The origin of the word jubilee?
Broadly biblical but it gets complicated
Jubilee is an interesting example of a word that evolved to cover two distinct but connected meanings.
The origin can be traced back to the Old Testament, where the hebrew word yobhel was used to mark the year of the emancipation of slaves. This was to be celebrated every 50th year (Levit. xxv:9); with the sounding of a ram’s horn on the Day of Atonement.
In Latin the word combined with iubilare “to shout with joy” (as in jubilant). This added the sense of a celebration, while in the Catholic Church it also became associated with a remission of sins. Pope Boniface VIII, drawing on Leviticus, declared that there would be a year every century when the repentant sinners could earn “…the most full, pardon of all their sins”.
This settling of accounts would involve the usual small fee: paid in alms, pilgrimages etc.
As indulgences fell out of favour the connection between hard cash and redemption was refined. The frequency of designated jubilee years has also varied over the centuries. In the late 20th Century there were several, leading to big one in 2000. If you missed that one you’re out of luck.
Royal Jubilee
The particular English form of the celebration was introduced by ‘Mad’ King George III during the Napoleonic Wars. With the war going badly and the Duke of Wellington AWAL, the intention was to improve national morale. This proved successful, though not alas for King George, who disappeared from public life soon after “spent the rest of his days endlessly weeping and tying and untying handkerchiefs” (Dominic Sandbrook, Will this be the Last Jubilee, Unherd)
Jubilee celebrations have always inspired raised eyebrows amongst the bien pensant which contrasts with enthusiastic participation by the general public. Sandbrook points out:
Before the big event “everybody predicts a humiliating fiasco”. Then at the last minute millions of strange people come crawling out from beneath their rocks, Union Jacks in hand, and have an absolute blast.
In the modern era, jubilee is now applied to cover different time periods. Queen Elizabeth II enjoyed her third, with Silver (1977) and Platinum (2022) being added to the traditional Golden Jubilee (2002). Her son won’t match that but will hopefully allow us at least one more on his watch.
