Random Things of The Medieval Feast Of Fools Was So Extreme Catholic Church Was Forced To Ban It (13 items)

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  (#7) Ironically, The Church Started The Tradition As A Celebration Of The Gospel

  Ironically, even though the Catholic Church condemned the parties, they most likely started the tradition. Even though the Feast of Fools was often chaotic and sometimes violent, it originally had a very specific purpose: to play-act the verse in Matthew 20:16 where Jesus said, "the last will be first, and the first will be last."

  For a single day during the Feast of Fools, according to scholar Max Harris, the lowest clergyman would switch places with the bishop. It was a reaffirmation of Jesus' promise that the last would be first. In many places, a "boy bishop" was crowned. When the boy bishop marched through town, even the real bishop bowed down. However, even though it had a loose connection to Jesus' words, the tradition could easily spiral into a riot.
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  (#4) The Catholic Church Banned The Party For Blasphemy

  According to the Catholic Church, the Feast of Fools was extravagant to the point of blasphemy. It's no surprise that a celebration of disorder didn't find favor with the church, especially when the parties often took place inside churches. But the church had a hard time stamping out the tradition, which was incredibly popular. 

  In 1445, the theologians at the University of Paris wrote a letter condemning the practice. They described the events in horrified terms:

  Priests and clerks may be seen wearing masks and monstrous visages at the hours of office... They dance in the choir dressed as women, panders or minstrels. They sing wanton songs. They eat black puddings... while the celebrant is saying mass. They play at dice... They run and leap through the church, without a blush at their own shame.

  After this condemnation, the Catholic Church officially banned the Feast of Fools in the 1400s. But the parties continued for at least another century. 
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  (#2) Monks And Nuns Were The Wildest Partiers Of All

  Because the Feast of Fools was all about breaking rules, the wildest partiers were often the people who lived by the strictest commandments the rest of the year: monks and nuns. As French theologian Jean Gerson ranted in 1402, the Feast of Fools was full of, "abominable disorders" and, "great, detestable abuses done in the kingdom of France, in diverse churches and abbeys of monks and nuns." And Gerson was correct that many of the festivities took place in churches.

  Maybe it isn't surprising that the Feast of Fools began at the same time the Catholic Church officially said all priests had to be celibate. During an era when monks, nuns, and priests were expected to live up to even higher standards, they wanted one day to break all the rules and celebrate.
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  (#3) The Church Tried To Ban Masks Entirely Since People Acted Crazier In Disguise

  Even though the Feast of Fools was a wild party with no rules, people still wanted to hide their identities. After all, they were throwing dice in church and singing obscene songs. So, many medieval partiers showed up for the Feast of Fools wearing masks. 

  The authorities knew that the masks only made people more wild, so they tried to ban masks. In 2017, Pope Innocent III complained about "masked shows" that took place in church during Christmas season. In Lille in 1398, the church declared that masks were banned at New Year's celebrations. Another church complained in 1404 that the clergy were wearing "masks in the shape of devils."
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  (#9) 'The Song Of The Ass' Was About A Donkey

  Even a seemingly holy song could easily devolve into chaos. At early celebrations of the Feast of Fools, the revelers sang a "song of the ass." It was about a donkey taking a long journey. In the song, the donkey crosses the river Jordan and visits Bethlehem. The story, sung in church during the week of Christmas, evokes the Biblical tale of Mary and Joseph traveling by donkey just before the birth of Jesus. 

  However, the song often got out of hand. In some cases, people led an actual donkey into the church, which was bound to cause problems. On another occasion, a rowdy person smacked a cleric with "an inflated and swollen hen's bladder" during the song.
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  (#1) People Hid Their Identities By Crossdressing And Covering Themselves With Animal Dung

  The concept of inversion was at the core of the Feast of Fools. The people at the bottom of the social hierarchy had a single day to act like the most powerful in society. For example, students hid their identity and parodied their social betters: clergy, teachers, and rulers. Sometimes, the students rubbed mud on their faces – or even animal dung – or simply wore a mask. Men dressed as women and women as men, to invert the traditional gender hierarchy. And everyone sang, danced, and drank.

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