Did medieval serfs ever have feasts?

Answer 1

AnswerThey were slaves so I doubt they ever had much of a feast. Different AnswerMedieval serfs were not slaves. There was a distinction between the two. Slavery was illegal in most countries. Those serfs who were "unfree" were not allowed to move off the manors where they lived, but they were not property of the lord, could not be bought or sold, and had a right to a place to live and fields to farm. There is a link below on serfdom.

During the Middle Ages, a feast was not simply a meal, but a day of celebration, usually connected to the Church in some way. Two medieval feast days that survive are Christmas and Easter. Other medieval feasts that were important were All Saints Day, and Shrove Tuesday, which were related to Halloween and Mardi Gras.

According to the Church, every Sunday was a feast day, even during Lent, and the normal Lenten fasts were not required on Sundays.

The important saints all had feast days, and these became so numerous that virtually every day was a feast day for some saint or other. Of course they were not celebrated everywhere, but important saints' feasts were celebrated. For example, we might expect the feast of St. George to have been celebrated in England, and the feast of St. Andrew in Scotland. We see reference to celebration of the Welsh feast, St. David's Day, in Shakespeare's Henry V.

The people of the Middle Ages also continued some of the pagan feasts, such as the summer and winter solstice celebrations.

There are links below.