Editing Christmas tree (section)

===Possible predecessors===
Modern Christmas trees have been related to the "[[tree of life (biblical)|tree of paradise]]" of medieval [[mystery play]]s that were given on 24 December, the commemoration and [[name day]] of [[Adam and Eve]] in various countries. In such plays, a tree decorated with apples (representing fruit from the [[tree of the knowledge of good and evil]] and thus to the original sin that Christ took away) and round white wafers (to represent the [[Eucharist]] and redemption) was used as a setting for the play.<ref name="Becker2000"/> Like the [[Nativity scene|Christmas crib]], the Paradise tree was later placed in homes. The apples were replaced by round objects such as shiny red [[baubles]].<ref name="Dues"/><ref name="Karas"/><ref name="Lazowski">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HIhIPIYLQ6QC&pg=PA204 |first=Philip |last=Lazowski |title=Understanding Your Neighbor's Faith |publisher=KTAV Publishing House |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-88125-811-0 |pages=203–04 }}</ref><ref name="Foley">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XstmMVLDzIIC&pg=PA18 |first=Michael P. |last=Foley |title=Why Do Catholics Eat Fish on Friday? |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-4039-6967-5 |page=18 }}{{Dead link|date=January 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="Ball">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OQZuGwDFY68C&pg=PA19 |first=Ann |last=Ball |title=Catholic Traditions in Crafts |publisher=Our Sunday Visitor |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-87973-711-5 |page=19 }}{{Dead link|date=January 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |quote=The modern Christmas tree{{nbsp}}[...] originated in western Germany. The main prop of a popular medieval play about Adam and Eve was a fir tree hung with apples (paradise tree) representing the Garden of Eden. The Germans set up a paradise tree in their homes on 24 December, the religious feast day of Adam and Eve. They hung round white discs on it (symbolizing the host, the Christian sign of Christ's body in the Eucharist); in a later tradition, the wafers were replaced by cookies of various shapes. Candles, too, were often added as the symbol of Christ. In the same room, during the Christmas season, was the [[Christmas pyramid]], a triangular construction of wood, with shelves to hold Christmas figurines, decorated with evergreens, candles, and a star. By the 16th century, the Christmas pyramid and paradise tree had merged, becoming the Christmas tree. |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |year=2003 |title=Christmas tree |url=https://www.britannica.com/plant/Christmas-tree }}</ref>

Fir trees decorated with apples served as the central prop for the paradise play, a kind of folk religious drama often performed on December 24. These props were called paradise trees, and some researchers believe they were the forerunners of the Christmas tree.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TskZAQAAIAAJ|title=Encyclopedia of Christmas and New Year's Celebrations|page=168|isbn=978-0-7808-0625-2 |last1=Gulevich |first1=Tanya |date=30 October 2023 |publisher=Omnigraphics }}</ref>

At the end of the Middle Ages, an early predecessor appears referred in the 15th century Regiment of the [[Cistercians|Cistercian]] [[Alcobaça Monastery]] in [[Portugal]]. The Regiment of the local ''high-[[Sacristan]]s'' of the Cistercian Order refers to what may be considered the oldest references to the Christmas tree: "Note on how to put the Christmas branch, ''[[scilicet]]'': On the Christmas eve, you will look for a large Branch of green laurel, and you shall reap many red oranges, and place them on the branches that come of the laurel, specifically as you have seen, and in every orange you shall put a candle, and hang the Branch by a rope in the pole, which shall be by the candle of the high altar."<ref>''Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal'' (National Library of Portugal)—''Codices Alcobacenses'' ([http://www.bnportugal.pt/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=195%3Acodices-alcobacences&catid=71%3Areservados-manuscritos&Itemid=212&lang=pt] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130221070531/http://www.bnportugal.pt/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=195%3Acodices-alcobacences&catid=71%3Areservados-manuscritos&Itemid=212&lang=pt|date=21 February 2013}} ); [BN: cod. alc. CLI / 64, Page. 330] Translated from original Portuguese</ref>

[[File:yggdrasil.jpg|thumb|upright|Yggdrasil, in Norse cosmology, is an immense and central sacred tree.]]
Other sources have offered a connection between the symbolism of the first documented Christmas trees in Germany around 1600 and the trees of pre-Christian traditions. According to the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'', "The use of [[evergreen|evergreen trees]], wreaths, and garlands to symbolize eternal life was a custom of the ancient [[Egyptians]], [[Chinese people|Chinese]], and [[Hebrews]]. Tree worship was common among the pagan Europeans and survived their conversion to Christianity in the Scandinavian customs of decorating the house and barn with evergreens at the New Year to scare away the devil and of setting up a tree for the birds during Christmas time."<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|year=2012|title=Christmas tree|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/115737/Christmas-tree|access-date=2 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030053259/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/115737/Christmas-tree|archive-date=30 October 2012}}</ref>

It is commonly believed that ancient [[Roman people|Romans]] used to decorate their houses with evergreen trees to celebrate [[Saturnalia]].<ref name="bbc.co.uk">{{Cite news |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/20617780 |title=BBC Religion & Ethics—Did the Romans invent Christmas?<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=14 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161207095037/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/20617780 |archive-date=7 December 2016 |url-status=live |newspaper=BBC Religion & Ethics |date=17 December 2012 }}</ref> In the poem ''Epithalamium'' by [[Catullus]], he tells of the gods decorating the home of [[Peleus]] with trees, including laurel and cypress. Later [[Libanius]], [[Tertullian]], and [[John Chrysostom|Chrysostom]] speak of the use of evergreen trees to adorn Christian houses.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Churco |first=Jennie M. |date=December 1938 |title=Christmas and the Roman Saturnalia |journal=The Classical Outlook |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=25–26 |jstor=44006272 }}</ref>

The [[Viking]]s and [[Saxon]]s worshiped trees.<ref name="bbc.co.uk"/> The story of [[Saint Boniface]] cutting down [[Donar's Oak]] illustrates the pagan practices in 8th century among the Germans. A later folk version of the story adds the detail that an evergreen tree grew in place of the felled oak, telling them about how its triangular shape reminds humanity of the [[Trinity]] and how it points to heaven.<ref>{{cite book|author=Fritz Allhoff, Scott C. Lowe|title=Christmas|publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]]|year=2010|quote=His biographer, Eddius Stephanus, relates that while Boniface was serving as a missionary near Geismar, Germany, he had enough of the locals' reverence for the old gods. Taking an axe to an oak tree dedicated to Norse god Thor, Boniface chopped the tree down and dared Thor to zap him for it. When nothing happened, Boniface pointed out a young fir tree amid the roots of the oak and explained how this tree was a more fitting object of reverence as it pointed towards the Christian heaven and its triangular shape was reminiscent of the Christian trinity.}}</ref>{{efn|1=The story, not recounted in the {{lang|la|[[hagiography|vitae]]}} written in his time, appears in a [[BBC]] Devon website, "Devon Myths and Legends", and in a number of educational storybooks, including ''St. Boniface and the Little Fir Tree: A Story to Color'' by Jenny Melmoth and Val Hayward (Warrington: Alfresco Books 1999 {{ISBN|1-873727-15-1}}), ''The Brightest Star of All: Christmas Stories for the Family'' by Carrie Papa (Abingdon Press 1999 {{ISBN|978-0-687-64813-9}}) and [https://books.google.com/books?id=BdEAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA207 "How Saint Boniface Kept Christmas Eve"] by Mary Louise Harvey in ''The American Normal Readers: Fifth Book'', 207-22. Silver, Burdett and Co. 1912.}}