Welcome Ladies and Villeins to a spooky special Halloween Under The Yoke Devlog. For our new Steam friends, Under The Yoke Devlogs have typically taken the form of talking about the history behind a subject before cracking into how we represent it in gameplay, so if you’re not big on history, feel free to skip ahead to the “In Under The Yoke” section.
In History
Halloween, has its roots in the Middle Ages, though not quite how we celebrate it today. Originally known as All Hallows' Eve, it was a blend of both pagan and Christian customs.
The term "Halloween" itself is a contraction of "All Hallows' Eve," referring to the night before All Saints' Day on November 1st. All Saints' Day was a Christian feast that celebrated all the saints, known and unknown. In the early Middle Ages, this day became an important occasion for religious observance.
However, Halloween was deeply intertwined with ancient Celtic and Roman traditions. The Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter, played a significant role in shaping the Halloween we know today.
Samhain was believed to be a time when the boundaries between the living and the dead were blurred, and people lit bonfires and dressed in costumes to ward off evil spirits.
People would attend church services and pay homage to the saints, lighting candles to honour their memories. At the same time, there were remnants of the Celtic Samhain festivities, such as carving turnips or beets into lanterns, which would later evolve into the pumpkin jack-o'-lanterns we use today.
The tradition of dressing in costumes during All Hallows' Eve was also present in medieval times. People believed that by disguising themselves as ghosts or other supernatural beings, they could confuse and avoid encounters with the restless spirits that roamed the Earth on that night. This practice is reminiscent of the modern custom of trick-or-treating, although it had a slightly more sinister purpose in the past.
Like contemporary Halloween, medieval All Hallows' Eve had its own culinary traditions. Special dishes and treats, such as soul cakes, were prepared and offered to the living and the dead. It was also a time for various forms of divination, with young people attempting to predict their future spouses or fortunes through rituals and games.
In Under The Yoke
It’s strange to think that Halloween has survived so long, in one form or another, but there were actually a great deal of Holy days and Feast days which medieval people celebrated that we no longer celebrate.
Under The Yoke helps to immerse you into the past by reviving these celebrations. For each medieval festivity, we have multiple events that can occur.
You may be thinking, 250 Christmases is an awful lot of events to write, and you’d be damn right. Hence why, each in game year the game decides which events to serve you as the player, then on that chosen date the game will hand you an event, whether it’s about All Hallow’s Eve, All Saint’s Day, Michaelmas, Lent or any other event.
These events can help to improve your standing in the village, win over the heart of the girl you fancy, give you a chance to profit or just improve your mood. By not serving an event for each festival each year we also help to keep them fresh.
Alright, a lot of history and a bit of actual info on the game, I think that counts as a Halloween Treat? Subscribe for more either below or to the side, and Wishlist Under The Yoke to experience a most spooky medieval Halloween.
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