The European Masks Of The 1400′s
The late 1400′s was a period of time in which the European kings and queens had the custom of celebrating their birthdays and other festive occasions by inviting the nobility to partake in feasts and royal balls in their honor. Other celebrations included anniversary to the beginning of their reign as well as holiday celebrations and the like. All of the nobility would dress in their most proper attire to the king’s courtyard in order to appear prominently before the king and queen.
Generally, on festive occasions such as these, the king would have entertainment and would call for a royal ball to take place as well in the royal ballroom. It is quite interesting to note that on most occasions when the king would hold a royal ball in the royal ballroom, he would call for the ball to be a mask party.
Although this practice may seem childish, it was quite prevalent amongst the kings of Italy, France, Spain, and England. The reason for this will be clarified when we take a closer look at the origin of masks and their meanings.
The masks first appeared on the scene when plays were being produced. In order to enhance costumes, which in turn, enhance character presentation, masks were used commonly throughout the early fifteenth century plays and through Shakespeare’s plays as well.
The nobility and the king and queen slowly began to accept the plays into the royal culture, and, naturally, these plays became the talk of the town. Everyone wanted to be a part of the attraction, and anyone who was anyone would be in attendance.
This meant, of course, that only those with the appropriate financial and social status would be able to attend the king’s theater, namely, the nobility. The nobility eventually became the main thrust of all theater productions.
At the core of it all is the notion that when the king and queen called for a mask ballroom dance, they were calling for entertainment. However, this entertainment was different in that generally, the nobility as well were being entertained, which was not the case over here. In these parties the king and queen called for the nobility to entertain them, and the same masks being worn by the characters in the play were being worn by the nobility dancing in front of the royal family.
This was the original use of masks in medieval Europe, which were mainly used by the nobility.
Geoffrey Diapprozziano is a professional historian and mask authority. For more details about the origin of masks or the best way to bring a piece of origin into your home by buying masquerade ball masks view the Party Oasis website online. Geoffrey is an SEO consultant working with SEO services group ClickResponse.
