Christianity tried in vain to put an end to these ancient religious festivities but in the end the Roman Catholic Church stopped its unsuccessful efforts to abolish them, adapting them to its own traditions instead.
In the year 1091 the Synod of Benevento declared the Wednesday following the three days of celebration of the end of winter and the onset of spring to be Ash Wednesday.
Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the period of 40 days of fasting preceding the ritual commemoration of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Gradually people came to forget the connection of the term carnival with pre-Christian feasts. From the 17th century on, as the festivities of the countryside entered the cities, the name carnival was generally identified with these syncretized celebrations.
