Book of Kells, folio 34r containing theChi Rho monogram
Dear friends,
I am forwarding a blog I wrote on 18 November 2011. It is about the Book ofKells, a Gospel Book. In order to read it you need simply click on the link below. In order to see the entire book, please click on the link that will take you to Trinity College Library, in Dublin. The Book of Kells is also called the Book of Columba, which means the Book of the Dove and is the name of a beatified monk, St Columba. The calligraphy is magnificent. It is one of the great masterpieces of Western art, and Irish.
You are now familiar with illuminated manuscripts. However I have provided more information.
I apologize for being a day late and a year ahead on Chaucer and Valentine’s Day, etc.
You will find below, among related articles, a post that tells about the origin of Saint Valentine’s Day. It’s the final and rather amusing post in a short series of posts on St Valentine’s Day. We’ve discussed the Lupercalia, pastorals, préciosité, pancakes, etc., and all these posts are related to Valentine’s Day.
For Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343 – 25 October 1400), the 14th of February was the day when birds mated. It’s a lovely legend. Othon III de Grandson devoted a third of his poems on stories surrounding St Valentine’s Day.
Moreover, Chaucer was familiar with the French courtly love tradition as he had translated, but not in its entirety, the Roman de la Rose, by Guillaume de Lorris, who wrote the first 4058 lines circa 1230. The poem was completed by Jean de Meun who composed an additional 17,724 lines. Chaucer’s Romaunt of the Rose is included in his Legend of Good Women, a poem.
The six tapestries of The Lady and the Unicorn are also associated with Valentine’s day and Chaucer. They were commissioned by Jean le Viste, described as a “powerful nobleman at the court of Charles VII” (22 February 1403 – 22 July 1461). (See The Lady and the Unicorn, Wikipedia.) The tapestries belong, in part, to the courtly love tradition. Only a virgin could capture a unicorn, which suggests platonic love. However, the horn of the unicorn is a phallic symbol.
As for cards, the first was written by a saint and martyr. According to Britannica, “[f]ormal messages, or valentines, appeared in the 1500s, and by the late 1700s commercially printed cards were being used.”[i] They became popular in the 19th century.
With respect to Charles d’Orléans, he was taken prisoner at the Battle of Agincourt, on October 25, 1415, and spent twenty-four years in England. After he returned to France, he helped disseminate Othon III de Grandson’s Valentine stories in courtly circles.
We have several incunables (books printed between 1450 and 1501) combining the printed text and illuminations. They cannot be shown in this blog if it is to posted on or near February 14, 2013. Chaucer’s Tales of Canterbury is an incunable, printed by William Caxton, a fascinating gentleman. But the Ellesmere Chaucer is a famous illuminated manuscript, housed in the Huntington Library, in San Marino, California. (See Ellesmere Chaucer, Wikipedia.)
Giorgione, Pastoral Concert. Louvre, Paris. A work which the Louvre now attributes to Titian, c. 1509. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Giorgione, born Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco (c. 1477/8–1510)
Titian, born Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1488/1490 – 27 August 1576)
(Italian High Renaissance)
Pan is the “Greek god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, nature, of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music, and companion of the nymphs” (Pan, Wikipedia) whose Roman counterpart is Faunus as well as Lupercus, the god of Shepherds.
Pan is also the god of all things “pastoral,” such as pastoral music. The Pastorale is a form of Italian music and the word “pastoral” is also used to describe Beethoven’s 6th symphony. Moreover there is pastoral literature.
Pastoral literature is rooted in Greek and Roman Antiquity, as is the Lupercalia. Its two Greek and Roman authors are Theocritus[i] (born c. 300 bc, Syracuse, Sicily [Italy]—died after 260 bc), the creator of pastoral poetry[ii], and Virgil.[iii] Virgil or Vergil wrote not only the Aeneid, but also the Egloges or Bucolics and the Georgics. The Egloges can be read online at Egloges, a Gutenberg publication.
Closer to us pastoral literature begins with Battista Guarini‘s bucolic tragicomedy Il Pastor Fido[iv] (1580 to 1585),The Faithful Shepherd, set in Arcadia, literally, a region of Greece; metaphorically, an idyllic countryside.
Moreover, pastoral, also describes the “perfect” world of seventeenth-century salonniers and salonnières who made believe they were shepherds and shepherdesses. Préciosité was escapism at its worst or its best, depending on one’s point of view. Seventeenth-century Précieuses (literally, precious) put such a high price on marriage and sexuality, that they often made suitors wait a very long time. French dramatist Molière[v] ridiculed the Précieuses in Les Précieuses ridicules(Théâtre du Petit-Bourbon, 18 November 1659).
Préciosité was a lifestyle. It was courtly love carried to an extreme, i.e. platonic love precluding sexuality. Préciosité is therefore at the opposite end of the Lupercalia which celebrated fertility. Lupercus was god of shepherds, but not the imaginary shepherds and shepherdesses of précieux convention, nor the raucous Luperci of the Lupercalia, but Christopher Marlowe‘s well-mannered yet “passionate” shepherd, associated with courtly love, idyllic love that does not exclude sexuality.
Come live with me and be my Love,And we will all the pleasures proveThat hills and valleys, dale and field,And all the craggy mountains yield.There will we sit upon the rocksAnd see the shepherds feed their flocks,By shallow rivers, to whose fallsMelodious birds sing madrigals.
(Pastoral, Wikipedia)
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Earlier in my new career as blogger, I wrote a post about Marie-Antoinette, an accomplished musician who composed a lovely “pastorale” that straddles the less rigid conventions of courtly love and Christopher Marlowe’s “The Passionate Shepherd to his Love.” Courtly love’s masterpiece, sometimes considered too daring, is the Roman de la Rose, The Romaunt of the Rose, an allegory of love translated, though not in its entirety, by Geoffrey Chaucer.
Valentine’s Day
Chaucer (c. 1343 – 25 October 1400) can in fact be credited with the birth of Valentine’s Day as we know it, a matter discussed in my next post. However, Chaucer was influenced by a tapestry, La Dame à la licorne (The Lady and the Unicorn), housed at the Cluny Museum, in Paris. The Unicorn is a mythical animal that can only be captured by a virgin. However, the Unicorn is also a trans–cultural figure, hence multi-faceted.
Romulus and Remus suckling Lupa (Photo credit: Google Images)
The above image shows Romulus and Remus, born to Vestal VirginRhea Silvia and the god Mars or the demi-God Hercules. Amulius had seized power from his brother Numitor and had forced Rhea Silvia, Numitor’s daughter, to become a Vestal Virgin so she would not bear children.
After the birth of Romulus and Remus, Amulius threw the babies into the river Tiber and sent their mother to jail. However, Romulus and Remus were saved by shepherds and fed by a she-wolf, Lupa, in a cave called Lupercal, perhaps located at the foot of Palatine Hill. They were then discovered by Faustulus, a shepherd.
The feral twins killed Amulius when they learned about their mother, but Romulus killed Remus who wanted Rome founded on Aventile Hill rather than Palatine Hill. Whence, the existence of Lupercus (from lupus: wolf), the Roman god of shepherds, and that of the Lupercalia, a yearly Roman festival honoring Lupa.
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Romulus and Remus being given shelter by Faustulus, oil by Pietro da Cortona(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In ancient Rome, the Lupercalia (Lupercus) took place between February 13th and February 15th. This “pagan” feast is sometimes associated with Candlemas, celebrated on February 2nd. As we will see, there was a motivation to transform the Lupercalia into a Christian feast. However, the Lupercalia endured until the fifth century A.D. and was celebrated beginning on the Ides of February, i.e. the 13th, endind two days later, on the 15th.
At the start of the Lupercalia, two goats and a dog were sacrificed. Next, two young Luperci, members ofa corporation of priests, were led to the altar and anointed with the blood of the sacrificed animals. Luperci then dressed themselves in thongs, called februa, taken from skin of the of the sacrificed goats and dog and ran around the walls of the old Palatine city carrying thongs and striking the crowd.
Pancake Day or La fête des crêpes
Later, salt mealcakes prepared by the Vestal Virgins were burnt, which is interesting because in France, Candlemas, celebrated on February 2nd, is “la fête des crêpes” or Pancake Day and today, February 12th, is International Pancake Day. It would be my opinion that pan of pancakes is the pan of pots and pans, but would that it were the Pan of the “Greek god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, nature, of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music, and companion of the nymphs” (Pan, Wikipedia).
Pan’s Roman counterpart was Faunus. But Pan protected the flocks from wolves, which would suggest that he was also the counterpart of Lupercus, the above-mentioned Roman god of shepherds who replaced an earlier god named Februus (See Lupercalia, Wikipedia.).
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A fourth-century Roman depiction of Hylas and the Nymphs, from the basilica of Junius Bassus(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Valentine’s Day
However, for our purposes, the ancient and “pagan” Lupercalia was a raucous event which Pope Saint Gelasius I (494–96) wanted to abolish. Senators opposed him so he invited them to run nude themselves. After a long dispute, Gelasius replaced the Lupercalia with a “Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” to be observed on Candlemas. It was a noble thought, but eventually the “pagan” feast became Saint Valentine’s Day or Valentine’s Day, celebrated on the 14th of February, near the Ides of February. According to Britannica, “[i]t came to be celebrated as a day of romance from about the 14th century.”[i] That would be Chaucer’s (born c. 1342/43, London?, England—died October 25, 1400, London) lifetime.
The many Saints called Valentine
There was a St Valentine a convert and a physician, who may have restored the sight of his gaoler’s blind daughter. According to Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, this Valentine was clubbed to death c. 270. His feast day is the 14th of February. However, there could be other beatified Valentines. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia there are three saints named Valentine, one of whom would the bishop of Terni, formerly Interamna. However, the Roman Martyrology recognizes only one St Valentine, a martyr who died on the Via Flaminia and whose feast day is February 14th. (Saint Valentine, Wikipedia,)
Conclusion
I will break here. We have gone from the Lupercalia to Valentine’s Day and stumbled upon la fête des crêpes (February 2nd) and Pancake Day, which is quite a journey. Let us return to the Lupercalia. Pope Saint Gelasius I did abolish disorderly “pagan” festival. However, although there is at least one saint named Valentine, Valentine’s Day is very much as described in Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. It is a “relic” of the Lupercalia. It is no longer the Lupercalia of old, but it remains a celebration of love and friendship and a bit of a carnival. In fact, not only is today International Pancake Day, but it is also Mardi-Gras (Shrove Tuesday), which is carnival season.
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Capitoline Wolf, bronze, 13th and late 15th century AD or c. 500-480 BC. Musei Capitolini, Rome, Italy(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, Italy: “The Three Wise Men” (named Balthasar, Melchior, and Gaspar). Detail from: “Mary and Child, surrounded by angels”, mosaic of a Ravennate italian-byzantine workshop, completed within 526 AD by the so-called “Master of Sant’Apollinare”. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This post was first published a year ago. However, it has been revised to a greater extent than I anticipated.
In the Western Church, today is Epiphany,[i] the day on which is commemorated the arrival in Bethlehem of the Magi (wise men), the three kings of Orient who brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh.[ii] In the Eastern Church, the birth of Jesus and the Epiphany are on different days: the 7th of January and the 19th of January. It appears this discrepancy is due to the current 13-day[iii]difference between the Julian calendar, introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 BC, and the Gregorian calendar, introduced by Pope Gregory VIII (7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585).
But Epiphany (from the Greek epiphaneia or manifestation) is a trans-cultural phenomenom. If it involves the manifestation, before mere mortals, of the power of a god, this manifestation is called a Theophany. Such was the case in “pagan” Greek mythology. The name Tiffany is an English form of the Greek Theophany.[iv]
For Christians, a godly manifestation is usually called an apparition. The Virgin Mary appeared to Sainte Marie-Bernarde Soubirous (7 January 1844 – 16 April 1879) 18 times, at Lourdes. The Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Fátimaalso appeared on the 13th day of six consecutive months, beginning May 13th, 1917, at Fátima, Portugal.
So, at the core of the word E/epiphany is the idea of a vision as well as the idea of a revelation. In fact, at the moment, the word simply means an important revelation, or what is often termed “a wake-up call.” An “epiphany” may change the course of a person’s life.[v]
Bethlehem Logo
However, for children born to French-speaking Canadians, Epiphany was simply the commemoration of the arrival in Bethlehem of the three Kings of Orient, who were bearing regal gifts. They were named Balthasar, Melchior, and Gaspar. Balthasar was king of Arabia, Melchior, king of Persia, and, Gaspar, king of India. They had been guided by a star to see, i.e. a manifestation, the child Jesus.
* * *
In my family, Epiphany was a very special day. We received gifts from our parents. Moreover, on that day we ate the cake in which a bean had been inserted. The person who ate the piece of cake containing the bean was crowned King or Queen. It was lovely and magical (as in “Magi”), and we enjoyed the fact that it was always a holiday.
Epiphany was also the twelfth day of Christmas (Twelfth Night is the night before Epiphany). Epiphany therefore ended the festivities linked with the birth of Jesus. On that day, we took the decorations off the tree and wrapped them carefully so they could be used again and again.
However there was a dark side to the event that was carefully separated from the arrival of the Kings. The Kings of Orient were told by an angel that they should travel home a different way. Similarly, Joseph was told in a dream to depart immediately and take Jesus and Mary to Egypt. Herod ordered the massacre of all male infants just born in Bethlehem. This event is known as the Massacre of the Innocents.
We were at Notre-Dame de Paris (NDP), listening to Marian hymns, but Notre-Dame no longer provides the internet with recordings of its liturgical music.
Basic Marian Hymnology: Notre-Dame de Paris
To put it in a nutshell, Marian music consists of approximately 32 hymns (general term), the most important of which are the four antiphons listed below. At Notre-Dame de Paris, where we are nevertheless traveling, four other Marian hymns are sung daily, one of which is a canticle(cantique in French) or song of praise: the Magnificat. When Mary heard that her cousin Elizabeth was pregnant, sang the Magnificat. Elizabeth’s child was John the Baptist.
The other Marian hymns sung at Notre-Dame are the Hail Mary or Ave Maria, the Angelus and the Ave Maris Stella. The Angelus is explained at NDP, but not performed. Every hymn is translated into English.
* * *
Antiphons
An antiphon is a call and respond song. It resembles a refrain. That is an over-simplification, but a first step.
As stated above, altogether, there are approximately 32 Marian hymns, including the four Antiphons. However, to these we must add the works of composers who have written oratorios,cantatas, motetsand have also set Marian texts to other musical forms. These may contain music composed for Christmas, the birth of Christ, where Mary is a central character. To my knowledge, there is no oratorio honoring the Virgin, except segments of larger works. Examples are J. S. Bach‘s Magnificat (from the Chrismas Oratorio) and parts of Händel’s Messiah.
Beyond Notre-Dame’s Daily Marian Hymns
The Oratorio
Given the Catholic Church’s devotion to Mary Mother of God, large musical works are likely to incorporate music to the Virgin. Oratorios are among large compositions and could be described as long cantatas. However, they resemble operas. Oratorios require an orchestra and a choir. Moreover, they may contain solos or, at times, multi-voice compositions that are not sung by the choir, but by four soloists.
At one point in the history of music, polyphony included more than the four voices we are accustomed to: soprano, alto, tenor, bass or SATB. We are not discussing such works, many of which are madrigals. We will focus instead on famous Oratorios associated with the birth, life and death of Christ and usually performed during the Christmas season or at Easter.
Johann Sebastian Bach (31 March 1685 – 28 July 1750) wrote a Christmas Oratorio(Weihnachts-Oratorium,BWV 248), but he also composed Passions (St Matthew, St John) that are oratorios. As well, J. S. Bach composed the Magnificat in D majorBWV 243a. It has two versions. In 1723, it was composed for Christmas, in E-flat major, but in 1733 (BWV 243) it was reworked for the feast of the Visitation, in the key in D major.
A cantata (from the Latin cantare: to sing) is a shorter and less complex work than the oratorio. It dates back to the early 1600s, which are the years the first operas were composed. Originally, only one person sang the cantata; it was monophonic. In this regard, it resembled early madrigals. But as the madrigal evolved into a multi-voice composition or polyphony, so did cantatas. We tend to associate cantatas with J. S. Bach who composed approximately 200, one of which, number 142, is entitled the Christmas Cantata: “Uns ist ein Kind geboren” (Unto us a Child is born). The following is a lovely cantata. I had found an excerpt, but lost it:
J. S. Bach
Cantata No. 51 “Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen,” BWV 51: I
Kathleen Battle
The Motet
According to late 13th-century theorist Johannes de Grocheio (c. 1255 – c. 1320) motets are “not intended for the vulgar who do not understand its finer points and derive no pleasure from hearing it: it is meant for educated people and those who look for refinement in art.” I have chosen Motets to the Virgin performed by Philippe Jaroussky (countertenor or sopranist) and Marie-Nicole Lemieux (contralto). Although I have listed an entire collection of motets to the Virgin, one would suffice. I have not embedded these videos, for lack of space. Therefore, one has to click on the title.
I have just returned from a short stay at a friend’s house, but I had left my computer behind. Fortunately, there is still time to send Christmas greetings to all of you, my very dear readers.
Satyr with pipe and a pipe case (Attic red-figure plate, 520–500 BC, from Vulci, Etruria
Photo credit: Wikipedia
This post was first published on November 15, 2011. It has been revised, but to a very small extent. I consider this post a Christmas post, Christmas being celebrated on or near the longest night. It shows that Christians and Jews celebrate their feasts at about the same time as “pagans” celebrated their feasts. This post is related to posts on liturgy as a musical form, marian Hymnology, as well as posts on canonical hours and medieval “Books of hours.” These posts will not be republished, but they will be updated and listed.
From time immemorial, seasons, or more precisely, darkness and light, have determined the days on which humankind placed its festivities, regardless of cultures and religions. In fact, nature has always prevailed, bestowing unity upon diversity. And it most certainly dictated the moments when festivities were held.
Humankind has always celebrated the longest night and the longest day. In ancient Greece, comedies and satires were associated with the winter solstice: Kômos, or Cômos, andSatyrs. And in the Rome of Antiquity, Saturnaliæ occurred on the day of the longest night. On that day, the universe was upside down. Therefore, in certain cultures, the master was suddenly slave. In more ancient cultures, an old king was replaced and, at times, sacrificed, so a new king could be enthroned. The old king was the pharmakos or scapegoat.
Judaism placed Hanukkah very close to the longest night of the year as did Christianity. In fact, Christianity celebrated the twelve days Christmas. In the Western Church, Christmas, the birth of Christ, has been celebrated on December 25th, but in the Eastern Church, January 6th, Epiphany, is the day on which the birth of Christ has been celebrated.
* * *
When Julius Cæsar established his calendar (the Julian Calendar), in 45 BC, he situated the winter solstice on December 25th, but in time, Christmas was celebrated several days before December 25th. See Winter solstice. Consequently, in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII (the Gregorian Calendar) brought the winter solstice back to December 22nd and, as per the directives of Council of Nicea of 325, in the Western Church, Christmas has since been celebrated on December 25th and twelve days later in the Eastern Church.
Cæsar fixed the Spring (vernal) equinox on March 25th, but that was also changed at the Council of Nicea. In Western cultures, we use the Gregorian calendar which is based on the determinations of the Council of Nicea.
The Summer Solstice(June 20/21, for the northern hemisphere; December 21/22, for the Southern Hemisphere)
As for the longest day, for Christians, it is la Saint-Jean, St John’s Day, and various other feasts.
The Vernal Equinox (March 20/21, for the Northern Hemisphere; September 22/23, in the Southern Hemisphere)
The day on which darkness and light are of more or less equal length (equi =equal), Judaism celebrates Passover and Christians, Easter. Easter is the day of the resurrection of Christ. Consequently, the night before Easter Sunday, a mass is celebrated during which the Church is momentarily in complete darkness and gradually lit a candle at a time. In earlier days, a lamb was sacrificed: the sacrificial lamb.
As for the Autumnal equinox, it is the Judaic Rosh Hashanah. In Christianity, the day is marked by la Saint-Michel, on September 29th or the now nearly-forgotten Michaelmas. In the Roman Catholic Church, Michael is one of three archangels, the other two are Gabriel (March 24th) and Raphael (October 24th). But Christianity also has its archangel of death, or Esdras, the “avenging angel,” or archangel of death, named Azrael in Hebrew culture.
In Islamic culture, the four archangels are Gabriel, Michael, Raphael and Azrael. There are slight variations in the spelling of Azrael, variations that are consistent with national languages. The Greek Orthodox Church honours the archangels on November 8th.
The solstices and the equinoxes do not occur on a fixed and permanent day. However, nations have situated official feasts on fixed dates.
* * *
For the moment, my purpose is
first to provide a concise background for liturgical and secular Books of Hours. Liturgical “Books of Hours” are, among other texts, the Breviary and the Liber Usualis. Moreover Benedictine monks and other monks observe the Canonical Hours during which psalms are recited. Secular “Books of Hours,” such as Les Très Riches Heures de Jean de France, duc de Berry, are exquisitely-decorated books, books with illuminations or enluminures. As we have seen, Bestiaries are also richly-decorated manuscripts, a pleasure to the eye.
Second, it seemed important to write about humanity’s universal observance of feasts that are embedded in the seasons, or in the degree of darkness and light. Nature is the template.
In short, seasons and feasts correspond to natural phenomena, i. e. the degree of darkness and light. All cultures have let the cycles of nature dictate the dates of their feasts and, as strange as this may seem, our ordinary calendars are a cultural monument. They resemble “Books of Hours” and, generally, they are illustrated or “illuminated.”
In other words, as humankind progressed through milennia, it amassed traditions we must never forget. They shape our lives and inhabit the imagination of all human beings, and they cross every border.
composer: Antonio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741)
piece: The Seasons, Winter
performers: Dénes Kovács
Budapest Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Lamberto Gardelli
Sand animation film – Ferenc Cakó
The First Thanksgiving 1621, oil on canvas by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (1863–1930). The painting shows common misconceptions about the event that persist to modern times: Pilgrims did not wear such outfits, and the Wampanoag are dressed in the style of Plains Indians
It has become common knowledge that the first Thanksgiving in North America was held by Martin Frobisher and his crew in the eastern Arctic in 1578.
Sir Martin Frobisher(b near Wakefield, Eng 1539; d at Plymouth, Eng 22 Nov 1594).
Sir Martin Frobisher, a mariner, explorer and “chaser of fool’s gold” made three trips to the Arctic looking for a route to India. Jacques Cartier had embarked on such a mission making two trips to what is now the East Coast of Canada. The first of these trips took place in 1534. He then claimed the territory he had reached for France by planting a ten-meter cross in the Gaspé area feeling he had discovered and Asian Land. He kidnapped Taignoagny and dom Agaya, the two sons of Iroquois chief Donnacona and took them to France. In 1535, he made a second trip returning his sons to Donnacona.
Frobisher & a Stormy Arctic Sea
As for Sir Martin Frobisher, hoping to find a northwest passage to India, he traveled to inauspicious destinations.[i] In 1578, he commanded a flotilla of 15 ships and more than 400 men. However, a storm threatened the entire flotilla. One ship returned to Europe and another was sunk by ice. Yet, Frobisher was undeterred.
Frobisher and his men, the thirteen ships that remained, were then at the northern entrance to the Hudson Strait, the sea to the north discovered by land, from the south, by Pierre-Esprit Radisson and his brother-in-law, Médard Chouart Des Groseillers, a sea that permitted easy access to beaver pelts.[ii]
The thirteen remaining ships assembled at the Countess of Warwick’s Island, known today as Kodlunarn Island, 500 miles (800 kilometers) off the northeastern shore of Frobisher Bay, a relatively large inlet of the Labrador Sea. Frobisher’s men established two mines on the island and tested the ore spending a month battling storms for most of July.[iii]
Sir Martin’s Thanksgiving
When they returned to Frobisher Bay, Martin Frobisher and his men “celebrated Communion and formally expressed their thanks through the ship’s Chaplain, Robert Wolfall, who ‘made unto them a godly sermon, exhorting them especially to be thankefull to God for theyr strange and miraculous deliverance in those so dangerous places’ (Collinson).[iv]
Frobisher’s Thanksgiving resembles a Te Deum as would, after the Seven Years’ War, the Thanksgiving held by the people of Nova Scotia. However, United Empire Loyalists, the British who remained loyal to Britain after the Thirteen Colonies chose to part with their motherland, brought to British colonies to the north, where they fled, the tradition of celebrating that year’s harvest, although it may not have been a firmly-entrenched yearly event yet. However, after W. W. I, Thanksgiving and Armistice, Canada’s current Remembrance day, were celebrated the same week and seemed indistinguishable.
Two Different Feasts: Thanksgiving and Armistice
Yet the two feasts are of a somewhat different nature. In the lengthy chronicle of human deeds or misdeeds, wars stand as mostly inglorious events. The end of a war is cause for celebration, despite devastating losses. However, giving thanks to Providence because the earth has been generous seems mainly joyful. What is celebrated is life eternal. So I am rather pleased that, on January 31, 1957 “[Canadian] Parliament proclaimed ‘a day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed,’ to be observed on the second Monday in October.”
At this point, the Canadian celebration merged with the apparently regular American observance which was first conducted by the Pilgrims’ first harvest in Massachusetts in 1621 and brought to Canada by United Empire Loyalists. The only difference has to do with dates. In the United States, Thanksgiving is now observed later than in Canada, but this may not have been the case in earlier days. Given that American winters do not usually set in as early as Canadian winters, in most Canadian provinces, an earlier celebration makes sense. In fact, there are parts of the United States where winter is not a cold season.
However, Sir Martin Frobisher’s Te Deum, “God, We Praise You,” was called a Thanksgiving and it is remembered as such. The Canadian Encyclopedia‘s entry underscores the fact that “Frobisher sailed for Elizabeth I, whose reign was marked by public acts of giving thanks; Elizabeth expressed her gratitude for having lived to ascend the throne (and not being whacked by “Bloody Mary”), for delivery from the Spanish Armada and in her last speech to Parliament, for her subjects. The first known use of the word “Thanksgiving” in English text was in a translation of the bible in 1533, which was intended as an act of giving thanks to God.”
So whether it be the end of a destructive storm, the end of atrocious hostilities or the sight of a plentiful harvest, we give thanks for weather becalmed, for peace restored and for our daily bread. Some people still say Grace.
Photo credit: Wikipedia (bottom image is by Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin)
[i]Richard Collinson, The Three Voyages of Martin Frobisher: In Search of a Passage to Cathaia and Indiaby the North-West (Cambridge University Press, 2010), quoted in Laura Neilson Bonikowsky, “The First Thanksgiving in North America,” The Canadian Encyclopedia.
[iv] Richard Collinson, The Three Voyages of Martin Frobisher: In Search of a Passage to Cathaia and Indiaby the North-West (Cambridge University Press, 2010), quoted in Laura Neilson Bonikowsky“The First Thanksgiving in North America,” the Canadian Encyclopedia.
I was a privileged university student. In my first year, having studied Spanish for six weeks, I was asked to play hostess to Flamenco guitarist Carlos Montoya who had been invited to give a recital at my university. The students who had organized the event were looking for a person who spoke Spanish and would greet Mr Montoya at the airport, take him to his hotel, pick him up the next morning, etc.
It had only been six weeks, but I had finished the course. Our professor no longer felt I needed to attend class. As well, I had all but memorized a short novel: La vida de un pícaro or La vida de Lazarillo de Tormés (1554).
At the airport, we realized that we could communicate not only “linguistically” but also otherwise. It was as though we had always known one another. I am a musician. So I spent two days accompanying a very fine Flamenco guitarist: a master.
Before leaving, he invited me to spend the following summer with him and his wife, in New York. I accepted, but my parents refused. That is another story, a story I will not tell.
Micheline Walker©
March 17, 2013
WordPress
![Giorgione, Pastoral Concert. Louvre, Paris. A work which the Louvre now attributes to Titian, c. 1509.[9]](http://michelinewalker.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/745px-fiesta_campestre1.jpg)
