MY TOP 5 MEDIEVAL CHRISTMAS MOMENTS
A non-definitive list
Lots of people seem to be enjoying my little Nativity podcast mini-season, This Is History: A Nativity To Die For. (If you haven’t listened yet, give it a go.)
But there was something we didn’t get stuck into on that show, which was other famous Christmas moments from around the Middle Ages.
I’ve been thinking about that this week, and here are my top five.
What are yours? Leave your answers in the comments section, and in the New Year I’ll send a couple of signed books out to the best suggestions.
In the meantime, have a wonderful festive season, Merry Christmas, thanks for being here this year, and I’ll see you on the other side!
- Dan
1. Charlemagne is crowned emperor
The title of Roman emperor in the west had been defunct for three centuries when, on December 25th 800AD, Charlemagne, king of the Franks, pitched up to St Peter’s basilica in Rome, and had the imperial crown placed on his head by Pope Leo III. This was a spectacle of mutual convenience for Pope and king/emperor: it offered Leo a security guarantee against rebels in Rome, while it sanctified Charlemagne’s conquests across Europe. It also set up a new calculus between secular and religious authorities in Europe, which would frame the continent’s politics for half a millennium. Of all the pivotal moments in the Middle Ages, this is up there with the 1099 fall of Jerusalem and the Black Death of 1347-9.
2. Becket loses (the top of) his head
If Charlemagne’s coronation was the most politically significant event, Becket’s assassination in Canterbury Cathedral on December 29th 1170 was the most iconic.
