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Lord of Misrule
Lords of Misrule (in Scotland Abbots of
Unreason) were sort of medieval events' organizers, with a
particular focus on the Feast of Fools at the New year, and
associated often over the top events.
It will not be surprising to learn that
their existence and functions predated Christianity, but the
medieval church skilfully tied them in to the Christian Feast of the Circumcision
(January 1), and the ranks of the Church Subdeacons.
Lords of Misrule were elected
annually by various institutions and communities including
feudal courts, colleges and parishes. They organized
everything from feasts to balls and processions, some pretty
rough, and they often presided over the revellers at their
events with a mock court. Their "term of office" could
last from days to weeks.
Even though the Church grew
increasingly hostile to these traditions, it took a long time
for them to be stamped out - in parallel it seems with Boy
Bishops.
The bench end carvings in the
choir of St
Laurence Ludlow, which date from between 1430 and 1450, would
have been made after the prohibitions of the Council of Basle
(see right) but a hundred years before the death in 1553 of Henry VIII's son, the boy King Edward VI, signalled the end of the
tradition at the English King's Court (and the emergence of a
new court position of Master of the Revels).
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Boy
Bishop
It was common in larger churches in the Middle Ages for a
"Boy Bishop" - usually a member of the choir - to be appointed
to rule as Bishop on the Feast of the Holy Innocents on December
28 (which was also observed as a day of special celebration for
choir boys). In England, where the tradition was
apparently most enthusiastically followed, the "reign" of the
Boy Bishop is said to have lasted from Saint Nicholas' Day
(December 6) to December 28. The Boy Bishop, it is
claimed, was empowered to do everything except administer holy
sacraments.
Whilst the existence of this tradition is recorded in several
web sources, they do bear a strong resemblance to each other in
a copy and paste sense, and may not represent independent
sources of knowledge - neither do they offer any insights as to
how this tradition came about ! It is also difficult to
believe that the English church system was administered like
this for as long as 3 weeks in December every year.
But the practice was indeed widespread in some form or other,
widespread enough to be forbidden (unsuccessfully) by the
Council of Basle / Florence (1431 - 39),
and further stamped on by the considerable weight of Henry VIII
(1491-1509-1547 (56)).
AND, would you believe, it's still
going on today .....
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