Christmas Cards with medieval images on sale from Bangor University

Those interested in sending Christmas Cards with a medieval theme might want to contact Bangor University. The Bangor Pontifical Project and Bangor Cathedral are selling the cards, which show a miniature of a bishop consecrating a church, and the decorated opening page of a special Mass celebrated during the Christmas season.

The two illustrations are from the unique medieval Bangor Pontifical Manuscript, or ‘Bishops Book’ copied and illustrated in around 1320, which contains the texts, music and services required for significant occasions when the bishop was present through the year. The Book once belonged to Anian II, Bishop of Bangor between 1309 and 1328.

Click here to read this article from Medievalists.net

Who Were The Three Wise Men Of Christmas?

Of all the characters who appear in the Gospel accounts of Jesus' birth, the "Three Wise Men" are by far the most fascinating. Even someone who has never cracked open a Bible is very likely to know about the Wise Men, the star they followed and the gifts they brought to the infant Jesus on the first Christmas. But the story of these figures is found only in Matthew among the four canonical Gospels, and leaves many questions unanswered. Who were these mysterious foreigners? Where exactly did they come from? What was their star? And were there even three of them, since Matthew never gives a specific number, only tells us that there were three gifts?

Many early Christian writings attempted to provide answers to these questions, but one stands out as truly exceptional. Known as the Revelation of the Magi, it is a complex, rich, and strange narrative that purports to be the Wise Men's personal testimony about the birth of Jesus. According to this writing, the Wise Men (or better, Magi) are mystical sages living at the eastern edge of the world, guarding an ancient prophecy about a coming star that will signify the birth of God in human form. The appearance of the star, their miraculous journey to Bethlehem, and what became of them afterwards -- all of these events are presented in vivid detail in the Revelation of the Magi. There are no other early Christian writings that provide such a complete explanation of these mysterious figures.

Read this article from the Huffington Post

See also Ancient manuscript appears to be account of Magi's journey

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More religion and less sentiment at Christmas in medieval Wales

Our assumptions about the celebration of Christmas are shattered when we turn back the clock to medieval Wales, argues Dr Madeleine Gray, reader in history at the University of Wales, Newport

You would expect a traditional medieval Welsh Christmas to be all about Jesus’ birth. Whatever our feelings about religion, we do think we have a picture of the first Christmas – the stable, the baby in the manger, the shepherds coming down from the cold hills. But strangely enough, there were very few pictures of this scene in medieval Wales.

Click here to read this article from the Western Mail

Evoking the Moods and Mysteries of a Medieval English Christmastide

Lionheart has wisely developed a cottage industry in thematic Christmas programs, each built around the repertories and traditions of a single country.

“Tydings Trew: Feasts of Christmas in Medieval England” has become the most popular of them, partly because this finely polished vocal sextet has recorded the music — its “Tydings Trew” CD was released by Koch International Classics in 2003 — but also, no doubt, because audiences are charmed by the alternation of Latin chant and medieval English carols, which the group sings with appropriate accents and pronunciation.

Click here to read this article from the New York Times