historysquee:A Brief History of Christmas Carols The first Christmas related hymns were sang in fo
historysquee: A Brief History of Christmas Carols The first Christmas related hymns were sang in fourth century Rome and in Latin. The carol as it is recognised today, was first introduced around the 12th Century and became popularised in the 13th, with the words of ‘O come all ye faithful’, possibly originating at this time. The music from carols often dates to the medieval period, or are later based upon medieval music. An example of this is The Holly and The Ivy, which comes from a medieval composition. Christmas carols in the English language are first recorded in 1426, in a list of 25 carols that would be sang by ‘wassaliers’, who would travel from house to house. Carols were sang by people in gatherings at this time, only later were they sang in church. The Reformation helped to spread the popularity of carols, as music was widely encouraged in Protestantism. The picture above shows a popular Latin carol of that time. Many of today’s widely recognised Christmas carols originate in the 19th Century, with Good King Wenceslas, I Saw Three Ships, The First Noel and Hark! The Herald Angels Sing all coming from this time. -- source link