Rituals and festivals played a crucial role in traditional European life. Rituals, such as charivari ("riding the stang") allowed for the community to join together and have fun, teach lessons, and even make political statements. Festivals such as carnival, and that on midsummer night's eve allowed for the community to relax, release their burdens, join together, learn from one another, and, to the dismay of some, also served as a medium of propagating vices.
             Rituals were very important to the traditional European life. In some cases rituals linked people to ancient Greece and Rome – rituals were long standing. One of the earlier rituals, described by Brother Giovanni di Carlo, delineates sons going through the streets acting as their fathers, who were the leaders of the city. Brother Giovanni describes the magnificence that the sons performed and the enjoyment shared by the citizens, and, obviously, by himself. The Brother may have enjoyed these caricatures because of the animosity between the political leaders and the clergy in the fifteenth century. Another ritual, more frequent in the nineteenth century, was charivari, or "riding the stang." This ritual was apparently popular because of the uses in England and France. In charivari, a "hen pecking" woman is made to "ride stang." The community assembles as the woman is made to ride the horse backwards. The crowd erupts in cheers, songs, and pot banging. Mrs. Elizabeth Gaskell clearly describes this event, and her point of view is interested. She is a married woman, and she supports this event, which requires the humiliation of another married woman. Mrs. Gaskell is also quick to point out that the celebrations are never too disorderly, and no one seeks redress. Women such as Mrs. Gaskell may see this event as one of putting woman in control. In the "stang song" from Lincolnshire, there is a description of a man beating ...