Michaelmas - A Holiday We Forgot About | History

In this video, we take a look at a forgotten holiday that was perhaps as important as Christmas or Easter, called "Michaelmas". We explore what it was, and why it may have disappeared.

Find us here too!

The following music performed by Kevin Macleod Available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

Rites
Fairytale Waltz
Celtic Impulse
Atlantean Twilight
Master of The Feast

These songs provided by the YouTube audio library

Vacation Casual
Yonder Hill and Dale
Simple Gifts

Works Cited

[14] "Helligdagsreformen af 1770." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Article originally in Danish, translated with Google Translate. "The Public Holiday Reform of 1770."

Picture Attributions

[nunyabiznez]

My mother's grandparents came from Ireland to America around 120 years ago. They all celebrated Michealmas with a huge dinner. I had forgotten the date but I remember we had Michealmas dinner part way between the first day of school and Halloween. We had roast duck stuffed with a dressing that included raspberries and a number of other dishes and deserts. We stopped the tradition when the last of my great grandparents died in the 1960's. I had completely forgotten about it until I happened upon this video. I always wondered what that holiday was about. I recall it was the only day of the year we ever ate duck and raspberry stuffing. It was also the only day my great grandfather every got totally falling down drunk. Normally he could hold his liquor and a lot of it but on that day he had to be carried to bed. This video has given me some insight into my family's past. Thanks for posting.

[LittlePhizDorrit]

I'm always up for bringing a holiday back. We need to end this puritanical tyranny of fewer holidays so we can work more. I'd love to see a video about it.

[mablenorman]

I had heard that Charles Dickens almost singlehandedly revived Christmas celebrations by writing "A Christmas Carol". I guess Michaelmas didn't receive the same pop culture attention.

[lazorgator]

Growing in the Anglican Church, I have actually celebrated Michaelmas before, though we called it the Feast of St Michael. There was the usually food, merriment and blackberries, but we also set up a wooden board with a picture of the devil on it and threw fruit and hand axes at it. It was fun.

[andrw]

Fun fact: my town's patron saint is Michael, so around every Michaelmas all work stops and we take three days to celebrate with a street theatre competition: the four wards of the city each creates a play and the floats during the year, then they parade and tell a story based on historical events from the town or nearby places.
Also the school I went to (which weirdly enough wasn't related to my town) also celebrated Michaelmas with so-called "tests of courage" (small games/challenges for the kids to overcome) that were supposed to mimic Michael's story in a way...they were tons of fun!

[proudalbanianjcdenton]

In Eritrea Arch Angel Micheal’s feast day is a major Holliday in which ever village and cities he is the patron saint of, same thing with the Virgin Mary who’s feast day is widely cerebrated. I think the reason why these feast days were treated as national holidays is because they the patron Saint of a lot of churches, cities and villages though anything regarding the Theotokos is always widely celebrated though the church. Another interesting fun fact is that in counties such as Greece someone’s patron saint’s feast day is celebrated in a similar manner of a birthday called their name day

[SergMalacoda]

lmao, I was reading "Between Two Fires" last night (great horror book, btw), and the narration mentioned Michaelmas in passing. I made a mental note to investigate what was that, and lo and behold. Thanks man, really.

[ZealousSeraphim]

I appreciate the way you approach Christian feast days. I have no idea if you’re a Christian yourself, but it’s refreshing hearing historical accounts of Church history that don’t feel anti-Christian. I also appreciate the recognization of the distinction between veneration and worship, some Protestants have a hard time understanding it. 🤣

[-haclong]

18:25 Martinmas is actually still celebrated in the Netherlands, but it's been slowly disappearing in favour of Hallowe'en. In my province Martinmas is widely celebrated but I was surprised to learn that around 20 or so years ago it largely disappeared from the Holland region.

[Nuneven]

Lol, my family went ALL OUT for Michaelmas every year when I was a kid. We had a feast--always the same dishes: whole roasted pumpkin filled with ham, cheese, and cream; scones with blackberry jam (because when Michael threw Satan out of heaven he lit in a blackberry bush;) "archangels on horseback" (scallops wrapped in bacon;) deviled eggs (because, you know, the devil;) and a giant pastry dragon filled with dried fruit and spices. Us girls made the dragon, and sometimes we got really creative--once we actually made it breathe fire. There was always a performance of St. George and the Dragon by the kids, usually humorous. It was a big deal☺

[Burred]

I love that "Eat a goose on Michaelmas" saying. It's basically "If you're rich enough to eat a goose, then you're rich enough". You can't argue with that logic.

[yelloowaunt]

Up until their passing, my Swedish and German Great-grandmothers would have a special dinner/party with a roasted goose, and blackberry cobbler as the main dishes. With songs and music I did not understand because they were in the native languages.I remember there was a lot of special table settings and decorations, as well as a special punch all in celebration of St Michael. My English and Irish great grand mothers made sure all the blackberry preserves were used up before September 29. If they were not, they were served to the pigs. I had no understanding of why. Thank you so much for making all the reasons clear.

[SolvitaLux]

Michaelmas is still celebrated in Latvia. It is called Miķeļi and there are big fairs in the cities marketplaces with harvest fills tables and fertility rituals still practiced, especially in the countryside.

[cerebrummaximus]

That is so sweet. In Bulgaria we have this, and it used to have its own traditions similar to Allhallowstide, but since Socialism many of the holidays are barely remembered today --- and the ones which are, are mainly celebrated as Names days. It's sad that many of these holidays and other Christian customs are being forgotten, and I hope we can revive them.

[kmaher]

Thank you. I am rereading Jane Austen's Persuasion. In which a spendthrift baronet rents out his estate and decamps to Bath. Where it is cheaper to live an idle and ostentatious life

The tenant took posession on Michaelmas

The novel begins in an autumnal mood as our heroine regrets a lost love as spinsterhood looms. At age 27!

[christoffersandnesfalck-jo]

In Norway it’s often reffered as St. Mikkels day. It marks the end of the harvest season and the start of the hunting season. Also from 1999 it has been added (again) as a holyday, but is selebrated on the sunday that falls nearest to 29. of september.

[ArturoParedesMexicanNerd]

This is super awesome! In my parents' hometown in Mexico, they celebrate a festival known as "La Fiesta de San Miguel Arcángel" aka "The Party of Saint Michael the Archangel". It's also celebrated in late September! It's super interesting knowing there is a historical connection.

[glowormrdr]

I clicked on this because Michaelmas is mentioned in passing in Jane Austin stories, and I always wondered about it. (There are still many Austin readers, for those unaware.) Also the description here of Christmas waning for a couple of hundred years fits perfectly with what I always thought was Jane Austin's very minimal and lackluster references to the holiday. I feel so fortunate we have made our holidays so fun for everyone.

[mihailmilev]

I am kindof in a way named after the Bulgarian/Russian/Slavic name of saint Michael which is Mihail. And in Bulgaria we have "name days" in which we celebrate everyone who shares a certain name usually of some saint, like Michael day, Geaorge day, Yordan day, ect, except all of the Bulgarian/Slavic versions of the names.

[EnTeaJay]

Very enlightening. In many US Catholic parishes a prayer composed by Pope Leo XIII to St Michael and formerly said after every Mass from 1886 to 1964, has been revived, not by official decree, but from request from the laity.