David Castleton (Author) on Nostr: One peculiar Christmas custom was the boy bishop. Between St Nicholas's Day ( ...

One peculiar Christmas custom was the boy bishop. Between St Nicholas's Day ( December 6th) and the Feast of Holy Innocents (December 28th) a cathedral choirboy would take over all the duties of his bishop except for saying mass. He preached sermons and - accompanied by his friends dressed as priests - performed circuits of the city, blessing the inhabitants. Some adult priests joined in the role reversal by dressing as choristers. Though controversial for its apparent mockery of the clergy, the boy bishop tradition was extremely popular and was not stamped out until the reign of Elizabeth I. A tomb in Salisbury Cathedral - bearing an effigy of a miniature bishop - is said to be the grave of a boy bishop who died in office. My article of strange Christmas traditions: https://www.davidcastleton.net/strange-christmas-folklore-customs-mari-lwyd/ #folklore #history #weird #churches #Christmas #Yule #medieval