Auto da fe (Act of Faith) was the ritual execution of heretics by the Inquisition after a confession had been extracted. The ceremony always took place on a Sunday, but not at regular intervals, maybe once every two, three or four years. The victims were walked in procession wearing the sanbenito, the coroza, the rope around the neck, and carrying a yellow waxcandle in their hand. The sanbenito was a penitential tunic of yellow cloth reaching to the knees and painted on it was a picture of the person who wore it, burning in flames with figures of dragons and devils in the act of fanning the flames. The costume indicated to the watching crowds the wearer was to be burned alive as an incorrigible heretic. If the person was only to do penance, then the sanbenito had on it a cross, and no painting or flames. If the victim was converted just before being led out, then the sanbenito was painted with the flames downward (known as fuego resuelto) and indicated that the wearer was not to be burned alive, but to be first strangled before burning.
At one time the sanbenito were hung up in the churches as monuments to the Inquisition. The coroza was a pasteboard cap, one metre high, ending in a point. On it were likewise painted crosses, flames and devils. Gags were kept on hand in case a victim insulted the tribunal or revealed what had occurred to them as they were led along to the place of execution where a large scaffold was erected.
The stake where the victim was to be burned varied in form, and was either a simple stake mounted in the ground, or was about three metres tall, with a small board near the top where the victim sat and was chained to the stake. Following prayers and attempts to convert the victim to the Roman Catholic faith, burning furzes were thrust into the face until the victim's face was burned before furzes around the base of the stake were ignited and the victim burned to death.
Victims were burned, because the inquisitors were forbidden to 'shed blood', the Roman Catholic church maintaining the line that it is untainted with blood. Research Auto da Fe
Bank Holidays are British public holidays when the banks are closed. They are New Year's Day, EasterMonday, May Day (the first Monday in May), Spring Bank Holiday (the last Monday in May), August Bank Holiday (last Monday in August), and Boxing Day. In Scotland, EasterMonday is replaced by the 2nd of January and the August Bank Holiday is on the first Monday in August. In Northern IrelandSaint Patrick's Day (the 17th of March) is added. In the Channel Islands Liberation Day (the 9th of May) is included.
Bank Holidays have a similar status to Sundays in that bills of exchange falling due on a Bank Holiday are postponed until the following day and also they do not count in working out days of grace. Good Friday and Christmas Day are also public holidays, but payments falling due (including bills of exchange) on these days are payable on the preceding day. When Bank Holidays fall on a Sunday, the following day becomes the Bank Holiday. Research Bank Holiday
The Blue Laws were puritanical laws enacted in 1732 at New Haven, Connecticut, USA. Their objective was to stamp out heresy and enforce a strict observance of the Sunday. Research Blue Laws
Bona fides or bona fide (from the Latin 'good faith', or 'in good faith'), is a term derived from the Roman jurists, implying the absence of all fraud or unfair dealing. A bona fide traveller in England and Scotland was fomerly someone who is actually travelling at some distance from home on Sunday and was thus legally entitled to demand and obtain alcoholic refreshments at a hotel. In the law of Scotland a bona fide possessor was a person who holds property upon a title which he honestly believes to be good. Research Bona Fides
British Summer Time is a British daylight saving scheme which resulted from the Summer-Time Act enacted by Parliament and adopted in 1916, whereby on a specified date in spring the official time is advanced one hour ahead of Greenwich mean time which is restored on a specified date in autumn. A bill to provide for a fixed period - the night of the last Saturday in March until the night of the first Sunday in October - was introduced in Parliament in 1922 so as to synchronise the summer times of Britain, France and Belgium. Research British Summer Time
Corpus Christi is the festival in the Roman Catholic Church held on the Thursday after TrinitySunday. Corpus Christi means 'body of Christ', and takes the form of the consecrated host at the Lord's supper, which, according to the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church, is changed by the act of consecration into the real body of Christ. This doctrine caused the adoration of the consecrated host, and hence the Roman Catholic Church has ordained for the host a particular festival, called the Corpus Christi feast. It was established as a general festival in 1264 by a bull of PopeUrban IV. It commemorates the institution of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper and among Roman Catholics is the occasion of outdoor processions. Research Corpus Christi
Derby-day is the former great annual London holiday, on which the horse-race for the stakes instituted by LordDerby in 1780 (Derby Stakes) is run. It always falls on a Wednesday, being the second day of the grand race meeting which takes place in the week after TrinitySunday. Research Derby-day
In chronology, dominical letters, properly called Sunday letters, are the seven letters of the alphabet, A B C D E F G, used in almanacs, ephemerides, etc, to mark the first seven days of the year and all consecutive sets of seven days to the end of the year, so that the letter for Sunday will always be the same. If the number of days in the year were divisible by seven without remainder, then the year would constantly begin with the same day of the week; but as it is the year begins and ends on the same day, and therefore the next year will begin on the day following, and on leap years two days following, so that the same series is not repeated until after four times seven or twenty-eight years. Research Dominical Letter
The Feast of Fools was the name given to festivals regularly celebrated, from the 5th to the 16th century, in several countries of Europe, by the clergy and laity, with the most absurd ceremonies. The feast of fools was an imitation of the Roman Saturnalia, and, like this, was celebrated in December. The chief celebration fell upon the day of the Innocents, or upon New-year's Day;
but the feast continued from Christmas to the last Sunday of Epiphany. The young people, who played the chief parts, chose from among their own number a mock pope, archbishop, bishop, or abbot, and consecrated him, with many ridiculous ceremonies, in the chief church of the place. They often travestied the performance of the highest offices of the church, while others, dressed in different kinds of masks and disguises, engaged in indecent songs and dances, and practised all possible follies in the church. Except from their association with the Saturnalia nothing is known of the origin of these extravagancies, which appear to have been very ancient. They were most common in France, but the feast was also observed in Spain, Germany, England, and Scotland. In France it survived until the year 1644. Research Feast of Fools
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Auto da Fe
