Feast of Fools
2 min read
By Moira Andrews
The Feast of Fools was a popular holiday in the middle ages. Brittanica.com says it’s a day where people elect a fake pope (and the Ecclesiastical ritual was parodied.) This celebration often took place in churches and featured mock religious ceremonies. It is thought that this holiday is the Christian version of a pagan holiday. By the thirteenth century, these festivals have become the burlesque of Christian morality and worship.
According to medievelchronicals.com, one of the main events to the Feast of Fools was the concept of misrule, where customary social hierarchies were inverted. A “Lord of Misrule” also called “The Fake Pope” was appointed. The person elected would often be a commoner, servant, or someone of a lower status who was given temporary authority to mockingly rule over the festivities, this turned the world upside down for a day, in other words, make things Topsy Turvey and foolish.
This festival had many other ways of celebration. One of the ways the peasants or commoners would celebrate was theater. They would perform amateur shows and street plays. They also celebrated by doing as the name indicated, feasting. The feasting symbolized lavishness and abundance.
When asked if she thinks the festival would be frowned upon today, Vanessa Imbarlina, a student in Culinary said, “I don’t think so. Considering that not following the social norm is much more popular then it used to be, the festival wouldn’t be frowned upon and instead be celebrated like it used to be, if not more.”
When asked what he knew about The Feast of Fools, Brayden Galbraith, a student in Culinary said, “Feast of Fools? I haven’t heard of it until now.”
The Feast of Fools was a time to get together, relax, and have a few laughs. In the medieval times, this was much needed. This was a day filled with joy and comradery.
