Lecture 13: Carnival in the High Middle Ages
Carnival and Lent
Christianity in the early Middle Ages instituted a series of fasts
throughout the calendar during which time most people were not
allowed to eat meat or meat products. The most important of the
fasts was the 40-day period from Ash Wednesday to Easter, which
was meant to commemorate Jesus’s fast in the desert. Far more
interesting is the feast that preceded it, Carnival, whose name
is derived from carne, or meat, and was celebrated on Shrove
Tuesday, or Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday). Carnival was the celebration in which any remaining meat had to
be consumed prior to the 40-day fast of Lent. Typically, this was
the one time of the year when all the normal rules of order could be
subverted. In other words, the world turned upside down. This was
also a time to indulge in pleasures of the fl esh. Historians have explained Carnival as a ritual that served as a
safety valve for a community that normally holds in their pent-up
frustrations against those in power. During this one celebration,
they need not bow in deference to the lord of the manor or the
village priest. Returning to the normal order of society the day after the
celebrations also reinforced the fact that this is an unusual and one-
time occasion; during the rest of the year, everyone has to obey their
superiors and show due deference. In the end, Carnival actually
strengthens the social order and usual patterns of subordination. There were also minor fasts and feasts scattered throughout the
Christian calendar as well as fasts every Saturday (beginning
Friday evening) and, in some places, on Wednesdays as well. In
total, about 150 days of the year were set aside as fasting days.
People were allowed to eat fi sh if they could afford it. Beans were
fi rmly associated with Lent and periods of fasting, but vegetables
and starchy staples really formed the bulk of the Lenten diet for
most people.