Although we get upset when people play jokes on us on April Fool's Day *, we would do well to remember that not all jokes told at this time of year were funny to the Catholic church in the past; the Catholic Church took humour seriously and led to crusades, burning and inquisition in the 13th century. There is strong evidence to suggest April Fools as we know it today originated as a form of heresy during the high middle ages which lead to persecution.

Of course, it may be one of those things which has multiple origins in different cultures which come together over time, like Christmas. But quick look at the Wikipedia entry about April Fool's suggests it could be Roman in origin and related to a conflict of competitive feast days (see Feast of Annunciation and [Feast of Fools] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feast_of_Fools)). We'll look at the importance of these feast days below and see evidence of the the shift of the Feast of Annunciation to April Fool's Day.

The Catholic Church, Heresy and April Fool's

If you've read any of my posts, you'll know that I bang on the subject of the Cathars and Catharism, the famous (supposed) dualist heresy which provoked Pope Innocent III to declare a crusade against the population of the area historians call Occitania, but is now Southern France. This crusade famously led to the attack and massacre of 'heretical cities' like Beziers and to many, many burnings of heretics over the course of several decades. Even more famous is the Medieval Inquisition which was founded in Toulouse after the crusades as a way for the church to 'root out' heresy among the population and enforce Catholic orthodoxy.

Historians debate the exact nature of the 'heresies' which raised the ire of popes, bishops and Cistercians and led to so many deaths and repression. I fall into the camp of historians who do not believe in 'Cathars' as dualist Manichaeans - there's no evidence for it.

But, this isn't to say that there is no evidence for 'heresy' in Occitania, but we must redefine what we mean by 'heretic'. In the last few decades historians have begun to revise the idea of what constituted heresy in the medieval period, and we've begun to see that labelling of masses of population as heretics developed at the same time that the Catholic Church fixed orthodoxy and bureaucratized the enforcement of specific beliefs. In this light, we can see that accusations of heresy are really a struggle for power. RI Moore is the lead historian in this field, and his books The Formation of a Persecuting Society: Authority and Deviance in Western Europe 950-1250 and War on Heresy: Faith and Power in Medieval Europe really proved the case that

1. accusations of heresy followed power struggles between secular and religious authorities, between nobility and bishops.
2. accusations of heresy were levelled at peasants who would not comply with orthodoxy and made fun of the church's teachings

Heresy, Troubadours and April Fool's Day

The complicated aspect of accusations of heresy are that they often combine political and religious criticsm, and the troubadours were famous for this. The troubadours were the poets of medieval Occitania, and from their poems and songs we have a rich picture of the medieval world and the medieval mind, including the relationship of people to orthodox Catholicism.

Perhaps the most famous of the Occitan troubadours was Bertran de Born (c 1140 – c 1215) from whom we have some of the most dramatic images of chivalry and battle from the middle ages. de Born was a firebrand, picking fights in his songs and making fun of both nobility and clerics.

De Born faced many complaints from the church but he was too powerful a lord (Baron of Hautefort) to be dealt with by the church. Here (in old occitan) he attacks a local priest Peitavin (with whom he was having a conflict over land) around the Feast of the Annunciation:

A Peiregos pres de muraill

tant cant poiraoi gitar ab maill

volvrai anar sobre Baiart.

E se·i trob Peitavin pifart,

sabra de mon bran cum tailla

que sus el cap li farai bart

de cervel mesclat ab mailla

lo jorna Cristo anunciar ^1

The great irony is that at the end of his life de Born entered a Cistercian monastery in the Dordogne to become a monk for his final days - perhaps as atonement for his brutal humour. Below is one of his final poems, seeking the forgiveness of God for his sins against him (while still justifying his humour of course). Keep in mind this is written when anti-heretic persecution was in full force in the crusades:

Pos Dieus pres per nos martire,

ja nos no n’aiam desdeing;

c’ab atretal entreseing

nos a traiz lo traïre

saludan, don desconorz

no m’es, c’al dïabl’estorz

soi; ab tan, cui soi servire,

non a plus poder que·m tire:

per que no·m fa paor morz.

Mas a sel en soi grazire

qui, per nostra mort ausire,

deignet esser en croç morz. ^2

The most famous of the anti-clerical troubadours was of course Peire Cardinal who was active during the Albigensian crusade and height of the medieval inquisition. ^3

It's not surprising then that the culture of troubadours waned after the inquisition, when all criticism of the church was repressed (even light hearted humour).

Heresy, Inquisition and April Fool's Day

A few days ago I address the question about medieval dualist heresies where I discuss the nature of the evidence of heresy in inquisition records. The evidence is interesting, and it's useful to visit a relevant record here, this time the testimony of Gaubert of Aula of Bénas who appeared before the Toulouse Inquisition, October 31, 1273 ^4. Here Gaubert confesses (after being imprisoned twice during interrogation) to urinating on the walls of the local church and cemetery during the Feast Days as a joke (italics below are mine for emphasis).

In the same year as above, on the eve of All Saints, Gaubert of Aula of Bénas, of the diocese of Cahors, brought out from prison after denying the truth and keeping silent about it before us, said and acknowledged that he had often spoken to many men and women, asking if they believed in that God who makes wind and rain, and on their replying that they did, he would conclude ‘Therefore you believe in an arse and a cunt’.

Asked how often, he said often, but that he does not remember the individual occasions.

*Asked if he said this as an insult to God he said no, but as a joke. Asked about the time, he said within the last ten years.

Asked about the place, he said on the bridge of Bénas, and often in the tavern and in many other different places.

Asked if he ever urinated in the cemetery, he said yes, once, by the wall of the church, and again at one end of the cemetery of Francori, but as a joke

[...]

Asked if he said -when he was told off for urinating in the cemetery - if he said no, he had never known that [anyone] did not want him [to do this], he said no.

Asked if he said—when he was asked that God might help him—and he replied that he had never helped him, he also said no.

These things the said witness attested before brother Ranulph of Plassac, inquisitor, of the Order of Brothers Preacher. Witnesses: brother John Dulcis, of the Order of Brothers Preacher, and master Atho of Saint- Victor, and I, Bernard Bonet, public notary of Toulouse, who wrote these things.

In the same year as above, on the Saturday after the feast of All Saints, the said Gaubert, brought out from prison, asked if he said that corn and wine and other good things came from the prostitution of the earth, answered no.

Then and there the aforesaid Gaubert corrected himself, and acknowledged the article of the lit candle, and the article of the church of Saint- Maurice.

Item, he acknowledged that he had often urinated in the cemetery of the church of Bénas, even against the glass wall, and even on the Feast of the Annunciation this year.

Item, he acknowledged that he had said that the fertility of the land, which he called ‘wantonness’, gave the corn and the wine, and the other fruits, and the good things of the land.

Item, he said that he believes, but does not fully remember, that he once said that God did not give him the temporal goods which he had, but his own labour.

Item, he acknowledged that he had said once, when he was asked about God, if he believed in God, and in his mother, that yes, if asked on good security; if he said the aforesaid in contempt of God, he said no, but as a joke: but he rather held God in reverence, and the Blessed Virgin his mother, and all God’s saints, and he has and holds the Catholic faith like other true Christians.

Asked why he urinated in the cemetery, he said that he has an infirmity, that he cannot hold his urine on Feast of Annunciation

These things he also attested before brother Ranulph, inquisitor. Witnesses: brother Hugh of Aragon and brother Hugh of Born, of the Grammontine Order, and I, Atho, notary of the Inquisition, who wrote these things.

We can see here the intersecting of anti-catholic behaviour and the day of the Feast of Annunciation (March 25), in the form of a joke according to Gaubert. Remember we mentioned the Feast of Annunciation as possible precursor to April Fools Day.

The Roman Source of April Fool's in Occitania

The intriguing question is: why did 'heresy' arise in Occitania? What made it so different from the rest of France and Europe? Is there a continuity of Roman festival of Hilaria (held March 25) into the medieval Feast of Annunciation which became April Fools?

Indeed several historians have posited the persistance of late Roman culture in Occitania, with the strongest evidence including the Roman-like 'non-feudal' relationships that existed between lesser and greater nobility, and the continuity of Roman mores through the Visigoths in Septimania (the old heart of Occitania). Historians also suggest a persistance of Roman religion (paganism), evidence of which can be found in the Roman ruins littering south of France.

For more on the persistance of late Roman culture in medieval Occitania I recommend: Fredric L. Cheyette, Ermengard of Narbonne and the World of the Troubadours (Cornell University Press, 2001). Cheyette connects Roman and medieval culture through troubadour poetry and deep readings of cartularies in astonishing ways to shed light on a different culture that has since been wiped out.

The Occitan culture is gone, but it's clear that we have inherited positive aspects of their so-called 'heresies' including feast days and their April Fool's habits, as well as the deep influence of the negative aspects of heresies: the techniques of the inquisition we can see on our modern legal structures.

Notes:

^1

At Perigueux, near the wall, I'll ride out on my Bayard as far as I can throw a club.

And if I find there the pot-bellied Peitavin, he'll know how my blade cuts -

on top of his head I'll make him a clop of brains mixed with mail

on the day of Christ's annunciation

^2

Since God was willing to suffer passion, let us not scorn Him, for one traitor betrayed us also with the same gesture, his kiss. I am not troubled, for suddely I have escaped from the devil, whom I used to serve; he has no more power to attract me, and I am not frightened by death

But I am thankful to him who deigned to die on the cross in order to slay our death.

^3 On the anti-clerical works of Peire Cardinal and other troubadours, see Palmer A. Throop, Criticism of Papal Crusade Policy in Old French and Provençal, Speculum, Vol. 13, No. 4 (Oct., 1938), pp. 379-412

^4 Taken from Peter Biller, Caterina Bruschi, and Shelagh Sneddon (Editors), Inquisitors and Heretics in Thirteenth-Century Languedoc: Edition and Translation of Toulouse Inquisition Depositions, 1273-1282 (Brill, 2010)

* FAKE ALERT: if you tell this story to friends and teachers they will make fun of you. See this thread for details