Medieval holy days?

Question

Hi in History im doing a course called medieval times..For the assignment i have to find out

1.How were the holy days celebrated?What are they called today?

2.List 3 Major holy days celebrated in the middle ages.Do we still celebrate them today?

3.What other forms of entertainment were popular in the middle ages.Are any still around today?

Do you know a website that has all of these?

Answer 1

Much depended upon the Holy Day as to the proper way to celebrate, Some Days demanded dancing & feasting others fasting & prayer. There were many Holy Days which are still Holidays to this day such as Mayday. And Christmas or if one is a pagan, the Winter Solstice. Here are links and snippets.....

Pretty much all that people did then is done now; drinking, eating, forniating, dancing, hanging out with friends, and by the 1300's they were even stuffing pigs bladders with straw and kicking & throwing them around a large muddy field!!!

http://www.skell.org/explore/text/mayT.html
""May Holy Days and Festivals
1
St Sigismund of Burgundy (sixth century)

May Day/Beltane: Mayday was a celebration of life and love, of procreation and renewal. It signified mystical union, the time when the plant was in full growth and in harmony with the environment. It was a time of games, song and revelry. The May Queen was chosen in a variety of ways - because she was the most honored, the most beautiful, or sometimes she was selceted by the winner of a joust or tournament.

Celebrants wore green sashes across their bodies or wreaths on their heads. They danced around the maypole counterclockwise, singing. At the end of the song, they gathered dew, which they rubbed into their skin to help their complexions. After this, greenery was collected to make wreaths for the hall. Primroses and convolvulus picked on May first and turned into wreaths were believed to avert evil. Games of all sorts were played and tournaments were held. A feast finished off the night where the foods were all green.

In Scotland at Beltane, shepherds cut a circular trench and lit a fire of sacred wood. They made a caudle of eggs, butter, oatmeal and milk, spilling some on the ground to ensure the safety of their flock in the coming season and to placate the old gods. They drank the caudle with beer and whisky. Often an oatcake was baked with nine raised knobs dedicated to various deities and each shepherd broke off a piece and said, "This to thee, preserve thou my sheep." Cattle were made to pass through the smoke of the Beltane baal fire (bonfire) on May first in order to cleanse them. This custom came from the Druids and was eventually Christianized as protection from evil in God's name and to guard against sickness. At one time cattle, especially bulls, were sacrificed at Beltane and it was thought to be especially effective if there was a crescent moon.

2
St Athanasius (ca. 296-373)

3
St Philip (first century)
St James the Less (d. 62)

4
Veneration of the Thorn: At the festival of the Veneration of the Thorn, holy bushes and trees - those marking sacred places and holy wells - are acknowledged by having new scraps of cloth tied to them.

5
St Hilary (ca. 401-459)

6
St Petronax (d. ca. 747)

7
St John of Beverley (d. 721)
The Nones of May: Dancing through towns and villages was commonplace.

8
St Peter (d. 1174)

9
St Pachomius (c. 292-348)

10
St Antoninus (1389-1459)

11
St Walter of l'Esterp (d. 1070)

13
Celtic tree month Huath (Hawthorne) begins

14
St John the Silent (ca. 482-559)

15
St Dympna (seventh century)
St Isidore the Farmer (ca. 1110-1170)

16
St Carantoc (ca. seventh century)
St John Nepomucen (ca. 1330-1383)

St Brendan: The legendary voyages of the Irish Celtic priest, St. Brendan the Navigator are acknowledged on this day.

17
St Madern (sixth century)

18
St Eric (d. 1151)

19
St Dunstan (909-988)

20
St Bernardin of Siena (1380-1444)

21
St Godric (ca. 1069-1170)

22
St Rita of Cascia (1377-1447)

23
St Julia (fifth century)

24
St David of Scotland (ca. 1085-1153)

25
St Bede (673-735)
St Gregory VIII, Hildrebrand (ca. 1021-1085)

27
St Augustine (d. 604)

28
St Germanus (ca. 378-448)

29
St Theodosia (ninth century)

30
St Ferdinand III (1199-1252)
St Hubert (d. 727)

Whitsun Day: A major holy day in the Church, signifying the descent of the holy spirit to the apostles, this day in the country was a traditional time for brewing Witsun ales and for making love in bowers and mazes.""

http://www.skell.org/explore/text/decT.html
""December Holy Days and Festivals
1
St Eligius (ca. 588-659)

2
St Viviana (fourth century)

4
St Barbara (fourth century)
St Osmund (d. 1099)

5
St Crispina of Tagora (d. 304)
St Sabus (439-532)

6
St Nicholas (d. ca. 342)

7
St Ambrose (ca. 340-397)

8
St Budo (sixth century)

9
St Leocadia (d. 304)

10
St Eulalia of Merida (d. ca. 304)

11
St Damascus (306-384)
St Daniel the Stylite (408-493)

12
St Finnian (d. 549)
St Walaric (d. 620)

13
St Lucy (d. ca. 304)

14
St Spiridon of Corfu (fourth century)

16
St Adelaide (931-999)

17
St Olympias (ca. 368-410)

18
St Samthann (d. 739)

19
St Nemesion (d. 250)

20
St Dominic of Silos (d. 1073)

22
St Ischyrion (d. 250)

23
St John of Kanti (1390-1473)

24
Celtic tree month Beth (Birch) begins

25
St Anastasia (d. 304)

Christmas: This holiday begins on Christmas Eve and runs to Twelfth Night. The number twelve played an important role - there were twelve candelabrum, twelve kisses or gifts exchanged beneath the mistletoe, twelve wassailings, twelve courses, and twelve sprigs of holly per bunch. One necessity was the yule log, a log so large it would burn for the full twelve days. The feast began with a highly decorated and carefully carved yule candle being placed on the high table in the hall.

Between courses, games and music were played. Wassailing the Milly was also performed. This was done with singers or musicians circling the hall singing carols and carrying a box that contained renderings of the Virgin and the Child. Gifts were placed in the box as an offering, and at the end the gifts were given as alms to the poor.

26
St Stephen (first century)

27
St John (first century)

29
St Thomas a Becket (1117-1170)

31
St Sylvester (d. 335).""
http://www.skell.org/explore/text/janT.html
""January Holy Days and Festivals
1
New Year's Day
Ring out the old, Ring in the new
Ring out the false, Ring in the true.

2
St. Basil (329-379)
St. Gregory of Nazianzen (329-389)

3
St. Genevieve (ca. 422-512)

5
St. Simeon the Stylite (390-459)

Twelfth Night: This celebration concluded the twelve days of Christmas. The festivities opened with the choosing of a King and Queen of the Bean by serving two cakes - one to the men and one to the women. A bean, jewel or glass bead was inserted in the cakes. The man and woman who received the beans were declared King and Queen.

When supper was finished, the celebrants gathered to wassail (drink a toast to) the trees. They either went outside to the oldest tree or surrounded a tree placed in the hall. Some assembled around mock trees. They toasted the tree with cider, and each cup contained three pieces of seed cake. After toasting, they ate one piece of cake, and offered the other two pieces to the tree. After this, they sang and circled the tree, then poured out the rest of their cider at the tree's roots. With this done, they shouted and made as much noise as possible.

Another important part of the celebration was mumming. Plays and skits were acted out by performers, some of whom were nobles, others of whom were not. They could be traveling professionals, but usually the mummings were performed by locals. One type of mumming was the hobby horse. A highly decorated wire and straw frame surrounded a mummer who mimicked a knight astride his steed.

For the final event of the night, which was performed at midnight, all the candles were doused. Suddenly a light appeared. It may have been a candle on a long pole, or a lighted chandelier that was pulled along the top of the hall by a series of pulleys. Three actors followed the light and mummed the play of the three magi. Once they defeated Herod, the festival came to an end.

7
St. Raymond (1175-1275)

9
St. Adrian of Canterbury (d. ca. 709)

10
St. Paul (d. 342)
Geraint: A day sacred to the ninth-century Welsh bard, Geraint, the Blue Bard of Wales.

11
Plough Monday: Traditional day for returning to work in the fields after Yule. Farm workers received plough money; children received handsel (tokens) of money or sweets from neighbors.

12
St. Benedict (d. 690)
St. Distaff's Day: Named after a tool rather than an individual. Women would resume their spinning after Yule on this day.
Partly work and partly play,
Ye must on Saint Distaff's Day.

13
St. Hilary (d. 368)

14
St. Felix of Nola (d. 260)
St. Kentigern (ca. 516-601)

15
St. Ita (d. ca. 570)

16
St. Honoratus (d. 429)

17
St. Antony (251-356)

19
St. Canutus (d. 1086)

20
St. Fabian

21
Celtic Tree month Luis (Rowan) begins
St. Agnes (d. ca. 305)

23
St Paul's Day:
If St. Paul's Day be fair and clear,
It do betide a happy year.
But if it chance to snow or rain,
Then will be dear all kinds of grain.
If clouds or mists do dark the sky,
Great store of birds and beasts will die.
And if the winds do fly aloft
Then wars shall vex the kingdom.

26
St Eystein (d. 1168)
St Margaret (1243-1271)
St Alberic (d. 1109)
St Paula (d. 404)

27
St Angelia Merici (1475-1540)

28
St Thomas Aquinas (1226-1274)

29
St Gildas the Wise (d. ca. 576).""

Peace or rather. Celebrate !!!!!!!! ------zzzzzzzztttt

Answer 2

Medieval Holy Days

Answer 3

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Monty Python and the Holy Grail tends to make fun more of the romanticised view of knights and the middle ages created by Renaissance and Victorian story writers rather than real minstrels/ knights etc. The minstrels in Holy Grail were depicted in this vein. In the romanticised version they were hangers on who just sang the praises of their lords (although in Holy Grail, the minstrels made fun of Sir Robin's cowardice instead - at least until they were eaten). Real minstrels were more likely to be multi-skilled high ranking servants in a court of a king or lord, specialising partly in entertainment, but also partly in retelling oral history. Minstrels were adept at recognising the emblems of lords and kings and would also act as heralds, and as signallers in battle (with trumpet or drum signals). Travelling minstrels (or troubadours) wandered the country earning what they could from entertaining the people. These tended to play coarser songs that appealed to the common people (they also tended to be thieves). The idea of "courtly love" and protecting those in distress is also largely a victorian myth. Codes of Chivalry existed, about not killing those who had surrendered etc, but was only practiced amongst the knights themselves. If you were a peasant, you didn't count. The idea of knights storming castles to rescue damsels in distress, as Lancelot does when he storms Swamp Castle, were created by Victorian writers selling the idea that women were to be weak and submissive. In fact, Medieval women were not particularly weak and submissive and there are a number who were war heros in their own right. Monty Python and the Holy Grail is not a satire per se, but rather a gently pastiche of all of those swashbuckling movies of the 50s and 60s (often starring Errol Flynn or Burt Lancaster) that the Pythons probably remember watching as kids (mixed up for good measure with ideas from Dante etc that both Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam were fond of, hence the muck and disease). The animation comes about, partly because it's a recognisable element from "Monty Python's Flying Circus" and partly because they were working on a very small budget and couldn't afford anything better (hence also the coconuts). The "documentary" sequence with the Famous Historian were relics from earlier drafts of the script where Arthur's knights eventually found the Holy Grail in the modern day, in Harrods.