Historical Christmas In England

Christmas has a long and cherished history within the country of England, dating all the way back to the days of the legendary King Arthur, who was said to have made "merrie" in York in the year 521, celebrating the season with minstrels, gleemen, harpers, pipe-players, jugglers and dancers. There was a brief period where Christmas was not held in high regard by the country's leader and his many followers (Cromwell's reign), but other than that spot in history England has always been an abnormally special place for Christmas. The country's contributions to the season were permanently etched in history when the famous author Charles Dickens penned his perennial classic A Christmas Carol.

According to Countess Maria Hubert von Staufer, Director of the U.K.-based Christmas Archives International, "It is a popular misconception that Christmas in England was eradicated by the Cromwellians and was reinvented by the Victorians." In reality the customs the people observed during the Victorian period of the 1800's were the same pre-Cromwellian traditions handed down from earlier days when the Christmas celebrations were forced to go underground. England's love of the holiday never died away.

Although the Victorian period cannot be credited with resurrecting the Christmas season entirely, few can argue that it heavily influenced and added to the celebrations. Countess Hubert von Staufer has written about Christmas during the Victorian Period of England extensively, and states that the grand celebrations included church bells, hand bells, choirs of singers and even street performers. Wandering minstrels went from hamlet to hamlet and castle to castle to tell tales and sing about the season… a tradition that many still follow today.

A good deal of Americans celebrate the holiday season by adorning a Christmas tree, but many of those same Americans don't realize that we actually have the English to thank for making popular this jovial tradition. The Christmas tree as we know it today became most popular with Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, who was originally from Germany – where the idea of the Christmas tree was invented. The tree was placed right besides the kissing bough, a mixture of mistletoe and evergreen (yes, the English celebrate the mistletoe tradition too!).

Nowadays the most popular Christmas tree in England is a giant spruce located near the statue of Lord Nelson in Trafalgar Square right in the heart of London. This tree is a gift from the people of Norway in response to England's generosity during World War II. When the German army occupied Norway during the terrible war, King Haakon of Norway was exiled in England. Each year during the occupation his exiled Norwegian military forces would smuggle a Norwegian tree past the German navy's patrols and bring it to their king in England so that he could celebrate Christmas with a tree from his own homeland. It may have been a small thing considering the circumstances of that historical period, but little things like that can mean a lot during the holidays.

British children have their own Santa Claus, except that in their case good ole Saint Nick is actually called Father Christmas. Like the American Santa, Father Christmas is a jolly old man with white hair and a pipe, but in England he traditionally wears a green coat. This green coat stems from the ancient midwinter festival and signifies the return of Spring. The red coat that many Americans know him by was first introduced to England in 1930 on an American Christmas card, as well as advertisements from American corporations like Coca Cola.

The color of his coat is not the only difference between the English and American version of Santa. Father Christmas does not have a sleigh or eight tiny reindeer that guide Santa's sleigh throughout the sky. But such differences are relatively minor, for in the end English children celebrate by writing letters to Father Christmas just as their American counterparts, and at Christmas parties a jovial adult usually dons a Father Christmas costume and plays his role for the delighted children.

Goose used to be the traditional Christmas meal among Englishmen, though this changed when King Henry VIII decided he preferred turkey to goose. Nowadays most English families enjoy the main holiday mean at noon on Christmas day, and the contents of the meal generally include roasted turkey, potatoes, stuffing and vegetables – the same types of food Americans typically consume on this day. Dessert also plays a big role during the holiday meal; many Englishmen still make a special Christmas pudding.

The world owes a lot to England, for a lot of the Christmas traditions various countries celebrate today can be traced right back to England's past.