Carnival is one of the most important celebrations that take place throughout the year and one that dates back centuries, being celebrated in a special way throughout the world and specifically in some countries and cities. Let’s see next what is the history of carnival.
The history of Carnival has very ancient origins and probably also very uncertain. In the catholic culturethe Carnival, whose term derives from “carnem levare” represents the period before the Lent during which eating meat is not allowed.
However, the history of Carnival seems to have much older origins dating back to the period Greco-Roman during which pagan ceremonies were carried out in honor of the God Saturn, to propitiate the beginning of the agricultural year. During these celebrations, hierarchical relationships were nullified allowing an exchange of roles between commoners and nobles through the use of masks, and one indulged in unbridled enjoyment through food, drinks and sensory pleasures.
Then in the Middle Ages Carnival celebrations were very similar to the previous ones, except that the culmination of this process was the a puppet whose death was the scapegoat for the evils of the past year and a good omen for the new.
The history of Carnival, therefore, gives a completely different meaning to this festival than to the religious ones, and in fact it was essentially a way to greet winter by welcoming the season of spring, which is the bringer of fertility.
The unruly and lavish festivals of the Middle Ages were soon curtailed because the Church did not look favorably on them. And so the carnival began to be represented by companies of actors in masks who in the Middle Ages performed in the courts of the nobles.
According to the history of the carnival, the masks represent the vices and the virtues of men. Some of these masks are said to have a demonic origin and value, represented, for example, by the black mask on the face of Harlequin and the black and white of the Venetian Pulcinella masks.
Today, Carnival is celebrated in various parts of the world, but the start and end dates of the celebrations are not always the same in all cultures.
The festivities in general are celebrated through parades of allegorical floats, costume parties, ancient propitiatory rituals and historical pantomimes. Italy In a sense, it continues to make Carnival history since it has the presence of some of the most beautiful and famous Carnivals in the world, such as the Venice Festival, although in Spain they are also celebrated in style.
Carnival in Spain is known for its vibrant costumes and masks, and it is an event in which everyone can participate and have fun, even those with few resources. The event allows people to dress up, change their identity and feel freer for the rest of the year. The participants dress according to their possibilities and imagination and pour into the streets to celebrate both day and night.
The origin of Carnival in Spain is set in Cadiz, where in the fifteenth century from the presence of merchants and merchants coming precisely from Venice. Thus, the custom of celebrating the period of Lent with masks and costumes is inherited, leading the festival to evolve until it becomes one of the most important in Spain, also introducing native elements such as the songs of the Chirigotas, singing groups that They celebrate the Cádiz Carnival in a special way thanks to their joking and humorous songs.
On the other hand, the regimen Frank forbids the carnival celebration between 1937 and 1947the year in which there is a terrible explosion in Cádiz that causes the Carnival celebrations to be approved again to lift the spirits of the people of Cádiz.
The history of Carnival in Spain is also closely linked to the celebrations that take place in Santa Cruz de Tenerife whose origin dates back to the 17th centuryalthough during the Franco era they were prohibited, giving way to the well-known Winter Festivals, which later gave way again to the celebration of Carnival.
The way of celebrating Carnival in Spain is quite similar in all the communities or localities in which it takes place, beginning with a opening speech by a local celebrity. Then the activities begin in the streets and last for days with parades, costumes, competitions and street theater .
The climax takes place on Tuesday of Carnival the last day on which meat can be eaten until Passover and the Ash Wednesday with the tradition of the burial of the sardine, a parody of a funeral in which sardines are buried, symbolically marks the farewell to the pleasures of life and the arrival of Lent.
Carnival takes place in various parts of the world (Rio, Venice, New Orleans or Spain) in a special way, but if we had to think about who the inventors of Carnival were, we can say that the idea of Carnival as we know it today is more related to the origin that this has in Italy.
Italy has always been a country of Catholic tradition and given that the arrival of Carnival in the Middle Ages causes it to be related to being a pagan story that has to do with Lent, we can say that it is in this country where it is “invented” as we currently know it.
The word “carnival” comes from the Latin meat I will take» or literally «deprive the flesh” which refers to the last banquet that is traditionally held on the last day before entering the period of Lent.
It is, therefore, a festival typical of countries with a Catholic tradition, even if, as often happens, its saga has been “reworked” from much older practices, such as the celebrations in Egypt or Rome, but the carnivals The current ones are set in Italy where Catholic Europe reformulated the carnival festival giving it meaning within the Christian calendar. The first evidence of the use of the term in the sense with which we know it today dates back to the 13th century in both Florence and Rome area. It soon became a tradition in almost all of our peninsula and spread throughout the Christian world of the time.
Being linked to the start of Lent and after the date of Easter, the precise location of carnival on the calendar varies from year to year: in 2020 carnival falls on February 22.
As we have already mentioned, the word carnival goes back, according to Latin, to an expression used in the Middle Ages «Care levare» according to the indicated ecclesiastical prescription of eat meat from the first day of Lent until Holy Thursday before Easter.
The meaning of the Carnival Party is to be found in the occasion for people to live days of exaggerated fun, celebrating with various foods, drinks, shows and sensual pleasures.
The possibility offered by masks or costumes to maintain anonymity allows each subject to bare their identity and assume another role.
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