LEADER 03934oam 2200637 a 450 001 9910781351103321 005 20231220222720.0 010 $a0-8014-6193-6 010 $a0-8014-6161-8 024 7 $a10.7591/9780801461613 035 $a(CKB)2550000000035272 035 $a(OCoLC)732957185 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebrary10468083 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000541010 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11346596 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000541010 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10492538 035 $a(PQKB)11608444 035 $a(StDuBDS)EDZ0001496004 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3138204 035 $a(OCoLC)966814264 035 $a(MdBmJHUP)muse51915 035 $a(DE-B1597)478604 035 $a(OCoLC)979577275 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780801461613 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3138204 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10468083 035 $a(CaONFJC)MIL768207 035 $a(EXLCZ)992550000000035272 100 $a20100818d2011 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aur||||||||||| 181 $ctxt$2rdacontent 182 $cc$2rdamedia 183 $acr$2rdacarrier 200 10$aSacred folly $ea new history of the Feast of Fools /$fMax Harris 210 1$aIthaca [N.Y.] :$cCornell University Press,$d2011. 215 $a1 online resource (x, 322 pages) 300 $aBibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph 311 0 $a0-8014-7949-5 311 0 $a0-8014-4956-1 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index. 327 $apt. 1. Before the Feast of Fools -- pt. 2. Shaping the Feast of Fools -- pt. 3. Supporting the Feast of Fools -- pt. 4. Suppressing the Feast of Fools -- pt. 5. Beyond the Feast of Fools. 330 $aFor centuries, the Feast of Fools has been condemned and occasionally celebrated as a disorderly, even transgressive Christian festival, in which reveling clergy elected a burlesque Lord of Misrule, presided over the divine office wearing animal masks or women's clothes, sang obscene songs, swung censers that gave off foul-smelling smoke, played dice at the altar, and otherwise parodied the liturgy of the church. Afterward, they would take to the streets, howling, issuing mock indulgences, hurling manure at bystanders, and staging scurrilous plays. The problem with this popular account-intriguing as it may be- is that it is wrong.In Sacred Folly, Max Harris rewrites the history of the Feast of Fools, showing that it developed in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries as an elaborate and orderly liturgy for the day of the Circumcision (1 January)-serving as a dignified alternative to rowdy secular New Year festivities. The intent of the feast was not mockery but thanksgiving for the incarnation of Christ. Prescribed role reversals, in which the lower clergy presided over divine office, recalled Mary's joyous affirmation that God "has put down the mighty from their seat and exalted the humble." The "fools" represented those chosen by God for their lowly status.The feast, never widespread, was largely confined to cathedrals and collegiate churches in northern France. In the fifteenth century, high-ranking clergy who relied on rumor rather than firsthand knowledge attacked and eventually suppressed the feast. Eighteenth- and nineteenth-century historians repeatedly misread records of the feast; their erroneous accounts formed a shaky foundation for subsequent understanding of the medieval ritual. By returning to the primary documents, Harris reconstructs a Feast of Fools that is all the more remarkable for being sanctified rather than sacrilegious. 606 $aFeast of Fools$xHistory 615 0$aFeast of Fools$xHistory. 676 $a394.25/09 686 $aBS 1750$2rvk 700 $aHarris$b Max$f1949-$01491717 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910781351103321 996 $aSacred folly$93771421 997 $aUNINA