Happy May Day!

In the Middle Ages, the first day of May was cause for the celebration of the return of spring. Festivities included gathering flowers and green branches, weaving garlands, and decorating a Maypole, around which young people would dance. The origins go back to ancient fertility rites, but by the time of the High Middle Ages those associations had long dimmed in the conscious minds of the participants, if not the subconscious. Here in America, May Day celebrations never really caught on, thanks in part to our Puritan forefathers, who disliked their pagan connections and thought them licentious, to boot.

The Limbourg Brothers painted a depiction of May Day for Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. The detail here shows some of the participants of a party set to ride into the forest to gather branches. Get a better look in the page for May of our Les Très Riches Heures Image Gallery. And don't let those old fuddy-duddy Puritans put a damper on your May Day fun!