|
The King's Ball - ''La fête des rois'' (or Festival of the () Kings - Twelfth-Night) The 250-year-old tradition of the King’s Ball was brought to the New World by Catholic émigrés, who measured the passing of time in two ways – by agricultural cycles, and the Church’s religious calendar. Lent, the weeks preceding Easter, had special importance for them as a period of repentance and atonement. For the settlers of New France, however, even the onset of so solemn a season was a good excuse for a party. The colonial residents of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri – ''habitants'', Indians, and even slaves, literally had themselves a ball the last weekend before Lent. As early as the first half of the 16th century, French records tell of a ball that was the social event of the year. The event included boisterous ceremonies in which a temporary monarch was selected by chance. Early diarists recorded that the good citizens of Ste. Genevieve began preparations days before the ball – cleaning, baking, and cooking. ''Bouillabaise'' simmered over wood fires, and the heady scent of decanting wine filled the houses in ''Le Vieux Village'' (the Old Town). Those who lived outside the settlement proper began to arrive in town at midday, rest a while, then ready themselves for the evening’s activities. The parties lasted throughout the night and into the next day, when a late morning breakfast was served. Music, dancing and fine food were always important elements of the event. But the centerpiece of the annual celebration was the selection of the royal personage. Generally, a dried bean was baked into ''La Galette des Rois'' (literally translated, the cake of kings or, a special cake). All the men in attendance were served a slice. The one who found the bean in his cake was crowned ''Le Roi'' (the King) of the festivities. The new king selected his queen, and they reigned over the year’s festivities in Ste. Genevieve. Some scholars speculate that the King’s Ball has its roots in fertility rites that date from prehistory. The bean was a symbol of potential life; the king was, perhaps, a variation of the Green Man, a figure prevalent in pagan religious practices, who was often sacrificed to assure a good crop. By the 18th century, a Christian substitute had been found for the formerly ubiquitous bean. A tiny figure representing the Christ child was secreted in the cake instead (perhaps to remove any suggestion of the pagan origins of the practice). Happily, the colonial French required no more of their King than that he lead them in revelry. And that he did. Note: Article edited from the ''Ste. Genevieve Herald'' newspaper. Note: "Bouillabaise simmered over wood fires" was more accurately said to be Bouillon rather than Bouillabaise. ==References== 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「King's Ball」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|