Festivals+and+fairs

Fairs and Festivals By Andrea Rusk The festivals of medieval europe were dedicated to saints and lords on the Christian calendar. The Twelve Night festival took place twelve days after Christmas. Demonstrations and plays represented a battle between good and evil. The Christian calendar had many other other festivals, such as Easter, which was the most important religious celebration in medieval Europe.Holy days organized around the celebration of Christ's death and resurrection included Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednsday, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Asension, and Pentecost. The Christian Midsummer's Eve, in which the sacrifices of animals became bonfires, old chants, and dances meant to assure the Earth's fertility, became hymns, prayers, and holy prossesions. There was also All Fool's Day festivals, in whcih low-born men became king for a day. Children and peasants gave strict orders to their betters, and practical jokes insulted the dignity of their victims. Anybody could come the religious festivals, but some festivals were for royalty, or wealthy people, which had huge feasts and celebrations. At the festivals, there would be many different games and competitions, which included jousting. Jousting is a sport played by armored men, mounted on horses. It was a competition between two knights, with different varieties of weapons. Some of the weapons were lances, swords, the battle axe, and the dagger. Jousting is just one of the many martial games in the middle ages. People would also play board games, such as chess, Tables, Nine Men's Morris, Fox of Geese, which was a game of strategy, The Philosohper's Game, which was a game of strategy, numbers and many more.