Did you know that Mother Christmas may have existed?

Tout le monde connaît bien le Père Christmas mais qui est donc celle qu’on appelle « la Mère Noël »? Celle à qui la publicité donne parfois le rôle d’épouse du Santa Claus? Si tous les enfants apprennent un jour que le Vieil homme à la barbe blanche est beaucoup moins réel qu’ils ne l’imaginaient, il semblerait que Mère Noël ait réellement existé.

Aunt Arie

In Franche-Comté, at 13^e century, it was neither Saint Nicholas nor Santa Claus who brought presents to children on Christmas Eve: it was old Aunt Arie. Tradition describes her as a very old and kind lady with a face that remained youthful. Curiously, she wore shoes that were a bit like crow's feet. She toured the country, warmly wrapped in her winter clothes, a walking stick in one hand, the halter of her donkey in the other. The latter carried on its back two large baskets laden with all the toys and treats that Aunt Arie was to distribute to the good children. In fact, a female version of Saint Nicholas.

It is said that this lady lived in a cave in the forest, on the Lomont, and that she stored thousands of toys there for several Christmases to come. However, she sometimes played nasty tricks. For example, since she could not stand lazy women who spun wool badly, she tangled their threads to the point that the young girls emptied their spindles on Christmas Eve so that Arie would not come and touch them. On the other hand, the one who was the most ardent worker in the country received a purse full of gold coins as a dowry.

The Good Countess

No one knows exactly the origin of this legendary Aunt Arie. Some folklorists have suggested that it may be a reference to a young noblewoman from the region named Henriette d'Orbe. The widow of the Count of Württemberg, she administered her lands in Franche-Comté herself and was so kind to the peasants and the poor that she was nicknamed "the good countess" by the inhabitants of Montbéliard.

She did so much good in her life that after her death in 1444, the good Countess Henriette officially became Aunt Ariette and then, more simply, Aunt Arie.