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widely observed by Christians. It was opposed by Chrysostom and Asterius of Amasia in the East, and by Augustine, Maximus of Turin, and Petrus Chrysologus of Ravenna in the West. Here an effort was made to remove the heathen character of the feast by making Jan. 1, and occasionally the next following days church festivals (see NEw YEAR'S FESTIVAL). Such measures, however, were in vain. The heathen observance persisted, and in the sixth and seventh centuries it was taken up by Christians among the West Goths, the Franks, and the Anglo-Saxons. Despite the opposition of the Church the Saturnalia continued to be generally celebrated by Romans, Franks, and the various Germanic peoples till into the eleventh century. The festival seems then to have been gradually forgotten by the populace.

Though the Church had fought the custom all along, it was the clergy by whom it was revived. It was now made a regular religious festival. Each of the clerical groups had long had its special day: the deacons, St. Stephen's day (Dec. 26); the priests, St. John's day (Dec. 27); the boys, Holy Innocents' day (Dec. 28); the subdeacons, New Year's day or Epiphany, Jan. 6. Later the festivals of the subdeacons and the children became especially popular, and the latter developed the unseemly performances of the "Boy-bishop" (q.v.). Similar extravagances and excesses are found in the festivals of the priests, deacons, and subdeacons as early as the twelfth century. The latter, like the boys, elected a bishop, whom they accompanied to the church in festive procession. Here a parody on the mass was held, which was enlivened by jokes and ribald songs, sometimes by bloody brawls.

The first attempt to suppress these extravagances was made in Paris in 1198 by the papal legate, Peter of Capua. In 1210 Innocent III. forbade the festivals of priests, deacons, and subdeacons, and in 1246 Innocent IV. made such observances punishable with excommunication. Nevertheless they continued, and in the fourteenth century there were even rituals for the ceremonies. Often the fool-bishop was required to give the usual banquet " in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." At the end of the fourteenth century the clergy appeared in the churches masquerading as animals, women, and mountebanks. Instead of incense, sausage, or pieces of old shoes were burned; instead of the responses, songs of doubtful character were sung; and instead of the holy wafer, sausage was eaten. There were also dancing and games, such as throwing of dice. The processions, in which nude boys amused the rabble with suggestive gestures and speeches, were even worse.

Through an encyclical addressed to all bishops in France by the University of Paris, May 12, 1444, and made effective by an order of Charles VII., Apr. 17, 1445, these sacrilegious practises were finally stopped, at least in France, where they had been most common. The children's festival, though often opposed and forbidden by the Council of Basel (1431), was less objectionable and survived into the sixteenth century. In Cologne the

custom continued till the seventeenth, and in Reims and Mainz till the eighteenth century.

. (H. BOHMER.)

BIBLIOGRAPRl': C. Du Cange, Glossarium media, et inflmas latinitatis, s.v. " cervala," ii. 277-278, Berlin, 1883; J. B. Lucotte du Tilliot, Memoires pour serhir h l'histoire de la ate des four, Lausanne, 1741; A. Schmidt, Thesaurus iuris ecrlesiastici, iii. 58-83 Bamberg, 1744; E. Marthne,. De antiquis ecclesim ritibus, chap. xiii., nos. 3-11, 4 vols., 1788; Zeitschrift fur Philosophie and katholisehe Theologie, xi. 2 (1850), 161-180; A. Springer, Paris im 13. Jahrhundert, pp. 66 sqq., Leipsie, 1856: M. E. C. Waleott, Sacred Archa'ology London, 1868; A. Tille, Die Geschichte der deutschen fireihnacht, ib. 1893, Eng. transl., London, 1899; KL, iv. 1398-1403.

FOOT-WASHING: A religious ceremony practised at various times in different branches of the Church. The use of sandals among the Eastern natives required frequent washing of the feet, and to perform this office for others was considered a mark of hospitality. At the Last Supper Jesus washed the feet of his disciples (John xiii. 5-10) to indicate that he who was not purified by him had no part with him. The postapostolic age understood the example thus given to be mandatory. Augustine (Epist. ad Januarium) testifies that it was followed on Maundy Thursday by the Church of his day. St. Bernard in his sermon De ccena Domini recommends foot-washing as " a daily sacrament for the remission of sins." In the Greek Church also it was regarded as a " mystery." Yet it nowhere became a general, public, solemn, ecclesiastical act. It is still, however, solemnly performed in certain places as by the pope, the emperors of Austria and Russia, the kings of Spain, Portugal, and Bavaria, and a number of bishops and monastic superiors, the subjects being twelve poor old men invited for the purpose, or twelve priests. Many minor Baptist bodies also observe the custom (see ADVENTISTS, 2; BAPTISTS, II., 4, d, g, h; DUNKERS, II, § 3).

The Reformers, especially Luther (cf. his Maundy Thursday sermon concerning foot-washing in the Hauspostille), opposed " that hypocritical footwashing, in which one stoops to wash the feet of his inferior, but expects still more humility in return." The Evangelical Church has endeavored, therefore, to impress the meaning of Christ's act on the hearts of men by diligently proclaiming his Gospel. At Schwabisch Hall (in Wdrttemberg), on Wednesday before Easter every year, a special Fusswaschungspredigt is still delivered in St. Catherine's Church. The Church of England at first carried out the letter of the command; but the practise afterward fell into disuse. The Anabaptists declared most decidedly in favor of foot-washing, appealing to John xiii. 14, and also to I Tim. v. 10, considering it as a sacrament instituted by Christ himself, '1 whereby our being washed by the blood of Christ and his example of deep humiliation is to be impressed upon us " (Confession of the United Baptists or Mennonites, 1660). The Moravians with the love-feasts revived also the footwashing, yet without strictly enforcing it or confining it to Maundy Thursday. It was performed not only by the leaders toward their followers, but also by the latter among themselves, during the singing of a hymn explanatory of the symbol. This prac-