Jennifer asked a question about Feast days… so here is a list of the main ones in Medieval England, for the year 1200 – since as Les noted, Easter floats. The ones in blue are not crucial.
Date |
Feast Days |
25th December |
Christmas Day |
26th December |
St Stephen |
17th December |
St John the Evangelist |
28th December |
Innocents |
29th December |
St Thomas Becket |
31st December |
St Silvester |
1 January |
Octave of Christmas |
6th January |
Epiphany |
20th January |
Sts Fabian and Sebastian |
21st January |
St Agnes |
22nd January |
St Vincent |
2nd February |
Purification of the Virgin Mary (Candlemas) |
5th February |
St Agatha |
25th February |
St Matthias |
12th March |
St Gregory |
21st March |
St Benedict |
25th March |
Annunciation |
9th April |
Easter |
23rd April |
St George |
1st May |
Sts Phillip and James |
15-17th May |
Rogation days |
18th May |
Ascension |
28th May |
Pentecost |
11th June |
St Barnabas |
24th June |
St john the Baptist |
29th June |
Sts Peter and Paul |
20th July |
St Margaret |
22nd July |
St Mary Magdalene |
25th July |
St James |
10th August |
St Lawrence |
15th August |
Assumption of the Virgin Mary |
24th August |
St Bartholomew |
29th August |
Beheading of St John the Baptist |
8th September |
Nativity of the Virgin Mary |
14th September |
Exaltation of the Cross |
21st September |
St Matthew |
9th October |
St Denis |
28th October |
Sts Simon and Jude |
1st November |
All Saints |
11th November |
Martinmas |
22nd November |
St Cecilia |
30th November |
St Andrew |
6th December |
St Nicholas |
13th December |
St Lucy |
21st December |
St Thomas the Apostle |
Interesting. I thought Easter had always floated though due to the phases of the moon.
Hi Les, and thanks – you are absolutely right of course – it does float. This was for the year 1200 – so I’ll add that.
Thank you! I guess I am right to complain about only having 11 holidays a year. However I am willing to give a number of holidays to keep flush toilets.
Hi Jennifer…yes I think you are right, we get the better part of the deal! Also, I suspect your average peasant didn’t get any time off on said feast day, so our deal looks even better!
Not quite sure that was true. Farming at that point was famous for its inefficiency. Peasants often worked under the rubric of “you pretend to pay me and I’ll pretend to work”. Tending to the Manor Farm would have likely taken no more than 100 days. Personal plots and other tasks took up the feast days.
Yes, good point about feast days. Probably a bit of both?
confused 🙁
oh dear; what about?
I have a reference in a piece of litigation dated 1685 which refers to the “ffeast day of St: Ldellen and the ffeast day of St: Martin the Bishop”. Now the later is obviously St. Martin of Tours on Martinmas, but what is the former. I’ve probably misread the writing but can you make any suggestions. I suspect the former is about six months distant from the latter as the litigation talks about “equall portons”.
My guess is Llewellyn; https://catholicsaints.info/saint-llewellyn/
I had believed that St John the Evangelist’s feast day was on 27th December, between Christmas and New Year? Maybe worth checking.
To follow up on the illuminating comment by Jonathan Fuller, I was reading online recently, and I learned some facts that are catnip for the medievalist. According to some scholarly estimates, the average feudal serf did not toil as long and hard as one might suppose. Between holidays, Sabbath Day observance and other medieval customs, your average serf could be expected to work, surprise, surprise; an average of 40 hours per week! Of course they worked from first light until dark, but with all those days off, what matter was that?
A far cry from the labors of the poor industrial workers of the Victorian era, those benighted toilers whom Dickens spoke for with righteous fury and indignation. A far cry from the modern techno-serf driving for Uber, an insecure laborer often forced to work 7 days per week to secure their daily bread. And how many of us are told, nay, COMMANDED to respond to our employer’s texts and emails forthwith, “day off” or not?
The Enlightenment and Modern Efficiency were supposed to be liberatory for the Common Man. Thank you for the flush toilets and medical facilities, Enlightenment, but to what extent do the proverbial They want us to be healthy and sanitary MERELY to labor our lives away? To what extent were we sold a false bill of goods? Time will tell, I suppose.
Yes it’s pretty clear that the for a good long period – maybe as much as 3 generations? – the industrial revolution was very hard on ordinary people. in 1740 England was a high wage economy; the real wages of the working class don’t really rise until after the 1830s I think, and meanwhile in the 1830s-60s in particular mechanisation and factories drive a coach and horses through traditional life – the working day becomes 12 hours a day, structured, relentless; and if its bad for men its worse for women. Until you get the working day legislation, and real wages begin to rise in the last quarter of 19th century. Of course its easy to be critical – but this had never happened before, anywhere in the word any time. Britain had no template to follow. So it took some time to work through.
Latin texts refer to Mathei the apostle to distinguish between St Mathei and St Matthew – would be good to add the words “the apostle” to St Matthew above. Great work.
What was done if a Feast day for a Saint fell on a usual fast day? For instance, If St. Andrews feast day fell on a Friday?