Pope Gregory XIII with a clown nose
The origins of April Fools' Day can partly be traced back to the advent of the Gregorian calendar by Pope Gregory XIII.

April Fools’ Day is fast approaching, a holiday where one must be skeptical of everything they hear (and potentially still fall for a prank or two). It’s a fun day of japes and jokes… but where exactly did it come from, anyway? And how did the first day of April become synonymous with pranks and put-ons?

Well, the truth is a little murky. But some historians say April Fools’ Day’s origins can be traced all the way back to ancient religious celebrations during the Middle Ages, including some eyebrow-raising Christian feast days.

No foolin’ here: this is the secret religious history of April Fool’s Day.

Where Does April Fool's Day Come From?

Like many of our modern traditions with ancient origins, the exact history of April Fools’ Day is not entirely clear. However, some historians date April Fools’ Day back to the creation of the Gregorian Calendar in 1582.

Prior to the invention and widespread adoption of the Gregorian Calendar (Pope Gregory XIII humbly named the new calendar after himself) most medieval Europeans celebrated New Year's Day on March 25. 

However, this threw a wrench into the dates of a popular medieval feast day called the Feast of Fools.

The Feast of Fools

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The Feast of Fools was a raucous weeklong celebration.

Popularized in France but later widespread throughout Europe, the Feast of Fools was a weeklong celebration at the start of the new year full of pranks and mischief. Mock bishops and popes were elected, and lowborn and highborn jokingly swapped places in the societal pecking order for the week. Think of it as a medieval April Fools’ meets Mardi Gras. 

But when the new calendar was adopted, not everyone got the memo that New Year's Day had moved. Some continued to celebrate the weeklong Feast of Fools on the old dates of March 25 to April 1. These folks were often mocked as "April Fools."

That’s not all, though. The Feast of Fools became intertwined with other feast days of the era, and hold on to your horses, because these feast days are about to get even weirder.

The Feast of the Ass

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The Feast of Ass celebrates Jesus' flight to Egypt.

Historians also believe that another popular medieval feast day is intertwined with our modern April Fools: the Feast of the Ass.

And no, not that kind. The Ass in question refers to donkeys. 

Celebrated on January 14, the Feast of the Ass was another feast day that gave commoners an excuse to get silly. This feast day honored the role donkeys play in the Bible, but primarily the one that carried the baby Jesus into Egypt.

Like the Feast of Fools, the Feast of Ass poked fun at nobility and clergy. In towns across Europe, young women rode donkeys through the town square with a baby in hand in simulation of Mary and Jesus’ exodus. They were brought to the local church where the donkey would bray behind the altar to crowds of parishioners. These ceremonies and rituals often had a comedic, tongue in cheek tone, simultaneously showing reverence while also playfully mocking religious rites and rituals.

The Feast of Fools and the Feast of the Ass are deeply intertwined, and historians say April Fools’ Day was likely borne, at least in part, from these two ceremonies.

Not weird enough? Let’s go deeper.

The Feast of the Circumcision

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It's believed Jesus' foreskin was preserved, and many European churches today claim to have it on display.

This may be the strangest feast day of them all. Celebrating the day Jesus was circumcised, the Feast of the Circumcision typically took place on January 1 – per Jewish tradition, eight days after his birth.

Less is known about how this feast day was celebrated in its day, but it is believed it was also a time of general mischief and mayhem. Over time, the Feast of Fools, the Feast of the Ass, and the Feast of the Circumcision became increasingly entangled, both because they all were celebrated with playful irreverence, but also because, following the calendar shift mentioned earlier, both the Feast of Fools and the Feast of the Circumcision fell on the same date.

Throughout the centuries, the playful tones of these celebrations, and the April 1 date, stayed in the public consciousness, even if these feast days fell out of favor throughout the centuries. 

So if you get pranked this April Fools’ Day, you can blame ancient asses and circumcision celebrations!

9 comments

  1. Rev. BH's Avatar Rev. BH

    Adam, I'd like to see your sources for this information. Very different take on things.

  1. Adam Kahn's Avatar Adam Kahn

    Jesus was never circumcised, it was a later add-on into the Scriptures, which was not matching with the real history. Jesus' real parents were not Jewish (Jesus' mother Mariam was from Parthia, a.k.a. Persia, and that's exactly what the Greek word "parthenos" really meant: "a young woman from Parthia"). His father was a high-level noble man from Parthia. Jesus' parents were not obeying to the Talmudic Laws, nor to the Mosaic Laws. Indeed, Joseph (Jesus' father-in-law or rather a legal guardian) was Jewish by birth, but not by faith, he was a member of the Essenes (of the subgroup Nazarenes), so was Jesus (from that comes his second name, The Nazarene, I repeat not "from Nazareth" which didn't exist at that time, but Jesus "The Nazarene" as Books of the Talmud correctly describe Him). The Essenes (particularly, the Nazarenes) were not practicing Mosaic Laws, their religion was much closer to Parthian (Persian) Zoroastrianism, which never practices circumcision. Therfore, Jesus was never circumcised. In other words, He was a Pagan.And if somebody would suddenly think "oh, nice 1st April joke" - no it was not a joke, look at the date when I posted it. In actuality it was the real (but still hidden) history of Jesus.

  1. Rev. BH's Avatar Rev. BH

    DRS, I found a different take. Nothing to do with "a big con".

    "Twain’s biggest beef with Christianity was not about its core teachings, but with the failure of humans to practice what they preach. Indeed, Twain seemed at his angriest when people misused religion to justify violence, personal gain and mistreatment of the poor and oppressed."

  1. Douglas Robert Spindler's Avatar Douglas Robert Spindler

    "Religion was invented when the first con man met the first fool" - Mark Twain

    And Mark Twain was very religious believing in God, attended church and even donated money for the construction of a church. That was until he found out religion was just one big con.

  1. Yanel Jay Laroche Jr.'s Avatar Yanel Jay Laroche Jr.

    Christians are not supposed to tell a lie nor fool anyone according to the Holy Bible in Revelation 22:15 and in Revelation 21:8.

    1. Douglas Robert Spindler's Avatar Douglas Robert Spindler

      That's a lie.

  1. Reverend Paula Copp's Avatar Reverend Paula Copp

    I knew about the change in date for the 1st of the year, but I had no idea it was religious…

  1. Rev. Roe's Avatar Rev. Roe

    Nicholas J Page I agree with you.Nothing heard at 85 years. What’s next?

  1. Nicholas J Page's Avatar Nicholas J Page

    Well i never heard it called religious and i have been on this earth for 66 years.

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