You know, I am not sure why josepp is getting so much flack here. The concept that Shakespeare didn't exist, or that if he did he didn't author the plays, is nothing new under the sun. It certainly doesn't add up to trolling, and in my view has led to a rather entertaining discussion, which is something we can use more of on this forum. Some of the other suppositions of josepp (the Mary/Elizabeth allusion) are obviously off the chart, but I am interested in his basic concept regarding Christmas.
That Dec 25 was the historical Christ's birthday is a notion dismissed by anyone who has done even a meager amount of study. That that date was a pre-existing feast of the winter solstice in many cultures certainly has significance, and to me the evidence of an attempt by the early Christians to co-opt these disparate traditions, including the essential Roman Saturnalia celebration, into a unified birth of Jesus celebration was simply good marketing.

Of course, many of us here on Mudcat understand that the Hokey Pokey is actually what it's all about.