[Ravensfort] Godly Play

David Hoffpauir env_drh at shsu.edu
Fri Apr 1 09:15:53 PST 2005


A take on medieval humor....

 

http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi612.htm

 

Aside from "The Miller's Tale", I know little about what made the
medieval person laugh.  But I'm sure they did so and probably for the
same reasons we do.  (....and, if you have never read "The Miller's
Tale", you should, I promise, you will fall out of your chair in the
end...) 

 

Take a listen,

Regards,

Dsd

 

The following is lifted from Wikipedia about April Fool's Day:

 

The origins of April Fool's Day are unknown, although various theories
have been proposed. It is considered to be related to the festival of
the vernal equinox, which occurs on March 21. Prior to the adoption of
the Gregorian calendar in 1582, it was observed as New Year's Day by
cultures as far apart as ancient Rome and India. New Year was originally
celebrated from March 25 to April 1, before the Gregorian reforms moved
it back to January 1. The English first celebrated the day on a
widespread basis only as late as the 18th century, though it appears to
have reached England probably from Germany in the mid-17th century. Its
first known description in English originates with John Aubrey, who
noted in 1686: "Fooles holy day. We observe it on the first of April.
And so it is kept in Germany everywhere."

 

Some Dutch people believe it may have originated due to the liberation
of Den Briel during the Spanish occupation of The Netherlands in 1572,
when the geuzen fooled the Spanish lord Alva and were thus able to
liberate Den Briel, and the latter supposedly lost his glasses.

 

The custom of playing practical jokes on April Fool's Day is also very
widespread and of uncertain origins. The victim of a joke is known in
English as an ''April Fool''; in Scots language as a ''gowk'' (cuckoo or
fool); and an "April Fish" in both  French (''poisson d'avril'') and
Italian (Pesce d'Aprile). It has been suggested the custom may have had
something to do with the move of the New Year's date, when people who
forgot or didn't accept the new date system were given invitations to
nonexistent parties, funny gifts, etc. Originally, April Fool's Day
jokes concentrated on individuals (sending someone on an absurd errand
such as seeking pigeon's milk) but in the 20th century it became common
for the media to perpetrate hoaxes on the general population.

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