ࡱ> `b_#` >bjbj5G5G 4PW-W-6PPPP4 "OQQQQQQ$h&uuOO yrPO0&+$v4TD;uu  SATURNALIA & FEAST of FOOLS Now, at the time of the winter solstice (December 25 in the Julian calendar, December 17th in our modern calender), Saturnus, the god of seed and sowing, was honored with a festival. In the Roman calendar, the Saturnalia was designated a holy day, or holiday, on which religious rites were performed. Saturn, himself, was identified with Kronos, and sacrificed to according to Greek ritual, with the head uncovered. The Temple of Saturn was dedicated on the Saturnalia, and the woolen bonds which fettered the feet of the ivory cult statue within were loosened on that day to symbolize the liberation of the god. After sacrifice at the temple, there was a public banquet. There was also a banquet for the god in which its image is placed in attendance, as if a guest. Afterwards, the celebrants shouted "Io, Saturnalia!" During the holiday, restrictions were relaxed and the social order inverted. All restraints of law and morality were set aside. Class distinctions were abolished. The Feast of Fools had begun. The Saturnalia lasted seven days. Gambling was allowed in public. Masters served their slaves, accepting taunts and insults that would be punished by the lash or death any other time of year. Within the family, a Lord of Misrule was chosen. The community selected one person to be King of Saturnalia. This mock king directed his subjects to get drunk, dance, carouse and be blatantly lewd and lascivious. At the close of the festival he was expected to cut his own throat on Saturn's true altar and thus restore order.  INCLUDEPICTURE "http://peterconrad.tripod.com/seasons/christmas/images/kngofool.gif" \* MERGEFORMATINET  The Saturnalia continued to be celebrated as Brumalia (from "bruma," winter solstice) down to the Christian era, when, its rituals became absorbed in the celebration of Cristes maesse. The Catholic Church ended this bacchanal in the 16th Century as Reformation approached. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Feast of Fools (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06132a.htm) A celebration marked by much license and buffoonery, which in many parts of  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05607b.htm" Europe, and particularly in  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06166a.htm" France, during the later  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10285c.htm" middle ages took place every year on or about the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06021b.htm" feast of the Circumcision (1 Jan.). It was known by many names -- festum fatuorum, festum stultorum, festum hypodiaconorum, to notice only some Latin variants -- and it is difficult, if not quite impossible, to distinguish it fromcertain other similar celebrations, such, for example, as the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01798b.htm" Feast of Asses, and the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02725a.htm" Feast of the Boy Bishop. So far as the Feast of Fools had an independent  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05543b.htm" existence, it seems to have grown out of a special "festival of the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14320a.htm" subdeacons", which John Beleth, a  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09306a.htm" liturgical writer of the twelfth century and an Englishman by birth, assigns to the day of the Circumcision. He is among the earliest to draw attention to the fact that, as the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04647c.htm" deacons had a special celebration on  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14287a.htm" St. Stephen's day (26 Dec.), the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12406a.htm" priests on St. John the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05645a.htm" Evangelist's day (27. Dec.), and again the choristers and mass-servers on that of  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07419a.htm" Holy Innocents (28 Dec.), so the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14320a.htm" subdeacons were accustomed to hold their  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06021b.htm" feast about the same  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14726a.htm" time of year, but more particularly on the festival of the Circumcision. This  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06021b.htm" feast of the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14320a.htm" subdeacons afterwards developed into the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06021b.htm" feast of the lower  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04049b.htm" clergy (esclaffardi), and was later taken up by certain brotherhoods or  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07066c.htm" guilds of "fools" with a definite organization of their own (Chambers, I, 373 sqq.). There can be little  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05141a.htm" doubt -- and  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10285c.htm" medieval  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03519d.htm" censors themselves freely recognized the fact -- that the license and buffoonery which marked this occasion had their origin in  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11388a.htm" pagan customs of very ancient  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04636c.htm" date. John Beleth, when he discusses these matters, entitles his chapter "De quadam libertate Decembrica", and goes on to explain: "now the license which is then permitted is called Decembrian, because it was customary of old among the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11388a.htm" pagans that during this month  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14036a.htm" slaves and serving-maids should have a sort of liberty given them, and should be put upon an equality with their masters, in celebrating a common festivity." (P.L. CCII, 123). The Feast of Fools and the almost  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02595a.htm" blasphemous extravagances in some instances associated with it have constantly been made the occasion of a sweeping condemnation of the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10285c.htm" medieval  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03744a.htm" Church. On the other hand some  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03449a.htm" Catholic writers have thought it  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10733a.htm" necessary to try to deny the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05543b.htm" existence of such abuses. The  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15073a.htm" truth, as Father Dreves has pointed out (Stimmen aus  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09658a.htm" Maria-Laach, XLVII, 572), lies midway between these extremes. There can be no question that  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03744a.htm" ecclesiastical authority repeatedly condemned the license of the Feast of Fools in the strongest terms, no one being more determined in his efforts to suppress it than the great  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07037a.htm" Robert Grosseteste,  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02581b.htm" Bishop of Lincoln. But these customs were so firmly rooted that centuries passed away before they were entirely eradicated. Secondly, it is equallycertain that the institution did lend itself to abuses of a very serious  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03584b.htm" character, even though the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10715a.htm" nature and gravity of these varied considerably at different epochs. In defense of the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10285c.htm" medieval  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03744a.htm" Church one point must not be lost sight of. We possess hundreds, not to say thousands, of  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09306a.htm" liturgical  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09614b.htm" manuscripts of all countries and all descriptions. Amongst them the occurrence of anything which has to do with the Feast of Fools is extraordinarily rare. In  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10354c.htm" missals and  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02768b.htm" breviaries we may say that it never occurs. At best a  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/" \t "_top" prose or a  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15065a.htm" trope composed for such an occasion is here and there to be found in a gradual or an  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01576b.htm" antiphonary (Dreves, p. 575). It is reasonable to infer from this circumstance that though these extravagances took place in church and were attached to the ordinary services, the official  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13428a.htm" sanction was of the slenderest. The same conclusion follows from two well-known cases which Father Dreves has carefully studied. In 1199,  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02581b.htm" Bishop Eudes de Sully imposed regulations to check the abuses committed in the celebration of the Feast of Fools on  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11019a.htm" New Year's Day at Notre-Dame in  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11480c.htm" Paris. The celebration was not entirely banned, but the part of the "Lord of Misrule" or "Precentor Stultorum" was restrained within decorous limits. He was to be allowed to intone the prose "Laetemur gaudiis" in the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03438a.htm" cathedral, and to wield the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12372a.htm" precentor's staff, but this was to take place before the first  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15381a.htm" Vespers of the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06021b.htm" feast were sung. Apart from this, the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03744a.htm" Church offices proper were to be performed as usual, with, however, some concessions in the way of extra  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14133a.htm" solemnity. During the second  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15381a.htm" Vespers, it had been the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04576a.htm" custom that the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12372a.htm" precentor of the fools should be deprived of his staff when the verse "Deposuit potentes de sede" (He hath put down the mighty from their seat) was sung at the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09534a.htm" Magnificat. Seemingly this was the dramatic moment, and the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06021b.htm" feast was hence often known as the "Festum `Deposuit'". Eudes de Sully permitted that the staff might here be taken from the mock  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12372a.htm" precentor, but enacted that the verse "Deposuit" was not be repeated more than five times. A similar case of a legitimized Feast of Fools at  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13716a.htm" Sens c. 1220 is also examined by Father Dreves in detail. The whole text of the office is in this case preserved to us. There are many proses and interpolations (farsurae) added to the ordinary  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09306a.htm" liturgy of the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03744a.htm" Church, but nothing which could give offense as unseemly, except the prose "Orientis partibus", etc., partly quoted in the article ASSES, FEAST OF. This prose or "conductus", however, was not a part of the office, but only a preliminary to  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15381a.htm" Vespers sung while the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12446c.htm" procession of  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14320a.htm" subdeacons moved from the church door to the choir. Still, as already stated, there can be no question of the reality of the abuses which followed in the wake of celebrations of this kind. The central  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07630a.htm" idea seems always to have been that of the old Saturnalia, i.e. a brief social revolution, in which power, dignity or impunity is conferred for a few hours upon those ordinarily in a subordinate position. Whether it took theform of the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02725a.htm" boy bishop or the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14320a.htm" subdeacon conducting the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03438a.htm" cathedral office, the parody must always have trembled on the brink of burlesque, if not of the profane. We can trace the same  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07630a.htm" idea at St. Gall in the tenth century, where a student, on the thirteenth of December each year, enacted the part of the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01015c.htm" abbot. It will be sufficient here to notice that the continuance of the celebration of the Feast of Fools was finally forbidden under the very severest penalties by the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02334b.htm" Council of Basle in 1435, and that this condemnation was supported by a strongly-worded document issued by the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14580x.htm" theological faculty of the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11495a.htm" University of Paris in 1444, as well as by numerous  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04670a.htm" decrees of various  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12515a.htm" provincial councils. In this way it seems that the abuse had practically disappeared before the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14726a.htm" time of the  HYPERLINK "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15030c.htm" Council of Trent.  d45mntu./45TU+,deno@AKL,-45ST hr|C0Jhr|Chr|CCJaJjhr|CUhr|Chk#hr|Chr|C5>*ehrPI S   UU*w7>gdr|Cgdr|Cgdr|C$a$gdr|C>;<HI$%/0OP()abghpq "#[\bcIJ"#'(IJ hr|C0Jjhr|CUhr|C^JPQijwx: ; s t | } ~  !!!!4!5!m!n!w!x!!!!!!!!!""$"%"U"V"""""""%#&#4#5###$$%$&$($)$a$b$h$i$?%@%x%y%%%%%%%%%'&(&`&a&i&j&k&l&hr|Cjhr|CU hr|C0J^l&&&&&''9':'D'E'F'G''''' (!(Y(Z(a(b(g(h((((((( ) )))))P)Q)V)W)))))))******e+f+++++,,M,N,\,],o,p,,,,,--------... .T.U...&hr|C0J>*B*CJOJQJaJph hr|C0Jjhr|CUhr|CV........../8/9/?/@/////////4050<0=0O0P00000000000u1v1111111%2&2+2,2222222q3r33333n4o444444444445566$6%65666n6o6y6z6~66666677hr|Cjhr|CU hr|C0J^77777888888880919:9;9K9L99999::>:?:C:D:::::::;;;;;;G<H<<<<<<<<<<< = =E=F=M=N=Z=[=======.>/>3>4><>=>u>v>>>> hr|C0Jjhr|CUhr|CM21h:pr|C/ =!"#$% Dd  x  S TA$kngofool[ King of Fools ]b!2P7X6JODFn!2P7X6JOPNG  IHDRVgEPLTEf3̙f3f3ffffff3f3333f333f3f3̙f3̙̙̙̙f̙3̙ffffff3f3333f333f3̙f3̙̙f3̙f3ff̙ffff3f33̙33f333̙f3ffffff3ffff̙fff3fffffff3ffffffffffff3fff3f3f3f3ff33f3ffffff3f3333f333333̙3f3333333f3333f3f3f3ff3f33f33333333f333333333f333f3̙f3f3ffffff3f3333f333f3t8tRNS@fbKGDH cmPPJCmp0712HsIDAThCKr0 DLUCiA1f*ZDZl4H8={Syns`}V|+Pʿϸ`Ѐ~yi0v? adr:L.5*(7RQ)r1kBSP_٤E&/\j%R`5[V!$M-ZY,%v~VZXGlXQ1_-r9Rc9m_+ӰDo,c[Ǝ5lW=ZȾBc0jWiF~W"86EbeÃzD^< \bwV}SWrFXB2k__d߅fpQDN"8J˗P`VWm4\sK}=ÊayU(nc5fiov)W-UAWW!oe=6kkVEࢺŎ/fYo*Wߒ؆>g5 W|b I1;I/?yS sx/9pZߢd oI0 }/nrѰ؇ZÍ+CB+鸁]۠w_؁'?\Ө;SjTkpg1Rkv6ACw[-Sl/ַkG|ennbPbX*($mf`br_3cjK7_4X?ǡZۂ\6LcX]&-IЀWm,=NvsMg4=W]eЄ;I8ߊvH垷f%e7jǃ-)+ܭZw?/WCIENDB`@@@ NormalCJ_HaJmH sH tH R`R r|C Heading 1dd@&[$\$5CJ0KH$\aJ0DA@D Default Paragraph FontRi@R  Table Normal4 l4a (k@(No ListB^`B r|C Normal (Web)dd[$\$4U`4 r|C Hyperlink >*ph"o" r|Cklink6 PISUU"w/6000000000000000ISUU"w/6@0@0@0@0@0@0@0000@0@0@0@0 0Jl&.7> #$%&'>!>"  4 m t . 4 T + d n  @ K ,4S;H$/O(agp "[bI"'IPiw:s|~4mw$U%4%(ah?x'`ik9DF Y a g !!!P!V!!!!"""e###$M$\$o$$$%%%%&&T&&&&&&&8'?'''''4(<(O((((((u))))%*+****q+++n,,,,,,-.$.5.n.y.~...///000001:1K1112>2C2222333G444444 5E5M5Z5555.636<6u666CXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. { . 4 . l .  . d޸ .  ߸ . Lܸ . ܸ mmH26ttP26=*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags PlaceName=*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags PlaceType8*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagsCity9*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagsplace V nt8?@Fr x y    %/ep.1/5qwx17IPQT%!!>#D###% %%%j%r%s%z%&&(()$)%)-)1)5)))K*Q*S*[*_*d*** ++++++3,9,N,V,?-G-H-P---..0011:16S"63666:!b@r|Ck@66e666@UnknownG: Times New Roman5Symbol3& : Arial7&  Verdana"qhV&\&\&#f.b#f.b!24n6n62QHX)?r|C2SATURNALIA & FEAST of FOOLS shousenick shousenickOh+'0  , L X d p|SATURNALIA & FEAST of FOOLS shousenickNormal shousenick1Microsoft Office Word@Ik@~r@Lq@~r#f.՜.+,D՜.+,L hp  LCCCbn6 SATURNALIA & FEAST of FOOLS Title0/ 8@ _PID_HLINKSA.3r+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15030c.htm2p+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14726a.htm3u+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12515a.htm4u+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04670a.htm2~+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11495a.htm6c+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14580x.htm5t+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02334b.htm7t+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01015c.htm4r+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07630a.htm>v+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03438a.htm0p+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14320a.htm0v+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02725a.htm4r+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07630a.htm0p+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14320a.htm1r+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12446c.htm1{+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15381a.htm1q+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03744a.htm7+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09306a.htm2t+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13716a.htm2s+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12372a.htm3q+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06021b.htm3|+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09534a.htm2s+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12372a.htm1u+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04576a.htm1{+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15381a.htm1q+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14133a.htm1q+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03744a.htm3q+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06021b.htm1{+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15381a.htm2s+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12372a.htm>v+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03438a.htm7}+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11480c.htm:v+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11019a.htm6+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02581b.htm?w+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13428a.htm1s+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01576b.htm6u+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15065a.htmOhttp://www.newadvent.org/=q+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02768b.htm4q+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10354c.htm0}+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09614b.htm7+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09306a.htm1q+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03744a.htm4|+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10285c.htm1w~+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10715a.htm3~{+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03584b.htm6x+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02581b.htm5ru+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07037a.htm1qr+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03744a.htm<zo+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09658a.htm0tl+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15073a.htm4ti+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05543b.htm7uf+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10733a.htm?qc+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03449a.htm1q`+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03744a.htm4|]+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10285c.htm2}Z+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02595a.htm5qW+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14036a.htm8T+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11388a.htm2sQ+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04636c.htm8N+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11388a.htm>qK+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03519d.htm4|H+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10285c.htm2wE+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05141a.htm4uB+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07066c.htm;u?+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04049b.htm3q<+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06021b.htm0p9+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14320a.htm3q6+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06021b.htm2p3+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14726a.htm3q0+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06021b.htm0p-+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14320a.htm?p*+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07419a.htm1w'+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05645a.htm1t$+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12406a.htm6z!+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14287a.htm3t+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04647c.htm7+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09306a.htm0p+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14320a.htm4t+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05543b.htm0v+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02725a.htm=}+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01798b.htm3q +http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06021b.htm4| +http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10285c.htm5v+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06166a.htm3p+http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05607b.htm  !"#$%&'(*+,-./023456789:;<=?@ABCDEGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^aRoot Entry FrcData )1Table1WordDocument4PSummaryInformation(>DocumentSummaryInformation8F|0CompObjq  FMicrosoft Office Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89q