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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture thanks for raising this question. I am German but hadn't actually ever thought about the origin of this tradition. Here is what I found about it: It seems that several traditions are merged here: according to the Gallican rite, St. Martin's Day was the last feast before the six-week period of Advent. Aside from the light symbolism connected with this, the autumn fire/light festival is another source of origin: in some places in Germany people still jump across bonfires on St. Martin's Day. These bonfires are first mentioned in the 15th century and seem to have been "organised" by children and young men. Their competitions to build the biggest bonfire frequently involved attempts to steal wood from each other, and often ended in violence... The ash from the fires was spread on the fields to guarantee a good harvest the following year. Today's tradition of children carrying lanterns (made of paper) is inseparably linked to a re-enactment of St. Martin sharing his cloak. The procession of children is led by "St. Martin" on horseback. This seems to date back to the Düsseldorf area in the 1890s. Basically, the adults took over, hoping to end the rather violent history of the bonfires. They emphasised the Christian message of the legend of St. Martin for educational purposes, and started organising the processions in schools, parishes etc. Some of the (many) songs do not have too much to do with St. Martin, however. They are more about the children hoping that their lanterns don't catch fire, or about comparing the light of the lanterns to the light of the stars above. Unfortunately, google does not provide any good pictures of the processions. This is one of the best ones I could find: http://www.klingenberg-main.de/images2/martinszug.jpg and here's the url to the history of the bonfires/St. Martin's processions, for those who read German: http://www.klingenberg-main.de/amtsblatt/aktuelles_martinszug.htm Donata Kick > My question, however, concerns the other thing I know about St Martin, which > is the lanterns... German children, and children in Steiner schools > everywhere, make little lanterns and carry them round on St Martin's day, > singing a song about it. Does anyone know why? Or is it simply the autumn > fire/light festival attaching itself to a major saint in the same way that > it became attached to All Saints Eve in Scotland? > > Pat McIntosh-Spinnler > > ********************************************************************** > To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME > to: [log in to unmask] > To send a message to the list, address it to: > [log in to unmask] > To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion > to: [log in to unmask] > In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: > [log in to unmask] > For further information, visit our web site: > http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html > ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html