Kutsal Aptallık ve Aptallar Festivali - Orta Çağ’da Bir Dini Festivalin Betimsel Analizi -
Sacred Folly and Feast of Fools - Descriptive Analysis of a Religious Festival in the Middle Ages -
Yazar: Turan, Süleyman
Dergi: Hitit Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, Vol. 18 No. 36, 2019
Anahtar kelimeler: History of Religions,Christianity,Middle Ages,France,Feast of Fools,Mardi Gras ; Dinler Tarihi,Hıristiyanlık,Aptallar Festivali,Ortaçağ,Fransa,Aptallar Festivali,Mardi Gras

Bu makale “Aptallar Festivali” olarak isimlendirilen dinsel bir kutlamayı konu edinmektedir. İsa’nın sünnet oluşunun hatırlandığı 1 Ocak tarihinde Avrupa’nın birçok bölgesinde ve özellikle de Fransa’da her yıl gerçekleştirilen bu festival, yaklaşık olarak XI. yüzyılın sonundan XVI. yüzyılın sonuna kadar devam etmiştir. Festivalin kökleri Antik Roma’daki Saturnalia kutlamasına kadar geri götürülebilir. Festivalde rahipler ve kilise görevlilerinin hayvan ve canavar maskeleri taktıkları, kadın kıyafetleri giydikleri, evharistiya esnasında pıhtılaşmış domuz kanından yapılmış sosis yedikleri, altarda zar yuvarladıkları, aşırı içki içtikleri, kilise içerisinde koşup zıpladıkları, müstehcen ilahiler söyledikleri ve liturjinin sözleri ve şarkılarını tahrif ettikleri ifade edilmektedir. Kısaca ifade etmek gerekirse, festival her şeyi alt üst etmesiyle karakterize olmuştur. Kaynaklardan anlaşıldığı kadarıyla bu aşırı kutlama biçimiyle festival Kilise yetkilileri tarafından asla tasvip edilmemiş, aksine sınırlandırılmış, yasaklama yoluna gidilmiş ve nihayet XVI. yüzyılda da ilga edilmiştir. Ancak festivalin izlerinin günümüze kadar devam ettiği ve günümüzde kutlanan Mardi Gras gibi çeşitli festivallerin söz konusu izleri taşıdığı ve yansıttığı anlaşılmaktadır.

This article is about a religious festival entitled “The Feast ofFools”. The Feast of Fools was a festival celebrated annually on 1 January forthe day of the Circumcision in many parts of Europe, and especially in France.It approximately continued from the end of the eleventh to the end of thesixteenth century. Roots of this festival can be traced to ancient Romanfestival, Saturnalia. It is claimed that during this festival priests andclerks wore animal and wild beast masks and women’s clothings, ate blackpuddings while the celebrant was saying mass, thrown dice at the altar, drankexcessively, run and jump through the church, sang obscene and bawdy hymnalsongs, and they defaced the words and songs of the liturgy. The feast is shortlycharacterized by its reversals. As far as we can see, in its excessive form itwas never affirmed by Church authorities; on the contrary, it was restrictedand regularly forbidden. Eventually it was abrogated in the 16th century. But itstraces have been continuing until now and some festivals such Mardi Grascarries and reflects the traces of this festival. Summary “The Feast of Fools”, which wasa religious festival, was celebrated annually on 1st January for theday of the Circumcision in many parts of Europe, especially in France. It tookplace approximately between the end of the eleventh century and the end of thesixteenth century. It is said that the origin of the Feast of Fools dates backto pre-Christian Rome and the festival named Saturnalia. As it is known, theRoman calendar included a great number of festivals celebrated throughout theyear. The Saturnalia, one of the popular Roman festivals or holidays, wasoriginally an agricultural festival held during the winter solstice and wasintended especially to honor the god Saturn. During the festival, moralrestrictions became less strict and people were free to engage in all forms of celebrationand fun. The first surviving notices of the Feast of Fools belong to Paris,Beauvais, and Châlons. Joannes Belethus, the rector of theology in Paris, hasthe oldest mention dating back to the 11th century. He briefly says that “Theseare four tripudia, religious dance feasts after Christmas. The feasts belongrespectively to the deacons, the priests, the choir-children and thesubdeacons, called the Feast of Fools. The common dates for its performance inthe different churches in France are the Circumcision, Epiphany or the octaveof the Epiphany.”Low-ranking subdeacons were allowed to adopt leadership roles inworship by the Feast of Fools. The choirboys and their “boy bishop” were givensimilar privileges on the day of the Innocents (28 December). St Paul’s statementto the Corinthians was the basic reference of this thought. Paul, toward theend of a long passage favorably comparing “the foolishness of God” (stultum Dei) to “the wisdom of the world,” declared, “God chose what is foolish in theworld to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame thestrong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not,to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in thepresence of God” (1 Cor. 1:27).It was the tradition that a young boy was selected as the mock “pope”or “bishop” while the status of servants was given to the highest local churchofficials. This young boy was called “the King of Misrule” or “the King ofFools”. The Feast of Fools was consisted of four different courses: i) Procession to the church, ii) the Mass,iii) carnivalesques in the church and iv) carnivalesques and theatricalperformances outside the church. Its content was not rigid, so it showeddifference according to different churches through the centuries. It is statedthat “Priests and clerks may be seen wearing masks at the hours of office. Theydance in the choir dressed as women or minstrels. They sing wanton songs. Theyplay at dice there. They run and jump through the church, without a blush attheir own shame. Finally, they drive about the town and its theatres in shabbytraps and carts; and rouse the laughter of their fellows and the bystanders ininfamous performances, with indecent gestures and verses scurrilous andunchaste” during this festival. The feast in which the regular movements of the ordinary service weredisregarded was concisely portrayed by its reversals. It was asserted that it was a precious day as itwas the one day when people left Christian morals and adopted ridiculous ritesinstead. The status and meaning of this festival isarguable. For instance, some researchers including Alain de Botton assertedthat this festival was regarded as a “sacred parody” to assure that thingswould be in the right way for the rest of the year.The Feast of Fools where the opposite course was taken was regarded as anopening up to the sensory world. The participants’ own apology for feastingmentioned in the letter from the Theological Faculty of Paris in 1445 clearly reflectedthis: Feasting is obligatory since "foolishness, which is our secondnature and seems to be inherent in man, might freely spend itself at least oncea year. Wine barrels burst if from not open them and let in some air".As we understood from the sources, the festival that church authoritiesnever approved was restricted and regularly forbidden. Finally, it was terminatedin the 16th century. However, today there are some festivals such as Mardi Graswhich reflects the traces of The Feast of Fools.