Medieval+Feasts+and+Festivals

Feasts and Festivals of the Medieval Era
By; Steven Chen and Luke Polcari

Table of Contents

 * 1) Feasts on the Manors
 * 2) Religious Feasts and Festivals
 * 3) Medieval Jousting
 * 4) Medieval Fairs
 * 5) Bibliography

On the manor dinner was a whole different experience then today’s dinner. Nobles would havean elaborate affair for dinner, filled with different courses and foods. Foods that were served included game, fish and other vegetables grown on the manor. Many of these foods are common for dinners in our time however medieval people didn’t use common utensils. They would only have knives and fingers to eat their meals. Due to the lack of forks, eating meals and became a very dirty, messy time. During the medieval era there was a lack of proper hygiene. Nails clippers were few and far between, and because people ate their meals with their fingers. Food residue could be stuck underneath nails and then sit there and rot for a while. After a meal most people in our time will brush their teeth. However in medieval times toothbrushes and toothpaste were non-existent. Any form of teeth cleaning was the simple act of rinsing your mouth out and getting any chunks of food out of your rotting teeth. Also due to the lack of forks people would become messy while eating their food, and because there was bad hygiene a shower was not a common utility.
 * [[image:http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sgajt0QYD5E/TLNWja91spI/AAAAAAAAAAc/_fv1c9z3fag/s1600/medieval~bridal.jpg caption="A feast on a medieval manor"]] ||
 * A feast on a medieval manor ||


 * Religious Feasts and Festivals **

For every month of the year, there were feasts and festivals in order to celebrate different aspects of Christianity.
 * Lammas Day, held on the second of August ||
 * Lammas Day, held on the second of August ||

In January, there were twelfth night religious festivals and feasts celebrating the visit of the Wise Men, or Magi, following the birth of Jesus, or Christmas. February held St. Valentine’s Day which was the medieval festival celebrating love, there was commonly singing, dancing, and pairing. In March was Easter, celebrated by the Mystery plays depicting the crucifixion (Good Friday) and the resurrection (Easter Monday). In April was All Fool's Day, when the Jesters or Lords of Misrule took charge for a day and caused mayhem in the form of jokes and jests. May held May Day, which was a spring festival celebrating the time when a Queen of May was chosen and villagers danced around the maypole. Within June was Midsummer’s Eve, when the Mummers entertained at the ‘Festival of Fire’ reliving legends such as St. George and the Dragon. Also during this time bones were burned (bonfire) and the summer solstice was June twenty third. In July was St. Swithen’s day on the fifteenth, legend saying that when they moved St. Swithen’s bones, there was forty straight days of rain. In August, there was Lammas Day on the second, which was loaf mass day, or the first day of wheat harvest. September twenty-ninth was when Michaelmas celebrated the life of St Michael, and during the feasts, the traditional food was goose or chicken. On October twenty-fifth, revels and bonfires were held and people would act as ‘King Crispin’. During November the Day of the Dead which was an All Souls day or All Hallows Day (Halloween) was held when revels held bonfires. In December, there were Christmas celebrations in order to celebrate the birth of Jesus.


 * Month || Celebration ||
 * January || Twelfth Night Festivals ||
 * February || St. Valentine’s Day ||
 * March || Easter ||
 * April || All Fool’s Day ||
 * May || May Day ||
 * June || Midsummer’s Eve ||
 * July || St. Swithin’s Day ||
 * August || Lammas Day ||
 * September || Michaelmas ||
 * October || St. Crispen’s Day ||
 * November || Day of the Dead ||
 * December || Christmas ||

Medieval Fairs
Medieval Fairs references the gathering of buyers and sellers assembled at a specific place with merchandise during a stated season or by special appointment in order to trade. The Latin word"Feria" meaning holy day was the origin for the word fair, and many people would gather for worship. The large amounts of commerce and trade meant money, and the churches would sponsor the fairs in order to gather funds. As a result of this, the church and fairs became intertwined. In England, fairs were held during the saint’s feast, but were looked upon as a desecration of the church and were banned, and this began fairs being held on fields and also resulted in the fairs becoming temporary. Though the main point of the fair was trade, there was always some sort of entertainment, because people would try to attract people to their stalls. There were also event such as archery competitions, and fast food and drinks were always available.
 * [[image:osjm/fairs.jpg caption="Archery competitions held during fairs for entertainment"]] ||
 * Archery competitions held during fairs for entertainment ||

In the middle ages many events would occur at the festivals including but not limited to feasting, listening to music and jousting. All of these events took a main part in the festival but jousting was one of the largest if not the largest throughout the festival. Knights from all over the kingdom would come to test their skills against one another. Jousting not only proved the knight was skilled with a lance but it also showed his expertise on horseback, jousting included the skills of riding in a straight path and then placing your lance on the other knights shield or chest. As the popularity of jousting picked up, more and more tournaments for specifically jousting began to appear. Other times when knights were not at a festival or a jousting tournament they could challenge anyone that wanted to joust with them, this was called a Pas d’armes anyone could come to challenge the knight. However as the years passed and the medieval times fell out of fashion jousting went down with it too. Although this year the History Channel released a new show called “Full Metal Jousting” where two men would face off on horses and joust with each other. Just like they would back in the Medieval Festivals.

A video on Jousting; [|http://www.history.com/shows/full-metal-jousting/videos/black-and-blue#horse-safety]


 * [[image:http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200710/r193451_732005.jpg align="center" caption="Two knights jousting"]] ||
 * Two knights jousting ||