Twelfth Night is a festival in several branches of Christianity that marks the coming of Epiphany. Different traditions mark the Twelfth Night date on January 5th or January 6th; The Church of England, the Mother Church of the Anglican Communion, celebrates the 12th Night on the 5th and "refers to the night before the Epiphany, the day when the birth story tells us that the wise man visited the baby Jesus." In the tradition of the Western Church, Twelfth Night concludes Twelve Christmas Days; though, on the other hand, the Twelfth Night may precede the Twelfth Day. Bruce Forbes writes:
In 567, the Tour Board announced that the entire period between Christmas and Epiphany should be considered part of the celebration, creating what is known as the twelve Christmas days, or what the English call Christmastide. On the last day of twelve days, called Twelfth Night, various cultures develop additional special celebrations. The variation even extends to the problem of how to calculate the day. If Christmas Day is the first of twelve days, then Twelfth Night will be held on January 5, the night of Epiphany. If December 26, the day after Christmas, is the first day, the Twelfth Night falls on January 6, the night of Epiphani itself.
Confidence has emerged in modern times, in some English-speaking countries, that it is unfortunate to leave the Christmas decorations hanged after the Twelfth Night, a tradition originally attached to the Candlemas festival (2 February), which celebrates the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple. Other popular Twelfth Night habits include singing Christmas carols, Leaving the door, having someone's home blessed, having fun, and attending church services.
Video Twelfth Night (holiday)
Origin and history
In the Middle Ages and the English Tudor, Candlemas traditionally marked the end of the Christmas season, though later, the Twelfth Night came to signal the end of Kristmastide, with a new but related seasons Epiphanytide running up Candlemas. The famous Twelfth Night tradition is to have nuts and beans hidden in a Twelfth-night cake; "The man who found the peanuts in the slice of the cake became King for the night while the woman who found the beans in a piece of cake became Queen for the night." After this election, the Twelfth Night party will continue and will include singing Christmas carols, as well as parties.
Tradition
Food and drink is a center of celebration in modern times, and all the most traditional back centuries. The so-called issail blow is consumed mainly on Twelfth Night, but throughout Christmas time, especially in the UK. Around the world, specialty cakes, such as tortell and king, are baked on Twelfth Night, and eaten the next day for Epiphany's Feast. In English and French custom, the twelfth cake is baked with beans and peas, so those who receive the slices containing them must be appointed as kings and queens of the party that night.
In Kent, there is a tradition that edible decoration will be the last part of Christmas to be removed on the Twelfth Night and shared among families.
The Royal Theater, Drury Lane in London has had a tradition since 1795 to provide Twelfth Night cake. The will of Robert Baddeley made a testament of £ 100 to give the cake and punches annually to the company at his home in the theater on January 6th. Tradition still continues.
In Ireland, it is still a tradition to place Three King's statues on a bed on Twelfth Night or, later, the next Day, Little Christmas.
In colonial America, Christmas bouquets are always left at the front door of every house, and when dropped off at the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas, every edible portion will be consumed with other meals at the party. The same is true in the 19th century with the fruits decorate the Christmas tree. Fresh fruits are hard to come by, and are therefore regarded as good and appropriate gifts and decorations for trees, wreaths, and homes. Again, the tree will be lowered on Twelfth Night, and fruits like that, along with nuts and other local products used, will then be consumed.
The Modern American Carnival tradition shines brightest in New Orleans, where friends gather for a weekly king's cake party. Whoever gets a piece with a "king", usually in the form of miniature baby dolls (symbol of the Son of Christ, "Christ the King"), hosts the party next week.
In the eastern Alps, a tradition called Perchtenlaufen exists. Two to three hundred masked young men rushed to the street with whips and bells casting out evil spirits. In Nuremberg, until 1616, the children drove the spirits by running on the streets and knocking on the door loudly. In some countries, Twelfth Night and Epiphany mark the beginning of the Carnival season, which takes place through Mardi Gras Day.
Oppression
The Twelfth Night in the Netherlands became so secular, rowdy and noisy that public celebrations were banned from the church.
Twelfth Night
In some places, especially southwest England, the Twelfth Night is still celebrated on 17 January. This continues the custom on the date specified by the Julian calendar.
Maps Twelfth Night (holiday)
In the literature
Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night, or What You Will is written to be featured as a Twelfth Night entertainment. The earliest known performances took place at the Temple Hall, one of the Inns at the Court, on Candlemas night, February 2, 1602. The drama has many reversed elements, in the Twelfth Night tradition, like a woman dressed as a Viola, and a Malvolio waiter imagined that he could be a nobleman.
Ben Jonson's The Masque of Blackness was performed on January 6, 1605 at the Banqueting House in Whitehall. It was originally titled The Twelvth Nights Revells . The accompanying Masque, The Masque of Beauty was performed in the same court on Sunday night after the Twelfth Night of 1608.
Robert Herrick's poem Twelfe-Night, or King and Queene, was published in 1648, describing the election of kings and queens by beans and nuts in plum cakes, and the reverence made to them by draining the bowl of lamb's-wool ", sugar drinks, nutmeg, ginger, and ale.
Charles Dickens' 1843 A Christmas Carol briefly mentions Scrooge and Ghost of Christmas Present visiting the Twelfth Night children's party.
In Chapter 6 of the novel Harrison Ainsworth 1858 Mervyn Clitheroe , the eponymous hero was chosen as the King of celebration at the Twelfth Eve celebration held at Tom Shakeshaft's warehouse, receiving a slice of plum cake; his friend Cissy gets the beans and becomes queen, and they sit together at a high angle to see the process. Distribution has been rigged to prevent others from getting the role. Celebrations include country dances, and the introduction of "Fool Plow", a plow adorned with ribands brought into the granary by a dozen mummers together with a strange "Bessie" (played by a man) and a fool wearing animal skins. with a stupid hat. The mummers were carrying wooden swords and doing debauchery. The scene in the novel is illustrated by Hablot Knight Browne ("Phiz"). In the course of the night, the fool's antics caused the fight to break, but Mervyn restored order. Three bowls of gin punch were thrown out, and at eleven the boys made the necessary arrangements to see the young women safely at home across the fields.
See also
- Christmas carol
- Christmas Eve
- Christmastide
- Little Christmas
- Pantomime
- Theophany
References
Further reading
- "Christmas". Catholic Encyclopedia . Retrieved December 22 2005 . Ã, Especially the sub-heading Popular Merrymaking under Liturgy and Custom .
- Christmas Trivia edited by Jennie Miller Helderman, Mary Caulkins. Gramercy, 2002
- Marix-Evans, Martin. Twelve Christmas Days . Peter Pauper Press, 2002
- Bowler, Gerry. The World Encyclopedia of Christmas . McClelland & amp; Stewart, 2004
- Collins, Ace. The Story Behind the Great Christmas Tradition . Zondervan, 2003
- Wells, Robin Headlam. Shakespeare Humanism . Cambridge University Press, 2006
- Fosbrooke, Thomas Dudley c. 1810, 'Encyclopaedia of Antiquities' (Unknown Publisher)
- J. Brand, 1813, 'Popular Antiquities', 2 Vols (London)
- W. Hone, 1830, 'The Every-Day Book' 3 Vols (London), cf Vol I pp 41-61.
English initial source
(taken from Hone's Every-Day Book, references as found):
- Vox Graculi , 4to, 1623: January 6, Masking on Strand, Cheapside, Holbourne, or Fleet-street (London), and eating spices.
- The Popish Kingdom , 'Naogeorgus': Bake a twelve cake with a penny in it, slices distributed to household members to give to the poor: whoever finds the money is proclaimed the king among the they.
- Nichols, Progress of Queen Elizabeth : Entertainment at Sudley, temp. Elizabeth I, including Melibaeus king of the bean, and Nisa, queen of peas.
- Pinkerton,
Ancient Scottish Poem : Letter from Sir Thomas Randolph to Robert Dudley, Leicester's 1st Earl of January 15, 1563, mentions that Lady Flemyng was Queen Beene on the Twelfth Day of the year. - Ben Jonson, Christmas, His Masque (1616, published 1641): The 'Baby-cake' character was attended by a usher who brought a large cake with beans and pease.
- Samuel Pepys, Diaries (1659/60): Epiphany Eve party, choose King and Queen with a cake (see King cake).
External links
- Epiphany at Catholic Encyclopedia
- The Twelve Christmas Days at The Christian Resource Institute
- William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night"
Source of the article : Wikipedia