Sacred Folly and Feast of Fools - Descriptive Analysis of a Religious Festival in the Middle Ages -

Year 2019, Volume: 18 Issue: 36, 557 - 582, 30.12.2019

Süleyman Turan

https://doi.org/10.14395/hititilahiyat.542022

Cited By: 1

Abstract

This article is about a religious festival entitled “The Feast of
Fools”. The Feast of Fools was a festival celebrated annually on 1 January for
the day of the Circumcision in many parts of Europe, and especially in France.
It approximately continued from the end of the eleventh to the end of the
sixteenth century. Roots of this festival can be traced to ancient Roman
festival, Saturnalia. It is claimed that during this festival priests and
clerks wore animal and wild beast masks and women’s clothings, ate black
puddings while the celebrant was saying mass, thrown dice at the altar, drank
excessively, run and jump through the church, sang obscene and bawdy hymnal
songs, and they defaced the words and songs of the liturgy. The feast is shortly
characterized by its reversals. As far as we can see, in its excessive form it
was never affirmed by Church authorities; on the contrary, it was restricted
and regularly forbidden. Eventually it was abrogated in the 16th century. But its
traces have been continuing until now and some festivals such Mardi Gras
carries and reflects the traces of this festival.

Summary

 “The Feast of Fools”, which was
a religious festival, was celebrated annually on 1st January for the
day of the Circumcision in many parts of Europe, especially in France. It took
place approximately between the end of the eleventh century and the end of the
sixteenth century. It is said that the origin of the Feast of Fools dates back
to pre-Christian Rome and the festival named Saturnalia. As it is known, the
Roman calendar included a great number of festivals celebrated throughout the
year. The Saturnalia, one of the popular Roman festivals or holidays, was
originally an agricultural festival held during the winter solstice and was
intended especially to honor the god Saturn. During the festival, moral
restrictions became less strict and people were free to engage in all forms of celebration
and fun.

The first surviving notices of the Feast of Fools belong to Paris,
Beauvais, and Châlons. Joannes Belethus, the rector of theology in Paris, has
the oldest mention dating back to the 11th century. He briefly says that “These
are four tripudia, religious dance feasts after Christmas. The feasts belong
respectively to the deacons, the priests, the choir-children and the
subdeacons, called the Feast of Fools. The common dates for its performance in
the different churches in France are the Circumcision, Epiphany or the octave
of the Epiphany.”

Low-ranking subdeacons were allowed to adopt leadership roles in
worship by the Feast of Fools. The choirboys and their “boy bishop” were given
similar privileges on the day of the Innocents (28 December). St Paul’s statement
to the Corinthians was the basic reference of this thought. Paul, toward the
end of a long passage favorably comparing “the foolishness of God” (stultum Dei
) to “the wisdom of the world,” declared, “God chose what is foolish in the
world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the
strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not,
to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the
presence of God” (1 Cor. 1:27).

It was the tradition that a young boy was selected as the mock “pope”
or “bishop” while the status of servants was given to the highest local church
officials. This young boy was called “the King of Misrule” or “the King of
Fools”. The Feast of Fools was consisted of four different courses: i) Procession to the church, ii) the Mass,
iii) carnivalesques in the church and iv) carnivalesques and theatrical
performances outside the church. Its content was not rigid, so it showed
difference according to different churches through the centuries. It is stated
that “Priests and clerks may be seen wearing masks at the hours of office. They
dance in the choir dressed as women or minstrels. They sing wanton songs. They
play at dice there. They run and jump through the church, without a blush at
their own shame. Finally, they drive about the town and its theatres in shabby
traps and carts; and rouse the laughter of their fellows and the bystanders in
infamous performances, with indecent gestures and verses scurrilous and
unchaste” during this festival.

The feast in which the regular movements of the ordinary service were
disregarded was concisely portrayed by its reversals. It was asserted that it was a precious day as it
was the one day when people left Christian morals and adopted ridiculous rites
instead. The status and meaning of this festival is
arguable. For instance, some researchers including Alain de Botton asserted
that this festival was regarded as a “sacred parody” to assure that things
would be in the right way for the rest of the year.

The Feast of Fools where the opposite course was taken was regarded as an
opening up to the sensory world. The participants’ own apology for feasting
mentioned in the letter from the Theological Faculty of Paris in 1445 clearly reflected
this: Feasting is obligatory since "foolishness, which is our second
nature and seems to be inherent in man, might freely spend itself at least once
a year. Wine barrels burst if from not open them and let in some air".

As we understood from the sources, the festival that church authorities
never approved was restricted and regularly forbidden. Finally, it was terminated
in the 16th century. However, today there are some festivals such as Mardi Gras
which reflects the traces of The Feast of Fools.

Keywords

History of Religions, Christianity, Middle Ages, France, Feast of Fools, Mardi Gras

Kutsal Aptallık ve Aptallar Festivali - Orta Çağ’da Bir Dini Festivalin Betimsel Analizi -

Abstract

Bu makale “Aptallar Festivali” olarak isimlendirilen dinsel bir kutlamayı konu edinmektedir. İsa’nın sünnet oluşunun hatırlandığı 1 Ocak tarihinde Avrupa’nın birçok bölgesinde ve özellikle de Fransa’da her yıl gerçekleştirilen bu festival, yaklaşık olarak XI. yüzyılın sonundan XVI. yüzyılın sonuna kadar devam etmiştir. Festivalin kökleri Antik Roma’daki Saturnalia kutlamasına kadar geri götürülebilir. Festivalde rahipler ve kilise görevlilerinin hayvan ve canavar maskeleri taktıkları, kadın kıyafetleri giydikleri, evharistiya esnasında pıhtılaşmış domuz kanından yapılmış sosis yedikleri, altarda zar yuvarladıkları, aşırı içki içtikleri, kilise içerisinde koşup zıpladıkları, müstehcen ilahiler söyledikleri ve liturjinin sözleri ve şarkılarını tahrif ettikleri ifade edilmektedir. Kısaca ifade etmek gerekirse, festival her şeyi alt üst etmesiyle karakterize olmuştur. Kaynaklardan anlaşıldığı kadarıyla bu aşırı kutlama biçimiyle festival Kilise yetkilileri tarafından asla tasvip edilmemiş, aksine sınırlandırılmış, yasaklama yoluna gidilmiş ve nihayet XVI. yüzyılda da ilga edilmiştir. Ancak festivalin izlerinin günümüze kadar devam ettiği ve günümüzde kutlanan Mardi Gras gibi çeşitli festivallerin söz konusu izleri taşıdığı ve yansıttığı anlaşılmaktadır.

Keywords

Dinler Tarihi, Hıristiyanlık, Aptallar Festivali, Ortaçağ, Fransa, Aptallar Festivali, Mardi Gras

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