Functions of festivals in Early Modern Europe
'What were the functions of popular festivals, etc. in Early Modern Europe? And why did the authorities, civil and ecclesiastical seek to control or suppress them?'
In Early Modern Europe festivals were the setting for heroes and their stories, to be celebrated by the populace. They posed a change from their everyday life. In those days people lived in remembrance of one festival and in expectance of the next. Different kinds of festivals were celebrated in different ways. There were festivals that marked an individual occasion and weren't part of the festival calendar, like family festivals such as weddings and christenings. Some took place at the same time every year and were for everyone, like community festivals like the different saints' days. Pilgrimages took place all year round. Annuals festivals like Christmas and Midsummer always took place on the same day every year.
In those days the average village in Western Europe celebrated at least 17 festivals annually, not counting family occasions and saints' days. Some festivals, such as Carnival, lasted several days or sometimes even several weeks. In the Netherlands Carnival started every year at the 11th of November (St. Martin) and culminated in a big festival of 'Dranck, pleijsier ende vrouwen' (Drink, fun and women) at the end of the Carnival period, preceding the period of Lent.
Festivals were meant to take the minds of the people off their everyday life , off the hard times and their work. Everyday life in Early Modern Europe was filled with rituals, both religious and secular. Songs and stories played an important role in their lives, although they sometimes adjusted the details of the legends and stories to fit the way they thought a certain festival should take place.
Popular culture was mixed with ecclesiastical culture in many ways. The story of St. John the Baptist is a good example of this. The ancient ritual of bathing and lighting fires during Midsummer's Eve was a remnant of a ritual from the pre-Christian period. Fire and water, symbols of purification, could be seen as the tools of St. John the Baptist, and therefore a combination of the two elements of popular and ecclesiastical culture was obvious. It looks as if the Medieval Church took over the festival and made it theirs. The same thing happened to the Midwinter Festival, which became linked with the birth of Christ, on 25 December.
That when it comes to economic power, and religious faith, the political make up of late-medieval Germany ensures the continued wealth of the nobility and clergy, and provides both with greater opportunity to interact with the “powerful” or “divine” realm. The most poignant example of this is in Peasant Fires in chapter five during The Feast of Corpus Christi. This celebration and feast was the clergy and nobility’s way of affirming control over the peasantry. Wunderli validates this claim by calling The Feast of Corpus Christi as an “especially appropriate day for the assertion of hierarchical authority.”(Wunderli) The hierarchy carries out this assertion through the parade procession where the peasantry is “physically put in their place” at the back (bottom) of the parade as the procession, which was ordered in reference to one’s level of rank and wealth, which placed the political and religious hierarchies at the forefront.(Wunderli) This action of affirmation on a day of religious importance and celebration bred tensions and inspired disrespect that would put the peasants on the path to
The work begins with Section I, ‘The Background’ which consists of a general overview in medieval women’s social and religious history. The first section delineates the basic societal framework for Western European women in the High Middle Ages and outlines the cultural forces at work in shaping their lives. The second part of this section reviews the changes in religious consciousness concerning sacramental practices and fasting, from the Church Fathers to the late medieval hagiographers. It should be noted here that although more careful attention is given to the practice of ‘fasting,’ especially in the latter portion of the work which I will be examining in more detail, the ‘feasting’ in question more generally denotes the ‘love feast’ of the Eucharist than the fe...
Mardi Gras: Mardi Gras mean the ‘Fat Tuesday’. This festival marks the end of the carnival and the beginning of Lent period. The annual celebration starts in 1870. Some colorful dresses, ornaments, toys and the peoples are the main
Naval Posstgraduate Security Digital Library, “Public Law 253: National Security Act of 1947,” GPO, PL 253, S. 758, access online, https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=2787.
Christmas and Opera did not merely seem to correlate, but understanding where the two events derived from can help one to understand the similarities and differences between them. The development of Christmas was different from the creation of opera because the working class was controlling the other social classes for profit. Whereas for opera, the different social classes unified to keep opera as entertainment and not a social event. Another difference came within the writing and context throughout the article and the presentation of information conveyed by the author. Yet the events share the similarity of both being refined and reinvented.
It is a holiday with a complex history, and therefore its observance varies quite a bit by region and by degree of urbanization.
Although the system of slavery has existed since the great ancient civilization of Egypt, Rome, Aztec, and various other countries, there was nothing ne...
Merryn Ekberg, Maximizing the benefits and minimizing the risks associated with prenatal genetic testing. Health, Risk & Society. 1, 67 – 81 (2007).
It is patients’ right to opt for genetic testing on their own DNA, although they are accepting a great risk by doing so. DNA is unique to each individual, present in each individual since conception, and influences who each individual is, so the information contained within it belongs to each patient, despite the risks. Such risks include DNA testing services providing results to potential employers or insurers, who can make decisions at the disadvantage of the patients if high disease probabilities are discovered. The results can also cause patients to react emotionally poorly and make negative changes to their lifestyles. Although risky, patients deserve the rights to take these risks if they choose to do so.
Moreover, I have examined some USA court decisions which are relevant to my research. The Research Proposal consists of a few paragraphs, each of which includes information on one type of discrimination.
Relations at work are almost inevitable. However, there are instances where those relations interferes with work or the generally become offensive. Defining harassment could appear somewhat simple but yet very complicated, due largely to the nature and forms it take. It was until the 1970ties before the word gained entry into mainstream literature. Harassment could be viewed as an offensive behavior that interferes with the dignity of another person. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) defines it as “unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature” In reality harassments are behaviors that upset, disturbs
A Cultural Event is an event relating to a particular culture. These events are held within cultures such as clans or tribes. These Cultural Events are aimed to help bring together the community in ways that express the beliefs, customs, and ethics shared within the culture. The term Culture can be broken down into an array of categories: Language, Social Activities, Interaction, Spirituality, Thought, and Arts & Sciences. This paper will give an in depth look into two highly publicized Cultural Events: Mardi Gras and Carnival Rio De Janiero.
Anderson, W. L., & Bouravnev, A. (2011). Sexual Harassment: the Good, the Bad, and the
In our society sexual harassment has been in the workplace for years. The use of sexual harassment in the workplace has been remembered best as a weapon used to keep women in their place which would cause them to forfeit promotions within their organizations. It was once believed that women were the only victims but the shift is now changing men are also reporting that they are also victims of sexual harassment on the job. In 1964 the Civil Rights Act was passed and employers began to recognize that they were liable for two types of sexual harassment. The first kind of harassment is Quid pro quo when a supervisor offers the employee sexual advances in order to get or keep a job, and also this harassment is used to determined if an individual will get a promotion. The second form of harassment is when supervisors or coworkers make working conditions hostile and unbearable. In both instances the legal ramification will cost an organization to suffer a financial loss in productivity, time, and money. Throughout this research my finding is that it's to the company's best interest to provide a clear policy on sexual harassment.
Every country in the world has its own festival and celebration. People all around the world love joining together and sharing good time through the festivals and celebrations. Festivals are great way to experience local culture. Sometime they even offer a glimpse into past. There are hundreds of festivals across the world. So are you ready to experience of fun and colorful festivals? Below are some of festivals from Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.