The act of giving up meat is relevant to the entire Catholic religion and each follower obeys to this rule. Therefore, the days before Ash Wednesday, Catholics will indulgence in food and celebrations before their fasting period (WordPress, 2013). Similarly to the Carnival of Venice, celebrations before Ash Wednesday happen all around the world in different cultures including places such as New Orleans, Greece, Brazil, Germany, Spain and more. Although the Carnival of Venice did start within the Italian culture, it is so well known now, that everyone from around the world travels to rejoice at this …show more content…
It all began in the 9th century when individuals of Venice started wearing masks and engaged in festivities. After Venice’s victory over Aquileia, the Carnival of Venice took place in the year 1162 (Wang, 2017). Due to Italy’s strict social system, members started to wear masks to allow the individuals to be who they wanted to be. The masks allowed for privacy within the person and permitted for these individuals to express themselves in a unique way. Masks could permit people to have men dress as women and cross dress, a lower class mix with the high-class in the masquerade balls, and others show their creativity and individuality. After wild and illegal activities started to form and get out of hand, many prohibitions were put into place on mask wearing and celebrations. The forbidding of masks started in the 13th century where people could not gamble with a mask on, then expanded to prohibiting the visits of convents and monasteries while wearing a disguise (Wang, 2013). The Catholic Church had to then get involved and ban these celebrations on holy days due to the fact that no one would stop these activities of gambling, masquerades, and comedies for weeks straight. In 1797, the whole celebration was banned after the fall of Serenissima Republic to Napoleon, causing Venice to lose their independence (Wang, 2013). After 200 years of war and commotion, the carnival was slowly brought back with its