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336
The Saturnalia Festival
In Europe, "Christmas" was celebrated through the Festival of Saturnalia. The very first Christmas ever recorded was on December 25, 336. This festival was meant to celebrate Roman gods. Mainly one god was worshipped the most and became focused on due to the influence of upperclassmen in society. They worshipped the infant god Mithras, who was the unconquerable god of the Sun. This god represented light during the darkest times and the celebration took place during the darkest days of the year. -
400
The Early Years of Christianity.
During these early years the birth of Jesus was not celebrated. In the fourth century church officials decided to make a holiday for the birth of Jesus Christ. Pope Julius I chose the date December 25th as the birth of Jesus, in order to have Jesus represent "light" and to be celebrated during the Saturnalia Festival. -
400
The Spread of Christmas Worldwide
Christmas wasn't a very well known celebration but since it takes place during the exact same time as the Saturnalia festivals, the large christian population who celebrated Christmas have helped it gain popularity in other countries as well. Eventually the Saturnalia festival was only called Christmas and had replaced pagan religion. In year 432, the celebration spread to Egypt and England. By the end of the eighth century, it had spread to many other countries to as far as Scandinavia. -
800
The Start to Many Changes of Christmas
The strategy church officials used to hold Christmas at the same time as other winter solstice festivals has helped it become a major festival among other minor festivals and become more popularly embraced in other countries as well. However, church officials also lost the ability to dictate how Christmas was celebrated. Over time Christmas had undergone many changes to how it was celebrated as you will start to see over this timeline. -
1400
Christmas in the Middle Ages
During the Middle Ages, Christmas was changed in terms of how it was celebrated. Christians would attend church and celebrate wildly in a Mardi-Gras type style. Christmas became the time of year where upperclassmen in society would repeat their real/imagined debt to society by entertaining the less fortunate citizens. -
Influence by Religion
In the 16th century, the Puritans had seized England and banned Christmas from being celebrated. However Charles II was reinstated to the throne in England and the ban on Christmas was lifted. A similar situation happened in America during 1659 to 1681. English separatists that came to America in 1620 who were also Puritans had outlawed Christmas during this time. -
The Arrival of Christmas in America
American colonies fought for independence from Britain and had won, during the American Revolution. After this war, England's influence on America had faded, as well as their laws. So Christmas was officially declared as a federal holiday on June 26th, 1870. -
Irving's Influence
The early 1900s was a period of conflict in America. Unemployment rates were high and so was crime during the Christmas season. During this time, an author named Washington Irving wrote a book called "The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon". In this novel, he wrote through the eyes of a character about his views on how Christmas should be celebrated. Instead of a wild rowdy festival, Christmas should rather be a time of peace and the coming together of people from all wealth and social status. -
New Customs and Values
The version of Christmas that Irving wrote about appealed to the whole country due to influence from the social and political unrest at the time. On top of this, another author had influenced the tradition. Charles Dickens wrote a popular tale called "A Christmas Carol". This tale talked about the importance of charity and goodwill towards all of mankind during Christmas. Over the next 100 years Americans would build their own customs to the holiday. -
Christmas in Modern Day
Since the 2000s, Christmas had undergone many changes but this period is the most consistent that we will have. Christmas is now a holiday where families exchange gifts, sending holiday cards and decorating homes with Christmas trees and Christmas tree lights. -
Entertainment and Media
Christmas is a famous holiday known worldwide and is the perfect opportunity for the entertainment industry to capitalize. Fictional characters have been created and gained popularity quickly during Christmas, like Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph and Santa Claus. Many movies and songs about christmas have also been made and are played during the holidays like Let It Snow, Jingle Bells, Polar Express etc. Entertainment an Media play a big part in Christmas this century.