Bartholomew Fair
August 24
Although St. Bartholomew's Day isn't really celebrated anymore, for more than 700 years (1133-1855) it was the day on which the Bartholomew Fair was held at Smithfield on the outskirts of London. What began as an opportunity for buying and selling cloth eventually turned into a major event. Almost every type of commodity could be purchased there, and a number of sideshows and other crude sources of entertainment were available as well—earning the Fair its present-day reputation as "the Coney Island of medieval England."
Eventually the entertainment aspects of the Fair outweighed its commercial purposes, and although it was very much a part of English life there was a movement to close it down. In 1822, thousands of people rioted in protest against the threat of closing the Fair. But finally, in 1855, it was permanently abolished.
St. Bartholomew's Day is also known for the massacre of the Huguenots (Protestants) in France, which began at the instigation of Catherine de Medici in Paris on the night of August 23-24, 1572, and spread throughout the country for two more days until between 5,000 and 10,000 had been killed.
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Bartholomew Fair
For the play by Ben Jonson, see Bartholomew Fair (play).
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The Bartholomew Fair was one of London's pre-eminent summer Charter fairs. A charter for the fair was granted to Rahere by Henry I to fund the Priory of St Bartholomew; and from 1133 to 1855 it took place each year on 24 August within the precincts of the Priory at West Smithfield, outside Aldersgate of the City of London.[1] The fair continued, after the Dissolution within the Liberty of the parish of St Bartholomew-the-Great.
Whereas the fair was charted to be a three day event, it would last a full two weeks in the 17th century; but in 1691, it was shortened to only four days.[1] With a change in the calendar, the fair commenced on 3 September from 1753.[2] A trading event for cloth and other goods as well as a pleasure fair, the event drew crowds from all classes of English society.[3][4]
It was customary for the Lord Mayor of London to open the fair on St Bartholomew's Eve. The Mayor would stop at Newgate Prison to accept a cup of sack (fortified white wine) from the governor.[1][2] The Merchant Taylors Guild processed to Cloth Fair to test the measures for cloth, using their standard silver yard, until 1854. The annual fair grew to become the chief cloth sale in the kingdom.[2]
By 1641, the fair had achieved international importance. It had outgrown the former location along Cloth Fair, and around the Priory graveyard to now cover four parishes: Christ Church, Great and Little St Bartholomew’s and St Sepulchre’s. The fair featured sideshows, prize-fighters, musicians, wire-walkers, acrobats, puppets, freaks and wild animals.[2]
The fair was suppressed in 1855 by the City authorities for encouraging debauchery and public disorder.[2][5]
References
- ^ a b c Chisholm 1911.
- ^ a b c d e City of London. "Smithfield Market". http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/nr/rdonlyres/24b6c04d-ff99-445d-a2ca-7e618b42bf85/0/lh_gag_b3smithfieldmarketinformation.pdf. Retrieved 2009-03-23.
- ^ Morley, Henry (1859). Memoirs of Bartholomew Fair. London. ISBN 1-4437-4944-3. http://books.google.com/?id=7aYVwHDChtwC.
- ^ Walford, Cornelius (1883). Fairs, Past and Present. pp. 164–244. ISBN 0-8337-3668-X. http://books.google.com/?id=f6kTim3rdCsC.
- ^ Cavendish, Richard (2005). "London's Last Bartholomew Fair: September 3rd, 1855". History Today 55 (9): 52.
- Attribution
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bartholomew Fair". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
External links
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. Coordinates: 51°31.1′N 0°6′W / 51.5183°N 0.1°W
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