CARNIVAL. - A period of revelry and amusements before the beginning of Lent. The most common etymology derives the term carnival from: carnem levare "to remove the flesh," alluding precisely to the abstinence from meat imposed during Lent. The date of the beginning of carnival differs, in the tradition of the various countries. In certain places in France it is Christmas, in others New Year's Day, in still others, as indeed also in Sicily, Epiphany ("doppu li Tri-Re, tutti olè"); more frequent, among us, is January 17 (St. Anthony's Day), but in various localities also Candlemas (February 2). The intensification of the festivities occurs, however, predominantly on Fat Thursday ("berlingaccio"), the last Sunday of carnival, and Fat Monday and Tuesday. At midnight of that day a bell (in Romagna called "la lova") announces its end. The Ambrosian rite grants even the following Sunday. Numerous and varied are the manifestations to which Carnival gives rise in the folklore of the various countries: and this because other ancient rites and customs have come to converge in this feast (which is held to be principally a transformation, in a Christian climate, of the Saturnalia). But its character and fundamental meaning can be understood if one keeps in mind that Carnival was a feast of the beginning of the year.
It is easy to recognize in it ancient propitiatory ritual forms for the products of the earth and for the well-being of the community. The revelry to which Carnival gives rise has not only the aspect of a momentary loosening of certain social bonds, but also has a protreptic value so that in the joy of all a new seasonal period may begin. Thus, the death of Carnival, that is, of a puppet which, after having made a will and after a parody of a funeral procession is burned or drowned or otherwise destroyed, can be fitted into the vast circle of expiatory rites for the New Year festivities. The same may be said for customs such as the killing of a turkey (Piedmont) or of a rooster (Abruzzo) or of a goose (France, Rome, Sicily, etc.): in Monferrato, for example, before dying the "pitò" (turkey) reveals through the mouth of a reveler the misdeeds of the people of the village. The custom of a public denunciation of the vices and faults of the community, even if under a joking or parodic form, is quite widespread, expressing itself in various ways. Sometimes it is Harlequin who, before being killed, confesses his own sins and those of others. In the same sphere of customs and beliefs is to be placed the king of Carnival, who for three days assumes command of the city, ordering feasts and revelries, and at the end is deposed: the custom is still preserved quite well, for example, in the valleys of the Bormio area, but reminiscences and reflections are found almost everywhere in figures such as the general of Carnival, the abbot of the companies of fools, that is, of young people who organize and direct the Carnival festivities.
To ancient ritual customs is also to be traced the hunt for the "Salvanel" which takes place in the mountains of Trentino. Beside the Carnival puppet is often found that of Lent, a foul and skinny old woman, the two symbolic figures being closely connected with the very idea that gave rise to the name of Carnival. One of the popular dramatic forms is precisely that of the contrast between Carnival and Lent, of which a representation in octaves from the 15th century is already known. Carnival is of great importance for the origins of our comic theater. They are carnival performances: the "farces" of Carnival, the "bruscelli" and the "mariazi" or "mogliazzi", whose fundamental motif consists in the contest of two young men for the hand of a girl, who is finally assigned to one of the two suitors. Also during Carnival takes place the representation of the months, symbolized by 12 figures to which sometimes a thirteenth is added representing the New Year. But even greater importance is presented by the masks. Some of them have demonic origins, such as Harlequin in France and Zanni in Italy; and a reflection of such origin can be seen in the "moresche", armed dances that used to be performed during Carnival. Also the masks with animal figures or female disguises go back to ancient times. But then each era and each country has introduced into the tradition its own particular masks. An originally propitiatory character must also have had the "corsi" with carts, and the throwing of oranges and confetti. In Sicily and Apulia the oranges are, by means of folding ladders, offered to the ladies by masked companies.
Carnival songs and dances are an unfailing complement of the feast. Likewise races, jousts, runs, palios: also characteristic are the quests and the bonfires of joy. In the centers where city life has had greater splendor through the centuries, all these manifestations have assumed a sumptuous and picturesque character. In times past the Carnivals of Venice, Milan, Turin, Ivrea, Florence, Rome were famous.
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THE CHURCH'S ATTITUDE
With regard to Carnival, the Church's attitude is practically the same as the one she maintains with regard to entertainments, which can take place within proper limits or else, and easily, deviate into misconduct and the moral ruin of souls. The Church therefore does not give a priori ostracism to the joys and revelries of Carnival, even when accompanied by feasts and banquets, because the body needs rest and strengthening for new labors and for the prescribed mortifications. Since, however, Carnival very often turns into a kind of orgiastic explosion, « semel in anno iuvat insanire » (the ample collections of Canti carnascialeschi, with which our literature has been rich since the time of the Renaissance, are evidence of this), and oversteps into bold licentiousness, into more or less open violations of morality, into unworthy revelry and intemperance, facilitated by the use of masks and by the mutual exchange of clothing between men and women, the Church has always reacted and continues to react. And in this she follows two courses: on the one hand, she warns against the dangers, calling to mind the sense of interior and exterior responsibility that each person must have, and the higher purposes of human life, as opposed to purely naturalistic or humanistic or, rather, pagan conceptions; on the other, she invites the good to make reparation through prayer for the offenses done to God by the deviations of Carnival, for example, with the adoration of the Forty Hours, especially on the three days preceding the beginning of Lent.