A Sticker's Worth 500 Words

Prior to the Reformation the number of holy days, or holidays, in Britain is believed to have numbered somewhere between forty and sixty per year. As well as a church service, where a majority illiterate population would hear some Latin and be told they were off to Hell, these days were often accompanied by festivals and public gatherings. Sometimes a kickabout broke out with various forms of ‘mob football’ played across the country generally involving transporting something vaguely spherical from one village to another with church gates or doors serving as goals. The injury rate was such that both Edward II and Edward IV attempted to ban the game in order to ensure their kingdom had enough blokes left for their difficult second legs against Scotland and the Lancastrians respectively. Up until the nineteenth century the aforementioned spherical object was often an inflated pig’s bladder before more uniform leather creations began to be used as the game became codified and expanded. Sim...