MISRULE, LORD OF

This article appears in Volume V18, Page 580 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: MIC-MOL

MISRULE, LORD OF , in medieval times the master of the Christmas

revels

REVELS, MASTER OF THE

. Probably J. G. Frazer (Golden Bough III.) is right in suggesting that the lord or abbot of

misrule

MISRULE, LORD OF

is the successor of the .king of the ancient Roman Saturnalia, who personated Saturn and suffered martyrdom at the end of the

revels

REVELS, MASTER OF THE

. Compare, too, the

burlesque

BURLESQUE (Ital. burlesco, from burla, a joke, fun, playful
trick
- TRICK
)

figure at the carnival, which is finally destroyed. Stow (Survey) writes: " In the feast of Christmas there was in the King's

House

HOUSE
HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
Gothic
- GOTHIC
it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

, wheresoever he lodged, a Lord of

Misrule

MISRULE, LORD OF

or Master of merry disports, and the like had ye in the

house

HOUSE
HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
Gothic
- GOTHIC
it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

of every nobleman of honour or good

worship

WORSHIP (i.e. " worth-ship," O. Eng. weor8scipe)

, were he spiritual or temporal." The mayor and sheriffs of London also had Lords of Misrule. These mock-monarchs began their reign on Allhallows Eve, and misruled till Candlemas. In Scot-land they were known as " Abbots of Unreason," and in 1555 a

special

SPECIAL

act suppressing them was passed. In Tudor times their reign was marked by much display and expense. In

Henry

HENRY
HENRY (1129-1195)
HENRY (c. 1108-1139)
HENRY (c. 1174–1216)
HENRY (Fr. Henri; Span. Enrique; Ger. Heinrich; Mid. H. Ger. Heinrich and Heimrich; O.H.G. Haimi- or Heimirih, i.e. " prince, or chief of the house," from O.H.G. heim, the Eng.
home
, and rih, Goth. reiks; compare Lat. rex " king "—" rich," therefore " mig
HENRY, EDWARD LAMSON (1841– )
HENRY, JAMES (1798-1876)
HENRY, JOSEPH (1797-1878)
HENRY, MATTHEW (1662-1714)
HENRY, PATRICK (1736–1799)
HENRY, PRINCE OF BATTENBERG (1858-1896)
HENRY, ROBERT (1718-1790)
HENRY, VICTOR (1850– )
HENRY, WILLIAM (1795-1836)

VIII.'s reign an order for a fool's coat is signed by six of the Privy Council. By an Act of Common Council (1555) the city expenses of the Lords of Misrule were severely curtailed. Machyn speaks of a Lord of Misrule who in 1561 rode through London followed by a hundred gentlemen on horseback hung with gold chains (see also REVELS, MASTER OF).

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