A year at the castle

If you have never seen the illuminations of the seasons in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry while researching medieval life, you are missing out on something really special. This manuscript was created in the early 15th century by the Limbourg brothers for the Duke of Berry. It is thought to be the king of illuminated manuscripts and certainly the best depictions of the diverse life of both the nobility and peseants of the time.

The seasons and calendar year were very different in the days before the industrial revolution and religious reformations that shape our modern world. Life revolved around church holidays to a much greater extent and agriculture was the primary industry.

After the fall of Rome the Catholic Church stepped into the vacuum and began restructuring the formerly pagan Roman holidays to make conversion easier. Since the changes of the seasons had previously been marked by a holiday, they would continue to be marked but with a Christian holiday.

The fiscal year began after harvest with Michaelmas on September 29. This marked the beginning of the winter season. November 1, All Saints Day, marked the winter slaughter time. This was important in an age before mechanical refrigeration when the best ways to preserve meat existed through salting or in the cold of winter. Next was Martinmas on November 11, also known in France for the grape harvest and all over Europe for the first snows.

Christmas Eve began the longest holiday of the year with every building decked with greenery and the Yule log brought in to be burned for the whole twelve days. The Feast of the Holy Innocents occurred on December 28. The Feast of Fools saw masks and wanton songs on January 1.  January 6 Epiphany Day, saw the end of the Christmas celebrations.
The first Monday after Epiphany was Plow Monday and started with a plow race. This was the beginning of spring.

Spring held the Lenten season of fasting after all of the feasting of the harvest and winter months. Easter week was a full week of celebration ending in Hocktide signaling the start of summer. The seventh Sunday after Easter held another week long holiday of Whit Sunday (modern Pentecost). May held several feast days leading up to midsummer. June 24 is St. John's Day, the beginning of the hay harvest.

July holds mostly minor saints days and is largely a working month leading to August 1, Lammas Day, the first day of the harvest. Which in turn lasts until Michaelmas, when it all started over again.

Today we still use some of these holidays to mark the passage of the year, but with the introduction of industry, technology and diverse religions we are less reliant on the flow of the seasons and religious holidays to affect daily working life.