The Secret Religious History of April Fools’ Day

April Fools’ Day is fast approaching here, 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

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

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

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!