HISTORY OF APRIL FOOLS DAY

[wakeupamerica]

HISTORY OF APRIL FOOLS DAY:

Going as far back as ancient Rome, during the Saturnalia, a Roman winter festival that was observed at the end of December involved dancing, drinking, and general fun things. People exchanged gifts; slaves were allowed to pretend that they ruled their masters, and a mock king, the Saturnalicius princes (Lord of Misrule), reigned for the day.

Or so goes the guessed history of April Fools Day at the beginning of some sources. And isn’t it strange that Saturnalia is recognized as the Christian origin of Christmas as well? Hogwash.

However, there was a Celtic festival that honored Lud, a Celtic god of humor, and that is more likely the origin of the April Fools Day concept. Lud was also the name of the son of Shem, Noah’s grandson, as well as the fictional city in Stephen King’s Dark Tower series.

It is also true that the Roman Christians took up the practice/social tradition of the previous Roman Empire did – assimilate the conquered religion or alter/compare their religion in order for the conquered subjects of a nation would better assimilate into Roman culture and rule. That part is fact concerning the early Christian Church – but the similarity ends there. And Saturnalia has nothing to do (except maybe the Saturnalicius princeps part) with April Fools Day, which definitely began during what is known as the middle age or Medieval Age. (See Ship of Fools)

foolfestus The festival was called Festus Fatuorum (Feast of Fools), which may, in remembrance of the part of Saturnalia that involved a mock king for a day – usually a comical character of the populace. In that, the presumed origin is probably accurate. On this day, mostly in France, the people elected a mock pope and imitated church rituals. The Church, of course, didn’t like this for obvious reasons and tried to discourage the populace in the mockery of the highest office of the Roman Catholic Church. But, it still was celebrated in that fashion up to about the 16th century.

foolfestus After the Feast of Fools was done away with, those who enjoy a fun time began to pay more attention to the Mardi Gras and Carnival festivals. A medieval caricature of a medieval person or symbolic of a patron saint for that day; and fools became prominent in the medieval courts of Europe entertaining the monarchy, as well as in town squares. The traditional garb they wore has become known even today, even on two deck cards in a poker playing card deck known as the Joker – a multicolored robe or suit, horned hat that often had bells sewn at the ends to jingle while the fool/joker walked, a scepter satirically representing royalty, and the elf-like pointy shoes.

gotham_city01 In Britain, April Fool’s Day is linked to the town of Gotham, a legendary town of fools located in Nottinghamshire, later used as the background city (caricature of New York City, which is also nicknamed “Gotham” city in the original DC Comics and film/TV adaptations of Batman. According to the legend of the English city and concerning a 13th century tradition where any road that the King traveled on became public property. The citizens of Gotham didn’t want to lose their city’s main road, so they told a false story to stop King John from passing through their town. When the King learned of this deception, he sent a messenger to demand that they explain their actions. But when the messenger arrived in Gotham he found the town was full of lunatics who were performing foolish acts such as drowning fish or attempting to cage birds in roofless fences. The King fell for the ruse and declared the town too foolish to punish. Since then, that day of April 1st has supposedly become a day of trickery.

mayday1911 Anthropologists and cultural historians and scholars state that the celebration traces to the festivals that marked the Vernal Equinox, or spring season. This makes more sense than Saturnalia, the winter festival of ancient Rome. However, this day was celebrated on May 1st, which today is still called May Day (not to be confused with the distress signal) and for the Christian Church, the Day of Ascension (of Jesus the Christ). Anthropologists state that the misrule theme and general jocularity doesn’t undermine the authority but instead is a day to blow off steam, as well as celebrating the drudgery and depression of cold, stark winters. This is evident as spring ushers in the budding and new growth of plant life, melting snow and warmer weather.

The latter history is probably more attuned to the April Foolery comparison to Spring Festivals. Today, the French still use the term: “Poisson d’Avril”, which means April Fish – the origin tracing back to the custom of fish spawning and young fish hatching in French streams and rivers during early April. It is also a custom to give presents in the form of chocolate shaped like fish on April 1st.