Medieval theatre

 

The staging of Sacred History

The biblical stories were a source of representation, in the form of sacred mysteries. Patronal feasts, the veneration of relics, processions, and the presence of minstrels indeed provided a ripe environment for performance: The Nativity of Christ, the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord, the resurrection of Lazarus, the deliverance of Daniel from the lions' den, and so on. Martyrology was also used to depict the lives of the saints.

These performances were first staged in church choirs, then in church squares, and finally in the street. From the 12th century onwards, there were also performances in the vernacular, which were gradually freed from religious ceremonies.

In the 13th century, the establishment of Corpus Christi[1] by Pope Urban IV in 1264 led to the organisation of processions and tableaux vivants depicting scenes from Holy Scripture.

Miracles

Miracles were also part of this dramatic literature. Miracles served as exemplum, examples with argumentative value[2], used for edification. The most famous is the Miracle de Théophile, which tells the story of a young cleric who is saved from damnation thanks to the Virgin Mary: it is an integral part of Marian literature (Miracles de Notre Dame): Gautier de Coinci[3] and Rutebeuf were the most famous writers in the 13th century. Devotion to the Virgin Mary was booming:

In Italy, it inspired the " lauds", a kind of half-narrative, half-lyrical oratorio imbued with an ardent mysticism, which Franciscan brotherhoods performed in their oratories, and in France, the "miracles of Notre-Dame" [4].

Medieval sacred theatre thus encompassed a variety of dramatic genres: liturgical or semi-liturgical drama, miracles, mysteries, etc.

The Games

The 12th century saw the emergence of the Jeu (Game), a much longer form of liturgical drama (100 to 1,000 lines). It is characterised by the introduction of anecdotes or popular legends on a religious theme. Examples include the Jeu de Daniel, or Ludus Danielis, a medieval liturgical drama in Latin dating from the 12th century (c.1140), based on the Book of Daniel[5], and the Livre de Jeux de Fleury, a medieval collection of liturgical dramas in Latin dating from the 13th century. These early Latin dramatic texts were sung.

Jean Bodel's Jeu de saint Nicolas, written around 1200, was the first non-liturgical play written in French; Adam de la Halle was one of the first to write secular plays with Jeu de la Feuille (1276) and Jeu de Robin et Marion: the actions were expressed through song and dance.

The mysteries

The mystery, originally spelt mistère (from the medieval Latin misterium, "ceremony"), is a theatrical genre that appeared in the 15th century. Eustache Mercadé, who died in 1440, is thought to have written one of the earliest French mysteries known to date: Le Mystère de la Passion, commonly known as the Passion of Arras, which is known to have been performed in Arras around 1420-1430 and in Metz in 1437. This mystery, which contains 24,944 octosyllables, is performed over four days. The prologue depicts the "trial in Paradise", where God hears the testimonies of Justice and Mercy about Satan's misdeeds in the world. God then decides to send his son there to redeem humanity. The first three days are devoted to Jesus' life on earth, from birth to passion. On the fourth day, he ascends to heaven to give an account of his work of redemption[6].

Farces (14th and 15th centuries)

The farce, which is also part of medieval dramatic literature, first appeared in the 13th century and developed in France and Germany in the 14th and 15th centuries. A comic work, it presents ridiculous situations and characters to depict deceptions, mystifications and misunderstandings.

The sotie, the second major genre of medieval comic theatre, features fools and madwomen brought before a tribunal, or explores a satirical theme through a realistic action or event.

Comedy thus blended with the sacred and desacralised it. The Devil became an increasingly important character, usually in a humorous way.

In one Christmas mystery, the shepherds, instead of bringing presents to the infant Jesus, ask him for some, and complain bitterly to Mary about the wickedness of the wolves ravaging their fields.

Elsewhere, the mother of Jesus complains that she has no swaddling clothes to wrap the child in, so Joseph gives her an old pair of trousers, which provokes the anger of the two maids...

Source :

-Henri Rey-Flaud. "Mystères (théâtre médiéval), In: Encyclopaedia Universalis.

-Robert Pignarre. Histoire du théâtre occidental, In: Encyclopaedia Universalis.

- Pierre Lorson sj, "Notre Dame dans la littérature allemande", in Hubert du Manoir, Maria, tome 2, Beauchêne Paris 1952, p. 75.

 

[1] The Feast of Corpus Christi, or Feast of the Blessed Sacrament (2nd Sunday after Pentecost) commemorates the presence of Jesus Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist.

[2] Miracles were used in the liturgy.

[3] Gautier de Coinci's Miracles de Notre Dame also includes songs.

[4] R . Pignarre. Histoire du théâtre occidental, In: Encyclopaedia Universalis.

[5] One of the two versions we have preserved is accompanied by monodic music.

[6] The theme of the "trial of Paradise" is subsequently found in other mysteries such as Le Mystère de la passion by Arnoul Gréban; other mysteries feature the siege of Orléans (1439), the Acts of the Apostles (S.et A.Gréban), Saint Martin (André de la Vigne, 1496), Saint Louis (Pierre Gringore, 1514), etc.

 

To know more

 

-on chansons mariales des troubadours et trouvères (XIIIès)in the Encyclopédie mariale

-on chansons mariales by Gautier de Coincy (13th century)in the Encyclopédie mariale

-on legends, miracles and mariales (medieval literature)in the Encyclopédie mariale

-on the miracle of Theophilusin the Marian Encyclopaedia

-on prayers to Mary in the chansons de geste of the 12th and 13th centuriesin the Encyclopédie mariale

-on lyric poetry, the German lied (15th century)in the Encyclopédie mariale

-on the Virgin Mary in literature (and songs)in the Marian Encyclopaedia