Christmas in Britain & Europe - 12th Night - The Bean King

Jacob Jordaens, The Bean King. 1635-55.

Twelfth Night, the evening before Epiphany (January 6 - when the biblical kings reached the newborn Christ Child), was a final frenzy of Christmas feasting, drinking & raucous merry making before the community returned to its daily working grind for the rest of the winter.

In medieval & Tudor England, the Twelfth Night marked the end of a winter festival that started on All Hallows Eve — now more commonly known as Halloween. The Lord of Misrule symbolized the world turning upside down. On this day the King & all those who were high would become the peasants & vice versa. At the beginning of the Twelfth Night festival, a cake that contained a bean & perhaps a pea was eaten. The male who found the bean would rule the feast as a king. Midnight signaled the end of his rule, & the world would return to normal. The common theme was that the normal order of things was reversed. This Lord of Misrule tradition dates back to pre-Christian European festivals such as the Celtic festival of Samhain & the Ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia. In some places, particularly south-western England, Old Twelfth Night is celebrated on 17 January. This continues the custom on the date determined by the old Julian calendar. In England, the lord of the manor was charged with the solemn responsibility of providing the Twelfth Night cakes for his tenant families. This usually informal practice achieved the status of law at the village of North Curry, Somerset, in 1314.

Jacob Jordaens, The Bean King. ca. 1640-45

Dancing, clowning, & consuming prodigious quantities of liquor and food, the celebrants followed the practice of crowning one of themselves "king" to rule over the 12th Night's celebrations. Those who donned the crown were also expected to treat their fellow revelers to a round of drinks. During the Renaissance, some of the most splendid feasts of the Christmas season occurred at the homes of the wealthy on Twelfth Night. In England King Henry VIII (1491-1547) appears to have introduced the Italian custom of celebrating Twelfth Night with masques. These elaborate costumed events featured the enactment of some simple scenes or tableaux using song, dance, flowery speeches, & fancy scenery. The masques performed at court were short, simple, & sometimes frivolous works designed to raise as much laughter as possible while providing a colorful spectacle. These productions were very popular during the Christmas season, but they were also performed at other times of year. The famous writer Ben Jonson (1572-1637) offered a Christmas masque - Christmas His Masque - to be performed at court in the year 1616. In England the Twelfth Night masque reached its zenith in the early 17C and then began to decline.

Jan Miense Molenaer (1610-1668) Twelfth Night 1660

At some point, this tradition gave rise to the creation of the "12th Night Cake" or the "King Cake" (after the Biblical kings) -- an often-ornate confection into which a bean, a coin or a tiny carved or cast metal version of the Baby Jesus was placed. In English & French custom, the Twelfth-cake was baked to contain a bean and a pea, so that those who received the slices containing them should be designated king & queen of the night's festivities. During early evening ceremonies, the cake was cut and its pieces distributed to guests who were advised to chew carefully. The person who found the icon then became the king or queen of 12th Night. Sometimes the designated king of the festivities was called the Bean King.

The King Drinks

Samuel Pepys recorded a party in London on Epiphany night, 6 January 1659/1660, & described the role the cake played in the choosing of a "King" & "Queen" for the occasion: "...to my cousin Stradwick, where, after a good supper, there being there my father, mothers, brothers, & sister, my cousin Scott & his wife, Mr. Drawwater & his wife, & her brother, Mr. Stradwick, we had a brave cake brought us, & in the choosing, Pall was Queen & Mr. Stradwick was King. After that my wife & I bid adieu & came home, it being still a great frost." The choosing of King & Queen from the pie, usually by the inclusion of a bean & a pea, was a traditional English 12th Night festivity. The cake was called a "12th Cake", "Twelfth-night cake", or "Twelfth-tide cake."

Twelfth Night - Jan Steen -1662

By the late 18C in England, the selection of 12th Night's "royalty" was also alternately accomplished by the distribution of paper slips with each piece of cake. The slips were opened and the person holding the one with a special mark inside was declared king. Some believe this paper ballot tradition was instituted as a matter of safety to prevent often-inebriated & distracted guests from inadvertently choking to death on hard beans, coins or a cast metal Jesus hidden in wads of cake.

Twelfth Night (The King Drinks) by David Teniers c. 1634-1640

Traditionally, groups of family & friends may have "king cake parties" through the Carnival season between Epiphany & the day before Lent. In Portugal & France, whoever gets the King cake trinket is expected to buy the next cake for these get-togethers.

Twelfth Night, Jan Steen, 1668

The King Cake is a popular food item during the Christmas season (Christmas Eve to Epiphany) in Belgium, France, Quebec & Switzerland (galette or gâteau des Rois or galette des rois), Portugal (bolo rei), Spain, & Spanish America (roscón or rosca de reyes & tortell in Catalonia), Greece & Cyprus (vasilopita) & Bulgaria (banitsa).

Twelfth Night or 'The King Drinks' - Peter Paul Rubens

In the United States, Carnival is traditionally observed in the Southeastern region of the country, particularly in New Orleans, Saint Louis, Mobile, Pensacola, Galveston, & other towns & cities of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. In this region, the king cake is closely associated with Mardi Gras traditions & is served throughout the Carnival season, from Epiphany Eve to Fat Tuesday.

Le gâteau des Rois, by Jean-Baptiste Greuze, 1774

Related traditions are the tortell of Catalonia; the gâteau des Rois or reiaume in Provence; or the galette des Rois in the northern half of France, & the Greek & Cypriot vasilopita. The galette des Rois is made with puff pastry & frangipane (while the gâteau des Rois is made with brioche & candied fruits). The gâteau des Rois is known as Rosca de Reyes in Mexico.

England's 12th Night Cakes & Naughty Boys

Twelfth Night in London streets” from The Book of Christmas illustrated by Robert Seymour 1836

By the early 19C, the Twelfth Night cake had evolved into a large & complicated display of cake, icing, & other embellishments. Bakeries displayed these models of the confectioner's art in their windows, & people gathered outside to admire them. The playful atmosphere of Twelfth Night may have encouraged schoolboys to carry out a Twelfth Night prank. Unnoticed among the throng of cake-admirers, they pinned the clothing of two adults together or nailed a gentleman's coat-tails to the windowsill. Then they stood back & enjoyed the confusion that arose when the pinned & nailed individuals attempted to leave the bakery window. 

George Cruikshanks Comic Almanac Exitement outside the pastry cook & confectioners shop window as people view the 12th Night Cakes

The tradition of cakes on Twelfth Night was so strong, that it became the busiest day of the year for bakers, as related in this 1827 extract from William Hone's Every-Day Book: "In London, with every pastry-cook in the city, and at the west end of the town, it is 'high change' on Twelfth-Day.  From the taking down of the shutters in the morning, he, and his men, with additional assistants, male and female, are fully occupied by attending to the dressing out of the window, executing orders of the day before, receiving fresh ones, or supplying the wants of chance customers.  Before dusk the important arrangement of the window is completed.  Then the gas is turned on, with supernumerary argand-lamps and manifold wax lights to illuminate countless cakes of all prices and dimensions, that stand in rows and piles on the counters and sideboards, and in the windows.  The richest in flavour and the heaviest in weight and price are placed on large....salvers; ..... all are decorated with all imaginable images of things animate and inanimate.  Stars, castles, kings, cottages, dragons, trees, fish, palaces, cats, dogs, churches, lions, milkmaids, knights, serpents, and innumerable other forms, in snow-white confectionary, painted with varigated colours, glittering by 'excess of light' reflected from mirrors against the walls."

The Every-day Book, 1827, Naughty Boys

The Magi travel the Long Silk Road to see the Newborn King

Benozzo Gozzoli (Italian early Renaissance painter, c 1421–1497) Scenes from the Procession of the Magi Young, Detail of the Young King on wall of Chapel, Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Florence 1459-62

In Christianity, Epiphany refers to the moment that a person believes that Jesus is the son of God.  

To symbolize this, Western Christian churches generally celebrate Epiphany as the arrival of the 3 kings at the birthplace of Jesus (The Adoration of the Magi) 12 days after Christmas. Traditionally, Eastern Christian churches celebrated Epiphany (or Theophany) in conjunction with Christ's baptism by John the Baptist on January 19th.  Some Protestant churches celebrate Epiphany as an entire religious season, extending from Christmas Day until Ash Wednesday.

Benozzo Gozzoli (Italian early Renaissance painter,  c 1421–1497) Scenes from the Procession of the Magi,  Detail of the Middle King on South wall of Chapel, Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Florence 1459-62

Benozzo Gozzoli (Italian early Renaissance painter,  c 1421–1497) Scenes from the Procession of the Magi, Detail of the  Old King on west wall of the Chapel, Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Florence 1459-62

Benozzo Gozzoli (Italian early Renaissance painter,  c 1421–1497) Detail from the Procession of the Young King, Scenes from the Procession of the Magi Chapel, Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Florence 1459-62

Benozzo Gozzoli (Italian early Renaissance painter,  c 1421–1497)  Detail from the Procession of the Middle King, Scenes from the Procession of the Magi Chapel, Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Florence 1459-62

Benozzo Gozzoli (Italian early Renaissance painter,  c 1421–1497) Detail from the Procession of the Youngest King, Scenes from the Procession of the Magi Chapel, Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Florence 1459-62

Benozzo Gozzoli (Italian early Renaissance painter,  c 1421–1497) Scenes from the Procession of the Magi Chapel, Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Florence 1459-62

1510 The Adoration of the Shepherds

Giorgione (Giorgio Barbarelli from Castelfranco 1477-1510) The Adoration of the Shepherds 1510

It happened, when the angels went away from them into the sky, that the shepherds said one to another, "Let's go to Bethlehem, now, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." They came with haste, and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby was lying in a manger. When they saw it, they publicized widely the saying which was spoken to them about this child. All who heard it wondered at the things which were spoken to them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, just as it was told them.  Luke 2:8-20

1510-20 The Adoration of the Shepherds

 

The Adoration of the Shepherds, Master of the Prayer Books 1510-20

There were shepherds in the same country staying in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock. Behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. The angel said to them, "Don't be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people. For there is born to you, this day, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This is the sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a manger." Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God, and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest, 

on earth peace, good will toward men." 

It happened, when the angels went away from them into the sky, that the shepherds said one to another, "Let's go to Bethlehem, now, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." They came with haste, and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby was lying in a manger. When they saw it, they publicized widely the saying which was spoken to them about this child. All who heard it wondered at the things which were spoken to them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, just as it was told them.  Luke 2:8-20

Paintings of the shepherds looking at the newly-born baby Jesus in the manger are formally known as the Adoration of the Shepherds. This art subject is commonly combined with the Adoration of the Magi, the 2 groups often occupy opposite sides of the image space of The Holy Family. Here, the 2 groups the rich nobles & the commom folk represent all the peoples of the world. This combination is initially found in the 6th-century Monza ampullae made in Palestine.

1600s The Adoration of the Shepherds

Attributed to Gerard van Honthorst (Dutch painter, 1590-1656) Adoration of the Shepherds

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, good will toward men. Luke 2:8-14 King James Version of The Bible

1500s The Adoration of the Shepherds

Francesco Bassano the Younger (1563-1570) Adoration of Shepherds

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, good will toward men. Luke 2:8-14 King James Version of The Bible 

HARK! the Herald Angels sing Glory to the new-born King!

Melozzo da Forli (Italian Renaissance artist, 1438-1494) Angel 

 

1614 The Adoration of the Shepherds

El Greco (Greek painter, 1541-1614) The Adoration of the Shepherds 1614

 They came with haste, and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby was lying in a manger. When they saw it, they publicized widely the saying which was spoken to them about this child. All who heard it wondered at the things which were spoken to them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, just as it was told them.  Luke 2:8-20

The Roads from The East - Medieval Spice Trade's Appeal for Muslim, Jewish & Christian Merchants

Catalan Caravan Atlas Drawing

The Medieval Spice Trade

Newberry Library by Sarah Peters Kernan

How were spices used by medieval Europeans, & why were spices so valuable in medieval Europe? 

Spices were not solely culinary ingredients; they were also used for their aromatic properties in perfumes & incense. In a time when bathing was infrequent, streets were not paved, & animal dung was a constant presence, pleasant aromas were highly valued. For example, frankincense & myrrh were prized for their aromas. 

Additionally, these spices were closely tied to the Christian tradition. In images of the three kings visiting the newborn Christ Child on Epiphany, the close of the Christmas season, frankincense & myrrh are presented as gifts equal to gold.

Spices were an important commodity in the Middle Ages with an allure & mythology dating back to Antiquity. Spices were expensive & a sign of status in the Roman Empire. They were consumed in large quantities by the wealthiest citizens. Like many other goods, spices were easy to transport because of safe & maintained routes controlled by the Romans. 

When the Roman Empire fell, local powers took control of routes & travel became more difficult as these entities engaged in war, embraced different religions, & neglected maintenance of old Roman roads. As a result, for several centuries in the early Middle Ages, people in Western Europe lacked consistent access to spices.

After religious crusaders tasted the cuisines of the Middle East in the high Middle Ages, they renewed a widespread European interest in spices for culinary & medicinal applications. Merchants procured a wide range of spices for consumers, including pepper, ginger, cinnamon, clove, & saffron, as well as the now-obscure spices like grains of paradise & spikenard. Sugar was also used as a spice during the Middle Ages. 

Spices again became revered luxury items & status symbols across Europe. European merchants sought out spices from Asia, traveling dangerous routes through the Middle East & Africa. Traders were faced with many challenges, including physical danger & constant economic strain from local tariffs & taxes. 

Because spices were from distant lands & European consumers had no direct access to their sources, stories about spice origins flourished. Contemporary authors recorded myths about pepper trees guarded by serpents & cinnamon requiring harvest from nests of fantastical birds built on perilous cliffs. These legends only added to their mystique & justified their expense.

Muslims controlled all routes of access to spices in the East from Europe. This presented a challenge for Christian & Jewish traders from the West, as there was perpetual tensions & outright warfare between Christian & Muslim powers. 

Muslims dominated not only land routes which spanned across the Middle East & northern Africa to Pakistan & western India, but also maritime routes throughout the Indian Ocean. In 1453, Italian merchants were largely forced to stop trading spices through combined land & sea routes. In that year the Ottoman Empire conquered Constantinople, a city at the convergence of all land routes to the spice centers of the East, & began levying prohibitively expensive tariffs on goods transported through the city. 

n an effort to find new seaways to Asia, kingdoms sponsored exploratory expeditions. Some explorers discovered new water routes to China & India, re-opening trade of spices & other goods, while others claimed land & resources in the New World.

Luxurious Consumption

Throughout the Middle Ages, spices were a status symbol & sign of luxury. Only the wealthiest could afford large quantities of spices to use for culinary purposes. Meals in noble households were ostentatious affairs, even small & relatively private meals. 

Consider what spices do in a cooked dish: they color food, flavor food, & make food more aromatic. Spices, then, enhance the senses of sight, taste, & smell. In the context of a medieval meal, especially a feast intended to impress guests, spices played a major role. 

Fountains flowing with spiced wine might be installed in or near a great hall; this lavish service of wine would scent an entire room with spices like cloves, grains of paradise, ginger, & cinnamon. Nearly any dish, whether roasted, stewed, or baked, could include an impressive array of these imported spices. 

In one image of a meal from a 15C prayerbook, two wealthy diners share a private meal. They are being served a pie, which in the Middle Ages consisted of a meat or fish mixture baked in a decorated pastry crust. This mixture would undoubtedly include many spices. The exterior of the pie would often be brushed with a wash with saffron, a remarkably expensive spice made from the hand-picked threads of crocus flowers, turning the finished dish into a gleaming, golden work of art.

Wealthy Ancient Romans used spices copiously in their foods, a tradition that continued for many more centuries...Pepper & cumin were the most common combination, & the chicken dish also includes spiced wine as another ingredient. 

While the spice dishes of the popular cookbook De re coquinaria fell out of favor in medieval Europe, the cookbook was still copied by manuscript scribes & was printed several times during the Renaissance.

The Value of Spices

The value of spices was determined not only by their taste & status as luxury items, but also their medical properties & the fantastic legends attached to their production. Spices were believed to have important medical qualities; spices were ingredients in medieval pharmaceuticals. 

Apothecaries, the medieval equivalent to pharmacies, were stocked with supplies of spices which were then carefully mixed with other spices, minerals, & animal products to create an array of medications to be ingested by or applied on a patient. 

Medieval & renaissance writers devoted many pages to the benefits of spices, including the excerpts which describe cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, & pepper.

Some spices were legitimately difficult to harvest. Musk, an oil from the scent glands of a Central Eurasian deer, & ambergris, a waxy substance produced by the digestive system of the sperm whale, were 2 such spices. 

Others, however, were more easily procured. Yet merchants assigned bizarre stories to other spices to heighten their value for European consumers. Since most people in the medieval West had no contact with the Far East & the actual origins of spices, these myths persisted for centuries. 

The two most notable of these are tied to pepper & cinnamon. Pepper was said to be guarded by serpents which had to be chased away by fire. This fire turned fresh, white peppercorns into black, wrinkled spices...

Cinnamon had a similarly wild story. Merchants claimed that a mythical bird called a Cinnamologus made nests out of cinnamon sticks in Arabia. These nests were built on perilous cliffs, & people had to drive the birds from these nests in order to harvest the cinnamon. 

A Profitable Venture

Spice merchants could reap enormous profits, but they also faced dangerous journeys to procure their goods. Whether traveling by land or sea, they faced perils like pirates & raiders, religious & political conflict, & accidents like shipwrecks. 

Traders furthermore faced financial strain to move spices from Eastern points of trade to Europe. Whenever spices were transported through different kingdoms or points of trade, merchants had to pay steep tariffs. 

Depending upon the spice, merchants could charge 50 or 60 percent more in Europe for the spices they bought in the Middle East. Some contemporary accounts state that merchants charged 100 percent more. However, a majority of the markup was due to tariffs, leaving traders with a smaller profit, even as little as 10 percent.

Spices entering the European market were typically transported through Venice. This city was located in a prime location in Mediterranean. It was relatively easy to access major gateways to Eastern trade routes like Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey); Aleppo, Syria; & Alexandria, Egypt. 

From the eleventh through the 15C, Venetian merchants ruled the European spice trade. As a result, Venice became an extremely wealthy & powerful city. Such a wealthy city attracted the most talented artisans to produce innovative architecture, artwork, & music.

By the late Middle Ages, thousands of tons of the most common spices were imported into Europe annually through Venice. The value of these spices was approximately the value of a yearly supply of grain for 1.5 million people. 

In 15C England, a pound of pepper cost more than two days’ wages by a skilled London craftsman. A pound of cloves cost nearly five days’ wages, while a pound a saffron cost one month’s wages. Prices varied throughout Europe & fluctuated over time, but the general idea remained the same: spices were a very expensive ingredient in medieval Europe.

Changes in the Renaissance Spice Trade

Italian traders were forced to significantly reduce trade in spices via combined land & sea routes through Constantinople in 1453. In this year, the Ottoman Empire, an Eastern superpower, conquered the city. Since Constantinople was located on major east-west & north-south trade routes, the Ottomans could charge restrictively high taxes on all goods bound for the West.

Because Europeans were denied access to spices though Constantinople, kingdoms began to sponsor the exploration of new routes to India to directly obtain spices. Portugal & Spain, however, were the first to make significant headway. 

The Portuguese had already begun to explore northern Africa earlier in the 1400s. So, they quickly set out on a possible sea route to India around the southern tip of Africa. 

Bartolomeu Dias first crossed the Cape of Good Hope in 1488, & in 1497, Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape, continued to the eastern coast of Africa, & sailed across the Indian Ocean to Calicut in south India. 

At long last, Europeans had direct access to Indian spices without the intervention of Arab traders. By the beginning of the 16C, the Portuguese had complete control of the African sea route. 

Other explorers attempted alternate routes to India by traveling westward. Christopher Columbus, an explorer for the Spanish crown, was the first of these explorers to reach the New World in 1492 traveling this route, mistaking the Bahamas for the East Indies.

Over the following centuries, consumption of spices declined. Yet they still remained an important commodity. The Dutch struggled, & eventually succeeded at the turn of the 17C, to wrest control of trade from the Portuguese by establishing the Dutch East Indies Company. 

The British East India Company, a direct competitor, was founded at around the same time. The goal of these companies was all the same: to establish direct trade with Indian spice producers & keep tariffs as low as possible.

1591 The Adoration of the Shepherds

1591 Jacopo Bassano (Italian painter, 1510-1592) Adoration of the Shepherds

It happened, when the angels went away from them into the sky, that the shepherds said one to another, "Let's go to Bethlehem, now, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." They came with haste, and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby was lying in a manger. When they saw it, they publicized widely the saying which was spoken to them about this child. All who heard it wondered at the things which were spoken to them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, just as it was told them.  Luke 2:8-20

HARK! the Herald Angels sing Glory to the new-born King!

 

Melozzo da Forli (Italian Renaissance artist, 1438-1494) Angel 

1500s The Adoration of the Shepherds

Giorgio Vasari (Italian artist, 1511–1574) Adoration of the Shepherds

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, just as it was told them.  Luke 2:8-20

Watching a New Year Fly By - 1490 Grimani Breviary

Grimani Breviary The Month of January 1490-1510

Okay, I plead guilty. I know that this manuscript would be particularly appealing to a garden & landscape historian.  And that is precisely why I am posting it here & hoping for a brighter & kinder 2024. BWS

The Grimani Breviary is an illuminated manuscript of the Ghent-Bruges school of book illustration, dating from 1490-1510. It contains 831 parchment sheets with illuminations on 1280 pages and 110 pictures all of them in a decorated frame. The miniatures represent different styles, are attributed to Hans Memling, while others to Alexander and Simon Bening (1483-1561). The name comes from Cardinal Grimani of Venice, who purchased this illuminated manuscript in 1520 for 500 golden ducates.

Grimani Breviary The Month of February 1490-1510

Grimani Breviary The Month of March 1490-1510

Grimani Breviary The Month of April 1490-1510

Grimani Breviary The Month of May 1490-1510

Grimani Breviary The Month of June 1490-1510

Grimani Breviary The Month of July 1490-1510

Grimani Breviary The Month of August 1490-1510

Grimani Breviary The Month of September 1490-1510

Grimani Breviary The Month of October 1490-1510

Grimani Breviary The Month of November 1490-1510

Grimani Breviary The Month of December 1490-1510

When Jesus is Born, Angels Tell the Local Shepherds 1st

 

Illuminated ManuscriptAnnunciation to the Shepherds who include a woman and a man getting dressed.

One of my favorite Christmas stories is the annunciation to the lowly shepherds of the birth of the baby Christ child. Whom did the angels tell first? The community's outcasts, including some women working with the wool, who lived in the countryside year-round with dogs & sheep. And Mary welcomed them to visit her new baby. Only later did the important nobles arrive. The common man came first, and these lovely little illustrations imagine the stunned herders hearing the news.  

    

1500s The Adoration of the Shepherds

Attributed to Angnolo Bronzino, Agnolo di Cosimo, (Italian Mannerist artist, 1503-1572) 

Adoration of the Shepherds

It happened, when the angels went away from them into the sky, that the shepherds said one to another, "Let's go to Bethlehem, now, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." They came with haste, and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby was lying in a manger. When they saw it, they publicized widely the saying which was spoken to them about this child. All who heard it wondered at the things which were spoken to them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, just as it was told them.  Luke 2:8-20

1590 The Adoration of the Shepherds

1590 Gerrit van Honthorst (Dutch painter, 1590–1656) Adoration of the Shepherds

The shepherds said one to another, "Let's go to Bethlehem, now, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." They came with haste, and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby was lying in a manger. When they saw it, they publicized widely the saying which was spoken to them about this child. All who heard it wondered at the things which were spoken to them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, just as it was told them.  Luke 2:8-20

HARK! the Herald Angels sing Glory to the new-born King!

Abbott Handerson Thayer (American artist, 1849–1921) Angel 1889

Trade Routes between Europe & Asia during Antiquity

 

Trade Routes between Europe & Asia during Antiquity

Long-distance trade played a major role in the cultural, religious, artistic, & plant exchanges that took place between the major centers of civilization in Europe & Asia during antiquity. Some of these trade routes had been in use for centuries. The trade routes served principally to transfer luxury goods, raw materials, plants, & foodstuffs between the East & West.

As far back as the 6th century CE, great caravans of camels traveled regularly over the Arab trade routes between India and the Middle East carrying prized Eastern goods, such as drugs, hemp, opium, incense and spices. In the Middle Ages, these goods were transferred on to the Levant and to merchants in Venice for distribution throughout Europe.

The Silk Road, a series of ancient trade routes stretching across Central Asia to Europe, evokes exotic images of camel trains laden with bales of fine Chinese silk, spices, and perfume;, of desert oases surrounded by snow-capped mountains; of bustling markets thronging with travelers buying and selling grapes, coriander, Baltic amber, and Mediterranean coral. The silks & spices & incence evolved as ancient mankind experimented with the products of Nature.  Along this route, silks were sent from China to ancient Rome; princesses were dispatched in marriage alliances across the deserts; bandits and thieves launched attacks throughout history. Spanning more than 5,000 years, the Silk Road was more than just a trade route, the Silk Road witnessed the movement of Man's cultural influences intermingled with Nature's changing landscapes.

Some areas had a monopoly on certain materials or goods. China, for example, supplied West Asia & the Mediterranean world with silk, while spices were obtained principally from South Asia. These goods were transported over vast distances— either by caravans & pack animals overland, or by seagoing ships—along the Silk & Spice Routes, which were the main arteries of contact between the various ancient empires of the Old World.

Another important trade route, known as the Incense Route, was controlled by the Arabs, who brought frankincense & myrrh by camel caravan from South Arabia. The demands for scents & incense by the empires of antiquity, such as Egypt, Rome & Babylon, made Arabia one of the oldest trade centers of the world.

The original Spice Trade, or 'Incense Route', from the Mediterranean to India and the East was closed off to Europeans due to the spread of Islam after the Prophet Muhammad's death in 632 CE. Traders from the Arabian world controlled overland and sea routes from India to the Levant and Venice. Arabs monopolized trade in drugs, hemp, opium, incense and spices for centuries until the Ottoman Turks broke their stranglehold on Eastern trade in 1453. 

Cities along these trade routes grew rich providing services to merchants who rested in oasis towns (known as a "caravanserai"). These centers served as international marketplaces, & areas where knowledge was also exchanged. Cities such as Palmyra & Petra, on the fringes of the Syrian Desert, flourished mainly as centers of trade supplying merchant caravans & policing the trade routes. They also became cultural & artistic centers, where peoples of different ethnic & cultural backgrounds could meet & intermingle. 

The trade routes were the communications highways of the ancient world. New inventions, artistic styles, religious faiths, cultures, languages, & social customs, as well as goods & plants, were transported.

Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art. “Trade Routes between Europe and Asia during Antiquity.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. 

14-1500s The Adoration of the Shepherds

 Lorenzo Lotto (1480-1556) Adoration of the Shepherds

This is the sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a manger." Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God, and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest, 

on earth peace, good will toward men."  Luke 2:8-20

Happy New Year! British Botanist celebrates Christmas & the New Year in 1790s America

Henrietta Liston (1751-1828) 

Henrietta Liston (1751-1828) was a British botanist. The National Library of Scotland has digitized her journals. Henrietta married diplomat Robert Liston when she was 44, & he was 53, on 27 February 1796.  After their wedding, they traveled directly down to London where Robert met with King George III, ahead of his posting to the United States in 1796.

They took up residence in Philadelphia, the capital. Genuinely curious about the New World, they began an extended trip from Philadelphia to Charleston, South Carolina in the fall of 1797. The couple also established friendships with George Washington & John Adams, of whom Henrietta's diaries contain favorable impressions.  She also praises Alexander Hamilton, as "lively & animated in his conversation, gallant in his manners & sometimes brilliant in his sallies."

Henrietta documented their trip in her journal, noting facts that she found interesting, the foods they ate, & their astonishment at the natural beauties, particularly the flora, of the countryside. Traveling the east coast of North America must have been a challenge for the 45-year-old Mrs. Liston & her 55-year-old husband.  She wrote:  On Christmas eve, the Listons reached Fayetteville, named after the Marquis de Lafayette who had fought on the side of the Americans in the Revolutionary War. It is a flourishing Town, upon a Branch of the Capefear River & nearly at the head of the navigation—before the War it was called Cross Creek. 

We were visited by a Scotch Gentleman, named Donaldson, with whose family we passed Christmas day very agreeably. No doubt they were happy to spend the day with a fellow Scot, but Mrs. Liston does not give any details of the festivities. However, she does describe a particular meal she & her husband enjoyed en route.

Our most frequent food, & infinitely the best of its kind, was Pork & Corn bread, it happened to be the Season for killing Pork, it was fresh & most excellent meat,...always broiled upon the Coals, & when we happened to get a few fryed Eggs to it, it was the best food possible & with Corn bread—no other is known—baked upon a hoe, in general, & call hoe cake.

On New Year’s Eve, Henrietta & her husband arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, where they spent a week before returning to Philadelphia, receiving “very marked attentions” from the “polished Society” that characterized Charleston. 

A book on her diaries & journals The Travel Journals of Henrietta Marchant Liston: North America & Lower Canada, 1796-1800, edited by L.V. North was published in 2014.

1801-1932 White House New Years Day Receptions

 
Engraving of the White House by William Strickland

The White House Historical Association tells us that "the White House New Year's reception was a tradition for more than 130 years...

President John Adams began the tradition in 1801, opening the doors of the Executive Mansion to high-ranking officials, diplomats, and the public. This tradition spanned more than a century and was only canceled a few times due to wars, illness, or the president’s busy schedule. This was one of the most talked about events in the nation’s capital." 

By the early twentieth century, crowds swelled to more than 6,000 people. A line on the sidewalk outside the White House snaked out beyond the gates and around the block, bordering what is now known as the Eisenhower Executive Office Building." 

President Herbert Hoover held the last New Year's Day reception in 1932. Although the major event concluded that year, it is said that a man named J.W. Hunefeld waited at the gates of the White House in 1934 because "he wanted to make sure the president hadn't changed his mind."

White House Evolving During the administrations of John Adams & Thomas Jefferson  

Library of Congress

On October 13, 1792, George Washington laid the first cornerstone of the building in a freemason ceremony. Scottish masons were brought to Washington to do the stone work. 

Their technique for sealing the porous sandstone was a thick whitewash that covered like paint but sealed like glue. So, from its earliest days, the president’s house was white, and it quickly got the nickname “White House.”

When John Adams moved into the President’s House on November 1, 1800, it was far from complete. He used the second floor as his residence and the ground floor was used by servants as kitchens, laundry, and housekeeping rooms. 

Today’s Diplomatic Reception Room was originally the housekeeper’s room, with built-in cabinets. 

The Adams’s began furnishing the house in a fairly grand style, although Abigail Adams used the great Public Audience Chamber for hanging laundry. See: https://bestinamericanliving.com/2016/07/history-of-the-white-house-1792-1814/#

1515 The Adoration of the Shepherds

Attributed to Gerard David (Flemish painter, 1460-1523) In this Panel from The Nativity, simple shepherds brought to the birth by angels gather outside the window, while other panels show Saints Jerome & Leonard & Donors. 1515

In early Christianity, wheat was often used as a symbol for Christ, based on John 6:41, in which Jesus identifies himself as “the bread come down from heaven.” In this painting, wheat is in the foreground & serves as a bed for the newborn Baby.

1590 The Adoration of the Shepherds

1590 Gerrit van Honthorst (Dutch painter, 1590–1656) Adoration of the Shepherds

There were shepherds in the same country staying in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock. Behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. The angel said to them, "Don't be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people. For there is born to you, this day, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This is the sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a manger." Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God, and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest, 

on earth peace, good will toward men." 

It happened, when the angels went away from them into the sky, that the shepherds said one to another, "Let's go to Bethlehem, now, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." They came with haste, and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby was lying in a manger. When they saw it, they publicized widely the saying which was spoken to them about this child. All who heard it wondered at the things which were spoken to them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, just as it was told them.  Luke 2:8-20

Happy New Year - Old Long Syne 1570

 

Alonso Sánchez Coello  (1531–1588)  King Philip II of Spain Banqueting with his Family & Courtiers 1579

Tudor Treasures & Medieval Musings tells us "that many people around the world will have sung Auld Lang Syne to farewell the old year and welcome the new. The version familiar to most of us was written by Robert Burns in 1788. However, Burns himself acknowledged that his poem was based upon much older folk verses.

Although the phrase 'auld lang syne' or 'old long syne' dates back even further, one of the earliest versions that remains somewhat familiar was written by one Robert Ayton, a Scottish poet who was born in c.1570.

Historian Kenneth Elliot discovered source material for the tune that would have accompanied Ayton's lyrics, a transcription included below."

Old Long Syne  1570

                 First Part.

Should old Acquaintance be forgot, 

 And never thought upon, 

The Flames of Love extinguished, 

  And freely past and gone? 

Is thy kind Heart now grown so cold 

  In that Loving Breast of thine, 

That thou canst never once reflect 

  On Old-long-syne?

Where are thy Protestations, 

  Thy Vows and Oaths, my Dear, 

Thou made to me, and I to thee, 

 In Register yet clear? 

Is Faith and Truth so violate 

 To the Immortal Gods Divine, 

That thou canst never once reflect 

  On Old-long-syne?

Is’t Cupid’s Fears, or frosty Cares, 

  That makes thy Sp’rits decay? 

Or is’t some Object of more Worth, 

  That’s stoll’n thy Heart away? 

Or some Desert, makes thee neglect 

  Him, so much once was thine, 

That thou canst never once reflect 

  On Old-long-syne?

Is’t Worldly Cares so desperate, 

  That makes thee to despair? 

Is’t that makes thee exasperate, 

  And makes thee to forbear? 

If thou of that were free as I, 

  Thou surely should be Mine: 

If this were true, we should renew 

  Kind Old-long-syne.

But since that nothing can prevail, 

  And all Hope is in vain, 

 From these rejected Eyes of mine 

  Still Showers of Tears shall rain: 

 And though thou hast me now forgot, 

 Yet I’ll continue Thine, 

And ne’er forget for to reflect 

  On Old-long-syne.

If e’er I have a House, my Dear, 

 That truly is call’d mine, 

And can afford but Country Cheer, 

 Or ought that’s good therein; 

Tho’ thou were Rebel to the King, 

 And beat with Wind and Rain, 

Assure thy self of Welcome Love, 

 For Old-long-syne.

                 Second Part.

My Soul is ravish’d with Delight 

 When you I think upon; 

All Griefs and Sorrows take the Flight, 

 And hastily are gone; 

The fair Resemblance of your Face 

 So fills this Breast of mine, 

No Fate nor Force can it displace, 

  For Old-long-syne.

Since Thoughts of you doth banish Grief, 

 When I’m from you removed; 

And if in them I find Relief, 

 When with sad Cares I’m moved, 

How doth your Presence me affect 

 With Ecstacies Divine, 

Especially when I reflect 

 On Old-long-syne.

Since thou has rob’d me of my Heart 

 By those resistless Powers, 

Which Madam Nature doth impart 

 To those fair Eyes of yours; 

With Honour it doth not consist 

 To hold a Slave in Pyne, 

Pray let your Rigour then desist, 

 For Old-long-syne.

’Tis not my Freedom I do crave 

  By deprecating Pains; 

Sure Liberty he would not have 

 Who glories in his Chains: 

But this I wish, the Gods would move 

 That Noble Soul of thine 

To Pity, since thou cannot love 

 For Old-long-syne.

1500s The Adoration of the Shepherds

Jacob de Backer (Belgian artist, 1555-1585) Adoration of the Shepherds

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, & the glory of the Lord shone round about them: & they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, & saying, Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, good will toward men. Luke 2:8-14 King James Version of The Bible.

1500s The Adoration of the Shepherds

Paolo Veronese (Paolo Caliari) ((Italian, 1528-1588) Adoration of the Shepherds

The angel said to them, "Don't be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people. For there is born to you, this day, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This is the sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a manger."  Luke 2:8-20