What’s The Religious Meaning Of Fat Tuesday?

The History Channel notes that some historians theorize that the origins of Fat Tuesday are tied to the pagan holidays of Saturnalia and Lupercalia, which celebrate spring and fertility. However, others suggest that Church reformers may have invented this link in order to dissuade Fat Tuesday debauchery. Some historians believe that the earliest celebrations of Fat Tuesday took place in Rome during the early Christian era, and by the medieval period, the holiday was commonly celebrated throughout Europe — the BBC reports that the practice of confessing sins during the week before Ash Wednesday goes back over 1,000 years. The first known celebration of Mardi Gras in the area which is now the United States took place in 1703 in Fort Louis de la Louisiane (now Mobile, Alabama), and the holiday soon spread to other French settlements, including New Orleans.