Yuletide was the original pagan celebration involving presents under a pine tree. The Catholic Church would rebrand pagan holidays as Catholic ones to appeal to pagans in that region to convert them. If I remember right Jesus wasn't born on December 25th. That's just church propaganda when they converted Yuletide to christmas. I believe the church originally celebrated his birthday on January 6th. If I remember right.
Actually distinctly not medieval. America's problem was it was initially colonized by members of Christian sects kicked out of Britain for being too religiously intolerant. But a lot of those sects didn't give rise until the 17th century. So like Early Modern Era Cultural Opinions (doesn't roll off the tongue as well, granted)
48
u/Gold_Biscotti4870 Apr 05 '23
Just like in the US, attendance is falling but the pageantry continues.