The Madmen of Gotham (circa 1200)

The Nun’s Priest’s Tale (1392)

Eloy d’Amerval (1508) A long poem published in 1508 by a French choirmaster, Eloy d'Amerval, has caught the eye of historians of April Fool's Day because the text includes the phrase "poisson d'Avril," which is the French term for an "April Fool." Does this indicate that the custom of April Fool's Day was already established in France at the beginning of the 1500s?

Probably not. Or, at least, we can't conclude that from d'Amerval's poem, because the manner in which he used the phrase "poisson d'Avril" doesn't indicate that he associated the term with folly or April 1. Instead, for him it seemed to be a slang term for a pimp or matchmaker. Etymologists suggest that this was, in fact, the original meaning of the term, and that it only evolved to mean an "April Fool" in the 17th century.

Eduard de Dene (1561) The Flemish writer Eduard De Dene published a comical poem in 1561 about a nobleman who hatches a plan to send his servant back and forth on absurd errands on April first, supposedly to help prepare for a wedding feast. The servant recognizes that what's being done to him is an April first joke. The poem is titled "Refereyn vp verzendekens dach / Twelck den eersten April te zyne plach." This is late-medieval Dutch meaning (roughly) "Refrain on errand-day / which is the first of April."

De Dene's poem is a clear, unambiguous reference to a custom of playing practical jokes on April first, and it tells us that by 1561 April Fool's Day was already an established tradition in the Netherlands. In fact, de Dene's reference to April first as "verzendekens dach" is still a term used to describe the celebration in the Netherlands to this day (in modern Dutch: "verzenderkensdag").

The Washing of the Lions (1698)