# History of Shrove Monday: Ahead of Mardi Gras > Reading Time: 2 minutesWhat is the history of Shrove Monday? > URL: https://billpetro.com/history-of-shrove-monday/ > Last modified: 2026-02-16T18:04:56+00:00 Reading Time: 2 minutes ## HISTORY OF SHROVE MONDAY [*Podcast version*](https://open.spotify.com/episode/3A1CgdKlKVK8VxTeX4AA1u?si=413dfc7481b74355)   Monday before Ash Wednesday is known as **Shrove Monday**. The three days before Ash Wednesday are also known as “Shrovetide,” which begins with **Quinquagesima Sunday** and ends on Shrove Tuesday, more commonly known as **Mardi Gras**. Quinquagesima meant the *fiftieth* day before [Easter](https://billpetro.com/historyoftheholidays/#HOES), specifically the last Sunday before Ash Wednesday, which marked the beginning of **Lent**. Shrove is the past tense of *shrive, an* Old English word meaning “to repent.” Repentance from sin was a common practice during this season. The **Royal Shrovetide Football** Match is typically played on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, England, tracing back to the time of **Henry II** in the 12th century (think of the play/movie *The Lion in Winter.*)   Table of Contents Toggle - [Shrove Monday and Lent](#Shrove_Monday_and_Lent) - [Shrove Monday in the East](#Shrove_Monday_in_the_East) - [Related](#Related) ### Shrove Monday and Lent Collop As we’ll see in tomorrow’s article on [Mardi Gras](https://billpetro.com/history-of-mardi-gras/), some Christians usually avoid meat during the *Lenten* period of 40 days. So, during Shrovetide, immediately before [Ash Wednesday](https://billpetro.com/history-of-ash-wednesday), believers enjoyed various meat dishes. Another name for Shrove Monday is **Collop Monday**. *Collop* is an Elizabethan English word meaning a small piece of bacon, a part of breakfast eaten on this day. Cooks often kept the remaining fat for making pancakes the next day on **Shrove Tuesday**. **Rose Monday**, in German-speaking countries, is a transliteration of *Rosenmontag,* which means “running Monday,” and is the highlight of the German “Karneval” procession. This day is also called **Hall Monday** and **Merry Monday**.   ### Shrove Monday in the East It goes by other names in Eastern Europe and beyond. **Clean Monday** in *Greece* is also known as **Pure, Ash**, or **Green Monday**. While meat, eggs, and dairy products are traditionally forbidden during Lent to Eastern Orthodox Christians, fish is eaten on major feast days. Shellfish and mollusks are enjoyed on Clean Monday. Kite flying is a popular activity at this time. [**St. Thomas**](https://billpetro.com/5-christmas-myths#:~:text=including%20the%20pseudepigraphical%20Infancy%20Gospel%20of%20Thomas) Christians in India and other Eastern Catholic churches observe some of these practices.   *Will you strive to shrove this season?*   Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian [billpetro.com](https://billpetro.com) *Podcast*: [*Subscribe*](http://g003.enterprise.ipost.com/billpetrofriend/prefs) to have future articles delivered to your email.  ### *Related* [](https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/facebook?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fbillpetro.com%2Fhistory-of-shrove-monday%2F&linkname=History%20of%20Shrove%20Monday%3A%20Ahead%20of%20Mardi%20Gras)[](https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/x?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fbillpetro.com%2Fhistory-of-shrove-monday%2F&linkname=History%20of%20Shrove%20Monday%3A%20Ahead%20of%20Mardi%20Gras)[](https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/pinterest?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fbillpetro.com%2Fhistory-of-shrove-monday%2F&linkname=History%20of%20Shrove%20Monday%3A%20Ahead%20of%20Mardi%20Gras)[](https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/linkedin?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fbillpetro.com%2Fhistory-of-shrove-monday%2F&linkname=History%20of%20Shrove%20Monday%3A%20Ahead%20of%20Mardi%20Gras)[](https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/mastodon?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fbillpetro.com%2Fhistory-of-shrove-monday%2F&linkname=History%20of%20Shrove%20Monday%3A%20Ahead%20of%20Mardi%20Gras)[](https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/threads?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fbillpetro.com%2Fhistory-of-shrove-monday%2F&linkname=History%20of%20Shrove%20Monday%3A%20Ahead%20of%20Mardi%20Gras)[](https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/bluesky?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fbillpetro.com%2Fhistory-of-shrove-monday%2F&linkname=History%20of%20Shrove%20Monday%3A%20Ahead%20of%20Mardi%20Gras)[](https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/reddit?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fbillpetro.com%2Fhistory-of-shrove-monday%2F&linkname=History%20of%20Shrove%20Monday%3A%20Ahead%20of%20Mardi%20Gras)[](https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/tumblr?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fbillpetro.com%2Fhistory-of-shrove-monday%2F&linkname=History%20of%20Shrove%20Monday%3A%20Ahead%20of%20Mardi%20Gras)[](https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/kindle_it?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fbillpetro.com%2Fhistory-of-shrove-monday%2F&linkname=History%20of%20Shrove%20Monday%3A%20Ahead%20of%20Mardi%20Gras)[](https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/snapchat?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fbillpetro.com%2Fhistory-of-shrove-monday%2F&linkname=History%20of%20Shrove%20Monday%3A%20Ahead%20of%20Mardi%20Gras)[](https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/email?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fbillpetro.com%2Fhistory-of-shrove-monday%2F&linkname=History%20of%20Shrove%20Monday%3A%20Ahead%20of%20Mardi%20Gras)[](https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/print?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fbillpetro.com%2Fhistory-of-shrove-monday%2F&linkname=History%20of%20Shrove%20Monday%3A%20Ahead%20of%20Mardi%20Gras)[](https://www.addtoany.com/share)