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April Fools Day - Origin
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Introduction In 1708 a correspondent wrote in to the British Apollo
magazine to ask, "Whence proceeds the custom of making April
Fools?" The question is one that many people are still asking
today.
The puzzle that April Fool's Day presents to cultural historians is
that it was only during the eighteenth century that detailed references
to it (and curiosity about it) began to appear. But at that time, the
custom was already well established throughout northern Europe and was
regarded as being of great antiquity. How had the tradition been adopted
by so many different European cultures without provoking more comments
in the written record?
References to April Fool's Day can be found as early as the 1500s.
However, these early references were infrequent and tended to be vague
and ambiguous. Shakespeare, writing in the late sixteenth and early
seventeenth centuries, made no mention of April Fool's Day, despite
being, as Charles Dickens Jr. put it, a writer who "delights in
fools in general."
Many theories have been put forward about how the tradition began.
Unfortunately, none of them are very compelling. So the origin of the
"custom of making April Fools" remains as much a mystery to us
as it was back in 1708.
The Calendar-Change Theory
[http://s3.amazonaws.com/hoaxipedia/poissonavril.jpg]
A French "April Fish" postcard.The most popular theory about the
origin of April Fool's Day involves the French calendar reform of
the sixteenth century.
The theory goes like this: In 1564 France reformed its calendar, moving
the start of the year from the end of March to January 1. Those who
failed to keep up with the change, who stubbornly clung to the old
calendar system and continued to celebrate the New Year during the week
that fell between March 25th and April 1st, had jokes played on them.
Pranksters would surreptitiously stick paper fish to their backs. The
victims of this prank were thus called Poisson d'Avril, or April
Fish—which, to this day, remains the French term for April
Fools—and so the tradition was born.
The calendar-change hypothesis seems, on the surface, like a logical
explanation for the origin of April Fools. However, the hypothesis
becomes less plausible if we examine the history of calendar reform in
more detail.
The Julian Calendar The Julian Calendar, established by Julius Caesar
in 46 BC, made January 1 the first day of the year. But as
Christianity spread throughout Europe, efforts were made to
christianize the calendar by moving New Year's Day to dates of
greater theological significance, such as Christmas or Easter. Some
countries continued to use January 1, justifying this as the date of
Christ's circumcision. As a consequence, by the 1500s the European
calendar system was a mess. Not only had errors in the Julian calendar
caused the solar year to diverge from the calendar year, but also
countries were beginning the year on different dates.
Most regions in France had been using Easter as the start of the year
since at least the fourteenth century. This caused particular confusion
since the date of Easter was tied to the lunar cycle and changed from
one year to the next. Sometimes the same date would occur twice in a
year.
However, the French used Easter as the start of the year primarily for
legal and administrative purposes. January 1, following the Roman
custom, was widely regarded as the traditional start of the year, and it
was the day when people exchanged gifts.
Sixteenth-Century Reform The practice of starting the year on Easter
Day caused enormous practical inconvenience, so around 1500 many
people in France began to use January 1 as the start of the calendar
year. For instance, in early sixteenth-century French books, it is
common to see both forms of dating listed side-by-side (for titles
published in January, February, or March). By the mid-sixteenth
century, a calendar system beginning on January 1 was in wide use in
France.
In 1563 King Charles IX decreed January 1 to be the first day of the
year, thus aligning legal convention with what had become the popular
practice. His edict was passed into law by the French Parliament on Dec.
22, 1564.
Eighteen years later, in 1582, Pope Gregory issued a papal bull
decreeing sweeping calendar reform. The Gregorian reform included moving
the start of the year to January 1, as well as creating a leap-year
system and eliminating ten days from the month of October 1582 in order
to correct the drift of the calendar. The Pope had no formal power to
make governments accept this reform, but he urged Christian nations to
do so. France immediately accepted the reform, although it had already
changed the start of the year in 1564. (Many histories of April
Fool's Day mistakenly suggest that France only moved the start of
the year in 1582 when it accepted the Gregorian calendar reform in its
entirety.)
With this history in mind, it becomes clear that the calendar-change
hypothesis is a problematic explanation for the origin of April
Fool's Day. The switch to January 1 did not occur suddenly in
France. It was a gradual process, spanning an entire century. And even
before the switch, the French New Year had no obvious connection to
April 1st.
British Calendar Change The calendar-change hypothesis is more plausible
if applied to Britain, because it was the British, not the French, who
observed New Year's Day on March 25 (the date of the christian
Feast of Annunciation), followed by a week of festivities culminating on
April 1. In fact, the earliest version of the calendar-change
hypothesis to be found in print, dating from 1766, does place the
argument in a British context. A correspondent to the Gentleman's
Magazine in April 1766 wrote:
"The strange custom prevalent throughout this kingdom, of people
making fools of one another upon the first of April, arose from the
year formerly beginning, as to some purpose, and in some respects, on
the twenty-fifth of March, which was supposed to be the incarnation of
our Lord; it being customary with the Romans, as well as with us, to
hold a festival, attended by an octave, at the commencement of the new
year—which festival lasted for eight days, whereof the first and
last were the principal; therefore the first of April is the octave of
the twenty-fifth of March, and, consequently, the close or ending of
the feast, which was both the festival of the Annunciation and the
beginning of the new year." Britain only changed the start of its
calendar year to January 1 in 1752. By this time April Fool's Day
was already a well-established tradition. So confusion about the
calendar change could not have been responsible for the origin of the
custom in Britain. But it is possible, as the correspondent to
Gentleman's Magazine speculated, that the festival held on April 1
(the "octave" of the March 25th calendar year change) evolved
into April Fool's Day. However, this is pure speculation,
undermined by the lack of any other compelling evidence that the
custom originated in Britain. The earliest unambiguous references to
April Fool's Day actually come from continental Europe, suggesting
it is there that April Fool's Day began.
Early References Pre-eighteenth century references to April Fool's
Day provide clues about where the custom originated. Unfortunately,
many of these references are ambiguous, and their significance is
difficult to determine.
1392: Chaucer What is possibly the first reference to April Fool's
Day can be found in the work of Chaucer. Unfortunately, the reference
is so ambiguous as to be worthless as historical evidence.
In the Nun's Priest's Tale (written around 1392), Chaucer tells
the story of the vain cock Chauntecler who falls for the tricks of a
fox, and as a consequence is almost eaten. The narrator describes the
tale as occurring:
When that the monthe in which the world bigan
That highte March, whan God first maked man,
Was complet, and passed were also
Syn March bigan thritty dayes and two This passage has caused enormous
confusion among Chaucer scholars, since it appears to be
self-contradictory. Does it mean the events occur thirty-two days
("thritty dayes and two") after March "was complet"
(i.e. May 3), or thirty-two days "Syn March bigan" (since March
began), i.e. April 1? If the latter interpretation is correct, the
tale takes place on April Fool's Day, which seems appropriate for
a story of a foolish cock and sly fox. Could Chaucer have chosen this
date purposefully, setting the tale on April 1st because of the
tradition of tricks and foolery associated with the day?
Most editors of Chaucer don't think so. The most popular
interpretation of this passage is that Chaucer meant May 3, so editors
often change the text to read "Syn March [was gon]". However,
the historian Peter Travis has argued that Chaucer did not intend to
provide a precise date at all, but was instead purposefully using
confusing language in order to parody the language of Medieval
philosophy.
Whatever Chaucer may have meant, we can't conclude, based on these
few lines, that he was aware of a custom of playing pranks on April
1st.
1508: Eloy d'Amerval The next possible reference to April
Fool's Day we find is in a 1508 poem written by Eloy
d'Amerval, a French choirmaster and composer. The poem is titled
Le livre de la deablerie. According to wikipedia it consists of "a
dialogue between Satan and Lucifer, in which their nefarious plotting
of future evil deeds is interrupted periodically by the author, who
among other accounts of earthly and divine virtue, records useful
information on contemporary musical practice."
The poem would only be of interest to historians of music, except that
it includes the line, "maquereau infâme de maint homme et de
mainte femme, poisson d'avril."
The phrase "poisson d'avril" (April Fish) is the French term
for an April Fool, but it is unclear whether d'Amerval's use
of the term referred to April 1st specifically. He might have intended
the phrase simply to mean a foolish person.
1539: Eduard de Dene The Flemish writer Eduard De Dene published a
comical poem in 1539 about a nobleman who hatches a plan to send his
servant back and forth on absurd errands on April 1st, supposedly to
help prepare for a wedding feast. The servant recognizes that
what's being done to him is an April 1st joke. The poem is titled
"Refereyn vp verzendekens dach / Twelck den eersten April te zyne
plach." This is late medieval Dutch meaning (roughly) "Refrain
on errand-day / which is the first of April." In the closing line
of each stanza, the servant says, "I am afraid… that you are
trying to make me run a fool's errand." (Thanks to Marco
Langbroek for the Dutch translation.)
At last, what we have here is a fairly clear reference to a custom of
playing practical jokes on April 1st. So we can say that April
Fool's Day dates back at least to the sixteenth century. Because
of this reference (and the other, vague French reference), historians
believe that April Fool's Day must have originated in continental
northern Europe and then spread to Britain.
1632: Escape of the Duke of Lorraine According to legend, the Duke of
Lorraine and his wife were imprisoned at Nantes. They escaped on April
1, 1632 by disguising themselves as peasants and walking through the
front gate. Someone noticed them escaping and told the guards. But the
guards believed the warning to be a "poisson d'Avril" (or
April Fool's Day joke) and laughed at it, thus allowing the Duke
and his wife to escape.
It is not known if any part of this legend is true.
1686: John Aubrey The English antiquarian John Aubrey collected many
notes about popular customs and superstitions, as research for a
contemplated work to be titled, Remains of Gentilism and Judaism. In
1686 he wrote, "Fooles holy day. We observe it on ye first of
April. And so it is kept in Germany everywhere." The collected
notes were published posthumously.
So by the late seventeenth century, April Fool's Day had definitely
spread to Britain.
1698: Washing the Lions
The April 2, 1698 edition of Dawks's News-Letter (a British
newspaper) reported that "Yesterday being the first of April,
several persons were sent to the Tower Ditch to see the Lions
washed." Sending gullible victims to the Tower of London to see
the "washing of the lions" (a non-existent ceremony) was a
popular prank. It became traditional for this prank to be played on
April Fool's Day. Examples of it occur as late as the
mid-nineteenth century.
In the eighteenth century written references to April Fool's Day
became numerous and appeared throughout Europe.
Renewal Festivals Almost every culture in the world has some kind of
festival in the first months of the year to celebrate the end of
winter and the return of spring. Anthropologists call these
"renewal festivals." Often they involve ritualized forms of
mayhem and misrule. The wearing of disguises is common. People play
pranks on friends and strangers. The social order is temporarily
inverted. Servants might get to order around masters, or children
challenge the authority of parents and teachers. However, the disorder
is always bounded within a strict timeframe, and tensions are defused
with laughter and comedy. The social order is symbolically challenged,
but then restored, reaffirming the stability of the society, just as
the cold months of winter temporarily challenge biological life, and
yet the cycle of life continues, returning with the spring.
April Fool's Day has all the characteristics of a renewal festival.
For one day forms of behavior that are normally not allowed (lying,
deception, playing pranks) become acceptable, and yet the disorder is
bounded within a strict timeframe. Traditionally, no pranks are supposed
to be played after 12 o'clock noon of the first. Social hierarchies
and tensions are exposed, but hostility is defused with laughter.
For as long as people have been speculating about April Fool's Day,
they have noticed the similarities between it and other springtime
"renewal" festivals. Many historians have theorized that April
Fool's Day evolved directly out of some such festival practiced in
ancient times. A direct connection between April Fool's Day and
any of the Roman-era festivals seems unlikely, though it is quite
possible that the tradition evolved out of a medieval festival held
around the time of the Vernal equinox (such as the New Year's
festivals at the end of March, as discussed above). Nevertheless,
there is no agreement about which festival the tradition of April
Foolery developed out of. Below is a list of some of the festivals
that have most frequently been suggested as its forerunners.
The Saturnalia [http://s3.amazonaws.com/hoaxipedia/saturnalia.jpg]
The Saturnalia, by Antoine-François Callet The Saturnalia was a
Roman winter festival observed at the end of December. It involved
dancing, drinking, and general merrymaking. People exchanged gifts,
slaves were allowed to pretend that they ruled their masters, and a
mock king, the Saturnalicius princeps (or Lord of Misrule), reigned
for the day. By the fourth century AD the Saturnalia had transformed
into a January 1 New Year's Day celebration, and many of its
traditions were incorporated into the observance of Christmas.
Hilaria In late March the Romans honored the resurrection of Attis, son
of the Great Mother Cybele, with the Hilaria celebration. This
involved rejoicing and the donning of disguises.
Holi Further afield in India, there was Holi, known as the festival of
color, during which street celebrants threw colored powder and water
at each other. This holiday was held on the full-moon day of the Hindu
month of Phalguna (usually the end of February or the beginning of
March).
Festival of Lud Northern Europeans observed an ancient festival to
honor Lud, a Celtic god of humor. There were also popular Northern
European customs that made sport of the hierarchy of the Druids.
Feast of Fools The medieval Festus Fatuorum (Feast of Fools) evolved
out of the Saturnalia. On this day celebrants elected a Lord of
Misrule and parodied church rituals, often in extremely blasphemous
ways. The Church condemned the custom, but had little luck eradicating
it despite frequent decrees forbidding it. It endured from the fifth
century until the sixteenth century.
Regional British Festivals Some festivals practiced in regions of
Britain during the Middle Ages have similarities to April Fool's
Day. Hoke-Tide (or Hock-Tide) was celebrated around Easter. Men and
women would stop strangers of the opposite sex on the roads and tie
them up, only untying them in return for money, which was to be used
for a pious purpose. Various rowdy games would also be played.
Shig-Shag (or Shick-Shack) Day was observed on May 20. Celebrants
placed sprigs of apple oak in their hats or lapels. This was
supposedly done to demonstrate loyalty to the monarchy, since Charles
II was said to have hidden in an Oak Apple tree to escape the forces
of Cromwell. However, the tradition probably had roots in pagan
tree-worship customs. Anyone not wearing the oak might be accosted and
mocked, but only until noon. After noon the obligation to "have
shig-shag" ceased.
Mythological Origins Scholars in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries, suspecting April Fool's Day to be of great antiquity,
occasionally tried to locate its origins in ancient mythology. Such
theories never found wide acceptance, but they're included here
since they were so often raised in discussions of April Fool's
Day.
Roman Mythology In Roman mythology Pluto, the God of the Dead, abducted
Proserpina and brought her to live with him in the underworld.
Proserpina called out to her mother Ceres (the Goddess of grain and
the harvest) for help, but Ceres, who could only hear the echo of her
daughter's voice, searched in vain for Proserpina. Some scholars
theorized that the fruitless search of Ceres for her daughter
(commemmorated during the Roman festival of Cerealia) was the
mythological antecedent of the fool's errands popular on April 1st.
Christian Mythology It was once popular to christianize April
Fool's Day by locating its origin in Biblical traditions. For
instance, the tradition was attributed to Noah's mistake of
sending a dove out from the ark before the flood waters had subsided
(thereby sending the dove on a fool's errand). A second story
suggests that the day commemorates the time when Jesus was sent from
Pilate to Herod and back again. The phrase "Sending a man from
Pilate to Herod" (an old term for sending someone on a fool's
errand) was often pointed to as proof of this origin theory.
National Origin Theories There are theories of the origin of April
Fool's Day specific to Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands,
and France. None of these theories offers a compelling explanation of
the day's origin. However, it is a sign of the cross-cultural
nature of the tradition that four different countries should attempt
to take credit for it.
France The French origin theory (the calendar-change hypothesis) was
discussed above. It alleges that the custom originated when King
Charles IX reformed the calendar, moving the start of the year from
April 1 to January 1. People who continued to celebrate New Years on
April 1 were mocked and had pranks played on them, thus initiating the
custom of April 1st foolery. This has become, worldwide, the most
popular theory of the origin of April Fool's Day, despite its
flaws.
The French also have a theory that traces the origin of the custom back
to the abundance of fish to be found in French streams and rivers
during early April when the young fish had just hatched. These young
fish were easy to fool with a hook and lure. Therefore, the French
called them `Poisson d'Avril' or `April Fish.' Soon
it became customary (according to this theory) to fool people on April
1, as a way of celebrating the abundance of foolish fish. The French
still use the term `Poisson d'Avril' to describe April
Fool's Day pranks. They also observe the custom of giving each
other chocolate fish on April 1.
Great Britain [http://s3.amazonaws.com/hoaxipedia/gotham.jpg]
In this 1630 woodcut, a citizen of Gotham is shown trying to trap a bird
inside a roofless fence. British folklore links April Fool's Day
to the town of Gotham, the legendary town of fools located in
Nottinghamshire. According to the legend, it was traditional in the
13th century for any road that the King placed his foot upon to become
public property. So when the citizens of Gotham heard that King John
planned to travel through their town, they refused him entry, not
wishing to lose their main road. When the King heard this, he sent
soldiers to the town. But when the soldiers arrived in Gotham, they
found the town full of lunatics engaged in foolish activities such as
drowning fish or attempting to cage birds in roofless fences. Their
foolery was all an act, but the King fell for the ruse and declared
the town too foolish to warrant punishment. Ever since then, according
to legend, April Fool's Day has commemmorated their trickery.
Germany On April 1, 1530 a meeting of lawmakers was supposed to occur
in Augsburg in order to consider various financial matters. Because of
time considerations, the meeting did not take place. But numerous
speculators, who had bet on the meeting occurring, lost their money and
were ridiculed. This is said to have been the origin of the tradition
of playing pranks on April 1.
The Netherlands On April 1, 1572 Dutch rebels captured the town of Den
Briel from Spanish troops led by Lord Alva. This military success
eventually led to the independence of the Netherlands from Spain. A
Dutch rhyme goes: "Op 1 april / Verloor Alva zijn Bril." This
translates to: "On April 1st / Alva lost his `glasses'".
"Bril" means glasses in Dutch, but is also a pun on the name
of the town, Den Briel. It is claimed that the tradition of pranks on
April 1st arose to commemorate the victory in Den Briel and
humiliation of the Spanish
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