Enriching Education - What was Christmas like eight hundred years ago, during the Middle Ages? And how did that suddenly change?

By Laurel Guillen 

These days, when we think of Christmas, what usually comes to mind are Santa Claus, reindeer and  Christmas trees. But eight hundred years ago, none of those relatively modern Christmas traditions  existed. 

In medieval Europe, where the vast majority of Christians lived, the celebration of Christmas started on  Christmas Day and lasted for twelve, very merry days. It was a time immediately following the harvest  and people could take a long break from the usual hard work. In an age when famines were common  and the poor rarely had plenty to eat, Christmas was a time for feasting on all kinds of food, ale and  wine. 

Certain traditions rooted in pagan celebrations of winter by the Romans, Celts, Vikings and others were  adopted into the medieval Christmas festivities. For instance, holly and ivy, pine boughs and mistletoe  were brought indoors for decoration, and large Yule logs were burned in the fireplace for the whole of  Christmas Day.  

Lords invited everyone living on their estates for a Christmas Day feast or sent them food, to make sure  they didn’t go without. Bishops and Abbots who ruled over monastery lands also gave to the poor.  

St. Nicholas, the patron saint of children, had yet to be transformed into Santa Claus the Christmas giti  bringer. Nevertheless people gave gitis to each other throughout the twelve days. The rich exchanged  coins and jewelry; but for most people, gitis were cherished food items like fish and fowl, pastries and  honey, figs and oranges.

At Christmastime the noble class paid to be entertained by jugglers, acrobats, comedians called “fools”  and minstrels — singers and musicians — and the like. But even peasants had entertainment. All it took  was one person playing a wooden flute and another beating a drum and there was music for singing and  dancing.  

Eight hundred years ago the rich and poor, young and old played pantomimes and all kinds of games,  and laughed over mischievous hijinks. People danced around the town or went from door to door  dressed up in silly costumes, singing folksongs, telling jokes and demanding drinks.  

It was also a time when roles were reversed. A choirboy was dressed up like a bishop and allowed to  temporarily rule over a church or cathedral. A peasant was chosen by lot to be the Lord of Misrule and  reign over a town or manor’s festivities. He could demand funny or embarrassing tasks from those in  authority, such as having a lord wait on his own servants.  

Today we bemoan the commercialization and secularization of Christmas. But eight hundred years ago  there also were corruptions that came between people and the true spirit of the holiday. The church in  Rome was facing scandals in the clergy, resentment for the way it gained its wealth and its endless power  struggles with kings and other rulers, all of which were harming its reputation. Then there was the  holiday itself. While people did give to the less fortunate and atend church services several times during  those twelve days, Christmas came to resemble one long, jolly, over-indulgent party. 

It was during this time that, in 1223, Francis of Assisi brought his flare for the dramatic and his love of  the holy. He and his brother friars were already famous for wholeheartedly embracing poverty and  charity. Now Francis wanted to inspire people by dramatizing the astounding giti Christ gave us by  coming to earth as a poor and helpless babe. He and his brothers did it by staging history’s first “nativity  scene,” inside a mountain cave near Greccio, Italy, complete with a live ox and donkey and a baby Jesus. 

They invited the townspeople to a nightime, outdoor Christmas Eve service lit by torches and candles.  People were mesmerized by the scene and brought to tears by Francis’s touching sermon about the Babe  of Bethlehem. The event was an instant sensation, and imitations of it soon spread throughout  Christendom.  

Today we cherish our nativity scenes -- whether living or carved of wood or stone -- and our candlelight  services on Christmas Eve. Thus, eight hundred years ago the celebration of Christmas gained something  that’s still a popular and beloved reminder of the true meaning of the holiday.