal rules. It included the making and giving of small presents (Saturnalia et Sigillaricia), including small dolls for children and candles for adults.[1] During Saturnalia, business was postponed and even slaves feasted. There was drinking, gambling, and singing, and even public nudity. It was the "best of days," according to the poet Catullus.[2] Saturnalia honored the god Saturn and began on December 17. The festival gradually lengthened until the late Republican period, when it was seven days (December 17-24). In imperial times, Saturnalia was shortened to five days.[3]

Sol Invictus

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Main article: Sol Invictus

Beginning with Aurelian in 274, the Roman emperors promoted the festival of Natalis Solis Invicti (December 25) as an empire-wide holiday. The Sol Invictus festival honored the birthdays of two related solar deities, Sol Invictus (The Unconquered Sun), a god of Syrian origin, and Mithras, the Iranian "Sun of Righteousness," who was worshipped by many Roman soldiers.[4] [5] December 25 was considered to be the date of the Winter Solstice.[1] It was therefore the day on which the Sun proved itself to be "unconquered," despite the shortening of daylight hours.

Yule

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Main article: Yule

Pagan Scandinavia celebrated a winter festival called Yule, held in the late December to early January period. Yule logs were lit to honor Thor, the god of thunder, with the belief that each spark from the fire represented a new pig or calf that would be born during the coming year. Feasting would continue until the log burned out, which could take as many as twelve days.[6] In Germany, the equivalent holiday was called Mitwinternacht (mid-winter night), and there were twelve Rauhnächte (harsh or wild nights).[7] As Northern Europe was the last part to Christianize, its pagan celebrations had a major influence on Christmas. Scandinavians still call Christmas Jul. In English, the word Yule is synonymous with Christmas,[8] a usage first recorded in 900.

Origin of the Christian holiday

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Origen, a father of the Christian church, argued against the celebration of birthdays, including the birth of Christ.

The idea that December 25 is Jesus' date of birth was popularized by Sextus Julius Africanus in Chronographiai (AD 221), an early reference book for Christians.[9] It is both nine months after the Festival of Annunciation (March 25) as well as the date that the Romans marked as the winter solstice, which they called bruma.[1] When Julius Caesar introduced the Julian Calendar in 45 BC, December 25 was approximately the date of the solstice. (In modern times, the solstice falls on December 21 or 22.)

Earlier, around AD 220, the theologian Tertullian declared that Jesus died on March 25, 29. By AD 240, a list of significant events was being assigned to March 25, partly because it was believed to be the date of the vernal equinox. These events include creation, The Fall of Adam and Eve, and, most relevantly, the Incarnation.[10] The view that the Incarnation occurred on the same date as crucifixion is consistent with a Jewish belief that prophets died at an "integral age," either an anniversary of their birth or of their conception.[11][12]

The identification of December 25 as the birthdate of Jesus did not at first inspire feasting or celebration. In 245, the theologian Origen denounced the idea of celebrating the birthday of Jesus "as if he were a king pharaoh." Only sinners, not saints, celebrate their birthdays, Origen contended.

The earliest reference to the celebration of Christmas is in the Calendar of Filocalus, an illuminated manuscript compiled in Rome in 354.[13][14] A reference from 360 indicates that Christmas was well-established in Rome by that time. Christmas was promoted in the east as part of the revival of Trinitarian Christianity[13] which followed the death of pro-Arian Emperor Valens in the Battle of Adrianople (378). It was introduced to Constantinople in 379, to Antioch about 380, and to Alexandria about 430.[13] Christmas was especially controversial in Constantinople, the "fortress of Arianism," as Edward Gibbon described it. The feast disappeared after Gregory of Nazianzus resigned as bishop (381), although it was reintroduced by John Chrysostom about 400.[13]

Medieval Christmas

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In the Early Middle Ages, Christmas Day was overshadowed by Epiphany (January 6), which celebrates both the baptism of Jesus and the visit of Magi. But the Medieval calendar was dominated by Christmas-related holidays. The forty days before Christmas became the "forty days of St. Martin," now Advent.[15] In Italy, former Saturnalian traditions were attached to Advent.[15] Around the 12th century, these traditions transferred again to the "twelve days of Christmas" (i.e. Christmas to Epiphany).[15] The fortieth day after Christmas was Candlemas. The prominence of Christmas Day increased gradually after Charlemagne was crowned on Christmas Day in AD 800. 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.[15] 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.[15] "Misrule" — drunkenness, promiscuity, gambling — was also an important aspect of the festival. In England, gifts were exchanged on New Year's Day, and there was special Christmas ale.[15]

The Reformation and the 1800s

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Santa Claus hands out gifts to Union soldiers during the US Civil War in Thomas Nast's first Santa Claus cartoon, Harper's Weekly, 1863.

During the Reformation, Protestants condemned Christmas celebration as "trappings of popery" and the "rags of the Beast". The Catholic Church responded by promoting the festival in a more religiously oriented form. When a Puritan parliament triumphed over the King, Charles I of England (1644), Christmas was officially banned (1647). Pro-Christmas rioting broke out in several cities. For several weeks, Canterbury was controlled by the rioters, who decorated doorways with holly and shouted royalist slogans.[16] The Restoration (1660) ended the ban, but Christmas celebration was still disapproved of by the Anglican clergy.

By the 1820s, sectarian tension had eased and British writers began to worry that Christmas was dying out. They imagined Tudor Christmas as a time of heartfelt celebration, and efforts were made to revive the holiday. The book A Christmas Carol (1843) by Charles Dickens played a major role in reinventing Christmas as a holiday emphasizing family, goodwill, and compassion (as opposed to communal celebration and hedonistic excess).[17]

The Puritans of New England disapproved of Christmas and celebration was outlawed in Boston (1659-81). Meanwhile, Virginia and New York celebrated freely. Christmas fell out of favor in the U.S. after the American Revolution, when it was considered an "English custom".

Father Christmas persuades the jury of his innocence in The Examination and Tryal of Father Christmas (1686) by Josiah King

Interest was revived by several short stories by Washington Irving in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon (1819) and by "Old Christmas" (1850) which depict harmonous warm-hearted holiday traditions Irving claimed to have observed in England. Although some argue that Irving invented the traditions he describes, they were imitated by his American readers.[18] German immigrants and the homecomings of the Civil War helped promote the holiday. Christmas was declared a federal holiday in the U.S. in 1870.

Irving writes of Saint Nicholas "riding over the tops of the trees, in that selfsame waggon wherein he brings his yearly presents to children."[19] The connection between Santa Claus and Christmas was popularized by the poem "A Visit from Saint Nicholas" (1822) by Clement Clarke Moore, which depicts Santa driving a sleigh pulled by reindeer and distributing gifts to children. His image was created by German-American cartoonist Thomas Nast (1840-1902), who drew a new image annually beginning in 1863. By the 1880s, Nast's Santa had evolved into the form we now recognize. The image was standardized by advertisers in the 1920s.[20]

Modern times

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In the midst of World War I, there was an unofficial Christmas truce between German and British troops in France (1914). Soldiers on both sides spontaneously began to sing Christmas carols and stopped fighting. The truce began on Christmas Day and continued for some time afterward.[21] (Although many stories about the truce include a soccer game between the trench lines (often reported as a 3-2 victory for the Germans) there is no evidence that this event actually occurred.)

In modern times, the United States has experienced some controversy over the nature of Christmas, and whether it is a religious or a secular holiday. Because the US government recognizes Christmas as an official holiday, some have thought that this violates separation of church and state. This has been brought to trial several times, including Lynch v. Donnelly (1984)[22] and Ganulin v. United States (1999).[23] On December 6, 1999, the verdict for Ganulin v. United States (1999). declared that "the establishment of Christmas Day as a legal public holiday does not violate the Establishment Clause because it has a valid secular purpose." This decision was appealed, and upheld by the Supreme Court on December 19, 2000.

More recently, some Christians have protested against what they see as a secularization of Christmas. Some believe that the holiday is under attack from a general secular trend or from persons and organizations with a deliberate or unconscious anti-Christian agenda. The perceived trend has also been blamed on political correctness.[24]

  1. ^ a b c Bruma, University of Tennessee
  2. ^ Sempronia, Julilla, "Ancient Voices: Saturnalia, AncientWorlds 2004.
  3. ^ Mosley, John, "Common Errors in 'Star of Bethlehem' Planetarium Shows", Planetarian, Third Quarter 1981.
  4. ^ Why December 25? Christian History and Biography magazine
  5. ^ Saturnalia? History Channel
  6. ^ An Ancient Holiday History Channel
  7. ^ Reichmann, Ruth, "Christmas".
  8. ^ Yule. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved December 03, 2006.
  9. ^ "Christmas." Encyclopædia Britannica. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2006.
  10. ^ "The Feast of the Annunciation", Catholic Encyclopedia, 1998.
  11. ^ Duchesne, Louis, Les origines du culte chrétien: Etude sur la liturgie latine avant Charlemagne. Paris, 1889.
  12. ^ Talley, Thomas J., Origins of the Liturgical Year. Pueblo Publishing Company, New York, 1986.
  13. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference CathChrit was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ This document was prepared privately for an aristocrat and is named after an artist who illuminated part of it. The reference to Christmas states, "VIII kal. ian. natus Christus in Betleem Iudeæ". The date of this reference is sometimes given as 336 because the book is based on an earlier manuscript of that date. But the compiler added material and it is not known if this particular item is from the earlier manuscript.
  15. ^ a b c d e f Murray, Alexander, "Medieval Christmas", History Today, December 1986, 36 (12), pp. 31 - 39.
  16. ^ Durston, Chris, "Lords of Misrule: The Puritan War on Christmas 1642-60", History Today, December 1985, 35 (12) pp. 7 - 14.
  17. ^ Rowell, Geoffrey, "Dickens and the Construction of Christmas", History Today, December 1993, 43 (12), pp. 17 - 24.
  18. ^ The history of Christmas: Christmas history in America, 2006
  19. ^ Irving, Washington, History of New York, 1812.
  20. ^ Mikkelson, Barbara and David P., "The Claus That Refreshes", Snopes.com, 2006.
  21. ^ Baker, Chris, The Christmas Truce of 1914, 1996
  22. ^ Lynch vs. Donnelly (1984)
  23. ^ Ganulin v. United States (1999)
  24. ^ Cohen, Adam. This season's war cry: Commercialize Christmas, or else. The New York Times, December 4, 2005.
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