Editing Yule log (section)

==Origins==
The first evidence in English for a special log burned around Christmas comes from [[Robert Herrick (poet)|Robert Herrick]]'s poetry collection of 1648, where it is called a "Christmas log".<ref name="HO">{{cite book |last=Herrick |first=Robert |title=Hesperides Or, The Works Both Humane and Divine of Robert Herrick · Volume 29 |date=1889 |publisher=Houghton, Mifflin [188-] |location=Indiana University}}</ref> Herrick recounts how cheering lads brought the Christmas log into the farmhouse, are then rewarded with alcohol for their efforts, and how the log was believed to bring prosperity.<ref name="HO" /><ref name="SS">{{Cite book |last=Hutton |first=Ronald |title=The stations of the sun: a history of the ritual year in Britain |date=1996 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-285448-3 |edition=reissued |location=Oxford}}</ref>  The first mention of the name Yule log occurs between 1650 and 1687 in [[John Aubrey|John Aubrey's]] writings on Christmas pastimes when he mentions "a large Yule log or Christmas block".<ref name="SS" /> Beginning in the 18th century, it began to be theorized that the custom may have much earlier origins, extending from customs observed in [[Germanic paganism]]. Starting in 1725, [[Henry Bourne (historian)|Henry Bourne]] was the first to link the Yule log in [[Anglo-Saxon paganism]]:<blockquote>Our Fore-Fathers, when the common Devices of ''Eve'' were over, and Night was come on, were wont to light up ''Candles'' of an uncommon Size, which were called ''Christmas-Candles'', and to lay a ''Log'' of Wood upon the Fire, which they termed a ''Yule-Clog'', or ''Christmas-Block''. These were to Illuminate the House, and turn the Night into Day; which custom, in some Measure, is still kept up in the Northern Parts. It hath, in all probability, been derived from the ''Saxons''. For ''[[Bede]]'' tells us, That [''sic''] this very Night was observed in this Land before, by the ''Heathen Saxons''. They began, says he, their Year on the Eight of the Calenders of ''January'', which is now our ''Christmas Party'': And the very Night before, which is now Holy to us, was by them called ''[[Mōdraniht|Mædrenack]]'', or the ''Night of the Mothers'' … The ''Yule-Clog'' therefore hath probably been a Part of those Ceremonies which were perform'd that Night's Ceremonies. It seems to have been used, as an Emblem of the return of the ''Sun'', and the lengthening of the Days. For as both ''December'' and ''January'' were called ''Guili'' or ''Yule'', upon Account of the Sun's Returning, and the Increase of the Days; so, I am apt to believe, the Log has had the Name of the ''Yule-Log'', from its being burnt as an Emblem of the returning Sun, and the Increase of its Light and Heat. This was probably the Reason of the custom among the ''Heathen Saxons''; but I cannot think the Observation of it was continued for the same Reason, after Christianity was embraced. …"<ref name="BOURNE-155-162">Bourne (1740:155–162).</ref></blockquote>Since Bourne introduced his theory, there has been significant scholarly debate about whether the connection between the pagan festival of Yule and the Yule log extends beyond the linguistic use of "Yule" as a synonym for Christmas.<ref name="SS" /> One of the reasons is that little can be said for certain about the practices of the original Yule celebration. Our most complete descriptions of the customs around the celebration of the festival of Yule come from the [[Sagas of Icelanders|Icelandic saga]] writer [[Snorri Sturluson]].<ref name="SS" /> Snorri Sturluson was a 13th century Christian writer, writing more than two centuries after the Christian conversion of Iceland, and was writing for a Christian audience.<ref name="SS" /> The degree to which Snorri and other saga writers were aware of the customs of Yule, and the degree to which they cared to accurately represent them in their writings, is currently unknown.<ref name="SS" /> In addition, the sagas, our only ancient or medieval sources that mention fire in relation to ancient Yule celebrations, only mention fire when talking about the large fires traditionally found in the center of feasting halls/temples, which were also use year round for heating/cooking.<ref name="YC">{{Cite book |last=Tille |first=Alexander |url=https://archive.org/details/yulechristmasthe00tillrich/page/90/mode/2up |title=Yule and Christmas, their place in the Germanic year |date=1899 |publisher=London : D. Nutt |others=University of California Libraries}}</ref>  The sagas do not mention any special importance placed of the log's themselves that are being burnt.<ref name="YC" />  

The first mention of a special Christmas log comes from a German manuscript of legal obligations written in 1184 CE where it records that the [[manse]] of [[Ahlen]] is entitled to a whole tree for a private festive fire on Christmas eve.<ref name="YC" /> Another early reference can be found in the text ''Liber statutorum civitatis Ragusii compositus anno,'' which was written in [[Dubrovnik]] in 1272 CE. It records that shipmasters and the sailors brought the count of the city a large log on Christmas eve and place it on the fire, for which they are given as reward two gold coins and alcohol.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Dubrovnik (Republic) |url=https://archive.org/details/liberstatutorumc00dubr/page/12/mode/2up?q=Natalis |title=Liber statutorum civitatis Ragusii compositus anno 1272 : cum legibus aetate posteriore insertis atque cum summariis, adnotationibus et scholiis a veteribus juris consultis ragusinis additis |last2=Bogii |first2=Baltazar |last3=Jireek |first3=Josef Konstantin |last4=Justinianus |first4=Marcus |date=1904 |publisher=Zagrabiae : Typis expressit Societas typographica |others=PIMS - University of Toronto}}</ref> It is important to note that in Europe during the high to late medieval period and early modern period, lumber and firewood could not be freely collected as nearly all forests and trees were privately owned, mostly by royals, nobles and the church.<ref name="FE">{{Cite journal |last=Braunstein |first=Philippe |date=1990-10-15 |title=Forêts d'Europe au Moyen-Âge |url=https://journals.openedition.org/ccrh/2859 |journal=Les Cahiers du Centre de Recherches Historiques. Archives |language=fr |issue=6 |doi=10.4000/ccrh.2859 |issn=0990-9141}}</ref> For a person to get access to the lumber in the forests that they did not own, they had to either buy it or be given rights to a certain amount of wood through a legal charter.<ref name="FE" /> Landowners often has contracts with their tenants that laid out exactly how much wood could be collected from the forest for their use for firewood, tools, and building materials, as well as the penalties if they were caught taking more.<ref name="FE" /> Stories and legal charters from the 13th/14th century illustrate that it was not uncommon for peasants to be without enough firewood for anything beyond a very small cooking fire on Christmas.<ref name="YC" /> In medieval Europe, the burning of a large log on Christmas eve may have been a way to celebrate the end to the period of fasting and contemplation that lasted from the start of [[advent]] through Christmas eve, and to celebrate the coming public and private feasts and celebrations on Christmas day.<ref name="SS" /> The earliest textual evidence specifically mentioning large public Christmas fires occurs in 1577 and 1591, both occurring in legal charters from Germany.<ref name="YC" /> The first mention in 1577 is about how the monastery will be obligated to provide firewood to a tenant, and as well as a large special log on Christmas, on condition that the tenant allow the public to warm themselves by the fire.<ref name="YC" /> The second mention in 1591, says that the mayor is obliged to keep a large fire lit near the church on Christmas morning, so that any who are coming to [[matins]] and church may warm themselves.<ref name="YC" /> 

It is not until John Aubrey's writing in the 17th century that any source mentions that the Yule log may offer some supernatural benefit (Aubrey mention the Christmas log bringing prosperity).<ref name="SS" /><ref name="YC" /> It is then not until [[John Aubrey]], writing in the mid 17th century nearly five centuries after the first mention of a large log meant to be burnt on Christmas eve, that the holiday of Yule was first associate with the practice when Aubrey mentioned that some in England also call this practice the Yule log.<ref name="SS" />

[[Martin of Braga]], Bishop of [[Braga]], writing in 6th century, may have made the first mention of a tradition similar to the yule log in his work, ''[[De correctione rusticorum]]''.<ref name="MB">{{Cite book |last=Martin |first=of Braga Saint Martin |url=https://archive.org/details/martinvonbracar00oslogoog/page/n169/mode/2up?q=fontem |title=Martin von Bracara's Schrift de Correctione Rusticorum: Zum ersten Male ... |date=1883 |publisher=Gedruckt in derMallingschenBuchdruckerei |others=University of California |language=German}}</ref> In a section of his letter, he lists a variety of pagan practices that were still being performed by Christians in the 6th century and that he considered to be devil worship. <ref name="MB" /> One section of the list can be translated as "To take notice of the [[Vulcan (mythology)|Volcanes]] and of the [[Calends]], to garnish to tables, to lay laurel, to enter with the right foot, to pour grain and wine over a log in the hearth, and to throw bread into the fountains, what is this if not Devil worship? "<ref>{{Cite web |title=De Correctione Rusticorum |url=https://germanicmythology.com/works/De%20Correctione%20Rusticorum.html |access-date=2025-01-10 |website=germanicmythology.com}}</ref><ref name="MB" /> Based on this translation, some scholars suggest that he is describing a ritual associated with the Kalends of January that would then go on to become the Yule log.<ref name="BC" /> The scholar Jacob Latham has suggested that in late antiquity the Kalends of January was no longer solely a pagan holiday but had been reinvented as a holiday that openly fused together Christian and pagan traditions and symbolism.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Latham |first=Jacob A. |date=2022 |title=The Re-invention of the Kalends of January in Late Antiquity: A Public Festival Between "Pagans" and Christians |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/849264/pdf#:~:text=The%20late%20antique%20Kalends%20of,and%20Christians%20(and%20others). |journal=Journal of Late Antiquity |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=69–110 |doi=10.1353/jla.2022.0002 |issn=1942-1273}}</ref> All of the countries with the earliest accounts of the Yule log also were once part of the Roman empire.<ref name="BC" /> The practice described in the passage also resembles Yule log traditions in several countries where wine is poured over the log, such as France, Italy, Spain, and Montenegro. The passage also resembles a description of the Yule log found in writing from the court of the duke of Milan between 1466-1476 CE.<ref name="RC">{{Cite book |last=Lubkin |first=Gregory |title=A Renaissance Court: Milan Under Galeazzo Maria Sforza |date=1994 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-91345-5 |edition=Reprint 2019 |location=Berkeley, CA}}</ref>  It was recorded that on Christmas eve, a log, covered in fruits and foliage, especially juniper and laurel, was brought into the court at sunset, and was burned in the hearth for the enjoyment of all.<ref name="RC" /> Bishop [[Saint Pirmin|Pirmin]], in his book ''Dicta Abbatis Pirminii, de Singulis Libris Canonicis Scarapsus,'' which was written between 710-724 CE, quotes Martin of Braga when he is attempting to correct Christians who are still practicing pagan rituals. Notably, his quote leaves out any mention of the hearth or fire, only mentioning pouring fruit and wine over a stump.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jecker |first=Gall |title=Die Heimat des hl. Pirmin des Apostels der Alamannen. Aschendorf. |year=1927 |location=Aschendorf}}</ref> Yule log traditions in some parts of Croatia and Italy involve no fire or hearth, resembling Bishop Pirmin's fireless description as well.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dragić |first=Marko |date=2008-01-01 |title=Drvo Badnjak U Kršćanskoj Tradicijskoj Kulturi |url=https://www.academia.edu/106315313 |journal=Church in the World}}</ref> In a letter from [[Saint Boniface|Bonifacius]] to [[Pope Zachary|Pope Zacharius]]. written between 741-752 CE, there is a section where Bonifacius laments that Christians in [[Rome]] were still celebrating the Kalends of January in the pagan manner.<ref name="BC" /> Among a larger list of pagan activities, it is mentioned that the celebrants were not willing to lend fire, iron, or any convenience to their neighbor from their house.<ref name="BC" /> Scholar Alexander Tille interprets this reluctant to lend out fire as further evidence of there being a tradition of having private fires in the home on the Kalends of January.<ref name="BC" />