Deepertruth: Christmas Special The History of Christmas Caroling

Christmas Special The History of Christmas Caroling

Christmas carols in English first appeared in a 1426 work of John Awdlay, a Shropshire chaplain, who lists twenty five 'caroles of Cristemas', probably sung by groups of 'wassailers', who went from house to house.

In 129, Pope Telephorus said that a song called "Angel's Hymn" should be sung at a Midnight Mass in Rome.

Another famous early Christmas Hymn was written in 760, by Comas of Jerusalem, for the Catholic Church. Soon after this many composers all over Europe started to write 'Christmas carols'. However, not many people liked them as they were all written and sung in Latin, a language that the normal people couldn't understand.

This was changed by St. Francis of Assisi when, in 1223, he started his Nativity Plays in Italy.

The people in the plays sang songs or 'canticles' that told the story during the plays. Sometimes, the choruses of these new carols were in Latin; but normally they were all in a language that the people watching the play could understand and join in! The new carols spread to France, Spain, Germany and other European countries.

The earliest carol, like this, was written in 1410.