e sung. More formally structures events wereconcentrated in the last days of the Carnival period. These events took places in thecentral squares and were often organised by clubs or fraternities. The main theme during Carnival was usually 'The World Upside Down'. Situations gotturned around. It was an enactment of the world turned upside down. Men dressed up aswomen, women dressed up as men, the rich traded places with the poor, etc. There wasphysical reversal: people standing on their heads, horses going backwards and fishesflying. There was reversal of relationships between man and beast: the horse shoeing themaster or the fish eating the fisherman. The other reversal was that of relationshipsbetween men: servants giving orders to their masters or men feeding children while theirwives worked the fields. Many events centred on the figure of 'Carnival', often depictedas a fat man, cheerful and surrounded by food. The figure of 'Lent', for contrast, oftentook the form of a thin, old woman, dressed in black and hung with fish. Thesedepictions varied in form and name in the different regions in Europe. A recurringelement was the performance of a play, usually a farce. Mock battles were also afavourite pass-time during the Carnival period.Carnival usually ended with the defeat of 'Carnival' by 'Lent'. This could happen in theform of the mock trial and execution of 'Carnival', (Bologna, Italy, 16th century), thebeheading of a pig (Venice, Italy), or the burial of a sardine (Madrid, Spain).So what was the meaning of Carnival in Early Modern Europe? Was it merely an excusefor the populace to go crazy or did Carnival have a deeper meaning hidden behind thefaade of food, violence and sex?Carnival was a holiday, a game. It was a time of ecstasy and liberation. The form wasdetermined by three major themes: food, sex and violence. It was the time of indulgence,of abundance. It was also a time of intense sexual activity - tables of the seasonalmovem...
