The "Fools" Took Over the Cathedrals

During the Middle Ages, northern France celebrated the Fête des Fous (Feast of Fools) between Christmas and Epiphany. For one day, the strict church hierarchy was flipped upside down. Low-ranking altar boys and clerks were elected as mock popes and bishops. They wore masks, sang off-key, and held chaotic, satirical parades inside the cathedrals before normal religious order was restored.