Sacred Folly: A New History of the Feast of Fools

by Max Harris

Book Overview

For centuries, the Feast of Fools has been condemned and occasionally celebrated as a disorderly, even transgressive Christian festival, in which reveling clergy elected a burlesque Lord of Misrule, presided over the divine office wearing animal masks or women's clothes, sang obscene songs, swung censers that gave off foul-smelling smoke, played dice at the altar, and otherwise parodied the liturgy of the church. Afterward, they would take to the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801479495
• ISBN13: 9780801479496
• Release Date: March 2014
• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 9.1"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher