Page 41 - All About History - Issue 59-17
P. 41
The Secret History of Christmas
a Time for CoronaTions a life-
Changing gifT
A number of Medieval monarchs consciously chose to be crowned on Christmas Day. Author Harper Lee worked for years to support
It meant that their coronation would tie in with the celebrations for the birth of Christ, herself while
which would in emphasise their divine right to rule as awarded to them by God. struggling to find
the time to write.
Everything changed in
1956 when her friends
Michael and Joy Brown
gifted her a year’s
worth of wages for
Christmas. Lee quit
her job and wrote
To Kill a Mockingbird,
one of the world’s
Charlemagne, mieszko ii lambert, william the Conqueror, best-selling novels.
holy roman emperor, 800 king of Poland, 1025 king of england, 1066 The rooTs
of deCking
The halls
Evergreens have been a popular choice for winter
decorations since pagan times with the belief
that they represented everlasting life. Herbs
such as rosemary and bay, which symbolise
remembrance and valour respectively, were
Bolesław ii, Baldwin i, roger ii, commonplace in the home. Holly, a masculine
king of Poland, 1076 king of Jerusalem, 1100 king of sicily, 1130 plant, and ivy, a feminine plant, were thought to
balance the home.
Three leaDers who losT Their Crowns aT ChrisTmas The two plants have also inspired
the carol ‘The Holly and the Ivy’
leo V, emperor of the Vetranio, co-emperor of mikhail gorbachev, president
Byzantine empire, the roman empire, of the soviet union
assassinated, 820 forced to abdicate, 350 resigned, 1991
The grave of sainT niCholas
Where was the real-life Santa Claus really buried?
Recently, archaeologists in Turkey have tomb has been found under an ancient church.
discovered what they believe to be the tomb Known for his kindness, generosity and secretly
of Saint Nicholas — in other words, the resting giving gifts to the children of Myra, he lived
place of Father Christmas. Saint Nicholas was during the 4th century. However, he didn’t
believed to have been born in Myra, modern- become known as ‘Santa Claus’ until the 16th
day Demre, in southern Turkey, where this when he became popular across Europe.
