Christmas Traditions Of Middle Ages
The modern and Victorian Christmas pudding tradition evolved from the medieval dish of frumetry, this was a spicy, wheat based dessert. Other desserts were made as welcome treat for adults and children.
The humble Pie tradition
Humble (or 'umble) pie was made from the "humbles" of a deer ( the heart, liver, brains and so forth). While the lords and ladies ate the choice cuts, the servants baked the humbles into a pie (which of course made them go further as a source of food).
This appears to be the origin of the phrase, "to eat humble pie." By the 17th century Humble Pie had become a trademark Christmas food.
Christmas Tree
The tree was an important symbol to every Pagan culture. The oak in particular was respected by the Druids. Evergreens, which in medieval Rome were thought to have special powers and were used for decoration, symbolized the promised return of life in the spring and came to symbolize eternal life for Christians. Medieval Vikings hung fir and ash trees with war trophies for good luck.
In the middle ages, the Church would decorate trees with apples on Christmas Eve, the trees remained outdoors. In 16 th century Germany, it was the custom for a fir tree decorated with paper flowers to be carried though the streets on Christmas Eve to the town square, where, after a great feast and celebration that included dancing around the tree, it would be ceremonially burned.
Holly, ivy, and mistletoe were all important plants to the Druids. It was believed that good spirits lived in the branches of holly. Christians believed that the berries had been white before they were turned red by Christ's blood when he was made to wear the crown of thorns.
Ivy was associated with the Roman god Bacchus and was not allowed by the Church as decoration until later in the middle ages, when a superstition that it could help recognize witches and protect against plague arose.
Nativity
Christmas may owe its popularity in medieval times to liturgical dramas and mysteries presented in the church. The most popular subject for such dramas and tropes was the Holy Family, particularly the Nativity. As interest in the Nativity grew, so did Christmas as a holiday.
Carols, though very popular in the later middle ages, were at first frowned on by the Church. But, as with most popular entertainment, they eventually evolved to a suitable format, and the Church relented.
The Twelve Days of Christmas may have been a game set to music. One person would sing a stanza, and another would add his own lines to the song, repeating the first person's verse. Another version states it was a Catholic "catechism memory song" that helped oppressed Catholics in medieval England during the Reformation remember facts about God and Jesus at a time when practicing their faith could get them killed.
Pantomimes and mumming were another form of popular Christmas entertainment, particularly in England. These casual plays without words usually involved dressing up as a member of the opposite gender and acting out comic stories.
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