- TIME AND THE RELIGIOUS DRAMA‘ AN, INVESTIGATION
« I INTO THE FORMAL DRAMATIC STRUCTURE OF TWELVE
PASSION PLAYS OF THE MIDDLE AGES

 

 

; ' Dissertation for the Degree 0f Ph. D. 7- * v *
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY V I 7 r i ,

' ‘ JOHNWILLISARNOLD , _ , I

v
v
~
~

 

 

      
     

   

 

 

   

 

     
     
     
  

 

 

 
 

   
     
   

   

    

   
   

           
  

   
 

- ‘ 7 ‘ -'- , - I- .I , . .
,. V , II A "' — . I - I, .
‘ I . , _ H . I _. , , . ,’
~. - , , « , ' . , > _ , . .

' i . " ' V ‘ ‘ ' W <fi0“' . -
~ - .
5 .
~ ' ‘ . . * I ‘ . . I
., ._ _ ' I _ ' _ , ,_ ,’~ .I L
.- 7 ‘ » .I ., . . ‘I
., , ‘ .I
~ . ,

' - I , ~ ~» .- r - w.

. _ . Y , ”moor ~-..,..,1 ‘fl
_ . I . - _ ' ‘ V ""‘~~’;"~r 'vfltwd“, T‘
A r ‘ - - - , .—- {may—-0} '
. 7 ~ . .. ,,' ' ‘ v . ' '
I: I . L IV A '
, , I I

.. ' I I “ , I’
- . , I I . .I . ’ ‘ w ‘ r.- I... ,-,.

' .u . ‘ , - . _ h mupaw; -—.—-...

‘ ‘1. v ‘ u . I. . ,, _ ,,_ w 15:119.»’>v~21¢r.Thrrgf"
. ~ ' , I «”21, ‘Pw-D:- .0
v‘ V ' w . , .
, , "r I - “1-6.... ~_‘
- . ~ I "*ru-g; qu;. .32, 'F
‘ . V I ,. . W'u'r-p-r' , “.272, "T w
' ~ . I . m -~p—.-~. - a»: ”mi. m0“. ....
H . ‘ . . m. .,.,_.,I__ 1 M"
, ‘ ,. . . Balm» ..

 

 

 

    
  
  

 

  

‘ I n b .
o . A
’ .
; . .. WI... -.
I » «I.--..~..I:€.:::Ct~:;

WWW?
flaw

,3:
'f' :m,
”‘35 "W573: ~ ~
WW“...

   
   
  
 
     
   

  
 
 

nan-m. .','.~::t 3:1,...“

m ‘ ,3
“ «:8... no... '2. M,
v .., 3.1.”-.."31," m
'g" nuns. $32. "gay-3% R'szrx
PM P-

     
 

.:..uI ,I .,.,."-I.I
'II.I,,.'::I_'.«_ H

 

                
  

  
 

I." '.. ..
In (’52,.

    
  

 
 

w......,..... M,
w— ..... ”hm-In...» ,_ -
53"” ‘

 

 

   

<~Irrr-4
awn-urn”
u. .-

 

4...”.
~ an"

arc;

      

”Sim

 
   

 
  
  
 

.‘l. .‘
..-. _- «4 ¢.

          

'
rm D r
.. . .Im-~"....:,;'s.:§-
_”

m.

 

””3 «up.
:pu-OI: y u... .

Era-m).

   

 

    
 

9 ., _.
I : ’ "f ' x
41AJ¢\/.‘ '\

’N:1° -
1 . (

Ifi-opn‘ou‘ .:'l‘ “a
.‘ ' v
p‘ .3 k. . 4.; . ILL.";'_/

TIME AND THE RELIGIOUS DRAMA: AN INVESTIGATION
INTO THE FORMAL DRAMATIC STRUCTURE OF TWELVE
PASSION PLAYS OF THE MIDDLE AGES

Volume II

by

John Willis Arnold

A DISSERTATION
Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of German and Russian

1977

CHAPTER VII
Group III (1340-1520)

Chester, Towneley, Greban's MistEre, Donaueschingen, Alsfeld

Any investigation into the structure of medieval drama would be
incomplete without at least a cursory glance at portions of the English
cycle plays and the continental culminations of the Passion tradition of
the late Middle Ages. Whereas cultural and religious attitudes have
undergone substantial alteration in the centuries separating, for example,
Mbntecassino from Mistére, we will need to expand our awareness of
changes in stagecraft which accompany it. With justification more
emphasis will be laid upon aesthetic considerations of performance, for,
as Passion presentations move out of the realm of pure commemoration
into one stressing not only intensified emotional experience but also
sermonizing, the plays become not solely religious, but more profoundly
aesthetic experiences.1 They take on structures which do not always
rest with traditional material; the artistic capabilities of each
artist increasingly influences the final product. The reason may be
found in audience reaction to the plays: they have gradually come to
expect more from theatrical performances than strictly ritualistic
restatements of ultimate truths. Even in the instance of AZsféZd, a
play projecting spiritual overtones derived from tradition and ritual,
spectators' demands must be accommodated. This calls for novel characters,
such as humanized devils, a rationalized and believable Judas, and a
Crucifixion wherein figures not only speak or remark on the incident,
but participate more actively than before.2 The investigation into
motivational factors plays a dominant role in Group III, for as Froning
has noted, the elongation of episodes is not only designed to accommodate

332

333

the actions of characters, but to look intensely at why they act as well.3

When the religious environment into which Group III fits is con—

sidered, one discovers many facts which cast light upon its structure.

In most instances the salient spiritual developments can be discerned

in infant form in prior Passions. The demand for greatly rationalized
stage personalities, for example, was seen to define much of the dynamics
of Group II plays, such as Palat, Wien, and Autun B and Autun B.

Group III Passions extend this desire to a higher level and consequently
increase their length and breadth. But we must look more thoroughly

at the general tenor of the times to truly appreciate its organizational
impact.

Attention to Christ's travails for mankind, long the subject of
devotion in earlier years, becomes so profound as to assume the status
of a cult. Indeed, one finds almost every detail of His torment at
the fecal point of canonical hours of the day or affiliated in devotion-
al books with days of the week.4 In English lyrics of the time even
the instruments of the Lord's martyrdom assume the garb of pious
devotion.S The IMago Pietatis, a popular lyrical device of the late
medieval period,6 had already been applied to drama, as seen in Autun 8.7
It is recalled that the monolog of Christ the Wounded, addressed in
dramatic presentations directly to spectators of medieval times, is
divested of any hint of a historical or contextual tempus, thereby
adopting the force of timelessness. Thus freed from all temporal limita-
tion, the image and attendant monolog assumed a meditative,8 hence
didactic quality not seen in previous Passions. In his introduttion
to the Third Day of playing, Gréban addresses himself to the stage as a

mirror of human activity, stressing the opportunity to learn from

334
theatrical performance:

Ainsi va son veil moderant
en ce miroir considerant
ou tout cueur pour son dueil mirer
se dbit dbuleement remirer;
et affin que vous y mirez
et humblement la remirez,
ce devost miroir pour le mieulx
vous ramenons devant les yeulx
sensiblement par parsonnages:
mirez, vous, si serez bien sages:
chacun sa fbrme y entrevoit;
qui bien se mire, bien se volt.

(Mistere 19989-20000)

When we investigate the highly lyrical meditations on stage of
Jesus, as He points to His wounds and the instruments which inflicted
them, we discover a capacity to elicitirrationaland lyrical experiences
and emotions rather than those derived from dramatic attitudes. Such a
temporal interruption occurs twice in waneleyi the first instance may

. . . 9 . . .
be found at the Cruc1f1x10n, while the second is encountered 1n the
form of a 'dolorous complaint' in the Resurrection play,10 Since both
examples greatly affect the straightforward unrolling of the tale on
stage, we shall benefit by a closer reading of them at a later, more
appropriate time.

Yet another application of lyrical convention finds its way into
Passions from poetry: the figure of Christ as knight and lever. A
particularly striking usage is seen again in Towneley, where Jesus is

told by the First Torturer:

Ye must Iust in tornamente
(Taun'zeley XXIII 92),

Far we shall sett the in thy saddle

ffbr fallyng be thou bold;

I hete the wele thou bydys a shaft
(Tawneley XXIII 103n5),

And we shall se how he can ryde
(Tawneley XXIII 111),

335
Sir, commys heder and'haue dbne,
And wyn apon youre palfray sone
(Towneley XXIII 113-14).
all allusions to Christ's imminent pain on the Reed.

Derived from nuptial imagery of the Old Testament where Israel
became a harlot and God vowed to win her back, in Christian times
reconciled by the Passion,11 and later allied with conventional themes
from medieval romance, the figure of Christ the knight-lover was a logi—
cal extention of a suffering Savior, hung bleeding on the Cross.

Several images which make their way into Passion performances in the
fifteenth century share a characteristic often seen in poetry of the
Passion, as Woolf explains:

The elements of shock and surprise do not . . . derive from

the invention of a startling and hitherto unthought-of term

of comparison, but from the choosing of some ancient and

well-established similitude, and then pressing every pos-

sible detail into the comparison.12

With its intention defined more and more in terms of edification
and didacticism, the late medieval play sought to more closely simulate
the human experience than seen in Group II. This alteration becomes
manifest in the suppression of symbolic meaning in favor of a contem-
porary will of expression,13 a desire for still more detail, representa-
tiOn of every possible episode to its fullest,14 and the penetrating
investigation of purely religious scenes.15 One can offer as examples
the extensive inquiry of Gréban into the Last Supper and the Crucifixion,
and the Flagellation sequence of Tawneley. AZsféZd takes the invest-
igation a step further by including an extensive play of John the Baptist,

not an uncommon story in itself, but one of even greater structural and

dramatic import when allied to the Passion of Jesus Christ.

336

When we search medieval culture for possible explanations for what
to us often appears a cruel delight in attending to detail, to portray-
ing events like the Crucifixion, the Flagellation, and the Way of the
Cross in Group III plays with a crude flair for expression and a devilish
delight in revealing the darker side of man's nature, we find that some
of the same religious writings we have seen before lay open for con-
sideration: certainly the Meditationes of John of Caulibus, the Dialogue
S. Anselmi of Psuedo-Anselm, with their reflections on the events at the
Skull, cast their collective shadow over literary deliberations well into
the fifteenth century.

With great intensity preachers of the fourteenth century addressed
themselves to the Passion of Our Lord, employing language which in spirit
and emotion set the tone for plays of the following century. Listen
to the words of an English man of the pulpit:

He was betun and buffetid, scorned and scourgid, that unnethis

was ther left ony hoole platte of his skyn, fro the top to the

too, that a man myste have sette in the point of a nedil. But

31 his bodi rane out as a strem of blood. He was crowned with

a crowne of thornes for dispite. And whanne the crowne, as

clerkis seien, wolde not stik fast and iust doun on his heed

for the longe thornes and stronge, thei toke staves and betun

it down, til the thornes thrilliden the brayne panne. He

was naylyd hond and foot with scharp nailis and ruggid, for

his peyne shulde be the more; and so, at the last, he sufferid

most paynful deeth, hanging ful schemfulli on the cros.

There may be found, however, a third, and not unimportant tradition
of the medieval church in operation in these late plays. F.P. Pickering
is one of the few scholars to investigate the influence of exegesis on
Gothic 'realism' or the rationalization of ancient attitudes in Christian
art and drama at the close of the Middle Ages. He has made some remark-

able findings in the process, one of which I mentioned in the initial

pages of this study. Time, the bane of all scholarship, has long ago

337
obscured many of the most important events culminating in details of
Group III Crucifixions:

The reality of the Crucifixion is a painfully reconstructed
'historical' reality which the Christian world owes to the
biblical researches of the Fathers of the Church. Its only
source is the Bible, but the Bible interpreted in a way which
has passed more or less entirely out of use since the Re-
formation and Counter-Reformation.1

In a lengthy, elaborate, and impressively cogent presentation, Pickering
depicts the most shocking and horrifying particulars of 'Gothic'
crucifixions as resting on a long tradition of exegesis bent upon the
task of discovering and rationalizing all events in Christ's life with
Old Testament prophecies, or as reported in Luke xxiv: 44: "Neeesse est
impleri omnia quae soripta sunt in lege Mbyse, et prophetis, et psalmis
de me." Influential mystics lent their visions to a rapidly increasing

."18

store of "indignities and brutalities however described , for

each attempted to widen the epithet. 'no one can describe the sufferings
of our Lord" into concrete images for devotion. In plays of the late
medieval period, Mfistere sees fit to institutionalize the elongation
needed to realize these words, for as l'acteur reports in preparation
for the third day of playing:

et tant de hontes y (dans la maisoh d'Anne) souffry

qu'il n'est pas en humaine bouche

que l'offence totalle touche.

(Mistére 19938-40)

Although more complicated than the statement suggests, Pickering
attributes much of the iconography of the Crucifixion in late medieval
times, and not incidently of the Passion plays of the same period, to two
main sources, Psalms xxi and lvi (the Good Friday and Easter Psalms ).19

This is, of course, only the tip of the iceberg, and as contexts warrant

and examples allow, I shall return to this scholar's remarkable suggestions.

338

During the course of prior decades influential voices in religious
thought also tackled the problem of man in the world. Previously accepted
definitions of human life, its meaning and eventual goal, did not escape
scrutiny and restatement. In spite of the continued desire to experience
the Passion in all its emotive power, the character of the religious
body, that is, the Church, had reacted to long—building pressures. The
Corpus Christi Mysticum, the religious group, seen for so many centuries
as the mystical Body of Christ, united by the Mass, had undergone a gradual
process of fractionalization, the result of which reduced the congre—
gation to a group of individuals, each experiencing the sufferings of
Christ subjectively.20 Hartl, too, perceives an altered spectator state
of mind at the core of many 'worldly' elements of late Passions.
Audiences would no longer tolerate protracted hours of didactic earnest-
ness, filled with 'painful truths', "sondern liebt es, entsprechend der
innere Zerrissenheit der in keiner Gemeinschaft geborgenen Seele, den
grausigen Ernst durch schranklose Ausgelassenheit zu Ubertgnen. . . ."21
As this observation attests, man had in past decades also begun to react
to the world in a manner unlike that which had leaned on thomistic princi-
ples of being, so long a part of medieval life. Instead man began to
view the world not as a subject, but as an object, possessing merit of
its own, quite apart from its place in the hierarchy which led towards
eternity.22 Mankind became torn between living in a pleasurable world
and preparing himself for a final reckoning. Earlier gradualistic con-
cepts of being, with their emphasis on the transitoriness of things
earthly, with their teachings that all life was but preparation for the
hereafter, lost much of their intensity.23 Accompanying these changes

in religious attitudes was an altered strategy for theatrical performance

339

of religious history. Something more than a desire to heighten emotional
involvement in the Good Shepherd's sacrifice began to define the theater
of the late Middle Ages. More emphasis was made to relate the staged
reality to problems of existence in the present world. The Pilate of
Towneley makes much more sense when seen in this light, as a vehicle for
social comment on the ills of contemporary society. And his role as
mouthpiece for the author, while especially well drawn and presented, is
certainly not unique; Pilate has several excellent counterparts in other
areas of medieval literature. Rosemarie Magnus has identified a clear
intent to teach through the 'lively' sermon of AZserd;24 Maria Maller
finds similar evidence as she addresses herself to the basic deportment
of later Passions: "Die Grundhaltung dieser Spiele ist eine epische.
Nicht das dramatische Miterleben des Zuschauers ist ihr Ziel, sondern
seine Unterweisung und Belehrung."25 To be sure, we cannot dismiss the
obvious interest for emotional reactions to the Passion in those who
attend its performance; rather we must now guage the deepening rational—
ization of the character in the event and the subsequent alteration of
form in light of both phenomena:

Seitdem innere Struktur des Buhengeschehens nicht mehr nur eine

gottliche, sondern auch eine menschliche ist, laszt sich in den

wirklichkeitsnahen Darstellungen die unbewuszte Befolgung

gewisser dramatischer Grundsetze erkennen. Das Prinzip der

grosztmoglichen Naturwahrheit tritt in den Dienst der religiosen

Erbauung.

It may be said in conclusion that the spectator of a late
medieval play, suspended as he was between this world and the next,
vacillating between the lust for life and a sincere repentance for his
acts, lived in a new world where he could not always rely upon an ancient

gradualistic and theocentric order of the universe. The Christian congre-

gation, long seen as a mystical body of true believers, had collapsed,

340
and in its place rose a new individualism which stressed a person's
care for his own salvation.27 The demands a spectator like this might
have placed on the theater were more complicated than those of his
predecessors. The response by playwrights also proved unique, though
at times somewhat overworked by modern standards. The modes of drama-
tization to which fifteenth-century Passions fell heir and which they
cultivated to a degree heretofore unknown were : l) a subjective manner
of religious experience, corresponding to personal necessity; 2) a
'humanization' of religious figures which reflected the character of
contemporary devoutness; 3) a method of performance emphasizing
'rationalization' of character and event in service of a religious
theater rich in illusion.28 Let us now place the five plays of Group III

into this context by first studying their external qualities.

Each play or group of plays from this group possesses a unique
organization and structure, responding to different demands of performance.
Chester presents the local understanding of the biblical tale as it
existed in the last quarter of the fourteenth century in that particular
area of England. Its structure supports a Passion section notably straight-
forward in direction.29 However, to adequately comprehend Chester, we
shall have to examine the phenomenon of casting, wherein one character
may be portrayed by several individuals. A second factor which may bear
upon its organization of time,as well as this portion of Towneley, is the
effect upon the composition of the performance, and what structurally
limiting effect staging on several small areas not always simultaneously
observable might have on the temporal strategy of the plays themselves.

It may be found, for instance, that much of what is reported in Chester

0r Towneley in the past tense, reported as having occurred, but not

.341

dramatized, may indeed be a function of the stage employed in many
cities in England, that of moveable wagons, or pageants, drawn up in a
group or spaced singly at strategic places throughout the city. Again,
with the two cycle plays one must be reminded that one is dealing not
with a single, continuous performance, as has been the case in all plays
investigated thus far, but rather with several related, but discrete
and distinct staged entities, each with its own peculiar form inside the
greater cycle organization. We find this formal division into specific
plays reflected in the temporal structure of Chester XIII and XIV: With
the exception of periods of inactivity between days of presentation in
Mistere, Donau, and Alsfeld, each carries the action from one place to
another with a minimum of temporal interruption. In Chester such is often
not the case. Division into single plays,<xufliwith a chronology unique
to it alone, enables a playwright to choose where he wishes to conclude
one play and commence another. Although a necessary overall chronology
of the Passion is preserved, Chester completes play XIII with Jesus'
stated desire to go to Jerusalem.30 'We surmise that some undisclosed
amount of time has passed between then and the Master‘s initial statement
of Chester XIV:

Brethern, goe we to Bethany,

to lazar, martha, and mary:

for I loue much that company,

thether now will i wend.

(Chester XIV 1-4)

Jesus has just visited the three mentioned individuals in play XIII to
raise Lazarus. He, therefore, must have made the journey to Jerusalem
prior to His opening dialog of the ensuing play. We have here an obvious

amount of dead space; the two plays are neither causally nor temporally

linked. Each is a separate entity with its own inception and conclusion.

342
Such a phenomenon in Alsfeld or Donau would surely cause a moment of
disorientation, but in a cycle composed of distinct plays with distinct
players and stages, the problem disappears,

Furthermore, the role exercised by medieval guilds in the presentation
of the cycles will have no mean effect upon the structure of each indivi-
dual play.

More than any of the three textual groupings, Group III shows wide
variation in scope and content, not to mention formal organization of
temporal elements. The dramatic singlemindedness of the Chester authors
may be contrasted with Greban's Aflstere, in which psychological motivation
causes characters to become highly complex personalities. The desire
of Gréban to seek possible human reasons for the actions of his characters
produces a play in which staged personalities become recognizeable
human beings. But such a performance gives up the unrelenting drive
towards the Crucifixion and Resurrection, so readily ascertainahle for
Chester. We are lead down many side alleys on the journey and the
ensuing temporal experience of Mistere is substantially different from
that of Chester. A short consideration of the history surrounding each

Passion will indicate its individuality.

Glynne Wickham has determined that, contrary to popular scholarly
thought, the Chester plays originated nearer 1377 than 1327-28.31
Some evidence of earlier short mimetic activities on fixed stages exists
in the case of Chester,32 but the fact of singular importance for the

organization of this cycle is that the work was preserved in a form akin
to the earliest years of performance by a "stern kind of conservatism"3

which protected it from the excesses of later centuries, particularly the

undesirable influences of the fifteenth and sixteenth. This cycle will

343

provide us with some idea of the earliest years in English cycle develop-
ment. As Table 10 indicates, I limit my observations to the plays
directly dealing with the Lord's Passion.

By any measurement the account offered by the authors of waneley
exhibitscnma of the most skillful manipulations of character and struc-
ture found in all of medieval literature. There is a high degree of
awareness of dramatic effect allied with the previously unwitnessed
literary talent of the Wakefield Master, which all combine to produce a
tale of Christ's Passion unequalled by any author before him. Indeed,
one is hard pressed to find his equal before the advent of Shakespeare.
It is no accident that Towneley provides many examples of the greatest
of aesthetic pleasures which may be derived from the meaningful emendation
of the traditional Passion story. (hm: is, therefore, inevitably dis-
turbed by the lack of historical substance needed to place Towneley
into its proper perspective. Early in their discussions scholars of
English drama recognized the indebtedness of waneley to its nearest
geographical neighbor, Yerk. They also were able to identify the
Nbrthern Passion and the Gespel of Nicodemus as two important vernacular
sources for the Passion group of both cycles.34 The Wakefield stanza,

a complicated, but intense thirteen-line device of marvelous literary
puissance, called by Carey, "the most effective dramatic medium known

to the Middle Ages,”35 has likewise been catalogued throughout the plays
in which it occurs. Attempts have been made to provide a history for
Towneley XXIV, the Processus Talentorum, that most unconventional and
penetrating of medieval approaches to the dicing for Jesus' robe.

But Towneley, more than any single phenomenon of the time, defies these

scholarly attempts to categorize its achievements. Instead, the Passion

344

group (as well as plays antecedent to it) maintains a singular vividness
and compactness of plot which make it an experience worthy of reader
attention from any time. One may discover a continuity of language,
character, and action which cuts through the five individual plays of
the Wakefield Passion group and unites the numerous players from five
different guilds into a thematic and dramatic whole;37 for though several
actors may take the part of one biblical figure, all are integrated
under one concept of presentation.38 We may be disappointed with the
approximate date of completion of ca. 1450, believing perhaps that all
the energy and time which has gone into scholarship concerning waneley
should surely have been more productive than this. However, when all
the facts have been disclosed, when the last academician has had his
say on the subject, there is still to be feund and experienced the
reality of a brilliant and intense statement on Christ and man, a reality
filled with meaningful manipulation of temporal phenomena and great
dramatic acumen. This will be the focus of our labor, fer waneley,
more than any other single Passion, is a living testimony to an author
of unparalleled dramatic capacities. Once again, I limit discussion,
with few exceptions, to the Passion group and the Resurrection play.

Gréban's.Mistere, an undertaking in excess of 30,000 lines and
requiring four days to perform, originates within a few years of Towne-
ley, or from about 1452. It has been labeled the most famous French
Passion of its day and its name is the best known of the late Passions
in our own.39 Interest generated by the play within the author's
lifetime may be guaged by the numerous copies of the work which
survive and by records of performances in cities such as Paris, Le Mans,

40

Amiens, and Mons. Arnoul Greban, a "bachelier en théologie"41 in

345
Paris, born in Le Mans, employed fer the framework of his rendition and
several of its particulars La Passion dlArras of Eustache Marcade, but
stamped the borrowed material with his own imprint by extending the
roles of Satan42 and the Virgin,43 as well as by incorporating several
novel personalities into his play. He further extended his mastery over
traditional material by adding linguistic and dramatic touches unique
to him.

Mistere gives rise to conflicting emotions in the modern reader,
for, although Gréban allows his characters to assume readily—recogniz-
able traits of human behavior, he must slow the tempo of succession in
many instances to a crawl, thus raising the unpleasant spectre of
severe languishment.44 Nonetheless, this Passion exhibits a multitude
of impressive manipulation, both of represented and of presentational
time. Above all others, Gréban's.Mistere seems to correspond to what is
called by Thompson the law of’proportional intensity. Stated in its
briefest form, the principle may be articulated as follows: "The longer
the perfbrmance, the greater the emotional intensity needed to hold
an audience."45 Despite the cruel realism of Donau or the extravagant
attention to motivational detail by the Alsfeld authors, neither German
text approaches the French Passion in intensity of emotional rational-
ization. One suspects that Helmut Niedner may be at least partly correct
when he attributes such an extraordinary length to a ”primitive(s)
Nichtgenughabenkgnnen des Volkes."46 In any event, the three main
divisions of time we have thus far observed will be greatly affected by
Greban's method of character motivation and rationalization. As the
tale is of such inordinate length, I must limit analysis of this

tour de force to the arena of Christ's Passion and Resurrection, a

346
portion containing verses 17287-29526.

The fourth member of Group III, Donau, like so many manuscripts of
the Middle Ages, receives its title from its place of preservation rather
than from its actual place of origin. A linguistic analysis points to
Villingen in southwestern Germany as its probable point of genesis,
and its commitment to written records as occurring around 1485.47
iUnfortunately, Donau shares the incompleteness of numerous medieval
letters, having forfited the final six pages to an unknown fate.48
Happily, readers need not rely on conjecture alone to reconstruct the
final scenes of Donau, for the Passion of Luzern from 1545 resembles
its earlier relative to such a degree that it provides a close approx—
imation of the lost material.49 I have, however, not attempted to
incorporate the missing pages into this analysis.

Donau participates in the extremes of presentation which define
most Passions of the late medieval times. Methods of representation,
particularly those used in the trial and Crucifixion sequences, border
upon the excessive, with Jews acting not only as torturers, but exe—
cutioners as well. One occasionally questions whether insulting and
coarse behavior to the extent delivered in Donau need occupy so pro-
minent a position in the Passion. Extensive vernacular rubrics yield
a detailed plan of staging extremely explicit in their intention and a
reader may easily conjure up mental images of what painful forces under~
lie the evil surrounding the suffering Savior. The readiness of the
Jews to Ixxufli for stones to hurl at the Lord on several occasions does
more to establish their vehement hatred than untold quantities of

words uttered after the fact. One comes away from Donau with a feeling

of having been emotionally drained by the vividness of detail.

347

The situation is somewhat different in Alsfeld. Untrammeled
character authenticity is tempered by repeated inclusions from the vast
store of medieval religious writing, almost always offered in Latin.
Ritual occupies a prominent position here,50 and has lent Alsfeld the
title, Heine feierliche Predigt".51

Contrary to so many medieval works, Alsfeld has come through the
uncertainties of preservation intact. Saved at the last moment from
destruction at the hands of a bookbinder to whom the manuscript had been
sold in 1842,52 the Passion now rests with the state library of Hessen
in Kassel. Tracing its spiritual heritage back to StG,.Alsfeld stands
at the apex of development of the Frankfurter Spielgruppe, which includes
the Frankfurter Dirigierrolle 0f'1350, and the Frankfurter Passionsspiel
of 1493. This group of Hessian Passion plays continues with the play
of Heidelberg (1514), whose descendents include the Augsburger Passions-
spiel and the oldest known text of the play from Oberammergau. The
written manuscript has an equally interesting history, being compiled
by feur separate hands. These have been labeled A (representing the
play in 1501), B and D (additions for the performance of 1511, totaling
741 and 126 verses respectively),53 and C (167 verses attached in 1517).54

We know only one author by name who labored on the text. He was
Heinrich Haltscher, writer of the B lines. These four writers, acting
in concert, make Alsfeld the longest preserved German Passion55 and
certainly one of the most interesting.

One curiosity of history surroundingtflfljsnot insignificant town
at the crossroads of important medieval commerce concerns the strange

divergences of religious opinion which must have cloaked Alsfeld for

many years. This upper Hessian city of some renoun was the first to

348
exercise the dangerous religious and political option of leaving the
Catholic camp and accepting the Reformation in 1522,56 only five years
after the final emendations to the text had been accomplished. That is
to say that right up to the outbreak of the new time in religious thought,

the city of Alsfeld cultivated Passion plays of profound depth and

sincerity.

Before I commence the analysis of textual particulars for these
last five plays, a modification in the expositional method becomes
unavoidable due to the sheer volume of material under consideration. I
must abandon the complete investigation of each individual text, employ-
ing all the technical possibilities of temporal management, in favor of
a less inclusive, but more intensive view. Therefore, I shall concen-
trate my energy on presenting what I believe to be the most interesting,
best manipulated, most structurally decisive and artistically conceived
examples of several temporal phenomena from the group as a whole; for
any one text from this late period easily supplies ample material for
extensive research. I shall likewise exclude some of the fundamental,
less artistic temporal categories which appear as almost inevitable
consequences of theatrical endeavor, the majority of which comprise a
part of the succession of events. Those categories not deliberated upon
are not eliminated because they do not appear in Group III (they con-
trarily form a massive category of low level temporal management), but
for reasons of emphasis; our time will be better spent with instances
of dramatic organization which lend a peculiarly artistic or aesthetic
quality to the plays in which they occur or show a greatly advanced

manner of dealing with the material to be produced.S8

349
Those phenomena which remain will be afforded exhibitional space for
one or two of the best examples only, others being relegated to feet-
notes where necessary. I therefore make no attempt at exhaustive

annotation.

TIME OF PRESENTATION AND REPRESENTED TIME

To take first the entity of represented time and apply it to the
English plays provides us with numerous points of affinity and diversity
between the two texts themselves and the whole corpus of Passion pre-
sentation. I remind the reader that only Christ's sufferings and Re—
surrection are treated here, with the play of the Blind Man and Lazarus'
return to life added from Chester. Representationally, we witness only
a few hours or days of the culmination of a story depicted on stage as
spanning many thousands of years. And even these periods receive unique
treatment from both Chester and Towneley. When we investigate the
immediate surroundings of the beginning of each play grouping, it is
discovered that Chester XII deals with the adulteress, another event
from the years of the Master's holy ministry. In play XIII Chester
offers a complete play for investigation of two doctrinally related
miracles, which prove His dominion over physical infirmity and death.
Towneley, on the other hand, precedes directly from Christ's baptism
in play XIX to the conspiracy against His person in waneley XX. The
search for adequate reasons for the disparity of accounts is not an easy
one, but some suggestions can be offered.

Chester, by virtue of its chronology, may have preserved a represent-
ational time frame similar to that of stationary performances, which,
Salter believes, constituted its earliest theatrical form, long before

Chester became processional.59 This would render Chester more like the

350
several continental fixed stages in terms of material produced. It is
also known that the entire cycle was not perfbrmed each year, rather those
events preceding the Passion alternated with it annually. waneley was
probably performed in one day, albeit a lengthy one. This might lead
the waneley redactors towards a sort of 'economy of performance',
wherein numerous secondary events were allowed to wither.

A second consideration for this question is also difficult to
answer. Although I have not read of any definite developments in guild
history which might suggest the elimination of some play due to the
changing fortunes of the responsible guild, a possibility exists that,
with its economic life adversely affected, a particular guild may have
been relieved of the burden of underwriting a play between waneley XIX
and XX. We have some evidence of such an operation in reverse from
Chester. Due to the innovation of firearms, the Bowyers, Fletchers, and
Stringers could no longer support their play of the flagellation. In
this instance, the cycle would have suffered grievous and unacceptable
damage, so the flagellation was merged with the Crucifixion of the
Ironmongers to form a single play.60 It is general knowledge that the
economic fortunes of guilds caused much emendation of plays, and to sur-
mise that Towneley may have lost one just before the initiation of the
Passion for this reason is not absurd. There is, however, a more
intriguing and convincing argument which postulated a willful adaptation
of traditional material by the various authors of Towneley, which at
once seems more plausible and probable. It is the position of Pilate
in the conspiracy and Crucifixion. I will return to him shortly.

Represented time in the other plays offers few innovations worthy

of consideration. With the deletion of material both before and after

351
the Passion in.Mistére, the concept of represented time for this work is
basically compromised. I have arbitrarily defined its scope as the few
hours of Maundy Thursday, when preparations for the Passover are being
finalized, to a few moments after the Resurrection. Those of Donau and
Alsfeld represent substantial periods from the years of ministry, Alsfeld
returning to Christ's baptism, much as did StG. We have, therefore, in
all accounts from the late medieval period, Passion plays which are
that in name only, but which on stage are actually dramatizations of
much of the Savior's life.

It should be noted that, perhaps with the exception of Mistére and
the majority of time from Alsfeld, temporal lacunae are still to be
encountered, particularly in the cycle plays, this despite the extensive
reflection by the redactors involved in character development, rational-
ization of events, and tendencies to be inclusive and thorough in their
investigations. These plays, especially the monolithic French Passions
and only a degree less massive German plays, seem to prove that drama-
tists who wish to play viable theater simply cannot avoid numerous
empty times within their chronology of events;

Both English cycles indicate in the macro-structure of presentational
time yet another distinction unique to them, that of arranging scenes
around a general topic, thus fashioning a single play from related
ideas. Each play has its title, though those of Chester are a bit
broader then waneley; so with Chester XIV, for instance, where the
Savior visits Simon the Leper, giving rise to the Magdalene's anointment
of Him and to Judas' traditional reasons for betraying his Master,

further investigated in the Cleansing of the Temple.

352

Marching to a different drummer, Chester assembles all the Passion
material into a single play, naturally the most extensive of the six.
And the individual scenes which comprise the Passion of Chester, the one
of greatest length is, of course, the Crucifixion. Those events which
culminate at the Skull allow for little investigation of particulars of
either character or ancillary occasions.61 The six episodes which ante-
cede the Way of the Cross, so drawn out in all other members of Group
III, advance rapidly towards the inevitable judgment and condemnation
without so much as a momentary halt to ascertain motivation.62 Indeed,
Travis sees an aesthetic device behind this uninterrupted unfblding of
physical pain and spiritual torment, with the dramatic focus always on
the Lord:

. . . by rapidly passing Christ to and fro, from Caiaphas to

the buffeters to Pilate to Herod to Pilate again and then to

the scourgers, Chester avoids bearing down too painfully

upon any one ferm of humiliation.63 ,
Travis finds in the dramatic principles defining Chester "a basic
dramatic rhythm reminiscent of ritual, in formalizing the characters of
evil into a collective, impersonal force . . 3'94 which neither
needs nor uses the abundant opportunities to throw the story into
rational contrast. What emerges from the unswerving forward motion of
represented time in the presentational reference frame of 892 verses
is the tendency for Chester to carve faces of evil upon the detracters
of Jesus which are practically undistinguishable from one another,
”stylized in character, generic in nature . . . ."65 A cycle compre-
hensively designed to "demonstrate the salvific power of Christian
belief"66 does not need to people its platforms with individualized

malefactors.' In this way Chester is reminiscent of the face of evil

painted by Wien, not surprising when one remembers that only about half

353
a century separates them and their intentional form.

It would be difficult to imagine a greater contrast in the exposed
faces of evil shown by Chester than those of’waneley, for the latter
investigates exactly those manifestations which Chester refused to
consider. This fact is born out in presentational time. Table 11
shows a concentration of presentational time on the trials and Cruci-
fixion of some 2090 verses compared with 892 for the same period in
Chester.67 The greatest divergence between accounts occurs with the
onset of the trials. What was handled in 128 verses by Chester, as
Christ appeared before the High Priests, is expanded, darkened, made
excruciatingly real and individual by an entire play of 450 lines in
Towneley. Those minutes at the court of Caiaphas and Annas seem indeed
to be hours, as the former, that ultimate representation of the corrupt
ecclesiastical lawyer,68 raves and inveighs against his helpless captive,
desiring in his innermost being to do the Lamb violence and to see Him
broken:

Iherfbr whils I am in this brethe
Let me put hym to dethe.
(waneley XXI 267-8)
It wold do me som good
To see knyghtys knok his hoode
With knokys two or thre.
(Towneley XXI 313—15)
The play called the Flagellation, Towneley XXII, continues that line of
dramatization, with the moments surrounding Christ's appearance before
Pilate investigated in unrelenting detail. And the Crucifixion itself,
with those most horrible of medieval functionaries, the executioners,
who gleefully and expertly carry out their hammering, pulling,'racking,

and elevating, a scene of 584 lines, is certainly one of the most

gruesome and most 'rationalized' crucifixions of the entire group.

354

For the Processus Talentorum, however, no analog nor source has
ever been established beyond reasonable doubt. It represents the final
look in presentational time into Pilate's black soul, done in the con-
text of represented time which is but a small, almost insignificant
adjunct of the Crucifixion in the Bible.

As I mentioned previously, waneley personifies evil by casting
several of the Lord's adversaries into roles as individuals. Contrary
to prior Passions, where evil forces were guided by Satan, and the
ensuing struggle of primaeval forces assumed the proportions of God vs.
Devil, Towneley organizes its malevolence into human personalities, each
of which has some distinguishing characteristic about him. Presentational
time of the waneley micro-structure, played out on the level of total
time of figures on stage and their degree of influence on the plot, is
yet a further indication of the rationalization of evil and, not inci-
dently, of a splendid concentration on Pilate.69

When the total time of Pilate's presence on stage is plotted
against other persons in Towneley, as well as in the four remaining
Passions of Group III, we discover the degree to which he dominates
this particular presentation. Pilate himself delivers at least 476
verses prior to the traditional few granting Joseph of Arimathea the
bruised body of the Lord. He absolutely commands the Processus Talent-
orum :fronlits inception. Pilate's place in the conspiracy is as its
prime mover, the one who instigates the trials, determined from the very
beginning of his presence on stage to do Christ to death.70

We may also judge the dominance of Pilate over presentational time
by noting how his person hovers over the acts of others and what they

say about him.71 The malefic governor is on the mind of Caiaphas, as

355
Annas suggests that Jesus be delivered to him for judgment:
ffbr I'am euer in drede, wandreth, and we,
Lest Pylate fer mede let ihesus go.
(Towneley XXI 434-5)
The executioners also exhibit a fair degree of negative anticipation
prior to Pilate's arrival in waneley XXIV:
Euen this same nyght:
0f me and of my felowse two
with whom this garmente shall go,
bot sir Pilate must go ther to,
.I swere you by this light.
ffbr whosoeuer may get thise close
he ther neuer rek wher he gose
ffbr he semys nothyng to lose,
If so be he theym were;
(Towneley XXIV 100-8)
Let us Neynde to sir pilate withoutten any fabylle:
Boy syres, bi my Zewte, he gettys not this gowne
(Towneley XXIV 167-8),
which, of course, Pilate does, but only by reverting to threats against
the winning torturer.
A glance at Table 11 will reveal the lack of a trial before Herod,
one which is dutifully rendered by all Passions save waneley. I
agree with Arnold Williams that its absence is not mere coincidence,
but rather a willful and knowing manipulation of material by the Towne—
ley authors, designed to focus dramatic attention upon Pilate as the
chief representative of evil which opposes the Christ. In other cycles
like Chester and Ludus Coventriae Pilate lacks a strong character,
partly due to competition from numerous other instigators of evil,
namely Annas, Caiaphas, Judas, and Herod.72 What remains is a figure
who is "a weak, vacillating individual who has to be pushed to his
decision by the Jews, the resulting character (of whom) can hardly

. . . 73 .
dominate any scene, even the condemnation of Christ." The Pilate

of Towneley,on the contrary, established by the exclusion of at least

356
one potential dramatic rival, Herod,74 becomes from his first appearance
on stage one of the most forceful representations of evil in all of
medieval drama.

Pilate's dominance over presentational time may be sensed by yet
another exclusion which might have adversely affected the ferocious
personality given him. The dream of Pilate's wife, wherein the Devil
attempts to affect the outcome of Christ's judgment, finds no realization.
This activity and the ensuing confrontation between the Roman magistrate
and his wife or maid servant is out of tune with the overall atmosphere
of waneley, "which presents a picture of unrelieved grimness."

In waneley, then, we find one of the most meaningful and artistic
organizations of presentational time in the entire corpus of drama, an
organization which will be reflected in other temporal categories as
well.

A quick reference to Table 12 will reveal that for Mistere pre-
sentational time is best categorized by a slow and lavishly detailed,
often agonizingly rationalized motion towards the Redeemer's triumph
on the Cross. We have come to expect vivid accounts of the trials,
flagellation, and Crucifixion, but this incredibly minute report expands
them to unheard of length, and, not surprisingly, finds enough energy to
also consider countless subordinate scenes in the process. Each degree
of the interrogation process stands out as a dominant event; Jesus
appears before both Annas (922 verses) and Caiaphas (820 verses), each
encounter punctuated by a frightful scourging (totaling 337 verses) and
separated in presentational time by a break in activity; Pilate con-
fronts Jesus in four distinct scenes (948 verses), detached from im-

mediate surroundings by presentation in parallel or spatial movement

357
into another context; the Crucifixion is expanded to encompass 1617
verses, easily the most lengthy, but not necessarily the most effective
scene of its type in Group III. Ancillary events indicate other areas
of the story which Gréban has considered worthy of discussion. He
appears preoccupied with the Last Supper (an account of some 645 verses,
investigating in amazing detail the reactions and motivations of the
twelve to Jesus' message of betrayal), the Way of the Cross (716 verses
of anguishingly slow advancement up the mountain), and the Descent from
the Cross (530 lines). As an indication of Gréban's extreme attention
to detail one can cite the investigation of the part played by Joseph
of Arimathea in the descensus ad crucem by his Jewish peers and his sub-
sequent arrest and imprisonment for seditious acts (585 lines), a
development found in no other Passion under study.

This episode concerning Joseph and the Jews is but one example of
Gréban's tenacious attention to dramatic minutiae. Other particulars
of this story may be observed in Greban's many preparations for major
events, such as those for the Passover meal (including preparation for
the movement to the Upper Room itself), the Arrest, the Herod episode,
the devils to defend their captive souls, and the setting of the guard.
All are transitional scenes, apparently designed to rationalize the
account into as faithful a representation of a human experience on
stage as possible. Sister Mary Faith McKean also sees these built-up
transitions as a concern for the greater developmental process of the
play rather than an interest for only the most pivotal parts of episodes,
as guided the Evangelists as they first wrote of their experiences.

When compared to their appearances in other plays, where these tran-

sitions are carried out within a few verses at most, their presence

358
seems almost too obvious. But, with Mistere we are dealing with the
most psychological and de-mythologized account of the late Middle
Ages, one in which dramatic consistency and motivation of episodes
reaches a peak. .

Manipulation of presentational time in.Donau provides little in
the way of highlight which might compare with Mistére; we will have to
look to other, more subtle categories in order to discover the inner
workings of this Passion.

Of the many circumstances which stand out in the presentational
time of Alsfeld, that of John the Baptist is easily the most important
and extensive, for it investigates in great detail the pivotal occasions
of his life, from the baptism of Christ to John's death and punishment
of Herodias and daughter fer the Baptist's demise. In fact, John
receives more attention than any one of the trial episodes. The group
of scenes concerning the Baptist is shorter only than the Crucifixion
and a classic religious dispute between synagoga and Ecclesia. Obviously,
the writers of.Alsfeld have a particular function in mind for John. I
believe it to be in the area of dramatic similarity, where John serves
as an alter-ego for Christ, precursing His own unjust tribulations. But
more of this in the proper context.

Alsfeld also interests itself in the ancillary events of the
Passion, and, in so doing, rationalizes the entire series of events,
as does Mistere, but without the latter's unrelenting quest for fidelity
to human experience. This is not so say that Alsfeld pays little heed
to humanization of its characters or their motivation, rather that it
does so to a lesser degree than the French Passion. Indeed, the two

accounts differ not so much in intent, but instead in the method of

359
arriving at the goal. Alsfeld chooses to temper its worldly character
with vast inclusions from ritual and music, which often lend it a grace
of presentation and tone not possessed by Mistére. We have in this
late German Passion a tempered didacticism of sorts, a realization on
stage of the idea that in the Passion of Christ much more than an
earthly event is celebrated, and that event, to be placed into its
proper understanding, needs not only liturgical aids, but also those

of allegory and the repeated interposition of God Himself.77

It is difficult to adequately ascertain the dramatic positions of
several stock biblical figures and to generalize chronologically from
them for the third group. Many personalities whose lives were high-
lighted beyond scriptural sources, like the Magdalene, have a less
obvious impact upon other cast members; they dominate presentational
time much less than witnessed in texts of previous centuries. The
place of Mary Magdalene in Group III is not pivotal as it was in Benp
or even in Wien. The reason is twofold: one of the parts appears to be
literary development in dramatics of the late medieval period, and the
second part seems to be historical.

Mary's dramatic influence upon the Chester Passion section is
limited to those traditional appearances we have seen before: inter-
ruption of the Passover meal without so much as the Palat indication of
her intent to seek out her Savior (she simply appears with the oint-
ment, lamenting former misdeeds);78 two normal attendances on the Lord,
one at His death,79 and the other at the empty tomb,8O both in the
company of Mary Salome and Mary Jacoby. In no instance is the Chester
Magdalene expanded beyond a very minimal and dramatically inconsequential

role; she is merely one of the three women who mourn Christ's passing,

360

or a character who performs traditional witness to the Resurrection.
The text further suggests that the amalgamation of three biblical figures
into the legendary personality of Mary Magdalene is not complete. The
Magdalene of the Eucharist, Crucifixion, and Resurrection is clearly and
consistently named Maria Magdalena, whereas Mary, the sister of Martha
and Lazarus, is uniformly called simply Muria. Thus is the possible
interplay of warning by a blood relative to put her sins behind her
and the eventual reception back into the family unit, as was seen in
StG, not a viable alternative for Chester. This traditional use of
material dealing with Mary Magdalene is in keeping with the general
decline of her importance in England already noticed during the
thirteenth century.8

Towneley has even less time for the Magdalene than its earlier
relative, offering her a marginal role before the Resurrection, ful-
filled by a two-line lament upon hearing of the Master's plight,83 and
a warning to the first torturer of the consequences of his actions on
Golgotha.84

Greban's work is so massive as to swallow the saint almost
entirely. Prior to her activities in response to the Resurrection,
Mary Magdalene is practically lost in a crowd of mourners at the Cruci-
fixion. Indeed, it is difficult to see her laments as being extraordinary
in either frequency or duration. Mary'5(xnuxnuu;from the onset of the
Passion are vastly overshadowed by those of the Virgin. The Magdalene
seems to be just another woman from the inner circle of Christ's
closest friends, mourning His death and consoling His mother, both
before and after the meeting out of ultimate punishment. This saint

makes no interruptive entrance into the Passover room, her participation

361

being limited to a short consolation of the Virgin's fears of impending
disaster fer her Son85-- an ineffective attempt at that! One result
of her absence from the Last Supper is the necessity for Judas' treason
to be alternately motivated, a requirement accomplished by the play-
wright with great skill.

0f the five accounts, Donau and Alsfeld remain most faithful to
Mary Magdalene's former place in the drama of the Passion. But even
these two plays, by virtue of their extensive development of secondary
events, tend to take some of the past glitter from Mary's personality;
she is still an excellent example of Christ's saving grace, but Mary
is only one instance of many. In Alsfeld Mary's worldly life, repent-
ance, and forgiveness require only 348 verses. To be sure, some innova-
tive carryings on are included, such as her carousing with devils,
her singing of courtly lyrics,87 whose antecedents I discussed during
the analysis of Wien,88 and her liaison with a knight from Herod's
court,89 that same Herod who had John the Baptist put to death. But
the turning point of Mary's life is still her argument with older
sister Martha,90 supported here by the Lord's Sermon on the Mount.91
Although some innovative theatrics are to be found in Mary's behavior,
such as heretofore unallowed erotic kisses and aggressive hugs and Mary's
change of clothing subsequent to her conversion,92 her central position
in the Passion lesson has been diminished. The situation in Alsfeld
seems to indicate not a lack of interest in St. Mary Magdalene, but
a diluted impact of her personality on a play with more than 8000
verses. The difference is one of structure and stress, not of general
unimportance of the saint, although the cult of Mary exerts less and

less authority over the religion of medieval man as he approaches

362
the Renaissance.93

In Dbnau Mary's formal impact is diminished as it was in Alsfeld:
She still possesses a fetching personality; as an outgoing, gregarious
woman in love with the world and its pleasures, the Magdalene delights
us with her waywardness, for she resembles us greatly. But her conversion
is weakly motivated, more a demand of the presentation than the out-
growth of a religious awakening of conscience. Simply put, the Mary of
Dbnau does not exert as much influence over this play of 4116 verses as
she did in the less—inclusive accounts of StG, flier, or BenP. Other
persons, situations, and problems vie for the author's talents, and he
places them above the ancient story of the repentant sinner.

The structural decline in the importance of the saint follows a
lessened interest for her life in general. Mary's place in the church\
liturgy, reflected in missels, breviaries, and church calendars,
traces a path of gradual, but steady decline from the feurteenth to the
fifteenth century.9.4 From its height in the twelfth century, when
private devotion and public acknowledgment of the Magdalene's special
relationship to mankind reached its peak,95‘thdalene piety plunged
to the depths during the reforms of Pius V, who left only slight traces
in missels and breviaries of his time of the glory of other years,
until in the liturgy of today only occasional allusions persist to

Mary Magdalene,96 once the most effective and widely-accepted symbol

of mankind in a sinful and redeemed state.

Though all plays from Group III are touched to various degrees by
the procedure of updating and eternalizing we know as anachronistic

presentation, two accounts stand out in the exploitation of its

363

potential: they are waneley and Alsfeld. Let us investigate the latter
account first.

The fundamental significance of anachrbnism as a main building
block in the medieval concept of the Passion and sacred history has
been established.97 In like fashion those cultural, social, and reli-
gious concepts which receive most usage were noted.98 Alsfeld evidences
all such incidences of this pervasive anachronism from the sphere of
human interaction.99 The simmering distrust of Jews of the Middle
Ages and their outright condemnation first seen in the three French
plays of Group 11,100 is now outwardly manifest. Jews are now creatures
to be hated, scorned, ridiculed. They have been individualized since
their appearance in StG as Primus Iudeus into Bifus Judeus, Wéngker
Judeus, Friddél Judeus, Snoppenkeile Judéus, Zodebruch Rubi, and above
all, synagoga, symbol for all that was thought to be Jewish and the
main voice against the Christ, a character steeped in Jewish tradition
and mired in the trivialities of laws long outdated. As the expulsions
reached a climax in Europe and Jews poured into Germany from the West,
the German population took its turn at the game of Jew-baiting and
the game of blame. And they were as expert as their French counter-
parte had been a century before.101 Alsfeld has cast Jews in a most
unfriendly light, and even equated them with devils on occasion, as
these stage directions attest: "Et tune preparant mensam, et interim
Judei veZ dyaboli corisant."102 For purposes of filling time on stage
it made no difference to the author if one group of evil doers dances
or if the other held center stage.

Jews are further isolated from the mainstream of society by a

complete linguistic differentiation. In Alsfeld all personalities who

364
surround Christ or follow Him consider themselves Christians, not Jews.
In Autun B it was primarily the Virgin who spoke in such terms. But
now in Alsfeld the situation has been broadened to the disciples, the
healed persons, and even Pilate.

Donau takes the ,Verteufelung der Juden' the final step towards
ultimate evil by casting the Jews not only as instigators of the deadly
intrigue against their enemy, but as willing participants in the Cruci-
fixion as well: not as sinister bystanders, but as the very executioners
of the Lord.

What in previous centuries had been looked upon as a sound religious
symbol in the teachings of the Church,103 the Jew as negative example
for medieval man, has in Alsfeld and Donau become a representative of
old Jewish beliefs grounded in legal fanaticism,104 subject to all the
cruel depictions which the medieval playwright could conjure.

Anachronism in Towneley provides a mirror of medieval English
society literally impossible to improve. Its level of artistry is con-
siderable, greater perhaps than any of its counterparts. For one thing,
no Jews were around at the time of the commitment to record of waneley
upon which the collective blame of the Crucifixion could be laid.

The Wakefield Master discovered, however, a waiting personality, the
character of whom could readily accept, even be enhanced by these bale-
ful traits. I speak, naturally, of our old ranting friend, Pilate.

One need not search the texts long to find corroboration. In his
first appearance before us, Pilate equates his law with what in other
Passions is reported as being Jewish law:

He preehys the pepyZZe here that fhture ths ihesus,

That if he ny'a yere dystroy cure law must us . . ,
(waneley XX 37-8)

365

Bet on his bonys it shall be boght,
So shall I venge our rightys.
(waneley XX 44-5)

 

As the governmental leaders prepare to march against the Christ,
Pilate,ih1:ompany with the High Priests and Judas, once again equates
Roman law with the Jewish law of other plays:

To this tratoure be take

That wold dystroy oure Zawe.
(Towneley XX 576—7)

 

 

And a fourth time Pilate identifies his interest in the law of the
pontiffs, as he commands Malcus to lead the Captive to Caiaphas, who
"has the rewlle of holy kyrk":

ffbr he has wroght agans cure Agg.
(waneley XX 744)

The amalgam of typical Jewish interests (though perhaps no longer
specifically identified by spectators as such) with Pilate's singularly
distasteful personality represents a stroke of dramatic genius, per-
mitting on the one hand the inclusion of negative material for which
there was no longer a carrier, and on the other for an aesthetically-
conceived darkening of Pilate's spirit. It also obviates the necessity
for other characters who might detract from Pilate as the prime mover
of the conspiracy.

Towneley is pervaded by anachronism and by anglicization, which,
working together, "furnished a critical image of moral and social life

as lived in the later Middle Ages."105 The normal references to feudal

life are made,106 as well as cultural and social values established.107

But on a higher plane waneley exhibits a quality which makes the Pas—
sion an English phenomenon instead of a generalized human experience.

We have come to accept Jewish priests called bischqfif,108 the Passover

366
109 . 110
named ostern, the meal itself an ostern-ymsz, or any number of
English and French equivalents, but Towneley, more than any single Passion
tale, makes us feel as if England were indeed the origin of staged
activity. The truth of this observation may be tested against the
many geographical, cultural, historical, and linguistic references of
the play, all peculiar to England. The third torturer in waneley XXIV
has hastened into our presence to compete for the robe, stating that he
will thrash whosoever causes him grief:
ffbr I may swere withe mikille wyn,
I am the most shrew in alle myn kyn,
That is from this towne unto Lyn.
(waneley XXIV 153-5)
I have already addressed myself to many of the feudal images of
the waneley Crucifixion which remove it from any singularly historical
frame of reference.111 Though not to be found in the Passion section,

a textual occurrence placing another part of the cycle into a peculiarly

English setting can be seen in the Secunda Pastorum, wherein one shepherd

says:
I haue soght with my dogys
All horbery shrogys . .
(Towneley XIII 454-5),
Horbury being a small village three miles distant from Wakefield.112 Or

we could cite a passage from the Towneley play of the Judgment, where
three demons proceed up Watling Street to the final confrontation. As
kolve puts it: "Christ comes to Wakefield to judge.”ll“5
The several incidences of French words, especially exclamations,
lends the account an air of medieval English times as well. Occurrences
115

7
such as bewshere,114 sansfaylle, Ma-fay,ll6 mon senyours,ll all

weigh in the scales of the updating process and give the Passion its

367

significance for medieval society: this is not distant history, played
in far off Jerusalem, but a present, localized fact of medieval life.

Another equally effective method of employing anachronism in
Towneley to update the dramatization finds realization in social criti-
cism, a quality of the play which gives it much of its verve and com-
pelling nature on stage. I have already considered how Caiaphas is
portrayed as the ultimate corrupt ecclesiastical lawyer of medieval
English society.118 His portrait, however, pales noticeably when placed

119 who

near the most repugnant of all unjust medieval judges, Pilate,
at the outset of Towneleg XX, the Censpiraey, tells the audience in no
uncertain terms the height to which corruption in civil courts may rise:
jjbr I am he that may make or mar a man;
my self'if'l it say as men of'eowrte now can;
. Support a man to day to—morn agans hym than,
On both parties thus I play and fenys me to ordan
The right:
Bot aZZe fals indytars,
Quest mangers and Iurers,
And alle thise fals out rydars,
Ar weleom to my sight.
(Towneley XX 19-27)
The Wakefield Master had ample sources:fnmnwhich to draw material for
his Pilate. Arnold Williams points to public records from the fourteenth
and fifteenth centuries wherein evidence of corrupt judicial officials
. . 1
abounds. Pilate, as a "general symbol of oppre551on and tyranny", 20
is no mere accident of local politics, but is a composite of traits
seen in judicial bureaucrats from almost every shire of England.121
Or the Master could make use of the lengthy tradition of unjust officials
contained in homily books of previous years,122 collections employed

by medieval preachers to lend credibility to the social critique of

their own sermons. Owst finds this source behind Pilate's self-portrait

368

in the Seourging:

I'am full of’sotelty,

ffalshed, gyll, and treehery:

Therfbr am I namyd by clergy

As mali actoris.

(waneley XXII 10-13)

And the introductory lines of the Processus Talentorum are saturated
with impressive-sounding, but essentially meaningless Latin rhetoric,123
”which made the law a bane for the poor and simple."124 Owst believes
the Wakefield genius to be pressing the homiletic tradition towards
theatrical fulfillment in these symbols of the evils faced by ordinary
persons during this epoch.125 Whatever his intent, the dramatic accom-
plishment shown by the Master is indicative of the inherent power of

anachronism, and the effective portrayal of character which may result

from its manipulation.

When an explanationlknrsuch pervasive anachronism is sought, one
arrives at a central truth of all medieval drama: the past has little
value fer man. Its significance is not found in the facts which may be
offered concerning history, but how these events define the present.
Only that which has been freed of all chronological fetters possesses
value, according to Kolve:

The interest of history resides in its reflection of the

eternal, unchanging plan of God for the salvation of man,

and in the moral constants oflggpd and evil which reveal

themselves in human behav1or.

Consequently, only those events which related to all periods of mankind
excited interest in medieval man, and the greatest event seen in the
context of timelessness was God's sacrifice of His only Son for that

abomination called man. Indeed, just such a concept of history, employ-

ing the Seven Ages of Man, underlies most medieval historiography, with

369

all its factual lacunae and error.127 Therefore, a certain amount of
anachronism may result from opinions held by learned men on the impor-
tance of the past.128 In historical writing the past was considered
"an image of the present",129 and,as the audience occupied the Sixth
Age, the dramatization of mankind's salvation, to have relevance and
meaning, must assume the qualities of the time in which the audience
existed. One of the single most effective means available to medieval
playwrights, and at once the most natural, was anachronism. Seen in
this light, medieval drama owns a more complex and sophisticated con-
vention of dramatization than might at first be apparent; and Towneley

is doubtless the most sophisticated in this respect of all late medieval

accounts .

The advances of vernacular language into territory formerly ruled
by Latin, noted already in BenP, but most strongly developed in French
Passions of Group 11,130 have become as waves in Group III, ousting the
universal religious communicative medium in the late Middle Ages and
relegating it to a position of secondary importance: for virtually all
plays of this final group employ Latin as merely a ghostly remembrance of
its former radiance. Chester still casts its stage directions in Latin,
but occasionally hints at its application to lend a certain linguistic
strength to a specific event, such as Christ's entry into Jerusalem,
supported by the well-known 'Hosanna filio David!':hyl or a triumphant
song of angels, 'Christus resurgens a mortuis',132 or the'Te Deum lauda-
mus' sung by the waiting spirit of Adam.133 Latin is also the language
of the rubrics in waneley, but few speeches, even those traditionally
associated with the Passion, such as the Seven Last Words, maintain their

former spiritual power and form. Isolated Latin phrases do appear

370

throughout Towneley, but they do little to set any context apart. One
obvious exception to this situation is contained in the rantings and
boastings of Pilate as he commences waneley XXIV, the Talents. This
particular monolog generates the longest sustained use of Latin in Towne-
ley, curiously removed from its normal liturgical or spiritual mode to
serve a secular villain.134

Moving on to the continent we perceive a slightly altered state of
linguistic affairs. It is true that Latin has lost much of its clout
here as in England, but it does retain some of its former impressiveness
as a signal for critical developments within the story, especially in
.Mistere. The 'Ave rex Judeorum', that crude attempt by the torturers
to make a joke at Christ's expense, is spoken three separate times.135
Isolated as they are within a tide of abuse in the vernacular, these
phrases stand out like a beacon of accentuation. Their sudden and
repeated reiteration surely must have made an impression upon spectators.
Greban seems once again to be fully the master of all the dramatic,
linguistic, and historical tools at his disposal. He further chooses
the ancient liturgical forms of worship to portray the final syllables
of a crucified Jesus. The triumphal command to the gates of Hell,
'Attolite portas', and their companion demands by the devils or spirits
in perdition, 'Quis est iste rex glorie?',136 thrice repeated, offers
a linguistic signal recognized by all of the joyous entry of their
Master into Hell to fulfill His message concerning the captive souls.

Although vernacular German supplies the medium for all but a few
modest speeches in Donau, Latin is incorporated with some finesse, not
only to underline particularly weighty matters of tradition, like the

Jerusalem entry,137 or the Harrowing of Hell,138 but also to separate

371

heavenly entities from earthly beings and to cast an unsavory light
upon the Jewish community so despised by the author. As we have come
to expect from our earliest acquaintence with Passion presentations,
heavenly messengers, being representatives of the Lord God, are distinctly
elevated nearer the Maker by their oral medium, that of the Mass.139
Angels' speeches vary from the marketplace-necessitated 'Silete' of the
first and second day openings to words of comfort to an agonizing Jesus
if! Gethsemane: 'Constans esto, fili./Quia ego teeum'sum1'140

In at least two instances Latin supports the negative portrayal of
medieval Jewry, each uniquely. The first image is integrated into a
satirical look at Jewish speech. In their second speech of the play
the JUDENSCHGL sings, 'Pater noster bigenbitz, etc.’141 We recognize
in the initial words what seem to be the introductory utterances of the
Lord's Prayer; but what follows is most certainly designed to show the
absurdity of Hebrew speech, much as their first song on stage, 'Gamahu
fbrmatur',by2 most assuredLyprojectsin the author's mind an unintel-
ligible bit of gibberish. It seems certain that any practicing Chris-
tian who found himself in attendance at the play would have recognized
the momentary dicotomy inherent in a speech which on the one hand com-
mences with one of the most sacred of Christian prayers, but on the other
continues with apparent nonsense. Are the Jews indeed blaspheming a
sacred rite or is their language just so much absurdity? Readers are
left without a definitive answer, as the author of Donau has seen fit
not to print the remainder of the song. In a later situation the
application of Latin is more transparent.

Upon the miracle of regained sight and the healing of the cripple,

O
the youngsters of the JUDENSCHUL praise the Healer with these words:

372
Alpha et 0,
primus et novissimus,
et stella matutina,
tu elavis David,
alleluia!
(Donau 472-6)
This hymn, a verification of the biblical lesson, "From the mouths of
babes . . .", is employed by the author to once again indicate the
incapacity of Old Testament Judaism to see the light of the New Law in
Jesus. Its message is revealed in Christ's answer to SALATHIEL, who
maintains that the children talk so only to ridicule the Savior:
Ieh hor daz gern: sy lobent gott.
vun tun ueh Juden daz ze spotty
wan von der sugenden kinden mund
sol gelobet werden alle stund.
(Donau 481-4)

The greatest concentration of Latin in Donau surrounds that portion
of the biblical account which ultimately led to medieval drama, the
Visitatio sepulchri and adjacent ointment purchase. The songs delivered
by the Maries range from the original 'Ihesum Nazarenum crueifixum

. 143 . . . .. .
quaerimus' of the earliest liturgical drama to the 'PziSima sunt

, , 144 ,

deSideria' and thelnnmi'Ihesu nostra red’emptw'.14S All cast a
serious and sacred tone on the activities of the Maries and remind
readers that even Donau, with its howling devils, its diabolical and
oftentimes comical Jews, and its frightfully vivid staging, possesses
a higher intention than the 'delight to play' can alone define. The

. 1
appearance of so many Latin phrases in this oldest of strata in Donau, 46
though relegated to the background of stage delivery, continues to sug-
gest, even insist on the validity of sacred history for mankind.

Alsfeld makes use of Latin throughout its entire presentation. That

the majority of inclusions issue from sources familiar to the authors

and probably to the players as well is suggested by their incompleteness.

373
Normally, only the first few words are written out, much like in a
director's copy-- just enough to identify the speech fer the appropriate
actor-- as witnessed by the Lord's decision to travel to Jerusalem:
salvator eantat:
Ebce aseendfimus Jherosoliman-
(Alsfeld unnumbered after 1228),

Or His message in the Synagoge:

Quis ex vobis arguet me de peccato etc.
(Alsfeld unnumbered after 1721)

In almost all cases the Latin lines are immediately expressed in the
vernacular, the latter most often amplified far beyond the general

gist of their Latin introductions. Grieshammer has drawn the conclusion
that the application of what has now become a foreign language to all
but a few learned clerics and religious men is designed neither to
express a comical intent (which would be completely at odds with the
pervading sacred spirit of Alsfelab nor to suggest an inability on the
speaker's part to adequately convey his emotions in the mother tongue.1
Grieshammer postulates its presence to be a matter of tone, of elevat-
ing the entire performance out of the ordinary patterns of daily com-
munication into the realm of the serious and sacred.148 The varied
inclusions from the liturgy, the Mass, biblical sources, antiphons,
responses, and hymns admirably performs such a function, continually
calling the most secular of represented activities back into a context
wherein the qualities of a religious celebration and sermon, not a
play for its own sake, dominate. In this latest play from Group III
Latin in general has little potential fer interruption or suspension

by its mere presence; rather it resembles a tool of moderation;

SUCCESSION OF EVENTS
Passage of Time
One of the most fundamental means of lending dramatized activities
a temporal point of reference, that of stating the time of day, month,
or year in which an event occurred, is in the Passion plays of the late
period perhaps the one phenomenon most lacking. Aside from the normal
allusions to Lazarus' time in the tomb,149 Adam's dwelling in Hell,150
and the devils' continual attempts to secude mankind,151 few episodes are
so described in time as to enable us to determine what amount of repre-
sented time has been completed within a certain number of verses. Of
those events which so possess a definite temporal position I shall
raise three for consideration.
The Chester author provides us with a reference for the Crucifixion

by thrice noting the time of day. As Jesus is relieved of the Cross
by Simon, Annas is heard to ask:

Takes him here bounden fast,

while a whipeord here will last.

pryme of’the day is past,

how long will you be here?

(Chester XVI 429—432)

Later on, one of the torturers identifies the time of day as that of
noon.152 In play XVIII Caiaphas muses on the thunder and quaking of
the earth which accompanied the martyrdom of the Son, taking place
'yesterday abowt noone".153 We can place a rather tight chronology
on that portion of the story from Chester XVI 432-760 of six hours. As
a result we can also ascertain that the Chester author paints the time
between the two references with the broad strokes of an impressionist:

his interest is in a very narrow span of time or a very limited number

of incidents within the stated chronology. Duration of specific

375
activities is here unimportant; that they took place at all forms the
heart of the matter.

In Donau the conclusion we may justifiably reach is somewhat less
exact. We cannot describe the precise amount of time reflected in Mary
Magdalene's conversion, but enlightenment may be had. Mary's relevation
to Martha indicates that a period nearing twenty-four hours elapses
between the forgiveness she receives from the savior in lines 341-346
and the announcement of the same initiated by Martha's relentless
questioning and warnings of 346-348:

" gester

han ieh von allen sunden gelan

ein seligs leben an mieh genam,

wan mir sind all min sund vergeben!

(Donau 354-357)

What we experience is the author's quick movement through a time of
relative unimportance into one of great structural significance. The
playwright could easily have disregarded the chronological reference
and presented all activities of the conversion and attendant reception
into the family by simple succession. Whatever the reason, be it to
add depth to the story, to allow time for Mary to move between two
separate loea, or simply to make a rhyme,154 he has created for us some-
thing more than a flat image on paper; he has given it a unique tem-
poral dimension, not startling nor highly elevated so be sure, but
nonetheless there and operative.

.Mistere adds a certain degree of relief to its account of Jesus'
interrogation by Annas. The entire series of events, including the
Last Supper, the betrayal, and the arrest, which culminate in this

. . . . . . l.
confrontation, is reported by biblical sources as occurring at night.

In this late French play we are more clearly able to rationalize the

376

passage of time with the various events. After Annas has questioned
the Galilean, he proposes to retire, "tant que l'aulbe du matin viegne,"156
and leaves Jesus to the devices of his soldiers:

Veillez empres toute la nuyt

et affin qu'il ne vous ennuyt,

esbatez vous a quelque jeu.

(Mistere 19776-779)

These words indicate that the following 141 lines of torture separating
Annas' laying down from his rising up to the praise of Phebus, Pheton,
Hesperus, and Aurora157 to be the late hours of Good Friday morning.
Again, the result is not of major import, but when coupled with the
other 'unnecessary'manipulations of succession of present, past, and
future happenings, these temporal allusions provide yet another concrete
indication of an author carefully building his work far beyond tradition.
At every turn Greban stamps this Passion with his own peculiar brand

of artistry.158

Succession by Dialog

I new direct the reader's attention to two possibilities of succession
by dialog which occupy positions of importance in their respective
plays. The temporal phenomena are: the meaningful combination of
repetition with variation of speaker and argument - counter-argument
(Rede-Gegenrede). They appear in Mistére and Alsfeld.

Sister McKean has identified reiteration, i.e. repetition, as one
of five techniques of expansion which French Passion writers employ to
give life to the Vulgate lessons. She describes repetition as a
derivative of a rhetorical device known as expolitio, and correctly

159 '

defines its emphatic qualities. The incidence of repetition and

variation in Mistére follows a series of precise and consistent patterns.

377
Normally a person utters a speech; some portion thereof, with few
exceptions the last two verses, are singled out by a second individual
and one of them repeated (though examples of the original character
returning to his own words arenot uncommon); the first two lines uttered
by a character are then reproduced in their exact form, usually by the
same one who initiated theconversation. As Judas bargains with the High

Priests, the ensuing dialog results:

JUDAS
statement I je veil estre leur capitaine
tout seulet pour les bien mener;
pour avoir prise plus certaine,
reiteration je veil estre leur capitaine.
(Mistere 18551-554)

statement II je veil estre leur capitaine
tout seulet pour les bien mener.
(Mistére 18557-558)

The pattern is not always completed in so few verses, as witnessed in

the following exchange:

S. PIERRE
statement I Freres, soulvons nous ou james:
veez cy gent toute forcenee:
statement II ja ne verrons aultre journee
s'ilz nous tiennent, je vous promés.
(Mistere 19220-223)

s. JAQUES ZEBEDT
reiteration Preres, saulvons nous ou jamES:

IA veez cy gent toute forcenee.
S. SIMON
reiteration Freres, saulvons nous ou jamES:
IB veez cy gent tout forcenee.
‘ S. JUDE
reiteration Ja ne verrons aultre journee ‘
II s'ilz nous tiennent, je vous promes.

(Mistére 19232—2351
In this instance Peter's agitated speeches are repeated in the normal

pattern by two additional disciples and his secondary remarks reinforced

378
by Saint Jude.
A third example of such repetition and alternation of speaker can
be seen in the interrogation before Caiaphas, where insistent iteration

of key words creates an atmosphere of tension:

JHEROBOAN
. Ostez, ostez,
il est coupable de mort griefve:
contre la loy de tous costés.
(Mistere 20785-787)

MARDOCEUS
Ostez, ostez,
il est coupable de mort griefve?

NAASON
Ostez, ostez,
il est coupable de mort griefve:
vous voiez comment il s'elieve
contre la loy de tous costés.
(Mistere 20797-799)

One of the most artistically-conceived series of repetitions is
that found in the scourging, where four torturers continually alternate

short, staccato speeches within the larger frame of reiteration:

GRIFFON
Ga, des verges.

BROYEFFORT
Combien?

GRIFFON
Deux paire:
les myennes ne valent plus rien.

CLAQUEDENT
Broyeffort, tu nous fais bien fraire:
ca, des verges.

BROYEFFORT

combien?

CLAQUEDENT

Deux paire.

BROYEFFORT

Haro! et tant dire!

379
ORILLART
Et tant faire!
nous festons cy par ton moyen
ca, des verges.

BROYEFFORT
Cbmbien?

ORILLART
- Deux paire:
ley myennes ne valent plus rien.
0Mistére 22810-817)

When the question why such an application of repetition? is raised,
we broach one of the fundamental considerations of temporal structure.
The extensive use of the phenomenon is obviously intentional, and we
further sense a desire on Gréban's part not to allow the tool to become
stale; this seems the reason for its many variations.160 If he were
continually to repeat words with exactly the same divisions between
figures, spectators might well anticipate their coming and merely stop
listening for the duration of their stage life. But by varying the
application Greban preserves the capacity of the exchanges to instill
increased dramatic stress on the few words repeated, to raise them above
their contexts and give them greater relief. Their meanings thereby
take on more depth and structural intensity when successively high-
lighted. Each individual word assumes a greater significance, not only
by its position at the completion of a speech, but also by virtue of
being picked up by a second, or even by a third person and made part
of his communication. Each word rides a transcient wave of stress.

We have in this device a purely artistic command of material, emanating
from a dramatist's restructuring of the Passion, not a theologian's
command of it. Such creativity serves to focus attention upon the 'how'

of performance, not the 'why'; an aesthetic manipulation of structure

is at work, serving the higher master of edification.

380

The next category of succession has numerous affinities with
repetition; disputations between two persons or factions depend for
their intensity and effectiveness upon a repetition of each adversary's
statement, with the important difference that it is altered to some
degree to fit the respondant's contention.161 In fact, the dispute,
more usefully than normal dialog, triggers in both parties reactions to
the contentions of the opponent, initiating a series of successive
assertions which drive the exchange forward with an energy and tenacity
all its own. Argument feeds argument, counter-argument elicits
counter-argument. Words, phrases, sentences roll over one another,
creating motion in time towards a nebulous goal somewhere in the future.
The deliveries need not be especially genteel; indeed, in the Alsfeld
disputation between Ecclesia and S'ynagoga,162 the words become extremely
heated, for they strike at the very core of Old Testament Judaism and at
the fundamental beliefs of Christianity.

The two principles in the confrontation of religious conviction,
Ecclesia and synagoga personify, to use the words of Arnold Williams,163
several obvious and traditional abstract characteristics of the Christian
and Jewish religions. The latter personification was jelled into a
distinct attitude in Christian theological-linguistic usage by Church
fathers to symbolize that entire complex of qualities which made the
Hebrew people and their communities unique.164 We recognize synagoga in
medieval art as the noble womanly figure with eyes bound, a broken staff
in hand. But the role assigned to synagoga in Alsfeld as the main speaker
for Judaism has distinct tones of masculinity about it; this is true
particularly for the manner in which Synagoga acts as one of the initia-

tors of the conspiracy against the Heretic from Nazareth.

381

As two personifications of opposing beliefs, Ecclesia and
Synagoga are not time—bound (rather they and their argumentation
occupy territory completely divorced from temporal and spatial limita-
tions);165 theirs is a conflict which cannot be historically categorized,
but which raged for centuries in the minds of men, well into our own
memories.

The disputation in which the two figures engage is likewise no
recent newcomer to medieval literature. It boasts a long and revered
tradition,166 reaching far back into antiquity. In medieval times it
was employed for many decades as a tool to hone the minds and tongues
of students. Thomas Acquinas, in the Summa Contra Gentiles, had for-
malized most of the forms employed to teach disputations. But even
before his codification, vernacular poets had successfully used arguments
so prized in circles of higher learning. Students of literature are
still familiar with the debate between the Owl and the Nightengale,
composed in England ca. 1200. German readers will recognize the form
as that underlaying Johannes von Saaz's Ackermann aus thmei(ca- 1400),
where a simple peasant matches rhetorical skills with Death himself.

The argument advanced by Ecclesia follows a traditional course of
attack, which may be summarized by her own warning to the medieval

Jewish community of Alsfeldzl67

Ir Judden, keret er uch nicht an mynen raid,
Szo muszet er ummer sterben doit!
(Alsfeld 4639-40)
To accomplish her conversion of the intrasigent Hebrews, Ecclesia organ-
izes her evidence around numerous prophets whose messages were deemed

by exegetes of the early Church to have prefigured Christ's appearance

on earth to one degree or another. Since their application by Pseudo-

382

Augustinus in his Contra Judeos, Paganos et Arianos Sermo de Symbolo,168

which forms the heart of later prophet plays, the names of Jeremiah,
Isaiah, Ezechiel, Habbekuk, Malachai, Jonah, David, Simon, Moses, and
the Sybil had lent their words to the defense of the emerging Christian
church. Emanating from such a tradition, the argument advanced by
Ecclesia is obviously antagonistic, designed, as it were, to convert,
to be combative and dogmatic.169 An example of her aggressive message
is found in her ultimatum to the Jews at the close of her first speech:
gleubet er nicht an Jhesum Crist,
der des waren gottes sone ist,
szo werdet ir geschant und beschemmet;
desse redde gar eben vornemmet!
(Alsfeld 4519-22)
synagoga, for his part, seeks to undermine the strengths of his opponent's
contentions by continually refering back to the Old Law:
mer woln nach unszer olden ee leben
dis uns Mbyses unszer vatter gebott!
volget mer nach! das ist myn raid.
(Alsfeld 4533—35)
He further seeks to compromise her words by casting dispersions on the
veracity of Ecclesia's argument:
Dyn wort als ieh vorstene,
als eyn spirlingk drincket usz dem Rine!
du musszest dyn bucher basz ubberleszen,
solde dyt alszo weszen.
(Alsfeld 4746-49)
synagoga even resorts to threats of corporeal punishment:
werestu der glich myn,
du mussest von mer lyden groissze pyn:
ich wolde dich an dyn halsch slan,
solde es mer nummer woil gegan!
(Alsfeld 4675-78)
Ecclesia, a fighter in the Christian tradition, is also not abdve some
crass rhetoric in her attacks: ”er machet uber uwern eygen are eyn

170

beszen." Her teachings and illustrations are, however, doomed to

383
failure, and the Jews continue in their ancient blindness. But the
didactic technique of investigating on stage contemporary Hebrew persons,
though it suspends the action leading to the Crucifixion, is successful,
particularly if one wants to isolate this medieval minority from the
cultural mainstream of life and convince spectators of the righteousness
of their own beliefs. As a didactic tool, the debate has merit, and,
although its appearance confirms the educative bent of late medieval
drama and adds by way of suspension a curious wrinkle to the straight-
forward development of Christ's ministry and sacrifice, the dispute in
Alsfeld offers a rather one-sided, predisposed, and obviously pre-
judiced argument for medieval Christian beliefs. Seen, however, from
the viewpoint of dramatic temporal technique, the inquiet interlude
before the Way of the Cross and after the Condemnation, this strife-
ridden battle between two irreconcileable forces, could well have been
omitted.171 It focuses attention on a general theme of late medieval
drama in Germany, attesting more to the pedagogical force of the message
than to a particularly pleasing aesthetic reconStruction of sacred
history. The scene, observed in a temporal context, does give witness
to the complexity and flexibility of time on the medieval stage;
indeed, it may be said that the time frame of the spectator is perhaps
of more value than the historical facts themselves at this point.
The process of updating seems of greater interest than several individual
elements of the tale. Alsfeld is not locked into one single temporal
reference system; its stage reality, as seen through the preserved
text, partakes of many systems, each giving some of its dramatic

potential.172’173

Fl

384

Plot

a) Design and Realization

Of the many possibilities whereby succession may be mandated by
the artist's skillful manipulation of a given plot, that of design
and realization bears consideration. The inescapable repetition of an
activity, once in declarative form, and a second time in actualized
presentation, unmistakeably adds to the suspense of the Towneley
succession. At the outset of the Scourging, play XXII, Pilate informs
the audience of his intention to appear as Christ's friend, but to
crucify him in the end:

I shall fownde to be his freynd vtward, in certayn,
And shew hym fare cowntenance and wordys of’vanyte;
Bot or this day at nyght on crosse shall he be slayn.
(Towneley XXII 31-33)
Such an unusual disclosure of events yet to come does not finds its
equal in other plays we have investigated. What is the dramatic effect
unleashed by this dark design? Let me first state what it is not. The
primary consequence of Pilate's disclosure is not the creation of
surprise; he has already telegraphed his ultimate move, even going so
far as to include its motivation:
ffbr no thyng in this warld dos me more grefe
Then for to here of’crist and of his new lawes;
To trow that he is godys son my hart wold all to-clefe
(Towneley XXII 40-42)

We can, therefore, scarcely be surprised when the realization is finally
before us. The eventual outcome of the speech has two sides to it, one
specifically structural and the other uniquely dramatic. Pilate's
announcement that he will slay the Captive before nightfall gives rise

to the scene of condemnation, mandated by the biblical story to be sure,

but in waneley precipitated temporally, and structurally integrated

385
into the very fabric of dramatization. The distinction between the
episode of Christ's judgment and the internal inertia of succession
brought about by the Wakefield Master via this arch-villain's monolog
is a difference of aesthetic niveau. It is much more persuasive to
render an act on stage as a necessary outcome of basic structural forces
at work in the play than to merely tie so many events together in a
less-organized and less-insistent manner, to render a faithful repro-
duction of accepted tradition.

The second success of the artist of Towneley is to insure the
interest and undivided attention of every spectator in the moments which
follow the unveiled intention to undo Jesus. Exactly how will Pilate's
design be realized? How will he play the friend? How convincing will
his masquerade be? And perhaps one final question from a modern
reader: will the entire series of events be logical, convincing, com-
pelling? These queries fill our minds as a result of Pilate's disclo-
sure. Our attention is not focused on the factual 'what' of the story--
that we know well; instead we become absorbed in the aesthetic makeup
of the action in time; "Detailsspannung" increases. The playwright has
again succeeded in providing Christ's Passion with some independent
depth, motivation, and individuality. The material of Towneley belongs
to sacred history, but the dramatic viability of its reality on stage
rightfully belongs to a man of'art.

Various other plays employ the tools of design and realization, but
to a substantially lesser degree. When present these Passions tend to
adopt a form similar to two situations from Alsfeld: a person of authority
states an intention to have an action accomplished and it is immediately

carried out, such as Pilate's articulated plan to have Jesus scourged

386
and the completion by the flagellators:
ich wel en vor uch losszen straiffen
das hie wol mochte schryen woffen,
dos sijn missetad musz vorstehen!
darnach solt er en losszen gehen!
(Alsfeld 4238-41)
Das duncket mich gar gut!
‘wo ist my eny scharff.rude?
(Alsfeld 4244-45)
In another instance the third torturer expresses his intention to
pull the crown of thorns down on the Savior's head, " das das blut
rynnet uff’syn wangen."174 We read in the subsequent rubrics that the
realization is immediately forthcoming. Succession is created, but
its temporal impact is minimal. It does not possess the enormous
power to impel attention over a longer time span as the Towneley
disclosure does.

By the very nature of the story line itself, the vast majority of
designs and realizations occupy that specific sub-species known as
intrigue. I wish to defer further discussion of these phenomena
until the topic of anticipation of future events is entertained.

It should be noted that Pilate's speech also would appropriately fall
into the category of intrigue, but as I have defined it, intrigue spans
a much greater period of presentational time and represents a long-
term attempt to destroy Jesus. Design and realization are much more

immediate in their causality than intrigue and deal more with tem-

poral succession than with anticipation of the future.

b) Mention and Appearance of Characters
One device by which the increased level of aesthetic structuring
in Group 111 plays may be measured is the manner in which any author

Prepares the appearance of characters. I am no longer speaking of

387
such Bible-induced scenes as the prophecies of John the Baptist
in AZSfeld, like the 'Ecce agnus dei',17S and all the words of pre-
paration prior to Jesus' entrance on stage; these are vestiges of an
old and well-established method derived from Scripture. Nor do I
speak of situations such as occur in the beginning of Mbntecassino,

176 What

where Judas gossips about Jesus before He makes His debut.
is of interest are the ways in which character appearances are obli-
gated and rationalized in a dramatically convincing manner on a level
quite beyond that of traditional staging techniques. In Donau I find
just such an instance which seems aesthetically motivated because it
stands out in great relief from surrounding material. This intro-
duction of a figure before its appearance involves Mary Magdalene, and
though of short duration, the allusion to her by YESSE provides us
with important information about her:
I!
Wblluff; ir gesellen, wir wollen gan,
ich dar esz nit vnder wegen lan:
Maria Magdalena hat mich geladen,
da wend wir ein gfit convivium haben!
gester was ich ouch by ir.
Malchus,"nim din lutten mit dir,
wgn sy hort vast gern saittenspil,
mutwill vnd frgd hat sy vil!
(Donau 105-112)
Even if we were not acquainted with her from previous plays or
religious lessons, the vague outlines of Mary's life style and mentality,
as defined by this speech, become discernable: she is at home in
courtly circles, her life involves 'good times', and her worldly per-
sonality is decidedly congenial and open to pleasure. When the Mag-
dalene does take her position on stage, the audience is well prepared,

not by virtue of their prior knowledge of biblical or legendary tales,

tnn.by a dramatic device made viable by the author.

388

Tempo of'Succession

In Putz's canon of temporal structure the concept of duration
has little value. He prefers to lay stress upon the time span separa-
ting anticipation from its realization. Pfitz notes with some validity
the unimportance of vast amounts of time and the central dominance of
the pure succession of events.177 I have also mentioned the numerous
instances where great spans of represented time are neglected,178 but
have drawn other conclusions of their import than has Patz. As an example
from medieval literature for his argument dealing with drama in general
Putz cites the Redbntiner Osterspiel, wherein Lucifer explains to his
companions how and where souls can be snared for the underworld and the
first fruits of mankind's fall appear almost immediately.179 A similar
circumstance was noted in Wien, as medieval sinners were received into

180

Hell upon the fall of Adam. PUtz is willing to admit that the speed

of succession may appear to stand still, but only when all activity and

181 Here is an illustration of the way in which his

all speech ceases.
observations on drama in general must be tempered to more nearly con-
form to the situation of medieval drama, especially of plays of the
late Middle Ages. The simultaneous stage has as one of its greatest
potentials the ability to avoid such dead space. It offers opportunity
to shift audience interest from a point on the stage which has become
static to one in which allied or new activities have commenced. In
this case, as in most others, few pure illustrations of PUtz's system
of acceleration can be found. Those which are present do little to
affect the plays aestetically. Since a primary consideration in as-

cribing varying degrees of artistic manipulation in medieval drama rests

with a comparison of previous traditions and methods of dealing with

389

accepted facts, we must relate the amount of time an artist spends with
an episode or how he concentrates interest by avoiding numerous un-
fruitful portions of that tradition; we must talk of perceived duration,
of how time seems to us to pass quickly or slowly, for it is folly to
describe exactly how a given action was experienced by original audiences.
We can conjecture, but to draw monumental conclusions may well be
impossible. Only by addressing ourselves to the duration of an event
can we grasp its general interest for the author and appreciate how
he combines portions of the old story into meaningful scenes.

Particularly in Group III Passions is an adequate analysis of
acceleration difficult, for, with the exception of Chester and waneley,
these plays deal more wdth increased duration and the resultant
diminution of the passage of one episode into another.

It has already been suggested and supported by the Chester text
that the formal division of cycles into distinct plays offers oppor-

182 I have also indicated how

tunity to omit great blocks of time.
time is concentrated in waneley by the avoidance of a Herod play, of

the acceptable allusion to time passed but not dramatized, and the
resultant dramatic attention to Pilate.183 Other instances of accelera-
tion through exclusion may be found in Chester, most notably the lack

of a scene for the ointment purchase. The movement forward through the
Crucifixion to the Resurrection is measured and steady, with few
interruptions of the tempo; even the mounting of Jesus on the Cross is
accomplished with dispatch, requiring only 123 verses of slight length.184
Compared even with its neighbor, Towneley, the Chester nailing is

speeded to its conclusion by virtue of attention only to the most

obvious and central details. We are spared the horrific minutiae of the

390
nails piercing Jesus' hands and feet, of the sadistic stretching of
limbs and righting of the Cross into its mortise so prevalent in the
other four renditions.

There is likewise no mercator episode in Towneley, not even a hint
that one was ever played. By this exclusion the wanezey account
avoids a decidedly tangential scene, which in most other Passions,
particularly in Alsfeld, serves the questionable purpose of comic
relief. Towneley restricts its stage time to more weighty matters; an
interlude such as that of the merchant has no place in so concentrated
a presentation; an inclusion of such secondary material would merely

dilute the play.

Contrary to the dearth of meaningful acceleration, the countless
incidences of retardation of traditional succession makes difficult the
choice of two or three truly representative occurrences for the whole
group. With the exception of Chester,\«3have seen that probably the
most intense reduction of temporal passage involves to some degree the
Crucifixion. Let us disregard these central episodes for now and direct
our attention to other portions of the Passion, for several authors of
this group employ their artistic talents to manipulate secondary events
as well.

Two late plays provide the majority of extra-crucifixion retarda-
tion. The dramatic results are, in my opinion, mixed, for Mistere often
seems to become enmired in extraneous material. Much the same can be
said of Alsfeld. Numerous passages of the latter, treated in consider-
ably condensed form in plays of earlier centuries, serve to lengthen
scenes into inordinately long statements. I think particularly of the

encounter between Christ and Herod, which, temporally, dramatically, and

391
structurally does little to advance the plot. Perhaps it may be
included in that body of mandatory acting which any faithful account
would hesitate to delete. But various other methods of disposing of
this fundamentally unimportant and repetitive information have been
documented, namely the complete avoidance of it by an epic reference in
Towneley, All deciSive considerations of Jesus' fate either come after
or antedate the Alsfeld Herod encounter. The Jews have long before
decided upon the fate they intend for the Lamb: their unyielding enmity
for this stranger is not significantly clarified nor motivated in novel
ways; Herod plays no peculiar part in the proceedings, as he seeks only

185 and to ascertain what Christ's exact

186

to witness a miracle or two
relationship with his own father was. In terms of plot advancement,
Herod seems to be merely one more magistrate who is faced with a situa-
tion with which he cannot readily cope. His answer is to abdicate
authority and to return the Prisoner to Pilate. Little of substance

is accomplished: time is unnecessarily retarded and the concentration
of gathering storms only postponed.

Two further instances of questionable dramatic and temporal con-
sequence are discovered in Alsfeld. The first to meet the eye is the
appendage of the twelve banners incident to the trial before Pialte.

A product of apocryphal writingsl87 the bowing of the banners becomes

in Alsfeld a matter of primary doctrinal, but less aesthetic importance.
The situation is briefly this: upon the introduction of Jesus into
Pilate's hall by CurSOr, accompanied by this functionary's warm words
of praise such as he heard at the Entry to Jerusalem, twelve banners

surrounding the chamber dip in homage to the Lord of Life. Many Jews in

attendance protest Vehemently, maintaining that the standard bearers did

392

not exert themselves sufficiently to hold the flags upright. To prove
the contrary, twelve Hebrews take possession of the banners and Jesus
is led into the hall a second time. All twelve ensigns once again lower
themselves, to the chagrin of all the Sons of Abraham present. Thus
is the error of their ways reinforced and the absolute dominion of
the Nazarene established over both animate and inanimate objects. The
authors of Alsfeld, not content to simply report the incident, allow
each of the original twelve standard bearers to protest Pilate's
conclusion:

Ich meyne, ire habet sye gerne gneigt

und Hiesu darmit ere erzeyget!

(Alsfeld 3858-59)

The result is an unnecessarily extended denial which easily could have
been accomplished by citing one or two soldiers instead of all twelve.
The playwrights allow a similar elongation to occur when the Jews
themselves take possession of the banners. Six men are afforded
speeches, wherein they boast of their strength, or identify themselves

188 When the standards inevitably bow, the remaining

and demand a banner.
six malefactors are given an opportunity to protest.189 The interlude
may be interesting and somewhat comical, but it ultimately serves only
as another reminder of Christ's power. Structurally, it does little to
drive the play forward or to create suspense.

Much the same can be maintained of the mercator episode in Alsfeld.
It will be recalled that the merchant had the distinction of being
selected first from the secular world to augment the Visitatio Sepulchri.190
Indeed, Brinkmann attributes the late medieval tendency to equate him with

a comical figure to this very reason. His personality, freely developed

outside the limits of religious convention, was naturally available for

393
exploitation of all manner of worldly evils.191 But rather than be
subsumed into the greater Passion sentiment of Alsfeld, his presence
takes on a life all its own. The unguentarius is no longer simply a
vehicle for purchasing ointment; he is now a "magister Ypocras de

graciarbovina",192 a well-travelled figure, renowned in European lands

193 whose entourage consists of a wife, whom he

from England to RusSia,
mistreats when she oversteps her bounds,194 and a servant, who introduces
the master and defends his bad manners when necessary.195 The mercator
of Alsfeld is a far cry from his predecessor, who served to underscore
the gravity of Christ's death by his advice and aid to the Maries. Here
he is only a crude and overbearing ingrate. Even the traditional

laments of the three women, such as the 'Heu quantus est noster dolor'
and the 'Omnipotens pater altissime', do not completely reinstate the
solemn environment of the Passion. Instead, the merchant scene becomes
comic relief, serving perhaps to allow spectator emotions to rest a
moment, but most probably to keep his attention towards the end of a
lengthy and involved three-day play. Structurally, as interesting as

the mercator is as an individual, as fetching a scene as his becomes

in terms of medieval life, his is still a hindrance of movement towards
the Resurrection, serving scant formal purpose. This episode re-
presents the negative side of the humanization and particularization
process which defines late medieval Passions. A more compelling and
direct method of wriging is found in Chester, Towneley, and Donau,\flu)

have all disregarded this decidedly secondary character.

Upon consideration of Gréban's .Mistere, we find much of a
questionable nature. From our vdewpoint the Herod encounter like-

wise serves little purpose, for it, too, insinuates purely secondary

394

and unessential action into the play. By means of conversational
realism Greban expands his interlude to unnecessary length, inter-
jecting a patient, sincerely questioning Herod into the traditional
equation. Through extensive investigation into possible reasons for
the Savior's willful silence, Greban outlines the progression from
Jesus' introduction to the final exasperated "sergens, prenez vostre
f'ol",196 spoken by an angry governor of Galilee. It is true that
Herod's character is given some depth in the scene, but nothing about
the outcome of the episode is altered. Despite his patience for
humanization, Gréban has still succeeded only in diminishing the succes-
sion of events to a crawl. Although we cannot with complete confidence
state that medieval man was bored or even indifferent to the Herod
scene, it can be said that, when compared with other plays, Gréban's
humanization comes off second best to the concentration and elimination
of Herod in a play like T'owneley.197

A further exemplification of Gféban's tendency to fill in the
unspecified points of traditional presentation and increase duration
comes near the conclusion of the Crucifixion. In no other Passion have
I observed the dispatch of the two thieves. Gréban elongates his
Crucifixion by bringing forth a shockingly-rationalized execution of

198 Certainly

John xix: 30-31, almost devastating in its brutality.
this is yet another instance of the poet's desire to leave no stone

unturned, no activity uncompleted.

I wish to briefly mention one final example of retardation by
increased detail from Alsfeld. It deals with Judas' character.- In a
detailed dialog with the priests Judas is made into the symbol of a

medieval Jewish usurer, interested only in his blood money, testing

395
each piece of silver for value, casting away the first because it is
. . . . . 201

red,”9 another for being cut,200 yet a third for hav1ng a hole in it,
and so forth. This elongation is an obvious attempt to equate Judas
with the other Jews of the play who oppose Jesus and to lend both an air
of disgust and malevolence. Froning reaches similar conclusions, as he
remarks:

Judas ist ein arger Geizhals; denn aus Habgier begeht er den

Verrat an seinem Meister. Die Juden aber konnten sich die

Alsfelder nicht anders vorstellen, als feilschend und betrugend;

drum mussen sie die Forderung des Verraters herab zu schrauben

und ihm einige falsche Pfennige in das Blutgeld hineinzu-

schmuggeln versuchen. Naggrlich merkt Judas das; er ist doch

ebenso gerieben wie sie.
I look upon this development of Judas as a positive application of
retardation, unlike the episode of the twelve banners, inasmuch as it
is the only time spent by the author in defining Judas' character and
motivation. The Jews of the banner encounter are the very same as
have been continuously maligned and darkened at their every appearance.

Their participation in the trials represent something akin to

structural overkill.

With the discussion on temporal retardation I arrive at the Cru-
cifixion sequence for a final in-depth look at this doctrinally and
dramatically pivotal action. In previous contexts I have offered some
observations on the manner in which medieval playwrights employ tra-
ditional laments and various liturgical and religious writings to draw

. . . . . , . . 203
out present time, particularly with reference to the Virgin s p051tion.
To avoid unnecessary repetition of facts, I wish to delete consideration

of the Planctus Muriae, recognizing that in later Passions, particularly

in Alsfeld, these lyrical moments are responsible for much of the

396
extended duration of this scene. I shall, however, necessarily return
to certain of Mary's complaints in the context of interruption and
suspension. That upon which I desire to concentrate is the way in
which, to paraphrase medieval scholars, 'late medieval realism' tends
to augment the ancient story of the Crucifixion. My main interest is
the dramatic and doctrinal value of such material aggrandized by a
brief consideration of F.P. Pickering's views concerning their origins
as both pertain to audience reception of resultant dramatization and our

own evaluation of its theatrical efficacy.

DISCOURSE ON THE 'REALITY' OF THE CRUCIFIXION

Concerning the scholar's view of late medieval Passion drama-
tization, Walter Muller and his perceptions on Alsfeld may serve as a
generally acceptable formulation of prevailing thought:

In der Alsfelder Kreuzigungszene finden wir die Fortsetzung

der Frankfurter Tradition . . . Auch hier wieder beide

Seiten der Schauspielkunst: derbe Weltlichkeit und Natur-

alistic, andererseits fein nuancierte, psychologisch aus-

drucksvolle Mittel. Die Peinigungsszene wird bis auf den

Weg nach Golgatha verla'ngert.2 4
The general consensus of scholars lays much stress upon the illumination
of events into extensive scenes, not for some artistic self-interest,
but for the edification of believers and the intensification of religious

205 Countless essays emphasize the inhuman treatment afforded

experience.
the Christ, the vividness of his tormentors and their 'realistic' activi-
ties and language. There can be no doubt as to the truth of these remarks.
But the idea that these persons and actions somehow spring exclusively
from the fabric of late medieval life and thought cannot be substantiated.

The duration of late Passion crucifixions is much more the product of

gradual assimilation of more material linked to previous details.

397

I investigated at some length the 'realistic' appendage of the smith
and his callous wife to the Palatine and Autun 8 plays. This should
instill us with a certain caution to perceive a sudden explosion of
interest in rationalized dramatization at the close of the Middle Ages.
To understand plays such as those of Group III we must continually
turn our attention to preceding centuries. The resultant image will
also offer us another measurement by which to ascertain an artist's
accomplishment. This is precisely Pickering's service in his investi-
gation into the origins of late medieval 'realism', for he isolates those
portions of the textual tradition which owe their often shocking re-
splendence to scholarly endeavors of Church fathers in ages past.
Thus are we able to focus on the exact manner in which artists bend or
augment existing conventions to portray their own understandings.

To appreciate the impact of exegesis on Passions of the late Middle
Ages it is first necessary to identifyvdfitfii'reality' interests us.
A fundamental difference of opinion will be avoided if we focus on the
reality which defined all medieval art, including dramatic enterprises.
Our inquiry deals not with the 'true and historical' facts of crucifixion
or even of the primary Crucifixion itself, but with the manner in which

206 of mankind's history was con-

this "most painful of all chapters"
ceived in the context of Old Testament prefiguration and New Testament
fulfillment. The world of Christian exegesis and consequently the

realm of medieval drama does not react to what we believe to be the
historical facts of Jesus' punishment and death. It, contrarily,
meditates upon a 'recovered reality'207 involving centuries of patristic

writing and convention. It is fairly impossible to overestimate the

consequences of Pseudo-Anselm's Dialogue, of John of Caulibus'

398
. . 208 .
Meditationes. or of St. Jerome and countless others upon this process.

One key to understanding late medieval dwelling upon rationalization of

209 Their

Scripture was the sketchiness of the evangelistic accounts.
episodic characteristics left great voids in the factual discussion of
this particular crucifixion, which in turn provided ample opportunity
for religious scholarship and dramatic presentations to fill them in
from extra-biblical sources. Of central importance for early exegesis
and later theatrical endeavor was Christ's admonition that all things
must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and in the

. . . 10 . . .
prophets and in the Psalms concerning Him.2 Pickering conSiders the
result for crucifixion depiction exercised by this mandatez'

This was taken universally to be Christ's own instruction to

study the Old Testament. This instruction, and the paradig-

matic examples Christ had given in his own teaching of 'things'

to be fulfilled, and the manner of their fulfilment

are the foundation of patristic Old Testament scholarship.

This consists in large measure in an exhaustive search for

those prophecies to which explicit reference had been made

neither by Christ nor by the Evangelists. The task of

scholarship was to find and recognise the omnia and prove

their relevance . . . It is in the course of just such study

that the Church evolved, inter alia, its mental picture of

the Crucifixion.

One outcome of relevance for medieval Passion plays was the
necessity of accounting for the instruments of crucifixion, the hammer,
the nails, and, most notable for our investigation, the ropes.

Pickering notes the absolute naturalness and necessity of hammers and
nails if St. Thomas were to be shown their imprint in his Lord's hands.212
Inference was simply not enough, however; a history must be established

fer them. This is certainly part of the reason for the invention of the

smith's wife and the discovery of her husband. I have traced in previous

399

paragraphs the structural impact of these characters in French Passions

of Group II.213

To one degree or another, the tools of crucifixion214 are included
by Group III authors. They variously affect the duration of this
episode. The nails and hammers add a degree of apprehension and rising
suspense to all plays. No artist is content to simply bring them
ferth. Even Chester stresses their importance by a dialog between the
second and third torturers:

SECOND.
anon, maister, anon;
a hammer hauv I one,
as fhrr as I haue gone,
there is not such an other.

THIRD.
and here are, by my pon!
neiles, very good wone,
to neyle thervpon,
though he were my Brother.
(Chester XVI 537-544)

The act of pinning Christ to the Cross and the fastness of the bond

further intensifies the picture:

FOURTH.
Draws, for your father kynne!
whyle that I dryve in
this ilke Iron pinne,
that, I dare lay, will last.

FIRST.
As ever hauv I wynn,
his Arme is but a fynn:
how dryves on, but dyn,
and we shall draw fhst.215
(Chester XVI 577-584)

Donau succeeds in broadening the intention to hurt when ISRAHEL announces:

dis nagel sind doch vil ze spits,

ieh wil sy etwas stumpffer machen:

des selb mag Ihesus nit gelachen!
(Donau 3242-44)

400
Some stage time is given to its realization, as seen from BA 3245:
"Nu nimpt ISrahel die nagel und schmidet dar an. . . ." The rest of

the nailing and announcement of the presence of the nails is integrated

into the boring of the holes:

Dar uff erwuscht MOSSE dem Saluator die rechten hand vnd [legt]
ims vff das loch vnd spricht zu Israhel:

Israhel, bring ein nagel har

vnd nim des lochs wol eben war,

trib in mit dem grossen hamer,

das er er wirt schreyen ach vnd jamer:
des ach[t] ich nit als vmb ein har!

Nu kumpt ISRAHEL vnd bringt ein nagel vnd hamer vnd facht an
schlachen vnd spricht:

Mosse, heb redlich, lieber gesell,
lug, ob er sich rumpffen well.

die nagel sind erst worden recht.
Jesse, du bist ein fuler knecht:
setz dich an den linggen arm,
streak in, das dir werd warm,

da mit du mogest das loch erholen.
Pilatus hat vns das enpfollen!

Nu kumpt YESSE 23 dem lincken arm vnd streckt den mit der hand zfim
loch vnd spricht:

Manasses, bat mir bald ein zangen

(ich mag das loch hie nit erlangen)

vnd bring ein seil: ieh mus in strecken,
da mit die hand das loch mug decken.

so musz im ISrahel ein nagel schlahen,
das in das crutz dest bas mag tragen.

Yecz kumpt MANASSES vnd bringt zangen, hamer vnd seil, wirfft die
Jesse dar vnd spricht:

Ich bring dir zang vnd seil,

ob mir der but wurd ouch ein teil.

mag ich neina komen dar zu,

da mit ich ouch ein zeichen tu

mit minem hamer? der ist gross:

ich musz im dennocht geben ein stosz.’
(Donau 3279- 3304)

401

Nu kflmpt aber ISRAHEL mit dem driten nagel vnd gat hin zu den in
ze schlachen vnd spricht:

Ich loben geh, ir stoltzen man,
hebent vast vnd land nit gan!
die warheit wil ieh in leren gigen:
ich mein, er werd nd schwigen!
der nagel schlecht im die ffisz zg rampf:
er ist da vornan grosz vnd stumpff!216
(Donau 3327-32)
Nails and hammers are integrated with the pulling of Christ's body

217 This subsection, as with

to pre-drilled holes in Mistére also.
most others, is remarkably life-like; the speeches of Brayart, Griffon,
Broyeffort, Orillart, and Claquedent contain a matter-of-factness,
a certain degree of colloquial, everyday conversation not found in
other accounts. It is as if these nmniwere accustomed to executions
and actually enjoyed participating in them.

Uninitiated readers and certain well-known scholars have been
inclined to view the stretching of the Savior's limbs on the Tree as
an original invention of late medieval dramatists. Froning, for example,
assumes that such theatrical representations owe their mimetic life to
exegencies of staging during the fifteenth century. Since actors could
not in actuality be nailed to a cross, they were bound with ropes to
simulate crucifixion. Such an invention could not be left unmotivated,
and the consequence was an elaborate conspiracy to heighten the Lord's
suffering.218 While such a contention appeals to the logic of modern
minds, it is in fact founded on error, for Passions of the third group
exploit a tradition in which the stretching with ropes was already an

219

integral part. In response to a scholastic interpretation leading

back at least as far as St. Jerome, exegetes found this exercise to be
. . . . 220
a fulfillment of the Psalmists'words, 'dinumeraverunt omnza ossa mea.’

Anselm had already addressed the Crucifixion and filled in numerous

402

factual lacunae by placing all activities of the Crucifixion into a
context of former knowledge, quoting the Psalmist as having been ful—
filled.221 Hilary of Poitiers had as early as AD 350 contended that
the Savior was crucified with nails and ropes.222 Thus may we find the
inception of what is often termed 'late Gothic realism' in centuries
far in advance of these plays. By nature an aetiological concern, this
investigation into primary causes was neither a product of late authors
nor of a single person, "but the result of the combined efforts of the
Fathers of the Church from earliest times to harmonize the various
prophecies of the Crucifixion in one 'historical' sequence."2

Two ancillary metaphors, the harp and the bow, underlie the texts
to which I shall soon return. Particularly the harp was perhaps the
most influential of all medieval Crucifixion symbols.224 The appro-
priateness ofzIChrist stretched on the Cross symbolized by the strings
of a harp is immediately apparent. Patristic writers early concluded
that the words contained in Psalm 1vi (lvii): 8, "Exsurge cithara",
were indeed addressed by "God, the musician who made music on the harp
at the Crucifixion"225 to Christ, His Son, and that they again con-
stituted a portion of the 'omnia de me' identified by the Lord. A
final symbol of great artistic promise and vividness was that of the
crossbow. Again, the parallels to late medieval crucifixions, where
the Lamb is spanned on the Cross to match holes bored too far apart,
is obvious. Just such a posture is frozen into devastating artistic

226 the epitomy

reality by Mattheus Grunewald in the Isenheim Alter,
of 'Gothic' realism. But an investigation of origins like the valuable
ideas contributed by Pickering only puts us in the proper frame of

reference.227 We must yet turn to the texts to ascertain the final form

403
taken by such tradition, to ask the question, How does each play organize
its own unique statement on the established truths? For this we should

look at all five texts.

As I have had occasion to indicate, Chester deals with the Cru-
cifixion in a less aggressive and painful manner than its later counter-
parts. The stretching with ropes and final fettering of Christ is
accomplished in six four-line stanzas. Only the general outlines of

8 The act concludes with the

the tugging and pulling are included.22
Fourth torturer soliciting praise for his efficiency.229 This short,
pointed nailing is certainly in keeping with the conservative theatrics
which define the Chester tradition and is reminiscent of the ritual
underlying medieval theater.230 Concentration is not upon the wherefore
of the nailing, but upon the necessity of the sacrifice.

waneley has other intentions for its torturers, who are not mere
functionaries as those in Chester, but grossly evil men who delight in
inflicting pain. After mocking Jesus' regal position in the heirarchy
of Heaven by equating Him in medieval terms to a ruler who must prove
his worth by jousting in tournament,231 the malefactors commence their
dastardly deeds: Christ's arms are drawn, first to one hole, then to
the other, stretching the Condemned One to the breaking point;232
His remaining limbs are pulled to the mark, so securely and handily
nailed that the Third torturer can boast: "I trow lewde man ne clerk/

3

Nothynd better shuld."23 Towneley appends to the nailing a long and

drawn out dramatization of the righting of the Cross, wherein the scourges

of medieval life vie to outpull each other,234 and even remove the Reed

from its mortise to let it fall again into place, that Jesus may

"break ilk ionte in hym".235

404
Through the entire event runs a thread of distasteful smugness, of ready
attention to detail, of irrepressible relish for inflicting pain upon
an unjustly accused man. Jesus words from the Tree take on a plaintif

quality of deep emotional proportions:

My folk, what haue I done to the,
That.thou all thus shall tormente me?
Thy syn by I full sore.
what haue I greuyd the? answere me.
(Towne ley XXIII 244-246)

Donau continues this development, but projects more pathos into
its Crucifixion by integrating Barrabas, the thief and murderer who
was freed in Christ's stead. Barrabas willfully aids a soldier named
Boos in the hanging of Gesmas and Dismas, the two criminals accompanying
Jesus on the Skull. We witness in Donau the actual boring of the holes,

deliberately drilled at too great a distance, making possible a pain-

236

ful period of stretching of the Redeemer's limbs. After being de-

37

2 . . .
nuded, the Man of Sorrows is Violently thrown upon a Cross laying

on the ground. What follows is doubtless one of the most graphic
and appalling of all late medieval renderings of the pulling of the
Christ:

Hie mit loufft MALCHUS vnd knfiwt 23 den fussen vnd spricht:

o o O H

Wbl bar, so wil ich zu den ussen,

O O O O '
db mit wir zm szn hoffart bussen:
'er hatz getriben lange zit!
nu ist dis loch nie ouch ze wit,
Mosse, nim dis lang seil,
so wend wir innvss ein ander ziehen.
ieh mein, er mog nu nit me fliehen!

V f das loufft Mosse vnd Jesse beid bin zu vnd erwflschent das seil
vnd ziechent fast. den facht MOSSE an vnd sprichtz'

Bis frisch, wir wellen redlich strecken
vnd im sin wunden all erwecken!

wir achtend nit, tfit es im we:

wiltu gern, so ziechen wir me!

405

ist es gnfig, so dassz das bliben:
Israhel, du solt den nagel in triben!
(Donau 3345-52)

Rubrics attest to the ferocity of this scene, not unlike a public
execution from the contemporary world of the fifteenth century, com-
bined with a vicious hatred, the likes of which has not an equal in plays

yet investigated.
The situation in Alsfeld is much more subdued, the actual tensing

of the limbs involving many fewer lines, and without the ghoulish

2 . . .
excesses of Donau. 38 It is true that the torturers receive a certain

amount of enjoyment from practicing their dubious art, but it seems

more the result of a job well done than the exaggerated evil of the

Donau Crucifixion.239

In similar fashion Greban thrusts a decidedly sadistic group of
torturers into the center stage of the Crucifixion. The intention of
the group to inflict pain by the unmotivated extension of the Christ's

body is clear from their lines:

GRIFFON

Prenez moy ces deux gros cordons

que j'ay a son poignet serrés,

et tirez tant que vous pourrez,

vous quatre, jusqu'aux nerfz desjoindre,

tant que vous faciez la main joindre

au partuis qui est fait pour elle.
(Mistere 24738-743)

Gréban is the sole dramaturge to visibly draw the analogy between

Jesus' tensed, strained body and the murderous medieval crossbow:

GRIFFON
Autant vault:
mes que ce clou y soit soulde,
oncques arbaleste bende
ne tendit de meilleur facon.
(Mistére'247S4-757)

406
Allusion to the less-prevalent image of the long bow is also made to
stress the tautness and extension of the body, now finally suspended

on the instrument of His martyrdom:

ORILLART

Oncques corde a are ne tira

mieulx que font les nerfa de son corps:

ou compteroit bien par dehors

ung a ung les 03 qui y sont.

(Mistere 24802-805)

Nerves have been made as taut as any bowstring: and 'his bones can be
counted one by onet This latter suggestion by Orillart recalls again
to mind the original impetus for the pulling by ropes contained is
Psalm lvi. Though Greban is the only artist of Group III to register
the old words, I believe it is not simply a coincidence that he included
not only the crossbow and the longbow images, but the very allusion to
the Master's body as well. At this late date Gréban may well be
reflecting the conventional artistic wisdom of Christian art, but he

still owes his analogies not to late 'Gothic' realism, but rather to

a long tradition of learned religious scholarship.

When a modern mind approaches these collective scenes, filled as
they are with what appears to be needless humiliation, sadism, and an
unhealthy delight in the dark side of the human spirit, it often tunes
itself out to the episode entirely or expresses disgust and astonishment
at its savagery and brutality. We must temper our prejudices, sublimate
our initial reactions, consequently clearing the air for a second, more
realistic look. As has been amply discussed, these scenes of the
Crucifixion do not render the tale solely for the sake of dramatization,
nor do they seek to be only entertaining. The unrelenting drive towards

presentification of sacred history, of rationalization of character

407
and motivation all underscore an intention to edify, to take the pain
of Jesus Christ far beyond the jubilation of the Resurrection into the
realm of contemporary medieval life. Alsfeld stresses the expected
result of attendance on the Passion,240 as do Donau241 andMistere.242
These artistic manipulations of given material, which concentrate
attention upon a particular section of the Passion through increased
duration and slowing of succession, establish not only the independence
of the writers within a tradition of long standing, but also betray a
religious frame of reference vastly altered from earlier plays: the
intent is not synonomous with the forces which drive Group I or even
Group 11. Early plays dealt with the magic of the Resurrection, whereas
Group 111 plays stress how laboriously the victory was won.243 The
beginnings of a 'Christian' tragedy may be felt, although the Middle
Ages did not yet possess the aesthetic foundation for pure tragedy.244
Indeed, with the exception of Chester, the four plays just considered
do approach a classical definition of at least half the understanding of
tragedy, that of ,Mitleid'. We can empathize only with creatures who
resemble us in their humanity.245 In future paragraphs the companion
concept of ,Furcht' will be introduced by devils and their punishment
of persons gone astray. Thus, not an all-powerful and triumphant Christ,
but a very humanized one, brought nearer to life by the pains I have
described, stands ready to lend credibility to sacred history. As
Maria Muller defines it: HDas spgtmittelalterliche Passionsspiel stellt
die Tragik eines gettlichen Menschen dar, der in sein Eigentum kam und

den die Seinen nicht aufnahmen."246

408

a) Temporal Parallelism

Each author avails himself of the potential for effective pre-
sentation inherent in parallel presentation. As a group, the applica-
tions vary from a single instance in Chester, when Maria and Martha
mourn Lazarus' passing simultaneous with Jesus' announcement that He
will journey to the place where His friend lies,247 to an integrated
technique of heightening suspense illustrated by Mistere, I desire to
look in detail at the latter and append to the discussion certain
examples from Alsfeld; for, more than others, these two plays are raised

to an aesthetic and dramatic level of literary significance.

Perhaps the most conscientious, artistic, and impelling application
of temporal parallelism is practiced by Greban, in whose hands the
technique becomes a truly aesthetic device for increasing dramatic
impact. On numerous occasions Greban heightens our awareness of impend-
ing disaster or our knowledge of events of great consequence by intro-
ducing scenes which run in parallel with the central concern. We have
seen in other Passions that Judas' bargain is generally played con-
temporaneous with the Last Supper and Gethsemane.248 Mistére initiates
the Eucharistic meal with Judas present. At the traditional point,

249 Judas takes his

after his inquiry, "numquid tune ego sum, raby?",
leave and proceeds to the domicile of the High Priests as the extended
and highly-doctrinal analysis of the Last Supper continues. Upon the
completion of some 258 verses, Judas joins Annas and Caiaphas to con-
summate the treason-- the first change of focus and a rather lengthy one
at that!250 Our attention is once again directed to Jesus and.His

followers as they move into the Garden. This time is not only filled

with the traditional sleeping disciples, but also with a moment from

409

Heaven, as God the Father, Justice, Misericorde, Michael, and Gabriel

ponder the Son's prayer, consider how to comfort Him and His mother.251

A third focal alteration carries us once again to the palace of priests,
where the two instigators, Annas and Caiaphas, discuss the possible
advance of their forces against the Blasphemer.252 A return to the
Garden finds the angel Michael comforting His Maker, as God had com-
manded, with words of reassurance:

o hault filz de Dieu glorieux,

ne doubtez pas tant cest assault,

que n'ayez le voulloir plus hault

d'avoir l'ennemy desconfit;

considerez quel grant prouffit

en ensuivra par ce moyen;

ce beau regne celestien

sera par ce point restably:

homme honoré et anobly,

qui en tel noblesse venu

sans fin sera vostre tenu,

et du bien qu'il possedera

tousjours graces vous rendera.
(Mistére 18966-978)

A final movement to the band following Judas completes the grand vision,
as the two irreconcilable forces move to the ultimate confrontation.253
Instead of simply presenting two parallel activities as those before
him, Gréban formulates five distinct and separate views of the same
time span, some overlapping more than others. Our interest is main-
tained, our experience of the Passion story intensified, our aesthetic
senses gratified by this structural mastery of traditional story.

By the use of a similar tactic the author holds attention during
the watch at the sepulchre. The initial scene shows the picking and
placement of the guards, who are as brash as their forebearers.254
Accompanying their bravado in another place are the emotional plaintes

. . . 255
of the Maries, who decide to seek out an Ointment merchant.

410

The two poles of belief and non-belief are contrasted effectively by
their simultaneous presentation. To these cameos are added the inter-
rogation and punishment of Joseph of Arimathea for his unauthorized
part in his Lord's burial.256 Time continues its relentless journey
into the future and we next rejoin the Maries,who have sought out the
merchant.257 In a straightforward exchange they accomplish their
immediate goal and move on. At what is certainly conceived as the same
time,a group of disciples bemoan the loss of their Savior, particularly
St. Jaques Alphey, who cannot be consoled,258 but who is also confident
of an impending resurrection.259 Coincidental with this lament, the
playwright places Peter alone at a grave or hiding place:260 "ICy est
S. Pierre en la fosse tout par soy."261 The disciple's own words
indicate that his presence at the tomb has extended for some time:

J'ay souffert par grant pacience

en ceste fosse longuement

en plorant tres amerement. . . .

(Mdstére 28582-584)

I assume a consciously-constructed overlap of his lamenting with much
of what has preceded Peter's monolog. Nowhere is the manipulation of
purely structural and theatrical considerations more observable than
here, where five disconnected, but doctrinally and functionally related
events share a single span of abstracted time. In Mdstére I find a
capable,religious Imnf and a conscious and engaged dramatist at work,
designing for himself a humanized statement of sacred history, closely
associated not only with the multi-faceted experience of time seen from
the outside, but also with what we modern readers recognize as a highly
literary experience of temporal flow.

Greban additionally gives us an inkling of what medieval stages in

their multiplicity of loca may have been about: far from being

411
unsophisticated or simplistic, these presentations made advantageous
use of the inherent potentials of the simultaneous stage. Nowhere are
these latent capacities more apparent that in Mistere, where our eye is
continually directed back and forth between loca; our spirits are con-
stantly engaged, drawing mental parallels of action as they are offered,
but not losing the thread which binds scenes together. We can greatly
appreciate the accomplishments of this master from France not only on

a religious level, but on an aesthetic and structural level as well.262

In Alsfeld one finds numerous events wherein a main activity is
accompanied by an additional movement to a new place of focus, such as
the song of Sinagoga and Jews contemporary with Jesus' travel to the
place where He delivers the Sermon on the Mount,263 or where Sinagoga
sings after the release of the adulteress,while Simon prepares a table
for Jesus and His disciples.264 Such incidences of themselves serve
to indicate a necessary motion in two separate loca on a simultaneous
stage; they afford us, as it were, a picture of the breadth of
presentation. However, they are not particularly artistic,nor is their
presence especially inspiring. They constitute mere stage management.

Of a much more profound quality are those instances when the author
chooses to direct our attention to an allied development coincidental
with a main event, such as the apprisal of Mary by John that her Off-
spring has been condemned and at that very moment awaits the finalization
of plans in Pilate's hall to accomplish the movement onto Golgotha.26S
Sinagoga demands that Christ be forced to carry His own Cross. The
natural expectation is that this act be accomplished, but instead it is

held in abayence as John speaks with Mary and she decides to join Him

and thereby to ascertain His situation. Only then, as Mary and John

412

n . . ‘ . H 266
approach the Lord ( Et szc Maria et Johannes vadunt ad Chrzstum )
is the Cross thrust on the Master's back after the words of Moab and
Ductor (”Et sic imponitur crux Jhesu”).267 Though played in succession,

the two related events are considered by the author as simultaneous.268

b) Interruption and Suspension
The twin phenomena of interruption and suspension make their

presence known in Group III much as they did in Group 11 plays.
Naturally, several differences of application may be discerned. In
Group III no analogous personality of Augustinus comes forth. His
role has been divided among many of the characters themselves, save
for his introductory remarks and setting of the stage, a function assumed
by one known as proclamator in Alsfeld, and in Mistere by l'acteur and
an unknown speaker who initiates the four daily presentations and reviews
previous action. Donau prescribes introductory lines for its procla-
mator, but, like his counterpart in Alsfeld and.Mistére, his participation
in the play is strictly limited to external orientation of spectators.
Let the proclamator of Alsfeld represent the group, for his words and
their intentional content are shared by all:

darumb sollet ir nu ansehen

mit innikeyt das schone spyell,

das man hie begynnen will

vonn dem lyden unsers herren!

dorzu sollet er uwer hercze keren,

ir man und auch er frawen!

mit andacht sollet er diss schawen

und in alle uwern tagen

Jhesu syn crucze helffen tragen

mit wiczen und synnen!

(Alsfeld 46-55)

These observations are, strictly speaking, neither interruption nor

suspension, as they occur external to dramatic activity.

413

In these plays of the late Middle Ages several different stra-
tegies in the use of interruption may be found. Let us deal first with
instances where a character addresses the audience to stress the gravity
of his or her situation.

Our thoughts immediately turn to the Virgin and Mary Magdalene,
who, as we have seen,269 often bemoan their sorrow directly to spec-
tators gathered around the playing area. Particularly in German plays
do the two Maries bridge the times of representation and presentation
by such observations. In Donau the admonitions of the Virgin, as she

mournfully reflects upon her dying Son, addressed as they are especially

. . . . 270
towards the women in the crowd, recall a Similar cry in BenP:

o ir allerliebsten wib,

sechen an den zarten lib,

sechend an die blugende jugent,

sechend an die edle tugent,

lond uch erbarmen sin grosse not,

helffent mir weinen sinenntod,

den er vmb vnschuld hat musen liden:
(Donau 3560-66)

Mary Magdalene begs the audience to join her mourning in language
heavy with emotion:

0 heliger prophet Ihesu Christ,

wie kumptz, das du verurteilt bist?

wil man dich engelten lan,

das du der welt vil gutz hest getan?

trurend'mit mir, lieben frowen,

helffent mir dis jamer schowen,

wann er erkicket den bruder min:

dar vmb ich billich sol trurig sin!
(Donau 3127-34)

Several other persons turn to the on-lookers as well. During Jesus'
painful journey to Calvary, Veronica requests a 'gedechtniss' of her

271 When the Christ complies,

Master, "die bildung von diner angesicht".
she turns to the audience and reveals His image on the cloth, stressing

its significance for all Christianity:

414
db mit ir gloubent ad aller frist,
das er gewarer got vnd christ
von anfang ie vnd ie istngewessen
in der hochen trinitat zassen:
(Donau 3195-98)
The chagrin of Judas assumes more artistically and structurally elevated
proportions as, shortly before suicide, he reviews extensively in a
monolog shared with the spectators his betrayal and its faulty
motivation.272 The writer is careful to stress Judas' pride as his
principal failing, opening his weak spirit to the suggestions of
treason. The author uses the opportunity to once again remind his
medieval comrades of the mortal danger of pride and, by spanning the
gap between player and spectator, assures their attention and interest.
To these appeals is appended a singularly didactic suggestion delivered
by Joseph of Arimathea upon the resuscitation of ADOLESCENS:
sechent, ir frowen vnd man,
das got sin volck hie tht schowen
an dissem jfingling vnd der frowen!
dar vmb so land vns geben got
allein die er an allen spott!
(Donau 816-818)

The Virgin of.Alsfeld habitually calls the audience into the
presentation by her direct hailing, once as the company begins its
weary way towards Golgotha,273 and a second time shortly thereafter,
to lay blame on the Jews for her Son's pain.”4 In her lament, ,,o we,
0 we jemmerlicher tag!", Mary again resorts to calling on "ir lieben

Cristenlude" 27S

to help her deplore the Man of Sorrows' execution. A
final plea to her audience to remember that the sacrifice on the Cross
was all for their very own sins serves to vividly remind medieval man

of his dependence on God for salvation:

415
sint das em genommen ist syn leben,
uch syn hude vorgeben
alle uwer sunde gemeyn
(Alsfeld 6833-35).
'The didactic overtones of Mary's interruptive remarks are painfully
evident. However, she is not the only figure to exercise the right
of speaking with the audience: in another instance the Magdalene turns
to spectators, not to bemoan her former life, but to seek a justification
of it:
Harte, her, warte!
was wel myn sweater Marthe?
er klaffen ist gar umb nicht:'
wie cleyn geben ieh darufif icht!
myn hercz ist myt freyden vormyst
nu viel lenger in disser frist,
mit zieren und’pryssen
und mynen bolen fruntschafft bewyssen!
solde ich alszo eyn stulczes leben
umb myner sweeter klaffen begeben?
(Alsfeld 1903-14)
I have found no other example of the approach towards bystanders which
corresponds to this attempt to discredit Martha and her message, i.e.
to confront them with a negative value. Doubtless, the same edificatory
fbnction drives the author here, as it did above, but his technical
application is interesting in its innovation. Of a more traditional
bent is the message delivered to the populace of Alsfeld by More, as he
strikes Lazarus down:276 none can escape Death; rich or poor, worms will
rule the grave of every man. Decidedly donnish, Death's presence and
his arresting caveat enhances the intensity of the ensuing raising of
Lazarus; the power of Death over men, absolute though it be, disappears

when the Healer invokes the superior forces of His Father. Even Mops

must wonder At Lazarus' reawakening:

416
sage mer, du doder man,
wie darffestu alszo hie vor den luden gan?
(Alsfeld 2295-96)
Plainly, the salvation of medieval man lies with Him Who can overcome
even Death himself.
A second manner of interrupting the plot may be found after the
Alsfeld Crucifixion is underway. Jesus has perished; the devil seeks
to gain His soul, but is thwarted by an angel with naked sword in hand.277
As Lucifer and Satan flee, two figures, Luna and Stelle intrude on
the dramatization to further underscore the implications of this
unfortunate act. Luna reviews her creation by the Sacrificed God278
and joins the masses who blame the Jews: ”0 ir anoden judden und vor-

279 In like fashion Stelle traces the lights of heaven

dymten ridden!"
from their godly origin,280 and mourns His passing with its salvific
intent:

nu vormercken mir dich, den son, den toidt Zyden,

die verlorn mentscheyt von dem ewige toide zu qwiden

(Alsfeld 6242-43)

She, too, condemns the Jews with strong speech.281 Here we witness a
highly-lyrical eulogy by entities which can only be brought to life by
the playwright. Their grief momentarily halts the flow of represented
time; their presence elevates the mystery of the Passion far beyond any
historical context into one of celestial magnitude. Truly, these obser-
vations on the death of the Prince of Peace are directed not towards
characters on stage, but towards those surrounding it. The message of
the passages seems to be this: even the Moon and the Stars are affected
by the death of Christ and take cognizance of it. They further lend

credibility to the contention that mankind is indeed at the centermost

focus of the medieval Passion play. The sacrifice was made for him.

417
These last evidences of interruption were, for the most part,
supported by specific directions in rubrics or by an initial sentence
identifying the direction of successive lines. The authors of Towneley
are not so transparent in their directives, but I believe their message
is still designed for onlookers. Perhaps the most compelling speech
which results in the interruption of time and the momentary unification
of staged character and audience is the significant complaint of Jesus
the Crucified in waneley XXIII. Immediately after the Cross is righted
"up lyke a mast",282 Christ calls upon those who pass him by to behold
His agony:
I'pray you pepyll that passe me by,
That lede youre lyfe so lykandly,
Heyfe vp youre hartys on hight!
Behold if'euer ye sagh body
Buffet & bett thus blody,
0r yit thus dulfully dight;
In warld was neuer no wight
That suffred half so sare.
My mayn, my mode, my myght,
Is nought bot sorow to sight,
And comforth none, bot care.
(Towneley XXIII 236-243)
Though the speeches are ostensibly directed to those who pass by the
Crucifixion scene in represented time, I am certain that this suggestion
arises from the introduction of the '0 vos omnes' material from Lamen-
tations i: 12. Words like 'bufjet' and 'bett thus blody'create a vivid
picture for spectators far advanced from the Old Testament source from
which His words are taken. Allied with them is a heightened reference
to the Lord's special place in the history of physical torment: His
position is unique, His sacrifice complete. Other references to

Old Testament visions further delineate and presentify His pain, such

as the 'Popule meus quid feci tibi?’ of Micah vi; 3. The latter

418
reference is realized in more graphic terms by a specific allusion to

this particular Crucifixion:

My folk, what haue I done to the,
That thou all thus shall tormente me?
Thy syn by I full sore.
What haue I greuyd the? answere me,
That thou thus nalys me to a tre,
_And all for thyn erroure;
Where shall thou seke socoure?
This mys how shall thou amende?
When that thou thy saveoure
Dryfes to this dyshonoure,
And nalys thrugh feete and hende!
(Towneley XXIII 244-254)

lAnd surely Jesus' reminder that He made man in His likeness283 is not
(designed to be wasted upon theatrical players. My contention is supported
b)! Rosemary Woolf, who notes that the Latin texts quoted above, with

tflie addition of Isaish v: 4, commonly addressed a plural audience and

wexre present in the liturgy of Eastertide.284 She further considers the

di;rection of delivery and places it squarely in the realm of interruption:

This episode is obviously another way of making the
meditative tradition (on Christ's suffering) popular, for
Christ's speech is not addressed to characters technically
within the play, but to the audience-bystanders in the street,
who are thus drawn in their own person into the action. . . . 285

The resurrected Lord returns again to the deeper purpose of His

Stxffering on the Tree, as He reminds each observer that his own sal-

\nition was bought on Calvary:

Thou synfull man that by me gase,
Tytt vnto me thou turne thi face;
Behold my body, in ilka place
HOw it was dight;
All to-rent and all to-shentt,
Man, for thy plight.
(Towneley XXVI 244-249)

‘3’ a most graphic recollection of the cords and ropes, the crown of

thOrns, the nails and the very wounds they caused, the Towneley Christ

419
instills upon bystanders the degree of sacrifice required to purchase
their immortal souls.286 The doctrinal impact such a direct delivery
had upon the audience must surely have been impressive. It is further
heightened by its timeless, lyrical qualities.

At the waneley Resurrection a mournful Savior addresses mankind
in a monolog287 which relies for much of its forcefullness and grandeur
on the Imago Pietatis tradition. But the ultimate direction of His
message can only be those in attendance on the play: the words fall
outside the confines of a historical drama represented on stage.288
They furthermore postpone the dramatic sequence of events,289 as do
all interruptive phenomena. This fact is born out by the lack of
distinction between the sorrow of the Crucifixion and the elation of
the Resurrection.290 With the 'dolorous complaint' Christ underlines
one final time the price of man's redemption. He employs both linguis-
tic and dramatic forms which lend an air of lyrical elevation and
abrogation of temporal values to the plot of Towneley. It is another
return, not to the triumph of eternal life, but to the central theme of
the ultimate suffering of a God-Man for His wayward creation.291 We
modern readers, too, though not contemporary with medieval audiences in
our religious orientation and literary expectations, can gain at least
a taste of the power of the message when supported by the technique
of interruption.

I wish to offer into evidence the rantings of Pilate from this
same play as a final argument for the inclusion of this temporal form.
These lines, spread throughout the entire Passion section, but concentrated

in the beginning speeches<ifwaneley XX, XXII, XXIII, XXIV, and XXVI

provide irrefutable proof of the unity of time shared by player and

420
spectator. In these speeches Pilate does not call bystanders into the
time of the play as much as he momentarily steps out of represented
time into their own reality. Surely one consideration originally
underlaying the verses was the necessity for policing the stage area
and assuring attention of onlookers after new pageants had been rolled
into place, or as a new guild commenced performance. Pilate's function
as policemen is in this respect analogous to Augustinus 0f StG- However,
to describe his lines only in terms of stage management is to overlook
the substantial artistry and structural intensity which has been poured
into them. Pilate the scoundrel, possesses a remarkably evil personality:
one loathes him from his first word. How does an artist so thoroughly
imbue the dramatization with his malevolence as to create an all-pervasive
malaise against which to contrast his Christ? Part of the answer has
already been given-- he concentrates structural attention by making
Pilate the prime mover of the conspiracy and excludes other villains.
The second means to accomplish the goal is to make Pilate's words felt
outside the confines of the play. Just as the Lord's words on the Cross
cut across all temporal categories into timelessness, so, too, does the
lurking and ominous oppression of this medieval son of Satan flow into
the world of medieval man.

When the governor of Judea takes control of the presentation in
Towneley XX, his first words are not directed to any theatrical entity,
for he alone occupies the stage. Instead he speaks directly to the
audience as he threatens to break their bones with a 'burnyshyd brand'292
if they do not still their voices and stand quietly. Pilate's.intro-

duction of himself has the second intent of alerting the audience to

impending disaster:

421

Ye wote not wel, I weyn/what wat is commen to the towne,
Sb comly cled and cleyn/a rewler of'great renowne:
In sight if’I were seyn/ the granser of’great mahowne,
My name pylate has beyn/was neuer kyng with crowne

More wor[thy];
My wysdom and my wytt,
In sete here as I sytt,
Was neuer more lyke it,

My dedys thus to dyscry.

(Towneley XX 10-18)

As a grandsir of Mahound, that unsavory knave, since the Crusades a

candidate for number one bogey man of Europe,293 Pilate's future

activities can only be designed to hamper Christianity in addition to
his traditional role as a vacillating and weak judge. In waneley XXII
Pilate again intrudes into the time of the spectator, threatening bodily
harm if his commands are not heeded.294 His threats from Towneley XXIII
represent a marvelous view of an extra-theatrical villain who will stop
at nothing to get his way, even though in this instance it is primarily

the attention of bystanders:

What! peasse in the dwillys name!
Harlottys_and dustardys all bedene!
0n galus ye be maide full tame,
Thefys and mychers keyn!
will ye not peasse when I bid you?
By mahownys bloode, if'ye me teyn,
I shall ordan sone for you,
Paynes that neuer ere was seyn,
And that anone!
Be ye so bold beggars, I warn you,
fful boddly shall I bett you,
To hell the dwill shall draw you,
Body, bak and bone.
(Towneley XXIII 9-21)

In all Passion writing I have not found so effective an amalgamation of
plot-induced character with extra-theatrical necessity: it is a sheer
stroke of dramatic genius to instill the play with such a complete
tension while simultaneously creating unanimous fear and hatred of a

pivotal character. The Wakefield Master and his compatriots have

422
employed interruption in remarkable fashion; they deserve our admiration,

not our smug indulgence.295

Suspension, that complimentary entity of interruption, has
remarkably little place in Group III plays. I was able to identify only
two positive examples along with one questionable reading. Significantly,
both of the former were found in the two earliest Passions of the group,
Chester and waneley, and both took the identical form of the 'Te deum
laudamusf Chesterplaces the hymn of praise on the lips of Adam in
play XVII, the descensus ad inferos. Lucifer's power has been cancelled
with the extraction of souls from Hell and their joyous ascension to
Paradise. Adam, in his relief and ecstasy, lauds his Savior, saying:

Goe we to blisse, then, owld and yonge,
and worship god, alway weldinge,
and Afterward, I read, we singe
with great solemnity.
(Chester XVII 257-260)
The 'Te deum' is, of course, that melody sung with great solemnity, as
the following rubrics attest. In response to his removal from Hell,
Ysias of waneley offers his Lord all honor by also raising the old
song:
Therfor now let vs syng
to loue oure lord ihesus;
Vnto his blys he will vs bring,
Te deum laudamus.
(Towneley XXV 401-404)
The theoretical potential for spectator integration via music from the
liturgy need not be rehearsed in its entirety. When, however, we con-
sider the likely reaction to the inclusion of this hymn of praise,
historical records indicate that the'Te Deum'distinctly marked a ces-

sation of play acting and signalled a return to a mood of solemnity and

majesty, removed from a theatrical context by the addition of bells or

423
or an organ to accompany the sacred words.296 R.W. Ingram postulates
the expectation in viewers that music would emphasize certain aspects
of the presentations and their attendant moods, for music was helpful,
"if only as an emotional valve" to express natural motivations upon
the climax of especially moving events.297 Ingram perceives an increased
intimacy of actor with spectator evolving from this process of musical
integration,298 another manner of expressing what I have in this study
labeled suspension.

Gréban indicates the possibility for meaningful suspension when he
causes God to seal His Son's fate while Pilate sits in judgment. The
archangel Michel is sent as holy messenger to the souls in Hell to an-
nounce the Redeemer's imminent arrival.299 Adam and Eve, Isaiah,
Ezechiel, and Jeremiah all respond with cries of anticipatory fervor,
but it is David who commences the festivities,300 whereupon we read:

301 The difficulty in deciding

’Qcy dbivent chanter quelque motet."
whether or not suspension occurs lies in ascertaining whether the motets
were known from religious celebrations or not. The text provides no
answer. Let us, therefore, grant the possibility of suspension at
this point.302

Even if we were to include the last potential integration, the
lack of examples of suspension in Group III is arresting. That all
three appear in a generally similar context should give us a hint.
Having considered the fundamental dissimilarities between Groups II and
III, I conclude that artists who tend towards a more artistic and
structurally elevated method of relating the Passion operate under

a slightly varied set of literary values than those still intent upon

commemoration. When a dramaturge concentrates on building up

424
psychological motivation and reinforcing biblical accounts at their
vaguest or incomplete points, he is not particularly motivated towards
suspension: time and its steady march forward work to his advantage.
Absolute recognition of the liturgical origins of his materials does
not take precedence over the creation of believable characters. Even
Alsfels, elevated strictly with regard to the liturgical qualities

inherent in suspension, is remarkably devoid of it.

A singular difficulty arises when one considers the role of music
and possible overtones of suspension or interruption in Alsfeld.

Melodies from the liturgy predominate, supported by epic recitatives

303 In fact, the unity which results from the

304

from the four Gospels.
cooperation of lyrical delivery and literature makes it seemingly
impossible to separate either from its compliment. And here the
temporal categories of Pfitz are not particularly useful, for they
stipulate a generally spoken delivery, whereas Alsfeld relies heavily on
sung delivery. To do justice to the total musical structure of Alsfeld
in even the most marginal manner would entail investigation for beyond
the scope of this work. I direct interested readers to the observations
on the subject made by Dreimuller, Osthoff, and Boletta. A single
consideration of the complexity of Passion structure may elucidate the
problem.

Paul Zumthor has remarked that in medieval drama music interacts
with gesticulation and vocal rhythms so as to form a polyphony of pre-
sentation, difficult to perceive from the text aloné and at times
devilishly impossible to elucidate, but nonetheless extant and fbndamental

to all religious dramatic structure.305

425

INTEGRATION OF THE FUTURE
Proclaimed Occurrences Originating in the Text

True to their species, Passions of the late Middle Ages foretell
future events with structures emanating from the biblical account
itself. Of the infinite examples present in Group III,I have selected
certain comments which, though they originate in Scripture, owe their
peculiar power and effectiveness to the artist. I first desire to

investigate the category of oaths in Mistere-

a) Oaths

In virtually all Passions which include the Last Supper, Peter's
swearing of eternal fealty occupies a prominent and probably unavoidable
position of ascendency. Mistere is no exception; but the form given
this oath is at once strengthened by repetition, as it was in Autun B,
and combined forcefully with Jesus' quadruple repetition of His vision

of the future:

S. PIERRE
Pourquoy, sire, et a quoy tendra?
allez vous si destroite voye
que suivre je ne vous pourroye?
s'a la mort vous habandonnez,
crainte pour ce ne me donnez,
car j'ay ma pensee ravye
de mettre ma mort et ma vie
pour vous, et je ne m'en desdis.

JHESUS
Et vrayement, Pierre, je te dis
qu'ains que le coq chante deux fois
ceste nuit tu m'en nyras trois,
et garde comment t'enhardis.

S. PIERRE
Sire, sauf‘vostre honneur, mes dis
et mon oppinion est telle
que pour porter peine mortelle
et mourir avec vous en place
ne vous regniray, que je sache;
mon intencion y est ferme.

I"

426

JHESUS

Et a vous tous dis et afferme
que tous ceste nuit me lairrez
et par crainte m'esclandirez,
que disciple avec moy n'aray;
car est escript: Je frapperay
le pasteur; lors s'epanderont
les ouailles et s'en fuyront.
Mes quand je serai excite

et de la mort ressuscité,

je vous verray en Galilee.

S. PIERRE

Et se tout ceste assemblee
vous nye de cueur inconstant,
je ne vous nyrai pas pourtant,
mes me tendray de vostre accord
et suivray a vie et a mort;
je suis en ce point afferme.

(Mistere 18321-354)

S. PIERRE
Sire, vos ditz trop m'esbayssent:
ne vous ay je pas dit devant
que quelque homme au monde vivant
ja ne me scara seperer
de vous pour torment endurer?
je suis prest de vous secourir
soit en chartre ou soit a mourir;
j'abandonne le residu.

JHESUS

Pierre, je t'ay ja respondu

que ta fbrce est insuffisante

et qu'avant que ceste nuit chante

le coq, si grant douleur aras

(Mwstére 18475-490)

Once again the traditional story is reinforced: Jesus sees His demise
and Peter denies it, relying upon his own strength of character, which
in the end must fail him. What Gréban has accomplished, however, is to
give Peter more human feet of clay, to portray the favorite disciple
as an adamant follower, full of self-assurance. When Peter falls, as
fall he must, the impact of his miserable failure assumes deeper
meaning from the unyielding positiveness of the position given him by

the dramatist.306

427
As a last exemplification of text—induced, forward-tending visions
I offer three separate statements by the Christ of waneley. All
are afforded unique places in a traditional framework. The first message
to reveal a future event is Jesus' words of comfort to His disciples:
And here may I no longer leynd,
, bot I shall go before,
And yit if I before you weynd,
ffor you to ordan thore,
I shall com to you agane,
and take you to me,
That where so euer I am
ye shall be with me.
(Towneley XX 440-4471
By this attempt at consolation, the Son of Man makes ineluctable His
appearance at the Resurrection. A closely following speech signals
the coming sorrows of the Jews from Luke xxiii: 28-30, as Jesus addres-
ses the daughters of Jerusalem. A third prophecy finding fulfillment
in Towneley XXX, the Judgment, is appended to the Galilean's response
to Caiaphas' inquiry concerning His reputed affiliation with God the
Father. Christ's words, normally elucidating His second coming exter-
nal to the Passion, foretell His appearance from Heaven:
ffor after this shall thou se/when that I do com downe
In brightnes on he/in clowdys from above.
(Towneley XXI 253-254)
Although they fall outside our immediate purview, these promises of a

return to Earth cast spectator interest into the future and announce

. . . . . . 3 7
an act1Vity which touches everyone With its importance. 0

b) Intrigue

The intrigues of the Lord's many detractors can hardly be over-
looked by any Passion author. Aside from their central doctrinal and
historical relevance for the entire tale, intrigues offer profitable

dramatic ground for the artist to exploit, for they possess inherently

7428
dual temporal dimensions: intrigue continually anticipates the future
by revealing that something has already been set in motion against the
Savior and that traps have been set in His path.308 The focus of the
spectator, of course, is upon how the traps will be sprung. The five
texts of Group III excell at motivating the death of Jesus by attention
to the intrigue which accompanies it from the inception of dramatization.
In Towneley we have already observed the manner in which Pilate initiates
and incites intrigue against his arch-enemy.309 Chester shows little
talent for elevating the basic scriptural account of intrigue. But
Donau, Alsfeld, and Mistére all project the traditional machinations of
the Gospel into new, artistic heights. Donau chooses to offer the in-
trigue of the High Priests and Jews in bits of ever-increasing dramatic
specificity. We are not confronted with a fait accompbé with all forces
in place, all decisions reached. Instead, the dramatist allows us to
relive each phase, to attend to the entire development of the plot.
Our first hint of a darkening horizon accompanies the healing of the
cripple. In response to news that the man has been miraculously cured

310

by "Ihesus Christ, gwarer gott!", Lamecht questions the action,

particularly on the Sabbath, and initiates the drive against the
Blasphemer:

Ir heren, lond vns die each bedencken!

wend wir im disse schmacheit schencken,

dbs er vns vnsern sabat bricht

vnd so freuenlich. wider vns spricht?

lond vns tun zu dissen dingen!

er mocht ein nuwen glouben bringen!

(Donau 525- 530)

Within a few lines, as the Savior has spoken on the failure of pro-
phets to be accepted in their own land, the Conspiracy is joined by

Annas, who counsels trapping Him in His own words:

429

lond vns im hubschlich "angegen gan,
ob wir in mit worten mochten fachen,
wan es ist ein seltzem ding,
daz ein sollicher jungling
so vil lut sol verfuren.
wirt er vns ze teil, wir wen in ruren!
solten wir volgen sinem geschwatz,
er brech den Juden ir gesatz!
(Donau 579-586)

The conflict between prophet and established authority finally takes
definite shape as Caiaphas raves against the Intruder, Who professes
to be one with the Almighty. The prelate convenes a hastily-called
diet of Jews in the temple and proclaims:

Ir heren, das ist ein listiger man,

der vil ar ierens kann!

sin stim tdnet als ein harpfj;

er ist vns allen hie ze scharpfft!

wuss ieman wider in vor ze bringen

der tu das: wan er blibt nit da hinden!
(Donau 1385- -90)

In less than one hundred verses, the scheme is officially underway,
announced by Salomon:

Ir priester vnd schriber, blibent hie!
ratten an vnd lugen wie
ir dissem zoufferer wellen tun.
er git sich vss far gottes sun
vnd erkickt die toten vnd hilfift den blinden,
sin glichen kan man doch nit finden.
er schlicht vns nach an alle ort
vnd git vns vil der stoltzen wort:
dar vmb so lagen eben zu
wie man dissen sachen tu!
(Donau 1473- 82)

The Jews Jacharias, Jechonias, and Jesaphat.lend their voices to that
of Caiaphas, who proposes to sacrifice the One instead of the many.311
Such a technique of showing the extended antipathy between two opposing
forces dramatically elevates the play from the nominal repetition of

scriptural history found in Groups I and 11. As information on the

conspiracy becomes available, the reader senses an increasing tension;

430
his sensibilities become more finely attuned to each activity and to
the final commitment of the High Council to sacrifice the Lamb. The
author has successfully piqued and held our attention by gradually
revealing the motivational ferces behind the conspiracy.

A similar situation is reflected by Alsfeld, We witness the in-
trigue from its inception in massive detail. But the compilers of this
play choose to stress the place of devils in the plot, attempting to make
the physignomy of diffused evil more transparent.312 From the very
beginning Lucifer is at work, setting his snares for Jesus, Judas, the
Jews, the bishops, and Pilate. Lucifer first asks how this magician
Jesus can be caught, an extremely arduous task, "want hie ist alsze

313

gar swynde/myt synen listigen fynden!" Satan responds by promising

to tempt Judas, "das hie synen meynster sail vorradden/und sal den Judden

314

syn blut vorkeuffen!" For his part Bone promises to entice the

Jews to buy Jesus' death for thirty pennies,315 while Natyr agrees to
influence Sinagoga.316 When Rosenkrancz undertakes to misguide Pilate317
the conspiracy commences at its most elemental level. To a very real
extent we find ourselves back in the motivational realm of God vs. the
Devil. From the inception of the tale stress is laid not only upon
what characters do in the future, but why they act.318 From a structural-
temporal standpoint the convention of devils and their stated intentions
throw attention into a time not yet realized, when their boasts will

bear their bitter fruit. But why begin the drama with a devils'

council? The answer may have to do with dramatic fine tuning. In
placing such a fundamental view of intrigue which dominates Alsfeld at

the opening curtain the dramatists have succeeded in creating tension

and suspense which will held throughout the play. Rudwin concludes:

431

Im Alsfelder Passionsspiel steht diese Szene deshalb zu
Anfang des Dramas, weil sie von den Anschlhgen der Holle
gegen Christum handelt und vielleicht auch, um zuerst den
gefahrlichsten Feind des Menschen zu zeigen, bevor sein grgster
Freund, sein Erloser vorgefuhrt wird.

The first incident and a milestone in the presentational strategy
in Alsfeld of active interference in human affairs by devils is seen
when Sathanas approaches Herodias, unholy wife of Herod, with a plan
to rid her of a constant detractor, John the Baptist:

Szo volget mer, fraw! ieh wel uch leren!

ir sollet uch machen an uwern herren:

den konigk Herodes sollet ir bidden

mit schrynden augen nach wibes sidden

und sollet em uffin uwer leyt!

szo weisz ieh, wole, hie wirt bereyt,

das hie thut alle uwern wyllen:

uwer schrynde' augen wirt hie stillen,

und wesz er dan von em begert,

dhs sijt [er] alles sammet gewert!

hie enlesszet uch yn keynen noden,

und solde hie den selben man losszen toden,

der uch szo leyde hot gethaynn!

(Alsfeld 712-724)

These suggestions follow a gathering of devils, which has decided that
John poses a intolerable threat to them,:1threat which must be elimi-
nated.320 As was the case in Donau, the intrigue against John does
not surface in final form within a few lines. We first accompany him
in his early ministry, his baptism of the Living Lord, and finally his
confrontation of Herod concerning the latter's marriage to the wife of
his brother. It is this incident which gives rise to Satan's Visit
to and eventual domination of Herodias and her daughter, the biblical
Salome. A skillful interplay of intrigue and motivation renders more
artistic and impressive the already profound story of John the Baptist.

The personal hate of Lucifer for John321 serves as an effective intro-

duction to his attempts to capture Christ.

432
.Mistére elucidates the plot against the Master by also convening
a devils' council. After an extensive recitation of the dangers posed
by 'ce Jhesus', Sathan draws attention to one disciple, Judas, who is
blinded by avarice.322 The decision is made to tempt this weak link in
Christ's armour and to further entice the High Priests, who, Sathan
assures his master, are in severe conflict with the ideas of the
Teacher.323 Although no definite appearance to the conspirators is
acted out, rubrics categorically signal the extended interference by
the forces of darkness: "Icy s'en va Berich aux pharisiens et Sathan
poursuit Judas."324
The double scene which follows the council of devils places the

intrigue squarely in the arena of human existence: the two main spokes-
men for Judaism, the High Priests, are joined in deliberation by four
lesser functionaries, Naason, Nathan, Jheroboan, and Mardoceus. In
concert these six representatives of the Old Law conclude the pact
which closes the Lord's earthly fate. In a separate location Judas,
in a uncommonly base and realistic monolog, decides to act against his
Savior regardless of the consequences:

Je pers cy mon temps, bien le voy:

je n'ai drap ne robe qui vaille,

je jeune toute four et baille-

et sans souldees recevoir:

(Mistere 17507-510)

je braisserai un tel meschef _

que mes deepens seront recouz

mes ce sera bien aux chers coustz

de mon maistre: et vienne qui peult!

(Mistere 17519-522)

Obviously the traitor has weighed the betrayal carefully: his speech

constitutes only the final formality of decision,

433
Judas then joins the other plotters and they quickly reach an
accord, the specifics of which we have experienced before. However,
Gréban takes the treason one dramatic step further by investigating in
novel tones the motivation and means by which Judas accomplishes his
crime. Through the artistry of Gréban the how<of the intrigue assumes
truly graphic and intense proportions, for the artist makes Judas a
parody of his Master. At the Passover feast Judas feigns an interest in
the Lord's burden, flattering and boasting:
Cher maistre, trop vous travailliez;
laissez moy servir le couvent:
c'est a moy, je le fhis souvent,
sans vous donner si grand ensonne.
(Mistére 17917-920)
James ne suis las de servir;
puisque je sens mon maistre assis
je prens plus de peine que sis
et suis bien content de jeuner
pour luy son mes bien ordonner.
(Mistere 17923-927)
Urion correctly sees the honor of service bestowed on Judas, but also

cautions the wayward disciple:

Il vous a fhit honneur tres grant:

gardez que n'en soiez ingrat!

(Mistére 17939-940)

Judas' very act of service places his previously-devised treason in a
tragically-flawed light: not only does he betray, Judas heightens the
deed by pretending to cherish the role be greatly loathes. The intrigue
0f Mistére evinces a cutting edge of malice of forethought coupled
With downright deceit.

By a final stroke of brilliance which etches Judas and his plots

in CHJI memories, Gréban contrasts a vain and callous eleVenth diSCiple

Witrl Peter. Jesus kneels to wash the feet of His followers, the supreme

 

434
act of service in a hot and dusty land. Judas steps up to be the
first:
Ce qui vous plaist me doit bien plaire;
sire, je n'y contredis pas.
(Mistere 18005-006)
Thomas takes immediate exception ot Judas' boldness and voices a deep
sense of dumbfoundedness, as we might:
Vela bien ung merveilleux cas
et de grant admiracion.
N'est ce pas grant presumpcion
a Judas de vouloir souffrir
que son maistre se viengne offrir
devant luy pour tel chose faire?
(Mistere 18007-012)
Peter now proclaims his famous injunction,325 making the comparison
complete. The curtain will soon descend on Judas, but the way in
which Gréban has realized his intrigue and the betrayer's words to
Annas (”Et je m'en voy executer/mon fhit par soubtille coutelle")326
leaves a radiant and lasting impression: the author has significantly
structured his message in an arresting human form; he has fulfilled the
future by a marvelous bit of stagecraft and characterization owing its
impact to the traditional intrigue of Scripture, but artistically
extended far beyond its confines. Whereas Gréban lays initial motiva-
tion on devils, he is quick to exploit the weakness of the human soul:

devils may suggest, but men are soon persuaded in their sin to partake

of the greater guilt of action.

Fbrms of’Proclamation Emanating from Structure

Of the structural forms of anticipation provided solely by the
author, those of the monolog, prolog, statement upon the close-of acts,
and asides merit special consideration. I have previously underscored

the importance of the prolog for medieval Passion plays, noting in

435

Group II the abundance of future-oriented material and the almost
fermal declaration of intention of dramatization which acccompanies it.327
To address each of these prolog characteristics would serve a question-
able purpose and only further lengthen an already cumbersome text. I
think it, therefore, reasonable to state in passing, that, with the
exceptions of Chester and waneley, which have no identifiable prologs
to their Passion sections, all other Group III plays function vis-B—vis
future events and intentional explanation in a way analogous to Group
II, but particularly to StG.

With the advent of more lengthy presentations, artists of the
late medieval period show increased willingness to investigate their
characters and events by the use of monologs. These times of domination
by the speech of one person accomplish a variety of functions: monologs
may return to prior happenings, thereby drawing the threads of dramatic
exposition tighter; they may summarize previous events, provide op-
portunities to ponder them, and allow insights into the soul of the
speaker.328 In most instances such reflection gives rise to decisions
whose fruits will be realized in future time. Such a monolog is de-
livered by John the Baptist in Alsfeld. John first tells of his inten-
tion to preach the Word, to speak the truth and to attack sinners.329
Placed upon the conclusion of a heated confrontation with Herod over
the latter's lack of sexual responsibility, John's monolog actually
portends his arrest and death, those future events laying at the end
of his ministerial road. John further looks back upon his encounter
with the Nazarene and places it in the context of Christian heritage

as seen from a time previous to its codification. His words provide a

ringing announcement of the inception of a new order, which is the core

436
subject matter of ensuing dramatization:

des sollen alle die erfrawet werden,

die en entphan dan myt ere,

er leben nach sym gebode keren!

hie wirt gar gudde gebodde begen

und leren uns eyn buszende leben:

das hymmelrich wirt he unsz geloben

und alle syn frunde damidde begoiben!
(Alsfeld 593-599)

The monolog of Mary Magdalene,as she laments her past, initiates a
change in her demeanor as well as in her outlook on life. We first
hear all the trespasses of her former existence, a long litany of
courtly sins making her unworthy of being carried by the earth.330
The real structural impact of the monolog, however, is not the lament
of times and actions past, but her forward-looking resolve to make
amends.331 It is this characteristic look to the future which causes
spectators to pay attention, for they do not yet know the specifics
of how the playwright will resolve Mary's dilemma. They know only that
he must and that his play will return at some point to the Magdalene.
A somewhat dissimilar instance of monolog exploitation is found
in Donau, when Judas bewails his miserable crime. He, too, casts a
doleful eye upon the immediate past:
0 ir menschen, vernand min clag,
die ich vff dissen hutigen tag
vor aller welt clagen musz:
o wee der schweren herten busz,
die ich muss liden mit pin vnd leid!
dat tut min grosse bosheit,
die ieh an gott begangen han,
das ich verriet den sdligen man!
(Donau 2438-45)
In complete mental disarray and despair, Judas cries out for devils
333

to attend his pain,332 and to help him end a treacherous life.

In this example the future event results immediately, and Belzebock

437
springs to the traitor's side to assist in the final task. Though the
time which separates announced intention from actuality is inconsequen-
tial, this monolog still focuses attention on a time not present. Here
we discover a meaningful unification of all three temporal strata, the
dramatic past (in epic narration), the dramatic present, and the as yet
unfulfilled future.)

There occur situations wherein he who delivers the monolog may not
seem in control of events, nor need he be. He may offer a completely
passive attitude and still announce the future. The Towneley Jesus
does exactly this. In a monolog laced with dogma and religious con-
viction Jesus presages a union of Master and disciple laying outside
the scope of the cycle:

I shall com eft to you agayn:
this warld shall me not se,
Bot ye shall se me well certan,
and lyfand shall I be.
And ye shall lyf'in heuen;
Then shall he knaw, Iwys,
That I am in my fader euen,
and'my fader in me is.
(Towneley XX 456—463)
Although Jesus perceives unrealized events which will culminate in His
death, He is, as far as the dramatic advancement of the plot is con-
cerned, rather like a clairvoyant victim Whose life appears to lie in
the hands of His enemies. This vision of an eventual unity in Heaven,
peering far into the future, shows that He is, contrarily, in complete

control of events, choosing to allow them to engulf Him as a necessary

prelude to victory.

When the portention of the future contained in the closing state-

ments of acts is approached, another qualification of Putz's categories

438-

nails piercing Jesus' hands and feet, of the sadistic stretching of
limbs and righting of the Cross into its mortise so prevalent in the
other feur renditions.

There is likewise no mercator episode in wanezey, not even a hint
that one was ever played. By this exclusion the wanezey account
avoids a decidedly tangential scene, which in most other Passions,
particularly in Alsfeld, serves the questionable purpose of comic
relief. Towneley restricts its stage time to more weighty matters; an
interlude such as that of the merchant has no place in so concentrated
a presentation; an inclusion of such secondary material would merely

dilute the play.

Contrary to the dearth of meaningful acceleration, the countless
incidences of retardation of traditional succession makes difficult the
choice of two or three truly representative occurrences fer the whole
group. With the exception of Chester,vu=have seen that probably the
most intense reduction of temporal passage involves to some degree the
Crucifixion. Let us disregard these central episodes for now and direct
our attention to other portions of the Passion, for several authors of
this group employ their artistic talents to manipulate secondary events
as well.

Two late plays provide the majority of extra-crucifixion retarda-
tion. The dramatic results are, in my opinion, mixed, for Mistere often
seems to become enmired in extraneous material. Much the same can be
said of.Alsfeld. Numerous passages of the latter, treated in consider-
ably condensed form in plays of earlier centuries, serve to lengthen
scenes into inordinately long statements. I think particularly of the

encounter between Christ and Herod, which, temporally, dramatically, and

439

becomes unavoidable. The major stress of his comments, reinforced by
several useful observations upon the future intention of concluding
statements to keep suspense alive, that audiences may not lose the
scheme of presentation,334 seem designed to deal with the realities of
plays significantly less 'ambitious' than medieval Passions, whose
scope often extends to performance over several minutes or hours
instead of days. Therefore, most of Pfitz's ideas concern themselves
with internalized future structures, with grammatical forms, forward-
pressing threats, commands, and the like, delivered by characters of
the play.335 In medieval drama we have found that personalities exter-
nal to the staged or represented time most frequently pursue events
in prolog form. In the three multiple-day continental Passions, they
also step forward to comment upon previous dramatization and to refer
to coming events when the action is terminated for the day. An indi-
cation of the performance highlights of the next day offers the onlooker
an idea of what he should expect, and such a technique may well pique
his natural inquisitiveness. Surely what he witnesses on the morrow
will not be a surprise, as is apparent from the statement of the
proclamator of Donau:

Ihesus ist verkoufft vmb gelt!

nu horent zuhie, alle welt:

morn so werden ir furer sehen,

was wunders an im ist geschechen

vnd wie in die Juden gemarteret hand,

des sy kamen in grosse schand.

dar vmb so land uch nit belangen:

morn so wirt es angefangen,

da es den hut gelassen ist,

als ich uch kund zu disser frist.

(Donau 1719- 28)

The how of performance, that category of vital artistry, must still be

seen, but its announcement as such assumes no greatly elevated form.

440
The closing statements take on an air of necessity, not designed to
entice and hold spectator interest for a short break in staged activity,
but to solicit their return on succeeding days. There can be no real
bridging of such a massive time gap by announcing the future with a
wrap-up sentence. Indeed, the concept of ,Aktschlusz', as employed
by Patz, is essentially a useless idea for medieval Passions, for those
points at which closing remarks are made constitute nothing more than
a convenient place at which to draw the performance to a close. Surely
medieval authors chose advantageous junctures at which to divide their
stories, but the projected span of audience interest obviously played
no mean part in determining where the divisions occurred. Thus, this
medieval phenomenon of portraying certain future events is basically
non-artistic. Spectators receive some information about unfolding
actions, but such deliveries comprise a conventional way of breaking up

336
plays.

The phenomenon of the aside plays a role which in medieval drama
may be disputed. If we assume the normal definition of an aside to
pertain here-- that is a character surrounded by his dramatic compa-
triots turns to the audience, oblivious for the moment to their presence,
to offer a comment which in some way deals with what he plans to do,
either immediately or later-- it is impossible to categorically state
that medieval authors consciously employed them at all. I have found
only one possible instance of the aside in Alsfeld, but its appearance
seems more an accident of circumstance than of intent.

During Martha's vain travail to convert her wayward sister, Mary
Magdalene, the latter turns from those surrounding her to call to

spectators, asking what her pious sister can possibly want from her.337

441

She subsequently apostrophizes grave consequences for Martha if the
elder sister of Lazarus does not leave her in peace:

ich wel er schyer eyn boden

schigken, der sie sere sail slan,

wel sie mich nit mit freydden lan

und losszen mich yn disser wysze feren!

(Alsfeld 1915-19)
A certain stipulated intention to continue her life of luxury and sin
concludes the address.338 The confrontation resumes with another
warning by Martha,339 and a sarcastic reply by Mary that she
desist.340
The above situation, arrestingly isolated in its appearance, while

conferming to all the theoretical and technical requirements of an
aside, constitutes the single example I was able to glean from the
ample corpus of Group 111 plays, and certainly should not be over-

stressed. To a small degree, possible future circumstances are

revealed, but never fulfilled.

Intimated Occurrences Originating in the Material

a) Time Consciousness

Of the numerous techniques by which an author may hint future
happenings from stipulated textual material, the category of time
consciousness offers one of the most potent means to artistically
render any tale. In light of the decided elevation of the general
literary level of Group 111, it is quite surprising that this pheno-
menon receives so little attention. In fact, one must thoroughly
search these plays to uncover even the hint of temporal consciousness
as defined by Pntz. That category which seems to constitute a logical
'outcome of the Passion play, a character's recognition of the irrepres-

Sible advance of the future upon him, is the only one of the five

442
.‘. . . 341
temporal recognitions which makes a meaningful appearance.
Of course, we immediately and almost intuitively seek out that scene
of Gethsemane reported in Matthew xxvi: 42, where Jesus voices His
apprehension of coming trials. The accounts vary from the Chester,
"My hart is in great mislyking/for death that is to me cominge",342
to the somewhat elongated perception of the.Mistére Christ:
dessus la passion amere
que je sens moult fort approchant;
(Mistere 18677-678)
Ce calice m'est durement amer;
pere piteux, s'il te samble possible
oste le moy qui tant me veulz amer343
(MistEre 18709-711)
None has the added touch of suspense noted for Palat, and their impact
on it is minimal.
One might in like fashion confine John the Baptist's announcement
of Jesus' impending arrival,344 first proclaimed, then almost immediately
realized at the Master's sanctification, to the arena of extant, but
non-critical categories. It probably is another 'given' of John's

message, accompanying him as a matter of course and even defining

his dramatic presence.

b) Mood

Of much more literary prominence is the casting of mood by these
plays. I wish to remark on the most effective and adroit manipulation
by Greban of its inherent capacity to create and hold interest.

By the singularly effective technique of changing dramatic focus
on center stage from one situation to another Greban creates the oppor-
tunity of investigating an already arresting tale with one which causes

or has the potential to cause spectator agitation. The mood of the

443

Virgin, as she calls out to her absent Son during the Passover meal,
hints at coming events by revealing her uneasiness:

Filz, je ne te puis oublier;

mon cher filz, de mes biens le mieulx,

las! ou es tu? consente Dieux

que briefment puisse avoir copie

de ta presence deguerpie

a ma doleur tres singuliere,

et d'evye ton adversiere

te veille soulver et garder!

(Mistere 17977-984)

Even before the conspiracy reaches the level of arrest, Mary intuits
a grave consequence for her Lord, lying somewhere beyond her actual
experience. Mary's increasingly darkening mood draws attention for a
brief moment away from the dramatic present in the form of the Eucharistic
meal and initiates an apprehension for what lies beyond. Her deepest
fears are shortly realized, as St. John reports the arrest to her.345
By placing the fears of Mary at this unexpected juncture, Gréban reminds
us that the bargain for Christ's body we have witnessed in a few pre-
vious lines is not complete, that the most eventful hours of the
spiritual history of mankind will shortly be written. For this Gréban
needs no lengthy monolog or extended rationalization; with these few
sentences Mary displays her concern for what may lie ahead and we
spectators sense it as well. This dramatic hint structurally rein-
forces the prophetic words of the Master. The difference is one of

vision-- He sees and His mother feels. Both, however, cast our aware-

ness beyond the now of the stage.

c) Unconsciousness
A category of hinted occurrence which has not yet been giVen pro-
minence in previous Passions, finds an extended place on the stages of

Group III. Though not all plays choose to depict a loss of mental

444

contact with reality by one or more characters, those that do call into
being an entire set of theoretical potentials which variously lift
attention from the present into the future. A myriad of questions
arise as the result of a person's faint: when will she regain her
faculties?; will the person be somehow altered and how?; does the ex-
perience have a curative or purgative effect or does it bring with it
new dangers?346 In medieval‘Passions there exists only one real oppor-
tunity fer authors to investigate this phenomenon. It is not strange
that the late plays would be more responsive to the inherent chord of
pathos than were earlier works. I speak, naturally, of the Virgin Mary
and her reaction to her Son's demise.

We do not find Mary's fainting in either of the English cycle
plays; there exists the possibility to read such an emotional response

into Alsfeld; the presence of the faint is made absolute byMistere347

and Donau.348 In both these late contexts, and particularly in Mistere
lengthy plaintes precede her faltering. Her emotions frayed to the
breaking point, Mary has no other manner by which to respond to her hurt.
In the late medieval lexicon of deepest emotional involvement with the
Crucifixion, Mary's loss of consciousness relays the ultimate in
human behavior-- the inability to withstand the psychological pressure
of the moment. Pfltz remarks that such periods of a character's forced
repose may contrarily create times of highest mental exertion in
bystanders:
Die dramatis personae sind auf dem Gipfel einer Erleb-
nissteigerung angelangt; die beschleunigte Sukzession schldgt

pldtzlich in scheinbare Ruhe um, die vom Publikum jedoch als
spannungssteigernd empfunden wird.

445
Our texts do not exactly correspond to the stated ideal, for the actual
fainting has a limited duration of only a few verses. We hardly have
time to abstractly ask the pertinent questions concerning Mary's con-
dition. The technique may integrate a small portion of future interest
into the present stage reality, but it is the reality of an immediately
impending moment. The phenomenon is not, therefore, of great significance.
Its efficacy and reception must, furthermore, be analyzed in light of
late medieval religious fervor, which thought no representation too
emotional or irrational for the boards.
When the question is pondered, why the unconsciousness of Mary
in the continental plays and not in the cycles?, two divergent views on
the Virgin and her sorrows are encountered. Brother Cornelius Luke has
ascertained that the planctus in English cycles is not designed to
elicit reaction for Mary, but is Christocentric in focus.350 Much of
that presented is indicative of "motherly emotion", but it is always
subsumed into a deeply human reaction to the Savior's suffering.351
Mary truly grieves, but her pain does not evolve for its own sake:
. her anguish is pictured naturally and simply, without
any effort at higher pathos, and assuredly WiEESUt producing
anything like a maudlin or hysterical effect.
To maintain that the same were true of continental plays would be a
gross error. We may not see a hysterical Mary laboring at the foot of
the Tree, but the figure which does confront us is designed not only to
stress the sacrifice before her, but also her profound reaction to it
as a grief-stricken mother. The planctus of each continental Passion is
neither low-keyed nor particularly restrained. It is true that all five

texts of Group III employ traditional language and images reflective of

a heightened emotional state. But in the Alsfeld section we: find Mary

446

going so far as to kiss the Savior's wounds after He is taken from the
Cross.353 Such an action seems designed not to belabor Christ's Passion,
but His mother's overwhelming sorrow, the sorrow of one human being for
another. walther Maller posits a definite and conscious effort on the
part of late medieval poets to take the scene to its highest emotional
and dramatic level, as he contrasts them with earlier representations of
the Pieta:

Hier aber finden'wir im Gegenteil eine stark leidenschaft-

‘ liche gestisch hdchst lebhaft klagende Maria sowohl im 15.

(Eger, Frankfurt, Donaueschingen) als auch im beginnenden l6.

Jahrhundert (Alsfeld). Die Verfasser der Passionen konnten

sich diese wirkungsvolle Szene der Klage am Kreuze nicht

entgehen lassen, um sie schauspielerisch und dramatisch

vertiefend auszuwerten.35
I believe the presence of Mary's loss of consciousness to be the logical

outcome of such a dramatic interest in elevating the traditional words

of lament.

Terms of Intimation Emanating From Structure

For concluding remarks about integration of eventual realities
into the present time of the stage I return one last time to these
structural entities which, for the most part, owe their theatrical
life and operational intensity to the cunning manipulation or intention

of the dramatist.

a) Meaningful Noises

In the chapters dealing with authorial proclamation, those dramatic
categories of interest consisted of primarily linguistic, of spoken
phenomena such as monologs and prologs, in which persons expressed
themselves in futuristic terms.355 Several techniques which rely on

non-verbal communication to amplify and portend the future constitute

447

a subtle, but often critical area of dramatic awareness. Meaningful
noises may introduce grave affairs laying just ahead. Those introductions
of inquietude,where the originator of the sound remains hidden from view,
produce situations pregnant with foreboding. In such instances a
dramatis persona perceives, ponders, and reacts to the unseen and un-
spoken signal.356 But I must introduce another qualifying remark here.
In order to find a pure set of circumstances wherein this method of
forming the text may be functional, one must postulate a discrete stage
with areas inaccessible to the eye. Medieval simultaneous staging does
not always or even normally offer this opportunity to produce stress
on the bystander. Nonetheless, the interposition of future events is
not entirely negated: figures will still sense with uneasiness the
origin of the noises, will relate them to their own fears,and in some
manner respond to them. The most potent application of sounds creates
in the Virgin of Donau a profound fear of what they mean for her Son.
In prior verses Pilate has commanded his soldiers to announce the com-
mencement of Jesus' Crucifixion by blowing their horns.357 Subsequent
to discussion of the directive, two men thrice sound their instruments.
Mary, occupying a separate place on stage, hears the thunderous peels
and is immediately thrown into mental disarray and anguish.358 Her
response to these forbidding, threatening voices from the court gives
rise to Mary's sudden fear:

Owe, Jehannes, was ist das?

ich spuren yetz der Juden hass

an Ihesu, minem lieben sun. "

wie wil ich betrupte muter tun?

kum, ich will in suchen bald!

owe, des ich ye wart so alt,

muss ich verlieren min liebsten schatz!

owe, kind, dins guten ratz,
den ich von dir entpfangen han!

448
owe, kind, milss dich lan,
so wirt zerbrechen mir min hertz
vor leid vnd'pin vnd grossem smertz!
(Donau 3095-3106)
Mary knows that the trumpets annunciate a future event of momentous
evil. The resolve to go to the place of origin constitutes her
reaction. Donau skillfully mandates Mary's attendance on the Cru-
cifixion by this aesthetically elevated manipulation of the Passion
presentation.359
A companion phenomenon, that of gestures, plays a role which is
most evasive and perplexing. In most late plays one is either left
without any specific indication of gestures which accompany speeches
or one must rely upon general indications of the same. Since it is
practically impossible to ascertain which kinds of gesticulation at

which points derive from tradition without a long and involved peri-

pheral investigation, I have chosen to omit them from this work.

b) Reflection and Contrast

Our attention is now given to the twin phenomena of reflection and
contrast and the manner in which their integration translates potential
suspense into theatrical reality. For the discussion of reflection, I
have selected two plays which stand apart in their artistic application
of latent dramatic capacities. Alsfeld and its account of John the
Baptist will represent the positive side of reflection. Its negative
aspect will be assumed by the waneley Pilate and a host of extra-
Passion villains.360

In past pages I have dealt with the religious bases for a close

361

affiliation between John and Jesus Christ. It was stressed that

John,occupying that final and pivotal spot before his Master, took on

449
increased significance for medieval theologians and dramatists alike.362
It is not until the texts of Group III that we encounter what appears
to be a well-conceived and detailed theatrical affiliation between the
two figures. Although many of the parallels may have been suggested
by Scripture and by other source accounts, the authors of Alsfeld have
expanded and augmented traditional materials to enhance their own
dramatic statements.

As with the earlier StG Passion, John's place as precursor et
amicus dei is preserved by several recognized biblical inclusions:
the 'VOx clamantis in deserto' and the 'Ecce agnus dei' add their con-
firmatory and solemn notes to the tone of John's encounter with the
King of Kings. But behind these expected words may be unearthed a sys-
tem of reflective parallels wherein the fate of the Baptist forecasts
in formal terms the doom of the Lord. From its inception Alsfeld deals
with the unavoidable sacrifice of Jesus. The congregation of devils
initially conSiders how this Stranger may be undone.363 A similar
concern of the devils is raised subsequent to John's introduction, the
baptism of his Creator, and his fateful confrontation with Herod.

A second prophet, "der saget gar wonderliche mere",364 threatens to like-
wise turn the people from their erring ways.

As with the intrigue against the Christ, John's eventual downfall
relies on the willing participation of an insider. In the instance of
John, the wife of Herod's brother, Herodias, having lately taken abed
with her in-law, provides the all-important carte d'entré for evil.

By means of a clever disguise Sathanas ingratiates himself to the

woman, playing on her fear of forfiture of station and riches. She

450
responds by approaching her husband ”nit schrynden augen", begging
fer John's arrest. Herodias' daughter, reacting to the proddings of
the same Sathanas, succeeds in beguiling Herod into slaying the Baptist.
His death, dramatically worked out by the devils' intrigue and the
cooperation of a weak insider, structurally prefigures Jesus' coming
death by similar circumstances.

Other notable affinities between John and Jesus are exploited. As
John roams about Palestine, condemning the sin he sees, chastizing
evil-doers wherever he finds them without regard for his own safety, he
runs afoul of established authority in the person of Herod. His expres-
sed sense of moral outrage precipitates his arrest and eventual death.
In like fashion Christ later ignores His own physical well-being to
minister to the masses, to preach the True Word, and to suffer the
ultimate consequences. John's life on stage not only precurses that of
his Lord, his unjust death formally prepares that of Christ. The paths
they travel in life run in parallel towards their martyrdom. One good
man's journey prepares that of another.

Two ancillary circumstances seem to further identify the future
events for the audience. When the final evil has been perpetrated
against John, a vengeful Sathanas rises immediately from his disguise as
a prioress36S to claim his newly-won prizes-- the immortal souls of
Herodias and daughter. Similarly, when Judas in his despair cries for
the devils to attend his end, they appear immediately, Sathanas glee-
fully carrying the rope, and delivering Judas' soul to Hell, accompanied

366

by other devils "cum magnu strepitu". In both instances retribution

for sin is quick and merciless.

451
When the Savior exhales His last mortal breath, Sathanas is once
again there to snatch the soul as it departs. But this instance proves
contrary to earlier experiences; an angel of the Lord drives Sathanas

367 The ease with which the souls of mortal

away "cum gladio evaginato".
beings were captured is not repeated a third time, though the attempt

has been suggested by previous circumstances wherein devils literally

queued up behind their victims.

Some may raise the criticism that such subtle preparatory phe-
nomena have little validity if not recognized by spectators. The critic
may be answered with two arguments: medieval people in all probability
did perceive the parallels by virtue of their religious education;368
and even if they did not see them, the fact of an intentional structural
exertion to make the reflections cannot be denied by imperception.

Pntz comments:

In Wirklichkeit ist die Spannung objektiv im Drama angelegt,

und sie existiert unabhdngig davon, ob ein Publikum die

Spiegelung zur rechten Zeit bemerkt oder nicht.

From a standpoint of pure perception, Meyers finds a well cultivated and
finely-tuned capacity in medieval man to seize upon the types of similar-
ities I here call reflection.370 In a cogent and provoking argument, he
creates a sound case for the presence of typology in waneley, a method
of analyzing and interpreting sacred history by the recurrence of
similar figures. Meyers explains several plays antecedent to the Passion
as attempts to link men like Noah, Abraham, Jacob, and David into pre-
figurations of the Savior.371 It is Meyers' contention that a parallel
'profane typology', uniting characters like Pharaoh, Herod, and Pilate is

also at work in waneley: the process of seeing prefigurations of Christ

employed to clarify in dramatic terms the long line of satanical forces

452
against which Jesus struggles.

By an analysis of the sin of superbia, Meyers places Pilate squarely
at the apex of generations of evil-doers.372 The malevolent governor of
Judea is further linked to his sinister cohorts of ages past by his
ready use of expressions connoting might, as they had boasted before him:'

I’am a lord that mekill is of'myghy;373
Atrox armipotens/most myghty callyd in ylk place;374
As I am man of myghtys most.375
But Pilate not only commits the sin of pride, he boasts of his knowing
perversion of justice376 and delights in crediting himself with the
Crucifixion.377 Little doubt can be voiced in the presence of such an
abundance of evidence that the authors of Towneley deliberately sought
at once to form a band of evil surrounding the Man of Sorrows and to
contrast it with a similar grouping of benevolent personalities, both
placed at critical positions throughout the entire cycle. Meyers concludes:
These verbal similarities and sinful congruences are
present in speeches of all the tyrants to emphasize their

unity in sins, following their archetype Lucifer, as dwellers

of the proud city, culminating in Pilate. This typology is

set over against the patriarchs and prophets united in their

love for god, dwellers of the humble city, culminating in

Christ.37

The long list of reflections of good and evil carefully prepares

the future by looking forward to the two ultimate representatives, to

Christ and to Pilate.

In very real terms, the discussion of reflection in Towneley brings
us to its counterpart, contrast. The authors have worked out in perhaps
the most cogent manner of all late medieval Passions the resolution of

conflict between two suspense-creating forces, whose unavoidable clash

453
of wills finally defines the dramatic future of the play.
As we saw, the sin of pride links all diabolical types in wane—
ley. It seems impossible to imagine a more effective or telling contrast
to these personalities than that extended family of distinguished patri-

archs of Old Testament Judaism, from Noah through John the Baptist, who

379

as types of Christ exhibit a very real and basic humility. When

the Supreme Lawgiver enters the drama, bystanders had already sensed
and probably reacted to the groups of opposites, whose continuing
conflict had formed much of the suspense of earlier plays. With the
appearance of Christ and His arch-rival for man's allegiance, the Devil
in the guise of Pilate,the filaments of contrastive connections were
complete, the die between pride and humility cast.

Such is the elemental fecus of all Passions of the group. Though
they may not represent evil with such vigor nor with such intensity as
waneley, the contrast between representatives of the City of God and
the City of Man truly define the underlying suspense of each presenta-
tion. The conflict of Chester is least developed, relying upon the
innate power of the biblical story for much of its pathos.

Contrasts were also created by visual images. During this time
and probably long before it, the custom existed for characters repre-
sentative of secular life, notably Jewish bishops and profane rulers,
to wear the garb of religious rulers of the day. Steinbach supposes
the differentiation between Jew and Christian in German plays to have
been particularly striking when fantastic and exotic robes were allied
1thh an unintelligible Jewish ,Kauderwelsch' and a propensity fer

dance.380 The simple flowing robes of Christ and His subdued

454

linguistic deliveries serve as a skillful foil to the depredations of
His worldly enemies. Donau takes such contrasts one step further in
its Crucifixion. Here one sees the subtle power of visual and theatri-
cal differentiation to elicit spectator sympathy and create a genuine
feeling of uneasiness.

Commencing long before the trial with Pilate, Jews have continually
proven themselves to be inhuman sadists, eager to humiliate a silent

Christ.381 He has already elicited their wrath on several occasions and

they have often tried to stone Him.382 The treatment He receives from
His captors on the way to Golgotha, their jerking of His hair when the
Master falls under the weight of the Cross,383 contrasts greatly with
the solemn, almost desperate questions of the accompanying Magdalene.
Veronica, intent upon revealing Jesus' face on her cloth, is rudely
shoved away by Malchus, who gleefully heaps scorn upon a suffering
Savior.384 The shock of her Son's mischance causes the Virgin to
physically collapse amid great outcries of anguish.385 But the feinds
from the City of Man seem to carry the day, as they continue their
obscene pleasures. I doubt that a more graphic contrast between good
and evil is possible, that the emotional sensibilities of the audience
can be whipped to any greater heights than by this juxtaposition of
human anguish and delight in pain.

In Alsfeld at least one other means of contrasting two events may
be uncovered. It deals with what appears to be an intentional ampli-
fication and musical adornment of the Entry into Jerusalem.386
Drawing upon the ritual of Palm Sunday with all its pomp and joyous

celebration of a victorious Christ returned to His capital, Alsfeld

decorates the festive atmosphere with the brilliant 'hic est, qui

455
venturus est in salutem populi',387 and the complementary 'Hic est
salus nostra et redemptio'.388 Several Jewish bystanders lend their
voices in praise and reverence. The suggestion that an intentional
elevation of the Entry was made to contrast Jesus' 'ignominious treat-
ment' in later episodes, and that the parallel "denoument of the Holy
Week services ending with the.Missa Praesanctificorum on Good Friday",389

prepared audiences and perhaps even heightened their sensitivity to their

Lord's Passion seems accurate.

INTEGRATION OF THE PAST

The concluding section in this extensive evidentiary offering of
temporal structures from medieval Passions deals with the manner in
which the past is employed in Group III plays and the aesthetic ap-
preciation which may be gained by recognition of their presence. I
have omitted any allusion to the phenomenon of the trial as an epic
device, believing it to have been adequately investigated in earlier
paragraphs. As with other deliberations,l have selected only a minute

number of examples to represent the great mass of active epic inclusions.

Events Previous to the Onset of Dramatization

Remembrance, the dwelling upon specific moments from the past by a
character, designed to expand upon a mood or event, forms one of the
most extensively-employed phenomena of epic integration. Every play of
Group III applies it with varying degrees of intensity and accomplish-
ment. During her complaint in Chester, the Virgin Mary recalls in
agonyzing tones the birth of her Son, much as she did as early as
M'ontecassino,390 but in more specific terms, adding to the poignancy

and pain of the moment:

456

Thinke an my freut! I'fbsterd thee,
and gaue the suck vpon my knee;
upon my pgyne haue thou pitty!
thee fhyles no power.

(Chester XVI 629-632)

Sith thou me to thy moder chose,

and of'my body borne thou was,

as I conceived thee wemlesse,

thou graunt me some legiaunce!391
(Chester XVI 645-648)

Alsfeld places the memory of Lucifer's previous position of trust

and responsibility onto the tongues of all his cohorts.392 The Prince

of Darkness does much to clarify his base inspiration of the impending
Passion by recalling his unity with God:

hye vor was ich eyn engel clar,
ny byn ich vorstoissen gar!
geheysszen was ich Lucifer,
ich was in dem obersten thron eyn licht-treiger!
des erhub ich mich alszo sere:
ich wol myn stull seczen uber mym scheppere
und wol mich em glichen
in den fronen hymmelrich!
darusz wart ieh verstoisszen
myt allen mynen genoisszen
viel tiefif in der helle grunt!
darumb werde ich manner gesunt!
(Alsfeld 151-162)

Yesse, a soldier of Pilate from Donau, remembers an earlier visit
with the courtly Mary Magdalene,393 and in so doing affixes a small,
but pertinent conceptualization of the mood and circumstance in which
this assemblage of characters finds itself. Mistére reports through

the memory of one Phares,a prosecution witness against the Lord, that

he and a half-dozen others saw this Prophet cure the ill on the Sabbath.3

Rabanus reminds by-standers that in more than ten places Jesus claimed
to be descended from heaven, that He was one with the Father.395
Certain of the Master's divine qualities are thus epically revealed and

their memory employed to build a case against Him. Mood is effectively

4

457
blackened, the threats to His life made more telling by the concentra-
tion which results. The past is seen to be an active and continuing

fbrce at work to define the future.391

Empositional Fonms of'Remembrance

The three expositional methods of incorporating significant data
into theater without sacrificing too great a degree of dramatic con-
centration lend their strengths to Group III plays, with one notable
exception. That exception involves actualized pre—history, which, in
light of the extensive extra-Passion inclusions of these texts, renders
superfluous such a concept of pre-history. It will be recalled that
I defined pre-history as any portion of time which preceded the Jeru-
salem Entry. For Groups I and II the definition applied and aided the
elucidation of expositional possibilities. In the arena of the late
fifteenth century on the continent and in light of the phenomenon of
English cycle productions of earlier years, the term becomes essentially
useless. One would have to investigate all the plays of Chester and
fbwneley which antedate those of the Passion section as actualized pre-
history. And the late medieval French and German Passions present an
analytical problem only slightly less confusing because of their
massive retrograde growth from the Passion. The term actualized pre—
history thus loses its specific connotation in the mass of material

presented; its ability to enlighten is severely compromised,

a) Narrated Pre-History
As I have noted on several occasions, the formal structure of
waneley exhibits a remarkable degree of sophistication and artistry.

Its aesthetic standing is further enhanced by its author's exceptional

.458
application of epic fbrms of exposition. Such inclusions enable them to
concentrate dramatic attention upon relatively few scenes of primary
doctrinal and theatrical distinction. Ibwneley XX, the Conspiracy,
contains one illustration of the intrinsic potential of epic narration.
With few exceptions, all medieval drama of the late period dramatizes
the confrontation between Mary Magdalene, Jesus, Simon the Leper, and
Judas, that situation in which Mary annoints her Master. Instead of
resorting to the traditional pattern, Towneley allows Judas to relate
the encounter to Pilate and the two priests.397 In like manner Towne-
Zey retains a high degree of concentration on the moment by avoiding
any representation of Christ's miracles, another series of beloved
encounters employed particularly by German redactors to stress Jesus'
superiority over physical infirmity. In waneZey XXII, the Scourging,
four of the Healer's many deeds are singled out for narration by three
torturers as they prepare to administer Pilate's command.398 These
two narrated passages serve to remind onlookers that the events indeed
did occur at a time previous to the outset of performance. And pre—
cisely their exclusion from represented time enables the authors to
heighten spectator interest and suspense in the moment. They further
tend to keep the plays moving by recounting only in passing these peri-
pheral and dramatically rather unproductive concerns. Such a method
of coming to terms with pertinent, though secondary matters, is a
welcome artistic elevation when compared to the near relatives of
waneley. It is also indicative of the altered patterns of character

interest; not the deeds done by the Lord are expounded, but the deeds

done unto Him occupy our attention.

459
The Christ of AZserdcasts His weary eyes far back into 01d Testa-
ment history when He reveals himself as the very Being Who freed the
Children of Israel from slavery and led them through the wilderness:
ich fort dich usz Egipten Zant
und host das jude nyt erkant,

das du dynem schepper eyn cricz host bereyt
zu synem tode und zu synem groisszen Zeyt!

Ich fort dich durch die mustenung breyt
vierczigk jare in suszikeyt!
ich deiZet myt das himmeZbroitt!
ich halff’dir von Pharo usz der noit!
ich fort dich yn dos Zant Zustlich,
do der onisz honig und miZch
(Alsfeld 5500-09)
These narratives differ both in tone and direction from those of’Townen
ley, for they reiterate the divine nature of the Christ, His oneness
with the Almighty. Not designed to bridge gaps in represented time,
they contrarily deliberately widen the scope of dramatization untold
generations into the past.399
In contrast to Group II texts which introduced pre~history in a
prolog form, these later versions fail to conform to earlier techniques.
Donau and Alsfeld both provide introductory remarks in a prolog, but
they direct attention to the future. Those of.Mistére originate solely
in the time of dramatization and are designed only to bring events of

past performance again to mind, with the aid of occasional anticipatory

forms indicative of the reason for performance.

b) Pre-History as a Present Circumstance

This manner of establishing the relationship of ancient events
to present realities makes appearances in all five Passions. Three
accounts call forth the prophets in purgatory to voice their old wisdom,
which signals the impending Harrowing of Hell. They are, in effect

prophet plays in reverse, clarifying the present instead of the future.

f 460
However, they still make ample use of the past. In Chester Isaiah

identifies the light which precedes Christ as that which he prophesied,

400 Simon Iustus relates his

encounter with the baby Jesus in the temple?01

adding that his vision is now fulfilled;
and its importance fer
His imminent arrival; John the Baptist narrates the visitation of his

Lord, showing its relevance for the present;402 Seth and David deliber-

ate the past and inject it into the 'now' of presentation.403’404

We find similar usages in the Towneley Deliverance of Souls405 and in

406

Alsfeld at the same juncture. All exploit admirably the capacities

for concentration inherent in epic integration of past happenings.

There can be little question that the most artistic and structur-
ally captivating experience of pre-history belongs to Towneley, for in
it a compact and highly effective formulation of secondary events is
incorporated into a drama of considerable suspense and sophistication.
By the clever review of undramatized events culminating in the conspiracy,
the playwrights of waneley significantly augment the scope of the Pas-
sion without recourse to peripheral matters. Pilate's initial lines
from waneley XX dwell momentarily upon the Outsider from Galilee,
giving us an inkling of the situation the governor perceives:

A prophets is he prasydL

And great vnright has rasydL

Bot be me banys her blasid,
his deth is dight no dowtt.

He prechys the pepyll here/that fature fals ihesus,
That if he lyf a yere/dystroy oure law must vs;
And yit I stand in fere/so wyde he wyrkys vertus,
No fawt can on hum bere/no lyfand leyde tyll us.
Bot sleyghtys
Agans hym shall be soght,
That all this mo has wroght;
Bot on his bonys it shall be botht,
Sb shall I venge oure rightys.

461

That fatoure says that thre/shuld euer dwell in oone
godhed,

That euer was and shall be/Sbthfast in man hede;

He says of'a madyn born was he/that neuer toke mans
sede, '

And that his self shall dy on tre/and mans sawll out of
preson lede.

(Towneley XX 33-50)

Though he addresses pre-history which finds no position in previous
plays, Pilate still occupies the point of dramatic focus. The present
tense assures us that not the past,but the present is the time of
greatest significance. Caiaphas reports that this Jesus turns people

407 that He has done a thousand wonders and enveighed

9

from the old ways,

against their law,408 that He breaks the Sabbath,40 while Annas frets

410

over His miracles and disregard for authority. Two of the miracles

are introduced by the torturers of waneley XXI,411 and reinforced by

allusions to the Lamb's messages on the destruction of the Temple,412

religious man's responsiblity to established authority,413 and the

adulteress woman.414 A final insertion of pre-history displayed by

this remarkable cycle occupies a critical station in the Garden scene.

As happens in countless plays, Jesus prays alone, quite apart from

His followers, that ”this passyon thou put fro me away".415 The super-

vening angelic communication from the Father, common to most Passion
tales, organizes the pre-history of Adam's fall and Jesus' own early
childhood into a highly-elevated statement of sacrificial necessity:

My comfbrte, son, I shall the tell,
of thyngys that fell by reson;
As lucyfer, for syn that fell,
betrayd eue with his fals treson,
Adam assent his wyfe vntyll;
the wekyd goost then askyd a bond
which has hurt mankynde full yll;
this was the wordys he askyd soyn:

462

To that a chyld.myght be borne
of'a madyn, and she wemles,

As cleyn as that she was beforne,
as puryd syluer or shynand glas;

Tb tyme that childe to deth were dight,
and rasyd hym self'apon the thryd day,

And stenen to heuen thrugh his awne myght.
who may do that bot god veray?

sen thou art man, and nedys must dee,
and go to hell as others done,

Bot that were wrong, withoutten lee,
that godys son there shuld won

In payn with his vnder-lowte;
wytt ye well withoutten weyn,
When oone is borod, all shall owtt,
and borod be from teyn.
(Towneley XX 528-555)
The final lines delineate in specific language why the Father cannot
honor His own Son's agonyzing request for relief. Other plays merely
provide the Savior with words of consolation, doing little to inter-

pret those preceding events in light of present requisites.416

When the theoretical availability for useful manipulation of
pre-history in Group III is considered, the relative paucity of epic
inclusions is surprising. One would assume that such massive declara-
tions of faith, with a more finely-tuned aesthetic and artistic sense,
would provide more instances of this phenomenon. Upon further con-
sideration, however, it becomes apparent that their very scope and im-
pulse to increase character detail and investigate in greater thorough-
ness many more events neutralizes much epic energy. Playwrights like
Greban and the three artists of Alsfeld, who consistently dramatize
events, have scant interest in employing the concentrational techniques
offered by epic narration. Mistére is particularly revealing in its
’deficiency'. This monumental transfiguration of biblical suggestion

and circumstance barely articulated in sacred history into theatrical

463
enterprise, caught up in the demands of the staged 'now', literally
has a? scarcity of unstaged events from which to draw. When likened to
such a prevailing conscience of dramatization, the truly exceptional and
elevated qualities of the waneley narrations become most arresting, and
the accruing concentration,linked with a novel method of dispensing with
structurally unproductive or irrelevant substance,fairly insists on
objective regard,if not a willing and considered intellectual respect.
A great genius has produced by the vehicle of extensive epic narration
a remarkably tight structure; though he may have only intuited the
intensity which could potentially be brought to bear on his story, his
accomplishments cannot be denied; the text stands as the supreme wit-
ness for any who care to investigate these forms with objective tools

and attitudes.

Retrieved Events Within Dramatized Time

It was earlier stipulated that certain events which coincided with
represented time were often employed to illuminate situations of dra-
matic personalities.41'7 These screened occurrences respond to the
limitations of technical staging capacities introduced by the very act

418 They simultaneously provide sensitive

of mimetic presentation.
artists with the means to overcome them, while strengthening tension in
an audience which anxiously anticipates the final certainty or report
of that event.419 This last argument, while germane to much drama from
the classic to the modern stage, is probably slightly exaggerated for
the plays under study. There can be no question,however, that such

methods of presentational mastery do not adversely affect the play ~

as a whole. Indeed, they function admirably in Passions to augment

464

representation with material from Scripture which cannot adequately be
staged.

Donau attempts to dramatize the momentous occasion surrounding
Christ's death, as we read in stage directions:

Vnd hie mie henck[t]der saluator dos hopt uff'die rechten

siten, vnd felt das tuch in tempel, vnd erstand die toten,

vnd schust man mit derobuchsen, als ob es tonderte, vnd .9350

sun vnd'mon, die dar zu geornet sind', hinder sich. .
At least two impressional shortcomings are obvious: firearms simulate
thunder and two bodies simulate an eclipse. In its attempt to direct
presentification to an extreme, Donau relies upon simulation of natural
forces which literally defy the attempt. Audiences must accept a sym-
bolic interpretation of divine power and displeasure..Mistére, too,
bids to dramatize these marvels, although the technical means of achieve-
ment cannot be deduced. One character, Ruben, narrates the sensations
of tremors under his feet;421 St. Denis and Empedocles remark on the
significance of the eclipse they experience.422 But even such a minute
accounting of the phenomena as Gréban gives relies on recognized
symbolic form. How much more impressive, suggestive, and powerful in
their simplicity are the accounts of the same events in other plays.
Here they are reported in straightforward, unembellished epic language.
The degree of concentration which results from the report of the Alsfeld
Centurion to Pilate,423 or the more elevated description of the same
figure to the waneley Pilate,carries the main theme forward and at
once injects vivid images into play watchers; their mental horizons

are extended and enhanced, all by the judicious application of

narrative description:

465

heuen it shoke abone,
Of shynyng blan both son and meyne,
And dede men also rose vp sone,
Outt of thare graf:
And stones in wall anone
In sonder brast and clafe.
(Towneley XXVI 51-56)

ffowlys in the ayer and fish in floode,
That day changid thare mode,
when that he was rent on rode,
That lord veray;
fTul well thay vnderstode
That he was slayn that day.
(Towneley XXVI 63-68)
The son fer wo it waxed all wan
The moyn and starnes of shynyng blan,
And erth it tremlyd as a man
Began to speke;
The stone, that neuer was styrrd or than,
In sonder brast and breke
(waneley XXVI 116-121).
When compared to an account like MistErc, the dramatic expediency and

even inspired artistry of the waneley inclusions can be sensed.

Two other components of retrieved events from dramatized time,
the methodical reintroduction of previous personalities or situations4
and the transformation of a prior event into an unexpected feasible
future alternative,425 have scant validity for medieval theater. One
obvious reason rests on the focus of the plays-- the Christ-- and the
tendency for the plays to continue, albeit at varying speeds, towards
the Resurrection. Religious tradition prevents any trulylmeaningful
incorporation of past events, with the exception perhaps of the three
trial sequences. But therein the artist had no significant latitude
due to their essential qualities. There exist likewise few notable
possibilities for the introduction of transformation. Mary Magdalene

was one of the few figures to even approach such character options.

466

Two factors which from the commencement of Group III analysis have
made their importance felt comprehend the fundamental approach employed
throughout this thesis: these theatrical entities of the final two
centuries of the European Middle Ages offer dramatic, structural, and
aesthetic experiences vastly dissimilax'.from their predecessors: each
play is a unique literary and scenic substance, reacting to varying
traditions and inputs. Although the methodology has focused attention
upon the theoretical and temporal units which are shared by all plays,

I have endeavored to expose many of the specifics which make each Pas-
sion an individual phenomenon, worthy of appreciation on its own level.
A definitive and final statement accounting for all similarities and
differences, unfortunately, cannot be formulated; the texts, as do all
worthy artistic endeavors, refuse total quantification. One cannot

hope to equate the straightforWard temporal movement of Chester with

a more detailed and alternately-motivated Mistere; the two forms, though
they treat basically shared beliefs, are simply not homologous. They
can at best be considered analogous, parallel experiences. And, as I
have constantly reiterated, a critical view of theater which presupposes
such a unity carries the tools for its own destruction. Although I
cannot hope to highlight all phenomena which deserve special mention in
Group III plays, a few central concerns should be emphasized.

The foremost perception of importance for late medieval drama was
the idea that the 'realism' of this period did not originate with con-
temporary authors, but rather found its genesis in.centuries of previous
scholastic investigation. .I am thus inclined to temper the criticism
of Froning, who postulates a general acceptance of Passions of the

fifteenth century, but sees a distinct aversion to those of later

467
years.426 His criticism once again errs by placing tastes and pre-
ferences of 'modern' minds above those for whom the plays were intended;
he declines to consider the context into which each piece fits, that
not only of confirmation, but of edification as well.

In the plays of the late Middle Ages we have discovered the fruits
of other ideas, traditions, conventions, and sentiments sown in past
centuries. The visions of a human Lord suggested during the twelfth
and thirteenth centuries have flowered in these Passions into excru-
ciatingly visual images of a wounded and dying Christ; lyrical devices
like the IMago Pietatis, hinted first in dramatic form in Autun B, are
in these late plays extended to intense audience interrogations by
the Lamb. They serve to break down the barriers which might exist
between audience and actor in a singularly effective manner, enhancing
the humanity of this sacrificed god-man.

It has been shown that the restructuring of time brought about by
anachronism perfbrms admirably to update sacred history, to lend an
immediate and vital quality to Scripture. We saw in the study of
reflection and contrast that the typology of waneley, which linked
not only Jesus to a long line of venerated biblical characters, but
also created a parallel list of profane and tyrannical images, culmi-
nating in Pilate, served to unify each group into a 'present' dramatic
vision of good vs. evil, and infused Tewneley with a vibrant under-
current of represented activity. The effect of this typological view
of history upon the structuring of time is clarified by Meyers:

Once given the typological way of looking at history, the usual

barriers of time become meaningless, and from this View of

history flows the idea that all ages are spiritually con-

temporary. There is no need then for a strict historical
separation of the 'accidents' of human existence: habits of

468

speech, dress, etc. These are elements which are not eifiential
and can be changed at the discretion of the playwright.

If we, as participants from an 'alien' society, with inadequate
comprehension of the religious reality of medieval life, will con-
descend to investigate the written records of mystery production in the
cold and impartial light of temporal structure, we will of necessity
come into contact with this continuous and generic reformulation of
history. When we grant the existence of this method of enlivening and
specifying sacred history, with its expression of the past as a true
and vital portion of the present reality of the world, many of the
apparent structural and operational anomolies of medieval drama disappear.
As we have considered the vast amount of textual evidence from
these Passion plays, it has become obvious at every point that behind
these extensive statements on Christ's sacrifice stands an attempt to
produce visual images on stage of the process of divine redemption
which conform as nearly as possible to the mental images possessed by
men relative to the probable flow of original events in history.428
This has led to the expansion of secondary concerns into scenes
of questionable dramatic consequence, such as the Herod and spice
merchant episodes. This process is responsible for an occasional op-
pressive length of presentation like that found in Mistere, Alsfeld, or
York. Investigation has confirmed Steinbach's conclusion that most of
the additions have been accomplished on material from Jesus' suffering.429
One finds Mistére to be peopled with numerous secondary characters from
this sequence, like the Centurion, servants, Roman soldiers, all aug-

mented by the roles of Pilate, the thieves, and various devils. All

serve notice of an artist's interest for the psychological motivation of

469

his tale.430 It is precisely this manner of relating to presented
material which makes waneley unique, for it avoids these marginal con-
cerns, doing away with Herod to concentrate interest on Pilate. The
Wakefield Master likewise avoids Judas' suicide and any participation
by the merchant, normally by means of epic remembrances or by ap-
plication of pre-history as a present circumstance. We find this usage
in Pilate's opening monolog of Towneley XX and XXII. Attention to the
duration of a character's presence on stage has also shown Pilate to be
the product of a finely-tuned perspective of the dramatic; his domination
of large quantities of stage time appears to be a conscious effort,
quoting Meyers, "to enhance his conflict with Christ."431 This becomes
particularly apparent with Pilate's presence in Towneley XXIV, the
Processus Talentorum. In it the Master places the final touches on his
anti—type to Christ, while structurally setting off the entire sequence
from that which antedates and postdates it. Williams identifies these
formal-structural consequences of the play when he observes:

It (waneley XXIV) is preceded by the death on the cross

and followed by the harrowing of hell, in both of which Christ

is the dominating figure. Thus, a play about Pilate sand-

wiched between provides a contrast between the love, mercy,

and all-embracing goodness of Jesxgzand the selfishness,

pettlness, and tyranny of Pilate.
It is precisely this kind of artistic restructuring of the biblical
tale which lends waneley much of its verve and appeal. It is also a
profound example of the dramatic heights to which drama founded upon an
accepted plot may grow. The perceptions by Williams, combined with my
own findings concerning Pilate's dominion over the conspiracy and his

place in the temporal framework of waneley,cause me to agree With McNeir,

who summarizes:

470

Such a handling of the situation means that these dramatists,

in creating the epic sweep of the cycles, occasionally found

an opportunity to sharpen individual scenes. They never lost

control of the central action, and they wigg able at the same

time to strengthen its internal supports.

The structural lengths to which the Wakefield Master has gone to make
Pilate the principal antagonist of Jesus and the ensuing elevation of
both the dramatic and aesthetic level of Towneley offers solid evidence
for the contention that medieval dramatists were capable of overcoming
their 'confining' material and its long tradition, that they were, indeed,
capable of inspired dramatics.

I interject a caveat at this point, lest readers misunderstand
the textual evidence contained in waneley. As dramatically interesting
as Pilate becomes, he and his cohorts do not detract from the Christo-
centric nature of the entire undertaking. Though the character of Pilate
possesses enormous energies for evil, though he seemstfimaall-powerful
and determinate factor in the motivation of the Passion section, this
mortal being cannot alter Christ's eventual triumph; even the most
powerful of secular and medieval rulers remains powerless against God's
will. Such a strong and superbly-drawn figure of the anti-Christ
serves to throw the victory won in the humiliation of crucifixion
into sharper focus.

Particularly in Towneley does the 'how' of presentation take on
added significance. With the study of design and realization as a
function of succession and intrigue as a fulfillment of the future it
was found that Pilate structurally telegraphed his moves far in advance.
Yet despite the knowledge he offers us as spectators, Towneley holds

our attention more intensely than other Passions: we strive to

intuit how the governor's promises will be accomplished. The experience

471
of the biblical tale takes on an intensity far above those original
scriptural explanations.
I have found in continental plays a similar attempt to produce
the reality of God by means of stage illusion, to instill in medieval
audience'san empathy for their Savior and an urgency about their own

434 In Denau the emphasis was upon the role played by

salvation.
medieval Jewry in Christ's demise; in Alsfeld the statement possessed
not only humanized elements like a repentant Mary Magdalene, a sorrowful
Judas, or an emotionally battered Virgin, but an additional tone of
festive celebration, punctuated by an abundance of music, the joyous
participation of ritual and liturgical verses delivered in Latin, and
numerous opportunities for spectators to be integrated through suspen-
sion and interruption. It would be difficult to underestimate the
importance of music for Alsfeld, for it is completely absorbed into the
very fabric of dramatization. But its phenomenological and structural
impact can be identified only with the greatest patience and insight.

In Alsfeld was also found a conspiracy initiated by creatures from
Hell, devils who were given human personalities. They made the evil
confronting Christ and His followers prominent by their intrigues against
John the Baptist and their readiness to punish sinful souls like Herod-
ias and her daughter,.and Judas. They were instrumental in the inte-
gration of the future: by their swearings to seduce Judas, the Jews,
Herodias, Pilate, and the Priests they prepared following activity.

But above all, structural stress was laid upon them inasmuch as they
were chosen to commence dramatization, a fact believed by Rudwin designed
35

. . . . 4
to contrast the greatest enemy of mankind w1th his greatest friend.

As in other instances, the original impetus for the participation of

472

denizens of the underworld, that is, to explain the origin of evil in
the world as related by sacred writ, assumes a dramatic and aesthetic
value quite apart from tradition. Surely, much of the current of

evil in Alsfeld recalls a similar circumstance in Wien, where the God-
Devil altercation defined the need for a Passion, but by its placement
and usage of devils as active ZWIPticipants in medieval life, their
impact and importance has been magnified.

Among the speeches of Lucifer was found one which allowed audience
attention to be focused on the present circumstance while simultaneously
looking far beyond the horizon of the stage to a time when the malefactor
was united with God. This was an illustration of how meaningful
explanations and motivational factors could be integrated without the
loss of dramatic concentration.436 One recalls the words of Ingarden,
as he discusses time and structure in literature:

Vorgange, die sich in langen Zeitperioden abwickeln, die
ihrer Natur nach sehr kompliziert sind und viele mannig-
faltige Phasen in sich enthalten, werden nicht in ihrem
vollen Verlauf, Phase fur Phase und von dem Gesichtspunkt
der betreffenden Zeitphase aus beschrieben, sondern nur

sehr ,summarisch' und in Siner undifferenzierten Einheit
(Ganzheit) dargestellt.43

The history of devilish involvement in the affairs of men is, indeed,

a complicated and lengthy process, extended in time far beyond the 'now'

of presentation. But the authors of Alsfeld have managed to offer the

essence of the disagreement which ultimately lies behind the necessity

of the Passion with a relatively short epic remembrance of things past.

The concentration on the present remains, while motivation is enhanced.
As has been seen, motivation is perhaps the most important concept

for analysis of Mistére, for Greban has gone to great lengths to pre-

pare his characters for their assigned roles by investigating the

473
cerebral processes which culminate in specified activities on stage.
Many techniques of temporal significance sprang from this desire to seek
out possible reasons for character action. It was found, for example,
that, whereas Judas' treason grew from traditional biblical materials,
it was expanded by techniques controlled by the dramatist into a psy-
chological study of motivation. By use of the monolog Grdban brought
us into contact with a human Judas, a sadly misled soul to be sure, but no
abstract or mythical evildoer.

Despite the shortcomings I have perceived in the rationalization of
Mistere, the often overly-indulgent development of secondary characters
and events, this late French Passion exhibits in several instances a
fine sense of structural and temporal integrity. I have elucidated
one of these phenomena under the theme succession by dialog, wherein I
studied the artistic and structural effects of repetition. It was re-
ported that numerous events were lifted above their linguistic surround-
ings by the conscious and insistent reiteration of key words and phrases.
The actions which they accompanied were thereby underscored and marked
in the minds of auditors, for this manner of structuring a story is
more consistent with the lively experience of a staged event than with
a reading text.

The scope of Mistére in particular has caused critics to label it
and others of its kind 'sprawling', 'overgrown', 'chaotic', and
'trivial'.438 There may be some justification for these observations
and, as I have not dealt with the complete mystery, I hesitate to
condemn them outright. What insights I have gained from this analysis,
however, caution against the uncritical acceptance of such subjective

accusations. It may be that Mistére offers on occasion extremely

474

questionable and uneven dramatization by our standards. But this may
well be a failing on our part, for we have encountered similar argu-
ments throughout this study, ones which maintained that medieval people,
hence the dramas themselves, were naive. These epithets thrown at
Mistere smack of a modern literary prejudice at once blind to the alter-
natives open to late medieval dramatists and also to the fundamental
structural qualities of all drama. I believe that my analysis of
portions of MistEre refutes the criticism that it is 'trivial' or
'chaotic'. I leave others more acquainted with the entire manuscript
to defend against the remaining critiques.

As pertains to the dramatic and temporal structure of.MistEre,
after having pondered long and thoroughly investigated the Passion
section, I believe with Sister McKean that the approach to Scripture
exercised by Greban is one emphasizing not the essential truth or meaning-
fulness of the story, but one indicative of'process.439 In Mistere we
deal not so much with the individual events of Christ's life and martyr—
dom, but with the entire mechanism of the Passion, with the development
of events in the hearts and minds of men which culminate in the Cruci-
fixion, rather than with the betrayal, the Passover meal, or even the
interrogations as quantified units of dramatization. As the Evangelists
wrote of witness and not of chronology, they allowed considerable ambiva-
lence of succession to stand in their accounts. Writers of mysteries,
and here Gréban is surely no exception, felt a desire to make transitions
from one episode to another as smooth as possible,440 to portray a
consistent and continuous process. By investigating the areas of
expansion, conversational realism, explicitation, reiteration, and the

objectivation of subjective notions, Sister McKean makes a strong case

 

475

for Greban as a capable artist and author. My study of the temporal
structure of.MistEre has reinforced many of her contentions.

In the continental plays a predilection for sermonizing on the
Passion, on its necessity and on the spiritual efficacy of mimetic
performance, was noted through attention to the phenomenon of the
prolog, a technique solely within the domain of the dramaturge.
Mistere was particularly adamant in its defense of didacticism through
staged activity, 441 although similar observations were made by the
proklamator of Alsfeld and of Donau. These mini-sermons provided ir-
refutable evidence of a tendency for popular preaching as well as a
fundamental reason for being of late Passions. Textual witnesses in-
dicate to the careful reader that these plays, far from being designed
to please crowds, considered as one of their main functions the teaching
and reinforcement of existing religious attitudes in the community
of believers. Whatever comic components were found in the plays
possessed a value not for themselves, but for the greater idea of
edification.

Donau and Alsfeld offered illustrations of the emotional heights
sustained in continental plays by exploiting opportunities for the
Virgin to fall unconscious at the foot of the Cross. It was observed
that this as yet unwitnessed form of modifying the flow of time to
underscore Mary's human suffering, seemed indigenous particularly to
German Passions, a trait not shared with English cycles, where her
laments were seen to always reflect Christocentric attitudes.

When epic narrations were considered, a surprising lack of ap-

plication was found in the group as a whole. I attributed this to the

tendency to elongate incidents which were of secondary importance into

 

 

476
bona fide dramatic encounters with a 'present' stage life of their own.
The difficulty with such a method involves control of the augmentation
process; the point at which it ceases to be valuable is certainly not
fixed, but it can unequivocally be stated that epic narrations, when
employed to integrate the past or to bring screened occurrences into
the story, have a decided advantage for maintaining a brisk dramatic
pace, and for evoking useful concentration. When we compare waneley
with Alsfeld or Mistére, the technical implications become apparent:
Alsfeld becomes involved with all manner of miracles; Towneley alludes
to them in epic passing;.Mist5re goes to extensive lengths to dramatize
the eclipse of the sun accompanying Christ's death; waneley handles
the same with a epic narration by the centurion. An uncommon degree
of artistry, of awareness of sound and efficaceous dramatic technique,

seems to lie beneath the textual evidence of this singular English cycle.

CHAPTER VIII

CONCLUSION

In antecedent chapters I have presented evidence from Passion plays
of analogous, yet diverse form, evidence originating within the textual
records of Mbntecassino, BenP (Group I), StG, Wien, Palat, Autun B and
Autun 1'? (Group II),‘Chester, Towneley, Mystere, Alsfeld, and Donau (Group
III). Their structurally regenerative temporal organization suggests
the uniqueness of each play within the subgenre of the medieval Passion.
Each drama directs its succession of events, its integration of past
and future activities into the 'present' time of the stage,in a manner
consistent with several analyzed tendencies of the dramatic genre. It
was thus seen that an underlying current of anticipation linked the most
'primitive' structures and orientations of these ancient theatrical
records with dramas of varied ages and presentational patterns. In
the case of dramas from the Middle Ages the specific techniques employed
by each author or group of redactors originated within the highly-
dramatic history of Christianity contained in Scripture, legend, apocry-
pha, and exegesis as well as within the cultural-sociological back-
grounds of each epoch investigated. These facts compelled us to consider
the formal artistic alternatives available to the three textual groupings
mentioned above. A high degree of correlation was discovered between
the transmuting perceptions on the Christus triumphans of the early
Middle Ages and Jesus the suffering human being of later centuries
and the structural techniques employed to investigate this complex of
ideas on stage. This is an expected result of the methodology, as the
study of form infers the study of evolving ideas. The temporal structure
of each play therefore reflects a gradual philosophical reorientation of

477

478
the plays themselves. Intention manifests itself in form. The temporal
structure of Group I was permeated with an emphasis on commemoration.
Techniques which most adequately presented known and celebrated facts
were found in abundance. I noted a paucity of proclaimed occurrences
and intimations originating in structure. Few of these manipulative
devices compliment a faithful, traditional,and commemorative repetition
of the Savior's triumph over death; they find no place in the corpus
of possible alternatives of production. Group II gradually redefined
and amplified its material to more fully investigate Christ's human
Passion and several attendant moments of human grief of the Virgin. So
profound were the emerging images and techniques, so powerful in their
capacity to elicit empathy that these reconsiderations of Jesus'
fundamental nature were destined to attach themselves to a theater
manifesting distinctively didactic characteristics. Their temporal
formations set the stage for the ambitious and greatly augmented
religious lessons of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Group III
employed dramatic temporal tactics to instruct, to moralize, and to
preach. The incorporation of all manner of secondary characters, from
devils to purely medieval torturers, not only signalled a transformed
set of literary alternatives, but immensely affected the character and
structure of these late plays as well. The process of dramatization
became an all-important consideration; not merely the facts of the
Passion received consideration, but the entire conglomerate of events
leading to and issuing from the sacrifice of a mortal Christ took
theatrical precedence. Though discernible in all plays of the time,
the process revealed in Mystere was the most highly developed. There

resulted an expanded and often chilling rationalization of character,

479
act, and succession, a new 'realism' of presentation. But even this
significant concretization of scene, especially of the Crucifixion,
did not spring fully-developed from late medieval theater, but rather
were the final expressions of a long line of exegetical investigation into
the history of the Passion. These conclusions render any simplistic
equation of one play with another quite impossible. To attempt to read
Mbntecassino or BenP with the same mental orientation as one reads
Mystere, Alsfeld, or Towneley is to invite misunderstanding.

On the face of it, a Passion play, bound as it is to established
traditions and conventions, seems to restrict the degree of artistry
which may be brought to bear on the New Testament story. But medieval
dramatists and their accomplishments, as the analysis has adequately
shown, cannot be so lightly dismissed. Structural data supports the
contention that these largely unknown men of medieval letters not only
exploited inherent theatrical potentials of the Gospels, but went well
beyond them by omitting, expanding, altering the generally-approved
succession of events to enhance dramatization and to create a new con-
ception of the Passion. The capacity of medieval playwrights to generate
origihal personalities at certain junctures of the stage history,
characters occasionally suggested by Holy Writ but largely undefined,
is also indicative of a degree of inherent artistic freedom. In its
earliest forms the German Passion instills Mary Magdalene with a verve,
intensity, and excitement far advanced from any biblical suggestions;
the smith and his wife from fourteenth-century French plays orient their
section of the productions to themes and images quite apart from tradi-
tional records; the greatest medieval tyrant of all, the Towneley Pilate,

owes his ferocity and veracity as a stage personality to a series of

480
brilliant manipulations of Scripture, temporal strategies, and contem-
porary medieval cultural values and perceptions.

The reorganization of sacred history into a statement of 'present',
i.e. medieval significance by anachronistic language, costume, gesture,
character, and action, a 'theory of dramatization' not recognized by
scholars like Hardin Craig and A.P. Rossiter, exerts a marked influence
on the structure of all Passions. Though present primarily in linguistic
form in Group I, especially in the speeches of the Virgin and Mary
Magdalene, their prevalence insinuates an early orientation towards
audience/participants, towards enlivening the sacred record with expres-
sive vitality. Of especial conseqence for the appreciation and reception
of BenP is the role played by the Magdalene and her 'presentified'
pattern of communication representative of her original distance from
salvation. The alternation of vernacular German with liturgical and
traditional Latin speeches as Mary seeks forgiveness and her lamentations
in the voice of the people gives rise to a greatly-varied and intensified
experience of the facts of the Passion. By means of a complete updating
of historical facts, plays from the fourteenth through the sixteenth
centuries reveal a desire to integrate bystanders into the Passion, not
only through readily-recognizeable visual and linguistic signals, but
through direct address, a phenomenon of temporal/theoretical significance
for the formation of the succession of time. Calls by the Virgin for
audience participation in the tragedy of the Crucifixion, spectator
integration via sung liturgical texts like the Te Deumi laments by Judas,
the Magdalene, and even Christ Himself all bespeak the tendency for actor
and observer to become united into a contemporary act of faith, worship,

and education, to participate in the reality of the Passion.

481
Application of interruption and suspension supported these observations,
lending theoretical weight to figures such as Augustinus as he sought to
direct spectator awareness to the most significant properties and activi-
ties of the presentation. He and commentators like him were found to
stand outside the plays, to originate from a medieval religious and
social context.

Medieval drama may not evidence all the accomplished potentials of
temporal management consistent with modern theater, but its capabilities
for meaningful commentary on this body of religious belief and artistic
structurimgare profound and enlightening. We are not dealing with the
drama of an underdeveloped or“ unappreciative: society, but rather with
unfamiliar conventions and traditions. One great strength of the struc~
tural method and its attention to textual detail is the availability
of objective tools whereby the vast differences of the ages may be
partially set aside and the process of instilling a compelling message
with a more insistent form may be more adequately observed and evaluated.
Seen in the arena of form and intent, the Passion plays of medieval
Europe, their core material, their unique history of evolving images,
and their consciously or unconsciously chosen temporal structures call
attention not only to their affinities with all dramatic entities,but
to their own distinctive alternatives of formation.

In this study one may speak of a broad correlation of form and intent,
and effectively employ structural criteria to illuminate the general
religious characteristics which define an age, but substantial difficulty
is encountered when one seeks to establish an absolute intention, be it
dramatic or didactic or celebrative,of specific techtonic and temporal

devices. Other bodies of knowledge such as religion, cultural,

482
intellectual, and theatrical history must be consulted to minimize the
possibility of interpretive error. One cannot approach medieval drama
solely from structure and arrive at a definitive conclusion as to exact
historical reasons for particular forms. The formal method of criticism
employed herein functions admirably to elucidate the process of ideo-
logical formulation. But when called upon to establish precise intent,
by virtue of the textual record upon which it relies for its strength,
it may accentuate techniques beyond their original significance. Such
is the precise difficulty in establishing the phenomenological or inten-
tional impact of music on Passion audiences. As a technique for dramatic
anticipation PUtz considers cantillation to be a productive element.
But how does one express its psychological, theatrical, or structural
impact within a pattern of musical delivery which defines several of the
investigated Passions?

These considerations constitute, of course, only half the equation
of temporal structure and the value of the interpretive method employed
here. One is not cempelled to view the formal side of these Passions
only With a desire to establish a harmony of medieval theatrical devices
with a medieval intent for contemporary audiences, one may experience
the same Passions as viable dramatic enterprises, a purely aesthetic and
intellectual encounter with the texts and their originators on their own
terms. Temporal structure has opened the plays to such perceptions
by not only focusing attention upon the changing strategies of production,
but by illuminating the presence of masterful manipulations of pre-
scribed material as well. Montecassino can be encountered on a plane
quite above that of commemoration of sacred facts; we can applaud the

poetic form of delivery of these truths, a well-developed and elevated

483
pattern of alternating rhyme and rhythm. We can derive intellectual
pleasure from the successful and efficient succession of events and the
manner in which Jesus' appearance is prepared. The Magdalenes of BenP
and Wien convey not only medieval religious values, but an exeiting
theatrical life as well, brought into final form by inspired borrowings
from conventional love poetry and condensed biblical understandings.
The appearances of Augustinusdo more than sublineate for medieval
bystanders important sections of the StG Passion history, the inquiry
into his temporal essence and dramatic application also enables us
to get behind the formulation process into the mind of the unknown author
or authors who created him. The French plays of the fourteenth century
direct our curiosity to evolving psychological motivations of character.
Through them we are brought in touch with a formal evolution of character
and action, with an unfolding genius for humanization highlighted by the
tempo of succession, elongated to investigate the Virgin, devils, and
boisterous soldiers. We can follow the modification of pre-existing
formulations of the lament tradition, often subtle alternations of
previous representations of character, which in the end provide these
plays with an essentially different quality of presentation than those
upon which they build. The mechanism of the Donau conSpiracy. as it
intensifies from a level of broad disagreement between Jesus and Jew to
open plotting, admits a great appreciation fin: the gradual accumulation
of suspense and anticipation quite apart from its mandatory presentation.
One may experience the liveliness of character and action, the intense
occupation of the Alsfeld authors with medieval life, with contemporary
cultural phenomena. Further, the integration of vast numbers of litur-

cigal phrases, music from the Psalms, antiphons, responses, and so ferth

484

suggests to the careful reader a level of development far beyond the mere
theatrical presentation of history. One may derive an intense aesthetic
pleasure from the tone and festive nature of Alsfeld as they are reflected
in temporal form without a complete reconstruction of all musical appear—
ances. MystEre, in its attention to the detail of the Passion, with its
penchant for exploration of secondary matters, affords an undeniable
logic of construction to be praised for its thoroughness, though its
length at times becomes oppressive. But the most profound intellectual
experience is surely that issuing from the Wakefield Master's artful and
impelling reconstitution of the Passion section of the Towneley cycle
to concentrate interest on Pilate. To bestow this image of evil with
the title of prime mover of the conspiracy against Jesus has entailed
several deep and far-reaching manipulations of both biblical and
traditional sources. When this medieval genius of the dramatic focuses
our attention on Pilate, he must make all manner of adjustments to his
tone of presentation, to his succession of events, and to his integration
of past and future events. One can look with pleasure at his complex
alterations to material and medium. To follow the machinations of the
evil governor and his co—conspirators provides an opportunity to become
intensely involved with the restructuring process itself, to feel the beat
of artistic life coursing through the body of the production. Attendance
upon formal structure provides one of the most acute dramatic and aesthetic
experiences not only of the medieval drama, but of all drama of all time!

The ultimate value of this investigation lies not with the method
alone, but with the acknowledgement of the artistic capacities of the
Middle Ages as revealed by the method. It continues the steady progression

towards the reaffirmation of Passion plays as living, vibrant, often

48S
skillful, occasionally inspired commentaries upon the most significant
days and years in the course of human time, each related to its name-
sakes before and after by a body of accepted knowledge, sharing with all
dramatic endeavors numerous techniques of formation, while simultaneously
standing apart, individual beacons of understanding building on acknow-
ledged faith, but responding to the human intellect which renders each

into a form transcending its moment of writing and production.

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A

Table 2. Adverbial Evidence of Succession

486

‘APPENDIX A

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

c:
55
(I)
c: a 2:. ‘2 E
.—1 LL} (Z L.) it u—‘l
LL} CL E-s ILL] LL} [— LL)
m (n E— E— «< L9 EE :2
U) 2 LL] U) 2 .—J Lu
._1 Lu :1: H O < E— O H
-< a: L) 2: 2: o. a) a. 3:
Ablative 72 16 3 2 l6 7
Absolute
Ad hec 20
Autem 1
(et)CunKhoc) 2~ 1
Deinde 43 4 7 1
Dum hec 2
Inde 1 i_
Iterato 1
Iterum 34 3
(item) 23 28 3
Post hec
(postea, post, 38 10 2 10 1 9 2
postquam)
Quod (Qui) 3
Res ondent
(-£at,it,-ens, 110 16 19 96 12
~eant, -ent)
(9t) Sic 90
Subiungit 25 4
Subinfert 1
1
Subsquenter
Usque 1

 

*No (other) external evidence:

Mistere employs Icy 89 times, Affin once.

 

Table 2. (Cont'd.)

487

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a: a:
2 s :2:
z S S
8 < <
ab dissen 1 Adonc 17
Worten (adon, adont)
dar nach 4 Affin (que) 1
dar uber 1 Aprés 9
dar uff 82 Or 19 143
. . 26 . 30
Hie mit (by) (Bt)#pu15
nut dissem 14 Respont (-dit, -da, 64
(disse red) -ent,-dir,-d)
nach dem 11
nach dissem 10
(So) Nu 143
. 3
Uf die frag
uff das 85
(diesen, etc.)
and da mit 2
Yetz (Yeca, 7
Yetzund)
2

zu dissen

 

 

 

 

APPENDI X B

488
APPENDIX B

Table 3. The Scenic Structure of Mbntecassino

 

Scene Verses Total

Judas' Bargain 1-33 33
Judas' Betrayal . 34-51 18
Peter and Malchus 52-69 .18

36
Jesus before Caiaphas 70-102 33
Peter's Denial 103-26 24

S7
Judas' Repentance 127-38 12
Jesus before Pilate (1) 138-71 33
Dream of Pilate's Wife 172-228 .§1

90
Jesus before Pilate (II) 229-73 45
The Flagellation 274-91 18
The Crucifixion 292-320 29

489

Table 4. The Scenic Structure of BenP

 

Scene Verses Total
Choral Introduction 1 1
Calling Peter and Andrew 2-3 2
Healing the Blind Man 4-7 4
Visit with Zacchaeus 8-10 3
Entry into Jerusalem 11-14 4
Repast with a Pharisee 15-18 4
Mary Magdalene's Sinful Life 19-72 54
Repentance and Forgiveness 73-105 £3
, 107
Raising of Lazarus 126-30 5
Judas' Bargain 131-43 13
Agony in the Garden 144-53 10
Judas' Betrayal and Peter's
Denial 154-68 15
Jesus before the High Priest 169-73 5
Jesus before Pilate (I) 174-77 4
Jesus before Herod 178-9 2
Jesus before Pilate (II) 180-9 10
The Flagellation 190-1 2
The Condemnation 192-203 12
Judas' Remorse 204-11 8
The Way to Golgotha 212 l
The Crucifixion 213-73 61
The Plea for Christ's Body 274-89 16

490

Table 5. The Scenic Structure of StC

 

Scene Verses Total
Introduction (Augustinus) 1-16 16
Wedding at Cana 17-43 27
Angels- Silete 44 1
John the Baptist 45-105 61
Baptism of Christ 106-37 38
Angels- Silete 138 1
Augustinus 139-44 6
Temptation of Christ 145-99 55
Angels- Silete 200 1
Mary Magdalene in gaudio (1) 201-20 20
Calling the Disciples 221-33 23
Angels- Silete 234 1
Mary Magdalene (II) 235-54 20
Augustinus 255-64 10
The Adulteress (1) 265-75 11
Augustinus 276-79 4
Mary Magdalene's Repentance 290-372 83
Angels- Silete 373 1
Augustinus 374-79 6
Healing the Blind Man 380-408 21
The Blind Man before the High

Priests 409-532 124
Augustinus 533-42 10
Raising of Lazarus 543-640 98
Angels- Silete 641 1

Table 5 (cont'd)

491

 

Scene Verses Total

Augustinus 642-8 7
Intrigue of the High Priests 649-72 24
The Entry into Jerusalem 673-84 12
Preparation for the Passover 685-707 23
Angels- Silete 708 1
Augustinus 709-26 18
The Last Supper (1) 727-51 25
Judas' Bargain 752-7 6
The Last Supper (11) 758-815 58
The Garden 816-55 40
Judas' Betrayal 856-916 61
Angels- Silete 917 1
Augustinus 918-35 18
Mary Apprised by John 936-55 20
Jesus before the High Priests

(incl. Peter's Denial and
Remorse) 956-1028 73
Augustinus 1029-36 8
Jesus before Pilate (1) 1037-89 53
The Flagellation 1090-1 2
Angels- Exivit ergo Ihesus 1092-5 4
Jesus before Pilate (II) 1096-1118 23
Jesus before Herod 1119-58 40
Angels- Silete 1159 l
Augustinus 1160-8 9
Jesus before Pilate (III)

(incl. Dream of Pilate's Wife) 1169-1257 89

Table 5 (cont'dJ

492

 

Scene Verses Total
The Crucifixion 1258-1450 193
Setting of the Guards 1451-82 32
The Harrowing of Hell 1483-1530 48
The Resurrection and
Appearance to Mary Magdalene 1531-1621 91

493

Table 6. The Scenic Structure of Wien

 

Scene Verses Total
Intruduction (Pueri) 1-5 5
Lucifer's Sin and Fall 6-35 30
The Devils' Intrigue 36-79 44
The Fall of Adam and Eve 80-188 111
Souls in Hell 189-278 90
Mary Magdalene in gaudio 279-348 70
Jesus and Symon 349-73 25
Mary Magdalene's Repentance 374-506 133
Preparations for the Last

Supper and the Passover Meal 507-32 26

494

Table 7- The Scenic Structure of Palat

 

Scene Verses Total
Preparation for the Passover 1-34 34
Entry into Jerusalem 35-59 25
The Last Supper

(incl. Mary Magdalene) 60-195 36
Judas' Bargain 196-230 35
Judas' Betrayal 231-84 54
Jesus before the High Priests 285-318 34
Jesus before Pilate (1) 319-56 39
Jesus before Herod 357-477 91
Jesus before Pilate (11) 448-55 8
Judas' Remorse; St. John and

St. Peter 456-544 89
Jesus befbre Pilate (III) 545-85 11
The Flagellation 586-669 84
Jesus before Pilate (IV) 670-786 117
Forging the Nails 787-861 85
The Crucifixion 862-1070 209
Planctus Mariae 1071-1234 164
The Harrowing of Hell 1235-1450 216
Joseph of Arimathea 1451-1553 103
Setting the Guards and the

Resurrection 1554-1784 231
Purchase of the Ointment and

the Appearance to Mary

‘ Magdalene 1785-1996 211

495

Table 8. The Scenic Structure of Autun B

 

Scene Verses Total
Introductioniwg,pw 1-40 40
Preparation for the Last

Supper and the Passover Meal
(incl. Mary Magdalene) 41—285 245
The Garden 286-99 14
Judas' Bargain 300-58 59
The Betrayal ' 359-99 41
Jesus before the High Priests 400-536 137
Jesus before Pilate (1) 537-602 66
Judas' Remorse' 603-47 ‘45
Jesus béfdte‘hiIAfié (f1) b48-63 16
Jesus before Herod 664-728 65
Jesus before Pilate (III)

(incl. the Flagellation) 729-864 136
Forging the Nails 865-972 108
The Crucifixion 972-1313 341
Planctus Mariae 1314-1472 159
Joseph of Arimathea 1473-1678 206
Setting the Guard 1679-1850 172
The Harrowing of Hell 1851-1913 63
The Soldiers discover the

Empty Tomb 1914-47 34
Resurrection and Appearance to

Mary Magdalene 1948-2117 140

496

Table 9. The Scenic Structure of Autun R

Scene Verses Total

 

Introduction 1-38 38

Preparation for the Last
Supper and the Passover Meal

(incl. Mary Magdalene) 39-180 142
Judas' Bargain . 181-217 37
The Garden 218—46 29
Judas' Betrayal 247-76 30
Jesus before the High Priests

(incl. St. John and St. Peter) 277-353 87
Judas' Remorse 354—90 37
Jesue before Pilate (I) 391-407 17
Jesus before Herod 408-437 30
Jesue before Pilate (11) 438-99 ’ 62
Forging the Nails 500-47 48
The Crucifixion 548-794 247
Planctus Mariae 795-865 71

Joseph of Arimathea 866—937 72

49.7
Table 10. The Scenic Structure of Chester
Scene Verses Total

Play XIII- de chelidonio ceco et de resurrectione Lazari

Healing the Blind Man 1-288 288
Lazarus' Resurrection 289-489 201

Play XIV- de Iesu intrante domum Simonis Leprosi et de aliis rebus

The Visit to Simon the Leper 1-136 136
The Entry into Jerusalem 137-224 88
Cleansing the Temple 225-304 88
Intrigue of the High Priests

and Judas' Bargain 305 432 128

Play XV- de caena domini et de eius prodicione

Preparation for the Passover 1-60 60
The Last Supper 61-264 204
Gethsamene 265-304 40
The Arrest 305-68 64

Play XVI- de passione Iesu Christi

Christ before the High Priests 1-128 128
Christ before Pilate (I) 129-68 40
Christ before Herod 169-216 48
Christ befbre Pilate (11) 217-312 96
The Flagellation 313-60 48
Christ Sentenced 361-84 64
The Way of the Cross 385-448 64

The Crucifixion
(incl. dicing for Christ's

garments [451—560] 449-804 356
Descent from the Cross 805-92 88

Play XVII- de Descensu Christi ad Inferos
All verses deal with Christ's descent into Hell and

the Harrowing 1-320 320

Play XVIII- de Resurrectione Iesu Christi

The Setting of the Guards 1-153 153
The Resurrection 154-85 32
The Discovery of the Empty Tomb

and Report to Pilate 186-308 123
Visitatio Sepulchri 309-68 60
Report to the Disciples 369-85 17
John and Peter at the Tomb 386-420 35

Christ's Appearance to Mary
Magdalene 421-55 35

498

Table 10 (cont'dJ

 

Scene Verses Total
Mary Jacoby and Mary Salome 456-87 32
Christ's Appearance to Peter 488-527 40

499
Table 11. The Scenic Structure of Towneley

Scene Verses Total

 

Play XX- Conspiracio et Capcio

Introduction by Pilate;
Council of Pilate, Annas,

and Caiaphas 1-173 173
Judas' Betrayal 174-313 140
Preparations for the Passover 314-51 38
The Last Supper 352-488 137
The Mount of Olives 489-559 71
Christ's Arrest 560-755 196

Play XXI- Coliphizacio
Jesus brought before the High

Priests by Torturers 1-44 44
Christ before the High

Priests (1) 45-342 297
The Buffeting 343-415 73
Christ before the High

Priests (11) 416-50 35

Play XXII- Flagellacio

Pilate's Boasting and Prepara-

tions for Christ's Trial 1-111 111
Jesus before Pilate (I) 112-33 22
The Flagellation 134-87 54
Jesus before Pilate (11) 188-223 36
The Torturers Mock Christ 224-59 36
The Apostle John and the Maries 260-315 56
Christ's Way to Golgotha 316-416 101

Play XXIII- Processus Crucis

Pilate’s Boasting 1-28 28
The Crucifixion

(incl. Mary's Lament) 29-612 584
Joseph of Arimathea 612-66 54

Play XXIV- Processus Talentorum

The entire play, although composed of numerous small scenes, focuses
upon the gaming for Christ's clothes

500
Table 12. The Scenic Structure of Gréban's MystEre de la Passion

Scene Verses Total

 

Jesus with the Virgin, Martha

and the Disciples 17284-322 36
Intrigue of the Devils 17323-464 142
The High Priests and Judas 17465-598 134
Preparations for the Last

Supper 17599-734 136
The High Priests 17735-98 64
Preparations for Movement to

the Passover Room 17799-886 88
The Eucharistic Meal 17887-18532 645
Preparations for the Arrest 18533-672 140
Gethsemane

(incl. God, Justice, Miseri-
corde, Michel, Gabriel); 18673-19015 343

discussion about the arrest-
ing party by Annas and

Caiaphas [18928-19015] [88]
The Arrest 19016-377 362
Christ before Annas 19378-20299 922

(incl. the Flagellation I) [19720-920] [201]

THE THIRD DAY

Prelude to the Third Day 19947-20144 103
Christ before Caiaphas 20300-21119 820

(incl. the Flagellation 11) [20858-993] [136]
Judas' Remorse (I) 21120-181 62
John's Report to Mary 21181-307 126
Jesus before Pilate (I) 21308-539 232
Preparations to send Jesus

to Herod 21540-607 68
Judas' Remorse (II) 21608-22029 422

Mary's Lament 22030-65 36

Table 12 (cont'd)

501

 

Scene Verses Total
Judas' Reception into Hell 22066-176 111
Jesus before Herod 22177-427 251
Mary's Lament 22428-55 18
Jesus before Pilate (11) 22446-731 286
The Flagellation (111) 22732-23009 278
Jesus before Pilate (111) 23010-179 7O
Souls in Hell
(incl. devils' preparations
to defend their captives) 23180-408 229
The Dream of Pilate's Wife 23409-85 78
Jesus before Pilate (IV) 23486-845 360
(incl. fetching thieves, [23656-85]
the carpenter, and smith) [23754-845]
-Calvary's Way 23846-24561 716
(incl. Filii Jerusalem, [23996-24109]
God, the Father, '[24450-79]
the Congregation of devils [24480-529]
Archangel Michel comforts
Christ 24530-61 32
The Crucifixion 24562-26233 1617
(incl. Planctus [24630-84] [SS]
[24774-97] [24]
[25308-502] [115]
[25978-93] [18]
222
Satan's Plainte, [25026-65]
The Torturer and Satan, [25700-817]
St. Denis and Empedocles
discuss the eclipse, [26074-139]
Plainte of the Angels) [26140-223]
The Harrowing of Hell 26244-425 202
Death of the Thieves and
Longinus Episode 26426-707 282

Table 12 (cont'd)

502

 

Scene Verses Total
Descent from the Cross 26708-27237 530
(incl. Planctus) [26972-27017] [46]
[27034-237] [104]
Preparations for and
Setting of the Guard 27238-429 192
Close of the Third Day 27430-51 22
THE FOURTH DAY
Prolog to the Fourth Day 27452-630 179
Guarding the Sepulchre (I) 27631-737 107
Discussion of Joseph of
Arimathea's Punishment 27738-28054 317
The Mourning Maries 28055-121 67
The Arrest of Joseph 28122-389 268
The Ointment Purchase 28390-465 76
Distress of the Disciples 28466-781 316
Guarding the Sepulchre (II) 28782-867 86
The Council of Devils 28868-986 119
The Council of God and the
Angels 28987-29085 99
The Resurrection 29086-526 441
(incl. Christ's Appearance
to the Virgin) [29112-80]

[69]

503

Table 13. The Scenic Structure of Donau

 

Scene Verses Total
FIRST DAY
Introduction ' 1-82 82
Mary Magdalene in gaudio (1) 83-130 48
Christ and Simon ' 131-50 20
Mary Magdalene (II)

(incl. repentance, forgiveness, _

and reception into her family) 151-392 215
The Temptation of Christ 292-329 47
The Miracles of Healing 440-547 135
An Attempt to Trick Christ 575-654 80
The Samaritan Woman 655-774 120
Healing the Young Man 775-819 45
Jesus and the Pharisees (1) 820-74 55
The Adulteress 875-954 80
Healing the Blind Man 955-78 24
The Blind Man and the Pharisees 979-1140 162
Cleansing the Temple 1141-90 50
Raising Lazarus 1191-350 160
Jesus and the Pharisees (II) 1351-1472 122
The Intrigue of the High Priests 1473-1504 32
Christ with Lazarus' Family 1505-44 40
The Entry into Jerusalem 1545-1660 116
Judas' Bargain 1661-1729 69
SECOND DAY
Introduction 1730-40 11
. (incl. Angels- Silete) [1730] [1]
Proclamator [1731-40] [10]

Table 13 (cont'd)

504

 

Scene Verses Total

Preparations for the Last

Supper 1741-86 46
The Passover Meal (1) 1787-1870 84
Judas' Betrayal 1871-82 12
The Passover Meal (II) 1883-1999 117
The Garden 2000-96 97
The Arrest 2097-2182 86
Jesus before the High Priests

(incl. the Flagellation I) 2183-2387 205
Peter's Denial 2388-2421 34
Judas' Remorse 2422-2539 118
Jesus before Pilate (I) 2540-2629 90
Jesus before Herod 2630-2763 134
Jesus befbre Pilate (II) 2764-2841 78
The Flagellation (II) 2842-2925 84
Jesus before Pilate (III)

(incl. Dream of Pilate's
Wife) 2926-3050 125
The Way of the Cross 3041-3246 196
The Crucifixion 3247-3577 331

(incl. Planctus) [3547-77] [31]
The Debate between Christiana

and Iudaea (I) 3578-3631 54
The Descent from the Cross 3632-99 68

(incl. Planctus) [3664-87] [24]
The Debate between Christiana

and Iudaea (II) 3700-3809 110
Setting the Guards 3810-93 84

Table 13 (cont'd)

SOS

 

Scene Verses Total
The Resurrection 3894-3907 14
The Harrowing of Hell 3908-4048 141
Discovery of the Empty Tomb 4049-90 42
The Ointment Purchase and
Visitatio Sepulchri 4091-4177 87

Table 14. The Scenic Structure of Alsfeld*

506

 

Scene Verses Total
FIRST DAY
Prolog 1-132 132
Council of Devils 133-463 331
John Baptizes Jesus‘ 464—535 72
John and Herod 536-619 84
Council of Devils against John 620-97 78
The Arrest of John
(incl. John's Disciples
with Jesus) 698-831 134
Death of John 878-1039 162
Punishment of Herodias and
Daughter 1040-1137 98
The Temptation of Christ 1138-97 60
Calling the Disciples 1198-1252 55
Introduction of Herod and
Pilate 1253-88 38
Jesus Reveals Future Suffering 1289-98 10
Jesus and the Samaritan Woman 1299-1412 114
Healing the Blind Man 1413-1647 235
The Canaanite Woman 1648-1721 74
Jesus in the Synagoge 1722-69 48
Mary Magdalene in gaudio 1770-1937 168
Mary Converted 1938-2058 121
289
Healing the Rich Man's Son 2059—2118 60
The Raising of Lazarus 2119-2332 214
Council of Jews on Seeing
Lazarus Resurrected 2333-2400 68

 

*This synopsis of major scenes taken from Froning, pp. 562-6.

Table 14 (cont'dJ'

507

 

Verses Total
Preparations for Journey to

Jerusalem 2401-24 24
Council of Jews 2425-81 57
The Entry into Jerusalem 2482-2649 168
Cleansing of the Temple 2640-77 28
The Adulteress 2678-2723 46
The Visit with Simon 2724-2909 186
Proclamator's Closing Remarks 2910-29 20
SECOND DAY
Introduction 2930-3013 84
The Last Supper

(incl. Judas' Bargain) 3014-3297 284
The Mount of Olives and

Christ's Arrest 3298-3445 148
Christ before Annas 3446-3513 68
Peter's Denial (1) 3514-29 16
Christ before Caiaphas 3530-3669 140

(incl. Peter's Denial II, [3581-3601]
and Judas' Repentance) [3606-69]

Christ before Pilate (1)

(incl. the Twelve Banners) 3670-4023 354
Jesus before Herod 4024-4149 123
Jesus before Pilate (II)

(incl. Dream of Pilate's
Wife) 4150-4479 330
Disputation between Ecclesia

and Synagoga 4480-5263 784

Proclamator's Closing Remarks- noted only

Table 14 (cont'd)

508

 

Scene Verses Total

THIRD DAY
The Way of the Cross 5264-5565 302
The Crucifixion

(incl. Planctus, Longinus) 5566-6522 957
The Descent from the Cross 6523-6838 316
Preparation for and Place-

ment of the Guards 6839-7026 188
The Resurrection 7027-76 50
The Harrowing of Hell 7077-7298 222
The Guards before Pilate and

the Jews 7299-7482 184
The Ointment Purchase 7483-7631 149
Visitatio Sepulchri 7632065 34
The Apostles and Women at the

Grave 7666-7709 44
Jesus Appears to Mary and Peter 7710-35 26
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene 7736-63 28
Mary Magdalene's Report to the

Disciples 7764-85 52
Christ Appears to Disciples and

Ascends to Heaven 7786-7937 152
Pentecost 7938-97 60
The Division of the Disciples 7998-8069 72
Closing Remarks of Proclamator 8070-95 26

FOOTNOTES

FOOTNOTES
Preface- xi-xiv

1Barbara Tuchman, "Hazards on the way to the Middle Ages," The
Atlantic Monthly, 236, #6 (Dec. 1975), 72—8, deals with numerous
difficulties in the study of medieval culture.

2Frederich P. Pickering, Literature and Art in the Middle Ages
(London: Macmillan 8 Co., 1970), pp. 5-7, offers many astute ob-
servations concerning scholarly interpretation of medieval literature.
His statement on formulations substituted for fact by modern inter-
pretation should be enough to caution us all that regardless of the
methodology we choose, we ourselves project a picture of a literary
work which is far from the original: ”They are therefore not medieval,
nor are they modern, but historical, for at the same time as they appeal
to us they refer the poet, or his treatment of his subject . . . to the
Middle Ages as they are seen by the expounder” (p. 7).

3V.A Kolve, The Play Called Corpus Christi (Stanford: Stanford
University Press, 1966), p. 8.

CHAPTER I- Introduction
pages 1-22

1Hans Meyerhoff, Time in Literature (Berkeley 8 Los Angeles: Univ-
sity of California Press, 1960), p. l.

2The term 'medieval religious drama' will be implied throughout
this study whenever the words 'medieval drama' appear. Though medieval
religious drama is by no means the sole representative of the dramatic
genre of the Middle Ages, it is recognized as the most important and
pervasive form. The medieval Passion play is a specific sub-grouping
under the general heading 'medieval drama', having to do with a fixed
type of material. In the context of this paper, 'medieval drama'
will not intend validity of any observation for Saints' plays,
Christmas plays, or Moralities.

3Georges Poulet, "The Course of Human Time," trans. Elliot Cole-
man, The Hopkins Review, Spring-Summer (1953), p. 7.

4Loc. cit.

SHardin Craig,The English Religious Drama of the Middle Ages
(Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1955), p. 16.

6Poulet, p. 9.

509

510
7
Kolve, p. 117.
8Loc, cit.

" 9Roman Ingarden, Vom Erkennen des Literarischen Kunstwerks
(Tubingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag, 1968), pp. 119-120.

10Sarah Appleton Weber, "The Theology of Sacred History," Theology
and Poetry in the Middle English Lyric (Columbus: Ohio State University
Press, 1969), p. 3..

1Loc.cit.

12 .
Marc Bloch, Feudal Society, trans. L.A. Manyon (Chicago: Univer-
sity of Chicago Press, 1961), p. 74.

13 .
Robert Scholes and Robert Kellogg, The Nature of Narrative (New
York: Oxford University Press, 1966), p. 134.

14Weber, p. 8.

15Ibid., p. 9.

16Loc. cit.

17Ibid., p. 12.
18Ibid., p. 11.
lgIbid., p. 10.

ZOSt. Augustine, Confessionum 11.31: PL 32.822: "nam si et varie
corpus aliquando movetur, aliquande stat, non solum motum eius, sed
etiam statim tempore metimur et cicimus: 'tantum stetit, quantum motum
est' aut: 'duplo vel triplo stetit ad id quod motum est' et si quid
aliud nostra dimensio sive conprehenderit sive existimaverit. ut
dici solet plus minum. non ergo tempus corporis motus."

21PL 32. 816-817.

22PL 32. 818—819. This fact is recognized by literary theoreticians
of our own day. Ingarden expresses this necessity of objects passing
through a process of presentness, of being 'in actu esse', before they
can be described as past. In like manner a future object or event can
only be so described as one which has not yet seen reality in the pre-
sent. Without the present phase of 'in actu esse', there can logically
be no past or future; Ingarden, Das Literarische Kunstwerk (TUbingen:
Max Niemeyer Verlag, 1965), pp. 248-249.

23PL 32. 819.

511

24Paul Bgckmann, Fbrmgeschichte der Deutschen Dichtung, 3. Auflage
(Hamburg: Hoffmann und Campe Verlag, 1967), I, p. 8.

2Slbid. , p. 9.

26Ingarden,DLK , pp. 309-310.

27B'o'ckmann, p. 13.

2 .

8Ibid., pp. 8-9.

LgMaria Maller, Tragische Elemente im Passionsspiel des Mittelalters
(diss: Gottingen, 1952), p. 11.

30Alsfeld 76-79. Throughout the ensuing analysis, all texts quoted
from Passion plays will be identified by an abbreviation of the rele-
vant Passion accompanied by verses noted in Arabic numerals. In the
case of unnumbered rubrics, the footnote will inclpde an abbreviation
of the Passion play, followed by the letters BA (Buhnenanweisung), and
the number of the verse immediately fellowing the stage direction.

111
Bockmann, p. 20.

7
3“Glynne Wickham, Early English Stage: 1300-1600 (Routledge and
Kegan Paul, 1959), I, p. 121. All quotes taken from Volume 1.

33Ibid., p. 120; see also F.M. Salter, Medieval Drama in Chester
(1955} rpt. New York: Russell and Russell, 1968), p. 53.

J4Wickham, E53, Po 122-

Dalt should be remembered that guilds were not only work-centered
organizations, but bands of religious people as well (one can point to
the patron saint revered by each guild as evidence of the religious
bent of guilds). Additionally, it is recalled that in France religious
guilds called Puys or Confréries existed solely for the performance of
the mysteries, such as the Confrérie dc la Passion of Paris, which, it
appears, was actively performing mysteries before 1380: Grace Frank,
The Medieval French Drama (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1954), pp. 145-147.

36Alan Reynolds Thompson, The Anatomy of Drama (Berkeley: Univer-
sity of California Press, 1946), p. x. Although Thompson places too
much significance on bibliographic fact as the fundamental consider-
ation for works of art, he recognizes the necessity of researching beyond
the text to ascertain cultural forces which enter into the artistic
equation. He does not specifically state that this involves the intent-
ion of the work, but his ideas corroborate those of Ingarden and other
phenomenologists on the subject.

37Eberhard Lammert, Baufermen des Erzdhlens, 5. Auflage (Stuttgart:
J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1972), p. 250.

512

3813mmert, p. 250.

39Ibid., p. 249

4OMarius Sepet, Le Drame Religieux au Mbyen Age, 3e Edition
(Paris: Librarie Bloud 8 Cie., 1908), p. 42; also Harold C. Gardiner,
Mysteries End: An Investigation of the Last Days of'the Medieval
Religious Stage (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1946), p. 94.

41Ingarden, DLK, p. 338.

42As the title of his work indicates, PUtz is primarily interested
in techniques by which authors create suspense and anticipation.
Sharing in this dissertation are the various other temporal aspects
developed from structural analysis which investigate such entities as
represented time and length (time) of presentation, parallel actions,
psycho-intellectual moments, and temporal foreshortening. In developing
the structure of medieval Passions, Putz's work offers a substantial,
but nevertheless partial statement on their temporal reality. To
adequately understand the artistry of medieval drama one must also
give attention to these other temporal phenomena.

43Craig, p. 9.

44Boletta, p. 172.

45.Alan E. Knight, "The Medieval Theater of the Absurd," PMLA,

86 (1971), p. 184.

46Wickham, EES, p. xxv;

47Wickham, EES, pp. 4-5.

48Waldo F. McNeir, "Corpus Christi Passion Plays as Dramatic Art,"
Studies in Philology, 48 (1951), p. 602. Wickham, EES, xxxiv-xxxvii,
makes convincing the case that Shakespeare's theater is the heir to
countless dramatic strategies and staging conventions perfected in the
mystery plays of preceding centuries.

49Maria Mdller, Elements, p. 16; also Hennig Brinkmann, "Die Eigenform
des mittelalterlichen Dramas in Deutschland,” GRM 18 (1930), 20-21.

SOKolve, pp. 57-58; Eleanor Presser, Drama and Religion in the English
Mystery Plays,Stanford Studies in language and Literature Nr. 23
(Stanford:Stanford University Press, 1961), pp. 16-17, 23-24.

51 . "
Marla Muller, Elemente, p. 87.

2Loc. cit.

513

53Dieter Hasselbaltt, Zauber und Logik: Eine Kafka-Studie (Kgln:
Verlag Wissenschaft und Politik, 1964), pp. 37—45.

S4Wilhelm Kosch, Deutsches Literaturlexikon, 2. Auflage (Bern:
Francke Verlag, 1956), III. 1985.

55Those Passions most nearly approaching the strict description
offered by Kosch are Mbntecassino, Palat, Autun B and R.

56Among the countless investigations into the origins of medieval
drama in the liturgy of Eastertide, the outline offered by Wolfgang
Michael, "Deutsche Literatur bis 1500: Drama", Kurzer Grundrisz der
Germanischen Philologie Bis 1500. Ed. Ludwig Erich Schmitt. Berlin:
Walter de Gruyter 8 Co., 1971. 11, 573-84, is particularly cogent.

S7Early scholars like de Julleville in France, Creizenach and
Wechssler in Germany, and Karl Young and Edward Chambers in England
all placed the planctus Mariae at the center of Passion development.
Sandro Sticca's conclusions, as presented in The Latin Passion Play:
Its Origins and Development (Albany: State University of New York
Press, 1970),provides a more satisfying and plausible answer by at-
tributing the Passion play to "the Christocentric mysticism and piety
of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. . ." (p. 125). Sticca's work
with the history and text of Mbntecassino calls into question the
fundamental thesis of earlier scholars that all existing Passions
contained a planctus, that these were suitable for dramatic use, and
that they were occasionally spoken by impersonators, by showing a
Passion which pre-dates all known dramatizations of its kind in West-
ern Europe and contains a dimunitive three-line planctus within the
structure of a fully-developed and highly dramatic presentation of the
trials of Christ before the Crucifixion. See also Wolfgang Michael,
Das Deutsche Drama des Mittelalters (Berlin 6 New York: Walter de
Gruyter 8 Co., 1971), pp, 34-35; Emile Roy, Le Mystere de la Passion
en France du XIV? au XVIQ SiEcle, Revue Bourguignonne (Dijon:
L'Université de Dijon, 1903-94), Tome XIII, p. 6*.

,
J8Michael, Deutsche Drama, p. 35.

59Hardin Craig mentions the existence of true Passion plays in
southern England which resembled their nominal counterparts on the
continent in form. London is believed to have been one of the centers
of English Passion production (p. 153). Most recently Alan Nelson has
taken issue with Craig in The Medieval Stage (Chicago 8 London:
University of Chicago Press, 1974), pp. l72ff.

60I refer to Walter Meyers, A Figure Given: Typology in the wake-
field Plays (Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press, 1970); also Kolve,
pp. 57-100.

61Of the many investigations into drama on moveable platforms, that
offered by Salter, pp. 54-82, for the city of Chester, is especially
informative and thought-provoking.

62Prosse‘r, p. 55

514
63Presser, p. 55.

64Loc. cit.

65The date of Mbntecassino is based upon metrical analysis of the
versus tripartitus caudatus,which occurs frequently throughout the
text,and its application by Adam of St. Victor in sequences of the
twelfth century necessarily predating our play; Sticca, Passion, pp. 60-61.

66Rolf Bergmann, Studien zu Entstehung und Geschichte der Deutschen
Pass ionsspiele des 13. und 14. Jahrhunderts (Munchen: Wilhelm Fink
Verlag, 1972), pp. 47- 48. Bergmann postulates the copying of the codex
of which the text is a portion at ca. 1250 and assigns its origin some-
what earlier in the thirteenth century. A paleographic analysis places
the homeland of BenP in Bavaria, probably Tyrol or Karnten.

7Bergmann first applies paleographic evidence of a Gothic script
which closely resembles that current in the first half of the fourteenth
century, and assigns the date of origin based upon linguistic evi-
dence. The text appears to originate in the region around Mainz and
Worms. Its name derives from its resting place in the monastic library
of St. Gall; see also Hugo Stopp, Untersuchungen zum St. Caller Passions-
spiel (Diss. Saarercken, 1959), pp. 117, 121.

68The edition by Eduard Hartl, the only one readily available to me,
is not without its critics. For a discussion of critical shortcomings
see Stopp, pp. 18-21; Ferdnand Mosse, Chronique des Livres: Etudes
germaniques, 8 ann6e, 1953, p. 285; Wolfgang F. Michael, GR, XXVIII
(1953), pp. 157-158. Despite several problems with the edition, Hartl
does not transpose scenes or events, a consideration of primary impor-
tance for any structural analysis. My design is not compromised in the
same way a metrical or linguistic analysis might be.

9Vien is placed into the first half of the fourteenth century by
Wilfried Werner, Studien au den Passions- und Osterspielen des deutschen
Mittelalters in ihrem Uebergang vom Latein zur Vblkssprache (Berlin:
Erich Schmidt Verlag, 1963), p. 48. He believes the actual production
to emanate from a time shortly after BenP, in the thirteenth century.

7ODated by Grace Frank, La Passion du Palatinus: Mystere du XIV
Siécle, CEMA (Paris: Champion,1922), p

71Dated by Grace Frank, La Passion D’Autun (Paris: SATE 1934),
pp. 28-29. Her chronology rests on analysis of linguistic evidence.
The Autun Passion is actually two related texts, La Passion de Biard
and La Passion de Roman, the respective scribes of the manuscripts.
Textual evidence seems to suggest that the Biard Passion was more likely
intended to be read than performed. Although it is not, strictly
speaking, a purely dramatic text, its development of the Passion
material is interesting enough to warrant inclusion. It represents a
peculiar combination of dramatic and epic possibilities.

 

515

72Although Craig believes the plays to have been ready for per-
fbrmance by about 1328 (pp. 169-170), the text as preserved dates from
several years later. He also points to a stern conservatism in the
city of Chester which aided the preservation of much of the original
spirit from early performances (p. 195); also Wickham, EES, pp. 133-142.

73Dated by Martin Stevens, "The Composition of the Towneley Talents
Play: A linguistic Examination," JEGP, LVIII (1959), p. 426. He bases
his decision on linguistic analysis. The various attempts to date
Towneley by studying its relationship to York, its often confusing
alternation of meter and rhyme, its curious omission of standard
biblical plays and substitution of non-Scriptural material forms one
of the most interesting and extensive sidelights of medieval textual
research. The reader is directed to the bibliography for several
examples of such studies. See also John Gardner, The Construction of
the wakefield Cycle (Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois
University Press, 1974), p. 140.

74Greban, Le Mistere de la Passion, ed. Gaston Paris 6 Gaston
Raynauld (Paris: F. Vieweg, 1878), p. 11. Dating rests on the history
of numerous manuscripts, especially that found by M.P. Paris in 1855.

75Dated by Rolf Steinbach, Die Deutschen Oster- und Passionsspiele
des Mittelalters, Kolner Germanistische Studien, Band 4 (Koln/Wien:
Bohlau Verlag, 1970), p. 215.

76Dated By Richard Froning, Das Drama des Mittelalters (1891/92;
rpt. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1964), pp. 554-555.

Chapter II- Traditional Scholarship
pages 23—32

1Wilhelm Creizenach, Geschichte des Neueren Dramas (1911; rpt.
New York: Benjamin Blom, 1965), 2 vols; Marius Sepet, Le Drame
Religieux au Mbyen Ages, 3e edition (Paris: Librarie Bloud 6 Cie.,
1908); L. Petit de Julleville, Les Mysteres (Paris: Librarie Hachette
G Cie., 1880), 2 vols; E.K. Chambers, The Mediaeval Stage (London:
Oxford University Press, 1903). For additional information attention
is directed to the general bibliography.

2Mendel Frampton, in his study, "The Processus Talentorum
(Towneley XXIV)," PMLA, LIX, (1944), 645-655, attempted to prove that
this odd play was an old Millers' play from York taken over into
about 1425. This idea has not withstood subsequent scrutiny. The
exact date of composition remains unknown and we are left to extrapo-
late its origin from the date of ca. 1450. Further discussion of the
textual anomolies and problems of Towneley can be found in the
Stevens article.

516

3Marie C. Lyle, The Original Identity of the Yerk and Towneley
cycles Studies in Language and Literature Nr. 6 (Minneapolis: University
of Minnesota Press, 1919).

4Three of the innumerable examples are Frank Cady, "The Passion
Group in Towneley,? Mbdern Philology, 10 (1912-13), 487-600; Millicent
Carey, "The Wakefield Group innthe Towneley Cycle," Hesperia: Schriften
zur Englischen Philologie, Erganzungsreihe ll. Heft (Gottingen:
Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1930); Frank Cady, "The Wakefield Group in
Towneley," JEGP, 11 (1912), 244—263.

sGustav Cohen, Histoire de la Mise en Scéne dans le Theatre Re-
ligieux Francais du Mbyen Age (Paris: Champion, 1951).

6Wickham, EES, p. 172.

7Alan H. Nelson, "Some Configurations of Staging in Medieval
English Drama," Medieval English Drama, Jerome Taylor and Alan H.
Nelson, ed. (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1972), p. 129.

8Nelson, The Medieval English Stage: Corpus Christi Pageants and
Plays (Chicago 6 London: University of Chicago Press, 1974).

9Nelson, Configurations, 116-122; Wickham, EES, pp. 168—174.

10Among the numerous representatives of research into origin and
development are: Paul E. Kretzmann, The Liturgical Element in the
Earliest Forms of’the Medieval Drama with Special Reference to the
English and German Plays, Studies in Language and Literature, Nr. 4
(Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1916); Sticca, Passion,

11Prosser, p. 7.
12ZIbid” p. 12.

13McNeir, p, 602.

14That medieval English dramas were extremely proficuous constructs
of medieval religious thought and that they were so well received prior
to the reign of Henry VIII appears to have sealed their eventual doom
at the hands of zealous Protestant reformers. Wickham and Gardner both
find sufficient evidence in historical records of the period to trace
a fear and loathing among Protestant leaders and beaurocrats which
explains the unnatural death of the miracle plays in England.

15Prosser, p. 56. These three arguments are not raised solely in
criticism of English drama. One encounters them in various form through-
out secondary literature. I believe her rebuttals can be also general-
ized to include the other three cultural/linguistic groupings treated
in this study. This analysis does not concentrate on any particular
cultural variation of medieval drama, but rather on the generic
relationship of medieval drama to mimetic presentation. This approach
seems justified in light of the general literary unity of continental

517

Europe and England throughout much of the Middle Ages and the sig-
nificant literary cross-fertilization which conveyed that unity.

When the medieval drama is Viewed as a dramatic entity, without specific
reference to a linguistic grouping, it will be interpreted as referring
to all medieval religious drama. One of the basic assumptions I make

is that, although there be cultural and linguistic distinction in final
theatrical products, and although each Passion is a singular literary
entity, the origin of the material in the Church liturgy and application
of Scripture to flesh out the dramatic framework, coupled with the
position of the Church in medieval life, lead to similar results--
similar but not identical. One of the reasons is certainly the didactic
intent of all medieval drama. Hence, many critics will approach

these dramas from a linguistic context, plays from the English, French,
German, or Latin Middle Ages. They essentially criticize a specific
cultural representative of the whole genre, but they often present
argument of general interest and validity.

16Prosser, p. 57.

17Cf. below, p. 29, f. 1.

18Prosser, p. 185.

19Ibid., p. 189.

20Brinkmann, Eigenform, p. l6s37;'81-98; also "035 religigse
Drama im Mittelalter: Arten und Stufen," Wirkendes wart, IX (1959), 257-74.

21Brinkmann, Eigenfbrm, p. 16.
221bid., p. 21.
231bid., p. 86.

24Ludwig Wolff, "Die Verschmelzung des Dargestellten mit der
Gegenwartswirklichkeit im geistlichen Drama des deutschen Mittelalters,"
DVjS, VII (1929), 267-304. As was noted with Prosser, the context
of Wolff's article is culturally/linguistically oriented. Inasmuch as
he identifies a basic factor in all medieval drama, his observations
contain validity for many of the non-German plays investigated herein.

25Wickham, EES, pp. 156-158; Kolve, pp. 101-123.

26Wickham, EESi p. 157.

27Kolve, p. 103.

28Examples of such studies are: Theo Meyer, Die Gestalt Marias im
Geistlichen schauspiel des Deutschen Mittelalters (Berlin: Erich Schmidt
Verlag, 1959); Brother Cornelius Luke, The Bale of the Virgin Mary in
the Coventry, Yerk, Chester and waneley Cycles (Washington: Catholic
University of America, 1933); Maximilian Rudwin, Der Teufel in den
Leutschen Ceistlichen Spielen des Mittelalters (thtingen: Vanden-
hoeck G Ruprecht, 1915). ‘

$18

Hans Carl Holdschmidt, Der Jude auf'dem Theater des Deutschen Mittel-
alters, Die Schaubuhne: Quellen und Forschungen zur Theatergeschichte,
Nr. 12 (Emsdetten: Heinrich Leichte, 1935). The latter must be
approached with extreme care, as it appeared at an unfortunate period
of German letters. Holdschmidt suffers,as does his scholarship, from
a deeply-ingrained National-Socialist bias against Judaism. When
employed purely for historical purposes, such as the identification of
possible living namesakes for Jews found in late German Passions, this
work is valuable. Holdschmidt's reasoning on the motives for negative
character portrayal.is, however, suspect.

2 . . . . . .
9Arnold W1111ams, The Characterization of Pilate in the Towneley
Plays (East Lansing: Michigan Stage College Press. 1950).

Chapter III- Methodology
pages33-62

1We know that much of Schiller's later aesthetic attitudes con-
cerning form in literature were the result of his study of Kant' s
Kritik der Urteilskraft (1790), wherein Kant maintained that ”in
aller schonen Kunst besteht das Wesentliche in der Form .H. . nicht in
der Materie der Empfindung" (paragraph 52); quoted from Bockmann,
Farmgeschichte, p. 12.

2Bgckmann presents an excellent review of the development of a
form consciousness in German literature and discussion of several
German authors whose ideas contributed to its study (pp. 7-20).

3Dilthey's development towards phenomenology can clearly be seen
in his works; Die Einbildungskraft des Dichters (1887), Das Wesen der
Philosophie (1907), and Die Typen der Weltanschauung (1911).

4Among the works of Husserl most useful for the development of
several tenets of phenomenology are the articles: "Ideen zu einer
reinen Phanomenologie" (1913), "Vorlesungen zur Phaenomenologie des

inneren Zeitbewusztseins" (edited by Heidegger, 1928), and his two-
volume work, Logische Uhtersuchungen (1900/01).

sHeidegger, Sein und Zeit (1927)-
6Ingarden,.Erkennen, p. 12.
7Bgckmann,Formgeschichte, pp. 21-22.
%oc. cit.

91mm, p. 27.

10Ingarden, Erkennen, p. 12.

11For an excellent discussion of the joys of 'active' reading, see
Ingarden, Erkennen, pp. 35-40, 57-58.

519
12
Ingarden, DLK, p. 25.
13Loc. cit.

14Loc. cit.

15The terms "Sinneinheit" (unity of sense) and "Bedeutungseinheit"
(unity of meaning) must be considered separately, for in their literary
application as aspects of formal structure, they are not synonomous.
"Bedeutungseinheit” deals with the meaning of individual sounds and
combinations of sounds and words and the mutations they may undergo.
"Sinneinheit” explains the unity of sense communicated by the interplay
of several levels functioning together. It stands above individual
semantic meanings and is more closely related to the 'idea' expressed
through particular structures manipulated and altered by the artist.

16Ingarden, DLK, p. 25.

17Ibid., p. 26.

18Ibid., p. 11.

191bid., pp. 30-61.
20Ibid., p. 44.

1 . . . . . .
2 Ingarden 1n51sts that some sort of rhythmical quallty 15 1nherent
in all literary texts, the only observable variation occurring in its
impressiveness and force (DLK, p. 46).

221bid., pp. 61—229.

23For a discussion of words in context and related linguistic
phenomena specifically applied to medieval literature, see Pickering,
Lit and Art, pp. 75-83, 117—18.

24Ingarden, DLK, pp. 121-33.

251bid., pp. 131-33.

26Ibid., pp. 133—52.

27Ibid., pp. 152~6l..

28Although the evidence set forth provides convincing proof of the
author's awareness of creative skills during the literary process, of
the dependence of the work and its structure on conscious mental de-
cisions, it would be incorrect to assume an all-encompassing knowledge
and cognition by the writer of the deeper, more subtle results of his
creation. Certainly much of the basic structure is deliberately formed
according to an overall intention, but the specific artistic and
aesthetic elements may also be unconscious products of the fundamental
objective. Much of the time structure of medieval Passions indicate,
I believe, just such consequences.

520

29Ingarden, DLK, p. 223.

30But only to a point; for as has been mentioned, excessive re-
capitulation or the excessive assailing of emotions can lead to dead-
ened perception and a concomitant loss of attention. The exact point
of diminishing returns seems to depend on the social, cultural, and
religious context of the time. That which tires modern readers is not
necessarily that which caused a similar reaction in medieval minds.
This may very well be another instance of the divergence of medieval
and modern religious thought. Such an example is provided by Helmut
Niedner when he discusses the question of production length of French
and German playszDie Deutschen und Franzosischen Osterspiele bis zum
15. Jahrhundert: Ein Beitrag zur Theatergeschichte des Mittelalters
(Berlin: Ebering, 1932), pp. 122-23-

slsuch is the case with Mbntecassino. Its structure appears re-
latively simple and unassuming. But a complete phenomenological
analysis of this play would also consider the high degree of mastery
and skill purveying the verse form and the individual strengths of the
Latin words. An in-depth examination would present a play evincing
careful metrical and stylistic management, a skill also to be valued
in literary creation. Mbntecassino in fact possesses a linguistic
structure far more impressive than most of the Passion plays which post-
date it. There is a satisfying unity of language and metrical form not
possible in vernacular German, French, of English.

32Ingarden, DLK, pp. 229-70.

331bid. , p. 229.

34Loc. cit.

35These problems of literature may be as varied as human experience
itself. The metaphoric of a work may be composed of questions of love,
hate, war, society, nature, religion, or perhaps a combination of two
or more basic categories. To adequately describe the metaphoric of
medieval drama might entail consideration of problems such as transcend-
ent love, fallible human society, and universal Catholic religion.

36Much of Ingarden's analysis involves the careful definition of the
peculiar ontological structure of the objects occupying this third level.
To investigate each of them adequately would lead us too far from our
main topic. Suffice it to say that he carefully preserves the bound-
aries between 'real' characters, places, times, and happenings and
their literary counterparts by identifying the peculiar psychic
phenomena which comprise the reading or personal experience of literature.
Ingarden's conclusion that concepts such as represented time and place
have a specific relationship to the intentional manipulation by the
writer of the tale are of paramount interest and importance, for they
provide yet another confirmation of the conscious nature of literary
structure predicated upon specific ideas.

37Ingarden, DLK, p. 247.

521

38Ingarden, DLK, p. 282.

391—bid” p. 281.
4olbid., pp. 281, 283-4.

“fluid. , p.287.

42Wickham, EES, p. 118.

43Though primary emphasis is placed on the written record of
Passion performances, it is recognized that the resultant study can only
reconstitute a portion of their staged realities. Omer Jodogne, "Le
theatre francais du moyen age: recherches sur l'aspect dramatique des
textes," The Medieval Drama, ed. Sandro Sticca (Albany: State Univer-
sity of New York Press, 1972), p. 1, has correctly marked the incom-
pleteness of a theatrical representation relegated to textual form by
observing that the director of a play can directly influence the manner
in which the text is enlivened by actors and accepted by spectators. He
accomplishes this by imposing his own elements of stage technique, tone
of the actor's delivery, and his own personal understanding and relation-
ship to textual material. Hennig Brinkmann, Eigenfbrm, p. 95, also
sees difficulty in relying only on texts, for the plays themselves have
no independent literary-historical being. According to Brinkmann, the
text exists only for the playing, which receives life only upon pre-
sentation. While this is irrefutable, the written word is our only
reliable connection to the mimetic rites themselves and the form they
probably adopted. The text is of interest inasmuch as it represents
the form employed to convey attitudes and teachings. Since the plays
evince necessary movement in time, several temporal relationships found
in the texts must be assumed to have been present in the staged forms
as well. Without this basic assumption, any attempt to reconstruct
possible implications for the material becomes impossible, as does any
correlation between text and stage. For further discussion of pre-
sentational techniques and their interaction with the text, see
Paul Zumthor, Essai de Poétique Médiévale (Paris: Editions du Seuil,
1972), p. 41; also Wickham, EES, p. xxvi.

44Helena M. Gamer, "Mimes, Musicians, and the Origin of the Medieval
Religious Play," Deutsche Beitrage zur Ceistlichen Ueberlieferung, V
(1965), 9-28, provides a succinct review of the unity of word and music.
Substantial application of musical forms in the Passions emanating from
the Mass, other liturgical forms,and early liturgical drama are known
to have been effected. Sandro Sticca, "Drama and Spirituality in the
Middle Ages," Medievalia et Humanistica, New Series Nr. 4 (1973),
pp. 70-73, provides insights into the role of music in the liturgy and
in early dramatic performances which were germinal for its application
in later Passion and Mystery plays. 'For additional information consult
William L. Smoldon, "The Melodies of Medieval Church-Drama and Their
Significance," Camparative Drama, 11 (1968), 185-209; R. Molitor,
"Passionsspiel und Passionsliturgie," Bekediktinische Mbnatsschrift,
V (1923), 105-116; Karl Dreimuller, "Die Musik im geistlichen Spiel
des spaten deutschen Mittelalters," Kirchenmusikalisches Jahrbuch, XXIV
(1950), 27-34;

522

Helmuth Osterhoff, HDie Musik im Drama des deutschen Mittelalters,"
Deutsche Musikkultur, VIII (1943), 29-40.

45For a representative consideration of the importance and reception
of gesticulation, see Walther Muller, Der Schauspielerische Stil im
Passionsspiel des Mittelalters (Leipzig. Hermann Eichblatt Verlag, 1927).

46In the instance of BenP, one cannot completely rely even on textual
evidence to ascertain which phrases were spoken and which were sung.
Ernst Schuler, Die Musik der Osterfeigren, Osterspiele, und Passionen
des Adttelalters (Kassel und Basel: Barenreiter, 1951), p. 31, remarks
that the linguistic separation of cantat and dicat were not always ob-
served, as the latter occasionally infered musical as well as declamatory
delivery: also Friedrich-Otto Knoll, Die Rolle der Maria Magdalena im
geistlichen Spiel des Mittelalters: Ein Beitrag zur Kultur— und Theater-
geschichte Deutschlands, Germanisch und Deutsch: Studien zur Sprache
und Kultur, 8. Heft (Berlin und Leipzig: Walter de Gruyter 8 Co.,
1934), p. 91.

47Wolfgang Kayser, Das Sprachliche Kunstwerk, 12. Auflage (Bern:
Francke Verlag, 1967), pp. 335-6.

48Ingarden,DLK , p. 327. The author carefully avoids any implication
that the work of art itself is temporally extended in any fashion. The
text as such exists as a totality, the first page just as the last, all
at the same time: "Auch muszte man im Sinne dieser Auffassung zugeben,
dasz manche Teile des literarischen Werkes, frUher' als die anderen
sind und dasz sie im Moment, wo die spateren'Teile gelesen werden,
nicht mehr existieren. . wahrend es doch in Bezug auf das Werk selbst
evident ist, dasz es, nachdem es einmal entstanden ist, in allen seinen
Teilen zu leich existiert und keiner seiner Teile in diesem zeitlichen
Sinne ,fruher' bzw. ,spater' ist” (p. 327). The experience an audience
has is the temporal extention<1f the concretization (Konkretisation) of
the work, an intellectual encounter. One recalls again Augustine's
remarks concerning the individual subjective experience of the three
time modi.

49Ingarden, Erkennen, p. 331.
0Loc. cit.

1This very technique is often applied in the modern theater of the
absurd, where conventional experiences of time are intentionally dis-
torted or dissolved. Friedrich Durrenmatt' 5 Die Ehe des Herrn Mississ-
ippi employs such a device by attending the main character' 5 execution
preceding its motivation. This incongruity must subsequently be
interpreted for the audience by the figure himself.

52Ingarden, DLK, pp. 332-3.

53Loc. cit.

523

54
'These are attempts to render the German terms, "Spielzeit"

and "Gespielte Zeit", two derivatives from phenomenological understand-
ings of epic literature. They relate generically to the "Erzahlzeit"
and nErzahlte Zeit" of narration, as formulated by Gunther Muller in
nErzaehlzeit und erzahlte Zeit, " Festschrift fur Paul Kluckhohn und
Hermann schneider (Tubingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag, 1948), pp. 195- 212.
Lammert discusses the two terms at length, Ingarden refers to the
fundamental differences as die Zeit der realen Welt” and "dargestellte
Zeit", Petsch as HSpielzeitH and "Handlungszeit”. The application of
the basic terminology takes cognizance of the peculiarities of theatrical
performance and its mimetic, imitative, and representational nature.

SSPUtz, p. 52.

”find” p. 53.

57lu31ff, Vwrs: vhme lav n,, p. 267.

S8Kolve, pp.8-32.

59 .
Robert Petsch, Wesen und Formen des Dramas(Halle: Max N1emeyer

Verlag, 1945), p. 223.

60Loc, cit.

61Ingarden, DLK, pp. 241—242.

6200c. cit. Although he bases his discussion specifically on a
textual communication with literature, Ingarden's observations certainly
are equally valid for the physical, immediate experience of lively
presentation. Similar observations are made by J.B. Priestley,Man
and Time (Garden City: Doubleday 8 Company, 1964), pp. 118—21.

3Ingarden,.Erkennen, p. 108.

64Loc. cit.

bSEmil Staigery Crundbegriffe'der Poetic, 2. Auflage (MUnchen: DTV,
1972),.p. 118. .

66Petsch, p. 224.
67See below, pp.

"Erat autem hora tertia: et crucifixerunt eum..." (Mark xv:25-26);
"Et hora nona exclamavit Jesus voce magna,...” (Mark xv: 34-35);
’..Jesus autem emissa voce magna exspiravit." (Mark xv: 37-38); also
Honorius of Autun: "Tertia hora est fiagellatus,... Sexta hora est
crucifixus... Nona hora mortuus est" ( 172, 633-634).

69Theplanctus (folsfehdis extended by several repetitive phrases.
Christ thrice cries: ”Hely, hely, lamazabathani," each supported by
a slight variation ("...hoc est: deus meus, deus meus, utquid

524

derelequisti me?"- BA 6159; "...Ach herre vatter myn,/ nu liden ieh
alszo groisse pyn!"— 6198~6199; "I82 musz an mer vollengan,/ das die
propheten vor gesworen hon!"- 62l6~6217). Mary immediately responds
after each speech: "0 we, 0 we, ich horte eynen ruff? (6172—617, 6201,
6217). The latter two examples are shortened in the text to the initial
lament, with an appended ”ut supra". Shortly thereafter Mary complains:
"Hercze brich! swert nu stich unnd loisz mich myt em sterben/ader ich
musz hie under eme szo jemmerlichen vorterben etc." (6442-6443),
indicating a portion of the lament presented, but not included in the
manuscript. This notation would appear to betray a generally familiar
complaint, the remaining words being superfluous for the actress, sub-
sequent players, directon and perhaps the audience as well. With this
in mind, there appears little logical or dramatic necessity for two
further repetitions of identical sentiments (6478, 6488). The result is
an undramatic, retarding extension of Mary's lament, serving questionable
documentary, lyrical, or emotional purpose.

7OCf. below, Appendix B. The play of'MbntecasSino rarely interrupts
the ritualistic and sketchy dramatization to dwell on specific develop-
ments or characters, a fact of considerable importance for the recon-
struction of possible intentions behind the work, and the spirituality
inherent in the acceptance of such a presentation. Autun B and Autun R
fill stage time with the generally accepted outline of events culminating
in the Betrayal, Judgement, and Crucifixion. There occur few interrupt—
ions of 'historical' chronology, save the forging of the nails common to
most French Passions. With the period under consideration between five
and six 'historical' days, it is immediately apparent that significant
portions of the basic Scriptural account have been severely foreshortened,
curtailed, or totally eliminated. Palat likewise reflects substantial
foreshortening.

71BenP, although it comprises only 289 verses, relates the extensive
period from the Calling of the Disciples to Joseph’s request for the
Savior's human remains. Represented time covers months, perhaps years.
The skeletal character of represented time and its relationship to the
message of BenP has been the subject of several inquiries, the latest
being Michael Rudick's article, ”Theme, Structure, and Sacred Context
in the Benediktbeuern 'Passion' Play," Speculum, 49 (1974), 267-86.
Rudick has offered several plausible premises for such a sweep of action
within a narrow presentational time. Since Mbntecassino exhibits a much
more pointed time of representation several years prior to the writing
of BenP, we will wish to carefully study the time structure of the
latter to ascertain possible reasons for its heavily-contoured form.
StG evidences representative trends which culminate in the great German
Passions of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. A sub-
stantial amount of artistic culling and intensification has been ac-
complished; previously unknown characters like Augustinus, several
named pharisees, and a host of individualized Jews are introduced into
represented time. All these make for more technically dynamic and
artistically varied presentation. .9u3 clearly indicates the inherent
energy of the Passion beginning to surface in works of the second
quarter of the fourteenth century. Poets seem motivated by faCtors
other than pure ritualism. The increased complexity of represented

525

time mirrors this development. Represented time of Donau undergoes several
mutations, both forward and backward, with many complete dissolutions

of represented time into the actual temporal surroundings of the audience.
A Proclamator introduces the play, a character named Christiana inten-
sifies and interprets the represented facts for spectators. Devils
initiate a represented time which is best seen as a mythical time frame,
thereby adding a novel dimension to the artistic management of time.

72The active participation of the terms here called acceleration
and retardation were distinguished midway into the last century. In
1912 Mable Buland, Presentation of Time in the Elizabethan Drama
(New York: Henry Holt 8 Company, 1912), pp. 2-14, reported that two
Shakespeare scholars, Nicholas Holpin and John Wilson, had discussed
the phenomena in print during early 1849. Miss Buland refered to the
terms as "double time".

73Henri Bergson, Time and Free Will (New York: Harper, 1960),
pp. 75-132, investigates the intricate interrelationships of time, space,
consciousness, and their psychological measurement. He notes the sub-
jective nature of temporal experience as others, but analyzes the
philosophical ramifications in greater detail. Bergson's work con-
stitutes an interesting chapter culminating in the phenomenological
study of literature.

74P3tz, p. 54.

75Loc. cit.

76Slawinska, "Les probIEmeSde la structure du drame," Stil- und
Formprobleme in der Literatur (Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 1961), p. 110.
Careful distinction, however, must be drawn between scenes which are
elongated in Scripture and those which become lengthened by additional
material. In either instance, episodes of substantial length appear
to possess attitudes and concepts which help define the work, its
probable intent, and effect on audiences.

77Froning, pp. 257-61. Several scholars have investigated the
process of accretion in Passion plays. I cite only a few of the
representative works. Sticca identifies early tendencies towards
increased realism in Mbntecassino (Passion, pp. 139-40); Brinkmann
notices increased detail and resultant lengthening by the individual-
ization of worldly and anti—Christian figures (Eigenform, p. 27);
Grace Frank provides insights into the early situation of scenic
elongation exhibited by Palat (Drama, p. 238); Arnold Williams,
The Drama of Medieval England (East Lansing: Michigan State Un1ver-
sity Press, 1961), pp. 38-54, addresses himself to the 'secularization'
process in the English plays.

78It is obvious from textual evidence that some scenes were either
staged with minimum dramatic intensity or perhaps not at all. Mbnte-
cassino reports the flagellation only in rubrics. The scene is regarded
as taking place simultaneously with the Devil's appearance to Pilate's
wife, thereby lessening its dramatic impact ("dum uxor eius dormit et
ligatur ad columpnam et flagellatur et tamdiu stet Iesus ligatus quo

526

usque ancilla redierit a Pilato”- EA 171). Judas' suicide is also
intimated, but left undramatized, for it coincides with another, more
important episode of Christ led to Pilate ("Et Judas exit et suspendit
se. Interim loricati ducant Iesum ligatum coram Pilato dicentes. . ."-
BA 138). The skeletal presentation of several scenes from BenP can

be seen by reference to Table 2.

79Although these early accounts are generally brief and sketchy,
one can already observe areas of later embellishment and intensification.
Sticca, Passion, pp. 139-140, sees the inclusion of a vernacular three-
line planctus in Mentecassino as evidencing a desire to secure greater
audience participation in the Passion. He also documents the increased
dramatization of Mary Magdalene's role in BenP and notes the coincidence
of this more detailed scene with that period of greatest development of
the Magdalene cult in Germany (p. 138). Theo Meier, in tracing the
rising veneration of the Virgin, presents convincing evidence that
devotion to Mary played an important part in the emerging literature of
the twelfth century. He places particular importance on the treatises
of Bernard (Liber de Passione) and Pseudo-Anselm (Dialogus Mariae et
Anselmi dc Passione Domini). It is not surprising, then, that two of
the first instances of scenic elongation would be centered around the
two Maries, the Magdalene in her sinful life and the Mother of Christ
at the Crucifixion.

80Cf. below, pp. 390-4. As will be seen in subsequent analysis,
all the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century Passions, Tawneley
excepted, indicate a disruptive lack of temporal dynamics in the
handling of the trial before Herod. The scene serves only to arbi-
trarily lengthen already broadened statements.

81Meyers, Figure, p. 19.
82]bid., p. 20.

83Pu'tz (pp. 47-48) describes interruption of plot("abgebrochene
Handlung”) as a possible quality of succession. I have shifted the
emphasis from the seriate character of drama to one which more ade-
quately explicates the traditional and doctrinal intention of medieval
drama. As the discussion of temporal suspension directs attention to
formal, didactic, and philosophical peculiarities of medieval Passions,
consideration of interruption as a dramatic tool is best compared with
aspects of tempo and not succession.

4That medieval spectators recognized and consciously considered the
theoretical results of this extensive application of anachronism is
extremely doubtful. Their presence, however, does define the peculiar-
ly up-to-date manner of presentation for readers not contemporary with
the plays themselves. Anachronism constitutes a useful quality by which
to study the way in which history is made reality. It is another
characteristic whose appearance is immediately obvious to later readers,
but probably in no way contrary to medieval man's religious life.

8SPii'tz, p. 11.

527

86Thompson, p. 145.

87Putz, p. 11.
88 _
Loc. cit.

Schreiber, "L'Univers compartimente du theatre medievale,",
French Review, XLI (1968), p. 473.

0Thompson, Zoe. cit.

1Schreiber, loc. cit.

7
9 Put tz, loc. cit.

3Schreiber, loc. cit.

4Loc. cit.
Q I .
“SThompson, pp. 146-147. In like fashion Eugen Gerldtei. "Die

Vorausdeutung in der Dichtung: Keime einer Anschauung vom Leben der
Dichtung," Heli ken, 2 (1939), p. 64, observes: "Die Vorausdeutung be-
gluckt selten, erschuttert meist den Leser in seinem vorgreifenden
Hinlauschen im voraus, ermoglicht ihm ein zielgerichtetes volleres
Verstandnis der kommenden nahen und fernen Phaseninhalte, lost und
vertieft seine Spannupg auf das ferne Ziel hin,1aszt aber die

Partie der Dichtung vollig unbekannt, die von ihr zu den vorgedeuteten
Ereignissen fuhrt. "

6
Prosser, p. 123.
7 . . '1 . ,
Attention is drawn to Putz's excellent analy51s of "Spannung'
for other types of anticipation and suspense of lesser value here,

especially pp. 11-17.

98Ibid., p. 147.

99Alsfeld unnumbered after 3311, 3327, and 3335.
)
1‘0,mzc eld 3312, 3328—9, 333o—7.
101

Indeed, these continuous prophecies of ultimate suffering,
contrasted with Christ's heart—felt human longing to put aside His pain,
form a juxtaposition of the two souls in His breast, a juxtaposition of
great potential for suspense creation. Several of the later playwrights
successfully integrate the two into a scene (albeit of short duration)
of highly-effective drama.

’7 l .
IO‘HGefuhls-Spannung" is closely related to the psycho-intellectual
moments discussed earlier.

528

Chapter IV- Formal Consideration of Drama and the Dramatic
pages 63-73

1Kayser, p. 332.

2Robert Edwards, "Techniques of Transcendence in Medieval Drama,"
Comparative Drama, VIII (1974), p. 159.

3Staiger, Crundbegrifje, p. 45.

4Staiger, quoted in Kayser, p. 333.

5Staiger, p. 155.

6Petsch, p. 7.

7Brinkmann, Drama, p. 257.

8Staiger, p. 119.

9Young, DMC, I, 80-81. All notes taken from vol. I.

100.8. Hardison, Jr. Christian Rite and Christian Drama in the
Middle Ages (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1965), p. 31.

1Loc. cit.
12Weber, p. 7.

13Benjamin Hunningher, The Origin of the Theater (Amsterdam and
The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1955). p. 51.

14Sepet also recognized the mimetic instinct of mankind and said
of it: "L'instinct dramatique est naturel a l'homme; il suffit, pour
n'en pas douter, de considerer les jeux des enfants" (p. 7).
Hunningher investigates the instinct and comes to interesting conclu-
sions (pp. 46-47).

15Cf. above, pp. 9-10.

16Young, DMC, pp. 412-414, investigates the ties between Church
and liturgical drama; John Gardiner, pp. 1-19, provides convincing
evidence that ecclesiastical injunctions until the latter quarter of
the sixteenth century were directed more against clerical participation
in and attendance upon spectacula. There also appears condemnation of
the Feast of'Fools rather than general prohibition against religious
miracula. See also Sticca, Passion, pp. 168-169.

17Hunningher, p. 117.

18Ibid., pp. 71—93.

529

19Gamer, Memes, pp. 11-21, disputes Hunningher's evidence of mimes
in the famous liturgical manuscript, Paris (B.N. lat 1118), and attacks
his suggestion that mimes performed the tropes; Sticca, .Passion,1n1. 7-
11, questions the place of the mime in early liturgical drama and Hun-
ningher's contention that secular drama was superior to religious drama
of the time; Michael, Deutsche Drama, p. 6, takes strong exception to
the suggestion that a popular pagan drama, specifically "Kultspielen
der Germanen”, must have led towards early drama in serV1ces of med-
ieval churches.

20A cautionary note should be inserted here. In no way do I wish
to imply that pagan or pre-Christian religious rites, wherein man
attempted to wrest sustenance and life from his gods, and medieval com-
memorative or liturgical drama, or even the celebration of the Mass
itself, are identically motivated; the quintessence of the mimetic
instinct, the desire to 'dramatize', to give life to the conflicts of
human experience, is contained in both, though dedicated to divergent
ends.

21A.P. Rossiter, English Drama from Early Times to the Eliza-
bethans: Its Background, Origins and Development, 3rd. ed. (London:
Hutchinson 6 Co., 1958), pp. 15-27, investigates mimetic instinct in
the form of ritual, documenting several ancient, medieval, and modern
analogies which seem to indicate a primordial drive towards drama-
tization quite apart from chronology or literary 'periods'.

22Several introductions to medieval drama have as their point of
departure the discontinuity of dramatic development from ancient to
medieval times. Among the many discussions, three well-written and
informative accounts can be found in Frank, Drama, pp. 1-17; Sticca,
Passion, pp. 3-27; Rossiter, pp. 29-41. I must again caution against
wide application of the latter. Rossiter's observations are generated
by a primary interest in Elizabethan drama, a fact which has severe
repurcussions for his study of medieval theater. He posits a reading
audience more interested in "cultural continuities which exist within
and behind the stage for which Shakespeare, Jonson, Chapman, and Middle-
ton wrote" (p. 7), and believes to identify a greater interest in
Elizabethan theater than in medieval stage (p. 8). Rossiter mistakenly
measures medieval plays against later English theater and finds it much
linguistic labor for little reward (p. 8). The lack of linguistic and
metric development similar to the rest of fourteench-century English
literature is blamed on the clergy (p. 54). The primary defect of the
older drama seems to be that it is not Chaucer, that its "strange
juxtapositions, its twists of tone and mood, its harsh and nerve-
jarring contrasts" prevent any possible development ”to the edge and
poignancy of comparable clashes in the Elizabethan dramatists" (p. 54).
The underlying assumption of this work relies on the accepted superiority
of Shakespearean theater, yet another example of the application of
tools foreign to the literary and structural alternatives of medieval
drama.

23Julius Schwietering, nDer litHrgische Ursprung des geistlichen
Spiels," Philologisehe Schriften (Munchen: Wilhelm Fink, 1969), p. 268.

530

24 . . . . . .
Hunningher theorizes Similar peints of contact between mu51c
and drama in Dionysian revels of ancient Greece (pp, 32, 39,44).

25The Mass has long been held to function as a dramatic form.
Hardison relates Honorius of Autun's ideas concerning the Mass to
mimetic instinct: ". . . he understood the Mass as a living dramatic
form. The contrast between his views and those found in discussions of
secular literature could hardly be more pronounced. The conclusion
seems inescapable that the 'dramatic instinct' of European man did not
'die out' during the earlier Middle Ages, as historians of drama have
asserted" (p. 41). See also Henri Gheon, The Art of'the Theater
(New York: Hill and Wang, 1961), pp. 21-22. One of Hardison's most
severe critics is Wolfgang Michael, who takes great exception to the
understanding Honorius had of drama, and thus the validity of Hardi-
son's application of him (see Deutsche Drama, pp. 4-5).

26Edwards, p. 158.

27Western man has no monopoly on the mimetic instinct. The
Japanese N5 (Noh) theater possesses a mythical impetus similar to that
postulated for Greek drama. Although the intentional stylization of
the communication process, the habit of understating, of employing as
few words as possible during the presentation, the inclusion of highly-
developed dance styles all serve to complicate accurate analysis of
'dramatic' development No clearly indicates a response to specific
stimuli of human experience. No differs from Western drama inasmuch
as it responds to particularly Eastern cultural influences and exper-
iences. Despite the variation of final forms, both Japanese drama,
as represented by N5, and Western drama share the human response.
Attention is directed to P.B. O'Neill, A Guide to N5 (Toyko and Kyoto:
Hinoki Shoten, 1953); Fabien Bowers, Japanese Theater, 2nd edition
(New York: Hermitage House, 1954), esp. pp. 3—31; Earle Ernst, The
Kabuki Theater (New York: Oxford University Press, 1956).

28Schwietering, p. 256.

29Thompson, p. xi.

iOEduard Hartl, quoted in Hans Rost, Die Bibel im Mittelalter:
Beitrage zur Geschichte und Bibliographie der Bibel (Augsburg:
Kommissions-Verlag M. Seitz, 1939), p. 305.

31Petsch, p. 8.

32Cf. above, p. 65.

33Sticca, Passion, p. 169.

34Brinkmann, Eigenferm, p. 21.

531

35Evidence of the 'artistic freedom' exercised by medieval authors
within the general religious, social, and cultural guidelines established
by the period can be cited in numerous works. Such is the case with the
Northern Passion, a narrative designed to instruct the laity from about
1350. For a discussion of the specific means employed by the artist to
create a fresh tale of Christ's Passion, see Frances A. Foster, The
Northern Passion. French Text, variants and Fragments, Etc., EETS #147
(London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trfibner 6 Co. ,1916), p. 2. Neidner
(p.53) also calls attention to neine gewisse Souveranitat", an ability
to introduce or eliminate scenes not mandated by Scripture in the plays
of Eastertide. '

36Thompson, p. xv.

Chapter V- Group I
pages 74-159

lRoy, p. 4*. Sticca mentions that attempts were made during
the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries to portray the humanity of
Christ, but that they "lack(ed) sensitive human accents" (Spirituality,
p. 79). .

2
Michael, DL: 1500, p. 581.

3"Sedente autem illo pro tribunali, misit ad illum uxor eius,
dicens: nihil tibi, et iusto illi: multa enim passa sum hodie per
uisum propter eum." Magnification of these lines projects the wife's
aggrieved reaction to the dream itself, the handmaiden's request of
Pilate to deal justly with Jesus, accompanied by a retelling of the
dream and his wife's state of mind, and a report by the servant to her
mistress indicating that all is firmly in control and that Pilate will
preside over a fair solution.

4Fletcher Collins, Jr., The Production of'Medieval Church Music-
Drama (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1972), p. 79.

5Loc. cit.
6Eduard Hartl, HDas Drama des Mittelalters,"Deutsche Philologie

im Aufrisz, ed. W. Stammler, 2. Auflage (Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag,
1960), II, 1981. .

7M’ontecassino BA 31.
8M’ontecassino BA 33.

9M'ontecassino BA 70.

532

10Other examples of his care in ordering scenes are: Mbntecassino
BA 76, BA 145, BA 211, BA 244, BA 268, BA 274, BA 291, BA 293. The
Cassinese author is remarkably consistent with his temporal division
of scenes; questions concerning temporal incidence seldom arise.

11BenP BA 52.

12BenP BA 190. Several indications of temporal sequencing occur
throughout the play. Adverbs employed to affect the structure are
again: respondent (respondet, respondeant) (17), item (23), deinde(4),
iterum (7), postea (8), tune (27), and various ablative absolute con-
structions (7). The number of such temporal elements appearing in
plays containing viable rubrics is in most instances so great that a
complete listing of them serves no purpose. For each Passion wherein
they are found a synopsis or total number of examples based upon the
adverbs identified above will be included. Such linguistic devices,
fundamental to the visualization of the succession of events, while
useful in defining the temporal catenation of the several scenes chosen
for presentation or miming, are almost unavoidable when an author
includes stage directions as part of his text. Their value should be
recognized, but not overestimated.

13Nelson, Configurations, pp. 116-17 .

14Kolve, p. 23.

15Loc. cit.

16Hartl, Drama, 1964.

17M'ontecassino BA 274.
18M’ontecassino BA 292.

19M’ontecassino BA 31, BA 33, BA 52, BA 70, BA 121, BA 126, BA 127,
BA 139, BA 172, BA 184, BA 211, BA 229. It should be noted that much
of the spatial transfer is simply unavoidable, an inherent quality of
the Passion story. Of greater interest is the degree to which authors
specify their own conception of the event-location relationship and
how they alter the general story line to create dramatic effects and
indicate control of their material.

20BenP BA 91.

21BenP BA 178.

22Ben? BA 180.

23BenP BA 180.

24BenP BA 180.

533

25For additional examples of spatially-induced temporal movement
see: BenP BA 2, BA 4, BA 8, BA 27, BA 52, BA 71, BA 81, BA 126, BA 145,
BA 146, BA 147, BA 148, BA 150, BA 169, BA 172, BA 190, BA 192, BA 204.
Wolfgang Michael, in Die Ceistlichen Prozessionsspiele in Deutschland
(Baltimore: John Hopkins Press, 1947), p. 71, goes so far as to explain
the compactness and effectiveness of simultaneous staging by the addition
of more loca to the original Visitatio Sepulchri of the Easter play:

Ort- und Zeitwechsel (my emphasis) im Passionsspiel liesz
sich ausdrucken durch den Abstand von einem Buhnenort zum
anderen, eine Reise wurde durch den Umzug auf dieser be-
schrankten Buhne genugend dargestellt. Dasz aber diese
Orte im Passionsspiel dicht beieinander lagen, hat ebenso
seine wirkliche Bedeutung wie die Art ihrer Anordnung.

Of greatest structural significance for medieval drama is the manner
in which historical motion is symbolized without unnecessarily halting
the succession of events. We know that time has passed between the
two events held in separate loca; how much is really uninteresting.
Our attention is still focused on the facts of presentation.

26Hartl, Drama, p. 1964.

27P3tz, p. 27.

28M'ontecassino BA 28.

ngenP 21-51.

30Such as Mary's opening statement, "Mandi delectatio"... .(BenP
19-26).

31Like Mary's request of the merchant, "Chramer gip die varwe
mier", which in its successive strophes contains unmistakeable lyrical
overtones borrowed from Middle High German love poetry. For a dis-
cussion of the similarities BenP 44 and several masters of the
vernacular Minnelieder see Marie Bath, Untersuchung des Jahannes-
spiels, der Blindenheilungs- und der Maria-Magdalenenscenen in den
deutschen mittelalterlichen Passionsspielen mit besonderer Beruck-
sichtigung ihrer Beziehungen zu den franzosischen Mysterien (Diss.
Marburg, 1919), p. 99.

32Bath says of this conversion sequence. "Ungeschickt ist auch die
Ausfuhrung der Bekehrung; wichtig ist, dasz sie durch einen Engel voll-
zogen wird" (p. 100). The conversion by an angel is important inasmuch
as it suggests to medieval man his absolute dependence upon energies
and entities beyond his own control: eternity and the beings which
inhabit it hold the keys to the salvation of mankind.

33BenP 52-6.

34BenP 58-70.

534

35 . . . . .

The text contains only the 1n1t1al words, "0 Maria Magdalena-"

(BenP 71). Such a shortened notation normally signifies a repetition
of previous material, in this case the message contained in lines 52-6.

36Again in repetition of anterior phrases, initiated by the "Mandi
delectatio-", as in lines 19-26 and 57.

37BenP 73-6.
38Putz, p. 29.
39

BenP 59-63. Bath (p. 100) speculates that the author meant to
have the devil accompany Mary Magdalene from her first entrance (or
perhaps as an integral part of her initial locus) up to this point as

a personification of evil surrounding her. This would make the eventual
renunciation of things worldly even more dramatic.

40BenP 73-6..

41BenP BA 82.

42BenP 77.

43Piitz, pp, 33-4!

44Ibid., pp. 34-5.
451‘bid. , p. 35.

46Of the four Gospels only two, Mark and John, mention the preach-
ing in the temple and the subsequent reference to it as Christ is
arrested. Dramatically speaking, the Cassinese author is able to
insinuate the former without presenting it. The incident, as reported,
is not original, but the concentration of action emanating from the
juxtaposition of armed arrest by night and missed opportunities during
daylight creates an effective artistic manipulation of the material.

478871? BA 131.

48BenP 170-1

49BenP 173.

50The statement by Pilate, "Quod scripsi, scripsi" (BenP 215),
provides another example of the necessary succession of statements
(hence time) referring to immediately preceding events. Succession
creates the sense of the line, subsuming the latter sentence into a
former circumstance. As a certain logic relating sentences and phrases
to each other is mandated in human communication, the temporal succession
which results from these elementary examples is not of exceptional im-
_port for the dramatic analysis presented in this thesis.

535

51Piitz, p. 39.
52Loc. cit.
53

Putz refers to this form of presentation as screened plot
(verdeckte Handlung), pp. 212-18..

541 believe this fact to relate intimately to the cultural surround-
ings of the two plays, their position vis-a-vis the liturgy, and their
place in the remembrance of the events of Holy Week. The intention
seems not so much to indicate a desire to produce a dramatic text for
its own sake, but to remember the Passion. Whatever the reason, several
techniques creating a succession of activities are identifiable and aid
in the communication between author and audience.

55M’ontecassino BA 32: "et Iudas dicat alta voce inclinans se ei
et osculans eum Iesum. . . ."

56Montecassino 290-1.
57Montecassino BA 292.

58Matthew xxvi: 14-16; Mark xiv: 10-11; Luke xxii: 3-6;
John xvii: 2.

59Matthew xxvi: 48; Mark xiv: 44.

60Mark xv: 20.

61BenP 8.

62BenP 9.

63Ben? 264-5.

64BenP BA 264.

6SBenP 61.

66BenP 64, repeated from 35-8.

67BenP 6S.

68BenP 99-100.

6gBenP 116.
79Mbntecassino 26.
7lM'ontecassino BA 28 and 28-30.

7ZM’ontecassino 45.

536

73Montecassino 46.
74 .
MbntecaSSino 166, 259.

75M'ontecassino BA 292. Several additional occurrences of the
command and attendant execution are noteworthy: Mbntecassino S
(execution 7-18), 31 (execution BA 52), 59—60 (execution not stated),
100-101 (execution not stated), 208 (execution 211-222), 214 (exe-
cution 233), 226-227 (execution not stated), 301 (execution not stated),
312 (execution 315-316).

76BenP 2 (execution 3), 7 (no stated execution), 8 (execution 9),
116 (execution 111-112), 129 (execution 130), 144 (no stated execution),
148 (no stated execution), 150 (execution hindered by Judas' appear-
ance).

77Some of the remaining enjoinders originate with new material
concerning Mary Magdalene, but represent rather insignificant dramatic
qualities. They are: BenP 27, 35, 39, 46, and 64, 82-83 (execution
86-87), and 116 (execution BA 117).

78 . . . . . .

Certainly figures of l1ttle dramatic 1mportance can be 1ntro-

duced by this method, but in the texts considered, the overwhelming
number of such preparations concern Christ.

79M'ontecassino BA 31 and BA 33.
80M'ontecassino 7-11.

811 do not assume that our playwright necessarily organized his
text to effect this juxtaposition;it may well be the result of un-
conscious application of dramatic considerations to the basic material.
The tardy appearance of Jesus may simply denote a lacuna at the onset
of the manuscript, but until this is proven, I prefer to allow the
author his due and suppose the observed phenomenon to be intentional.

82The succession of events mitigates against this possibility.
Contrary to later accounts, the Pilate of Mbnteeassino passes judgement
prior to the Flagellation. In subsequent Passions he attempts to
satisfy Christ's accusors by flagellation during the proceedings.
In Mbntecassino the Flagellation seems to stand as a scene for itself,
between the judgement and the way to Golgotha, not as a vain attempt
to influence Jesus' detractors.

83The synoptic Gospels report the trial sequence in varying length,
Matthew in sixteen ( xxvii: 11-26), Mark in fourteen (xv: 2-15),
Luke in twenty-five (xxiii: 1-25), and John in twenty-eight (xviii229-
40 and xix: 1-16).

84The retarding effect is, of course, completely relative in this
play, for the sequence of Mary Magdalene covers little more than the
most dramatic incidences of a period of decision extracted from her
entire life.

537

85Ferdinand Junghans, Die Zeit im Drama (Berlin: Otto Eisner
Verlagsgesellschaft, 1931), p. 4.

86BenP 216-255. Were the actual texts of the Planctus ante
nescia and the repetition of the lament commencing, 'Wi Johannes,
planctum move" (246-253), of line 255 to be included, the importance
of these lyrical inclusions would be even more apparent. In such
instances the manuscript deceives somewhat.

7Brinkmann, Eigenfbrm, p. 86.
88Any other explanation of Mantecassino BA 103 creates dramatic
incongruity: "Dum hec suprascripta fiunt (BA 97- percutiant eum et
expuant in faciem) scilicit dum falsi testIes accus]ant Iesum coram
Caypha, ancilla clamet contra Petrum. . . ." For Peter to be in the
same room as Jesus would seem too unwieldy for even the simultaneous
stage. More effective would be the viewing of both actions at the same
time, but somewhat apart from each other. A visible juxtaposition of
Peter's denial and Christ's humble acceptance might well create a
powerful dramatic impact.

89M'ontecassino BA 121.

90This scene is the only instance from Group I I have found of a
temporal parallel in three separate locations: ". . . et Petrus lamente-
tur et eatcmd discipules qui stant in absco[ndito. . .]" (BA 121);
"Inter hec tollatur Iesus a presentia Cayphe et ducant eum ligatum ante
Pilatum. . . " (BA 127); "Item dam Petrus lamentatur Iudas reportet
denarios et proiciat in mensa coram Gaypha clamans. . . " (BA 127).

This is made possible on stage by the probable device of leading Christ
about the stage until the other two events are completed. In later
plays, Palat evidences a similar approach to the dramatization (Palat
448-S4).

91Numerous examples of parallelism are found in Mbntecassino.
Among them are BA l39,and 172 (three related situations suggesting that
the Lord's beating during His first appearance before Pilate was either
reported only in stage directions ("dum uxor eius (Pilati) dormit et
ligatur ad columpnam et flagellatur") or was mimed and not fully drama-
tized, unfolding while diabolus appeared to Daor and continuing during
the time her servant pleaded Christ's case with Pilate. I can see
no other satisfactory reading which takes BA 229 into account.

ngenP 19.

gsBenP 53.

94BenP 82-5.

gsBenP 104.

96BenP 106.

538

97BenP 126-30;.

gsBenP BA 131.

99Ben? 131-38.

100BenP BA 144.

101M'ontecassino 318-20.

102Sticca, Passion, p. 104.

103Other persons who speak in the vernacular are the merchant,
Longinus, Joseph of Arimathea and Pilate. Their dramatic impact is
minimal. Michael Rudick observes that neither Karl Young nor Bernard
Bischoff, both editors of the BenP manuscript, considered the exchange
between Joseph and Pilate as parts of the play (p. 269). Longinus'
words are an elementary combination of voiced intent (p. 264-5) and
witness (268-70). Part of his last speech includes words normally
given to the centurion.

104Sticca, Passion,pp. 139-40.

105
19-26).
106

BenP 19-34; 57 (repetition of 19-26); 71 (second repetition of

BenP 35-51, 58-63, and 64 (repetition of 35-51).

107BenP 73-4.

losaenp 95-8.

109BenP 117-24.

110Steinbach, p. 110.

111This observation is valid, of course, primarily for the modern
mind benefited by hindsight and distance not available to medieval
audiences. We must continually call to mind that, at least during the
early phases of Passion development, a complete separation of repre-
sented history and spectator time is not as neatly defined in theory
as they are now. Indeed, it is the approximation of identification
which affords these earliest Passions their unique semi-liturgical
character.

112Wilfried Werner, Studien zu den Passions- und Osterspielen des
deutschen Mittelalters in ihren Uebergang vom Latein zur Volkssprache
(Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag, 1963), pp. 38-9. Ruprecht Wimmer, in
his Deutsch und Latein im Osterspiel: Uhtersuehungen zu den Vblks-
sprachliehen Entsprechungstexten der Lateinischen Strophenlieder
(Munchen: C. H. Beck, 1974), p. 17, makes the fellowing argument against
Werner' s conclusions.

539

"Die Arbeit (Werners) ist dadurch recht einseitig, dasz sie die tra-
ditionallen Aspekte auszer acht laszt und die deutschen Spieltexte
in einer Weise betrachtet, wie sie nur Individualschopfung angemessen
erscheint. Die Spiele entziehen sich dem Zugriff durch ein solches
Verfahren: man kann sie nicht als direktes Ergebnis einer strukturellen
und inhaltlichen Konzeption sehen und darauf ,Stellenwert'-Argumentation
basieren lassen."

113Michael, Deutsche Drama, p. 93.

114BenP 216-20.

115The second Latin planctus, “Mi Johannes, planctum move"
(BenP 246-53), is a double strophe from the 'Flete fideles anime'
sequence.

116BenP 254.

117Eduard Hartl, "Die Entwicklung des Benediktbeurer Passions-
spiels," Euphorion, XLVI (1952), p. 136.

118Hadassah P. Goodman, "Original Elements in French and German
Passion Plays," Diss. Bryn Mawr, 1944, p. 104. Another indication of
suspension through address to spectators finds voice immediately after
Mary Magdalene has received forgiveness. She exits the scene, still
lamenting her former life (BenP 117). The dramatic situation seems to
preclude Mary from speaking go actors within the play when she emotion-
ally observes: "wol uf} ir gueten man unde wip,/got wil richten sele unde
leip! (BenP 123-4).

llgBenP 266.

I
120Fr. Schumacher, "Les Eléments narratifs de la Passion D'Autun,"
Remania, 37 (1908), p. 592.

121Among those speeches which appear misplaced because of simple
scribal copying of sources are the "Die tu nobis, mercator iuvenis",
inserted upon the individual encounter of Mary Magdalene with the spice
merchant (BenP 82), and her vernacular lament, “Age, aHve, daz ieh ie
wart geborn!" (BenP 117-21). For a discussion of these passages and the
possible reasons for their presence, see Froning, pp. 279 and 281.

122One of the keys to understanding the entire phrase, "Eli, Eli,
lamma sabacthani", involves the recognition that the biblical para-
phrase of the words iii an attempt to clarify strange Aramic words for
Greek readers of the New Testament, in which it was first written. Even
the Jews appear to have misunderstood their true implication, believing
that Jesus was calling upon Elijah (Matthew xxvii: 47 and Mark xv: 35).

123For a survey of several Church fathers who investigated the
exegetical, symbolic, and allegorical nature of the Magdalene, see
‘Victor Saxer, Le Oulte de Marie Madeleine en Occident: des Origines a
Za.Fin da Mbyen Age (Auxerre and Paris: Chevreuil, 1959), pp. 326-50.

540

124Bath, pp. 95-6; also Saxer, p. 325.
125Bath, p. 96.
126Loc. cit.

127Ibid., p. 95.
8Saxer, p. 9.

129Ibid., p. 10.

130Loc. cit.

ISIIbid., p. 7.

132Ibid. , p. 153.

13318id., p. 163.

134Ibid., p. 81.

135188d.,;1 184.

136Ibid., p. 222.

137Ibid., p. 185.

138Ibid., p. 224.

139Ibid., p. 328.

140Piitz, pp. 62-3.

141Loc. cit.

142Ibid., p. 64.

143A problem of serious proportions concerning the habit of simul-
taneous staging contrasted with single set presentation arises here.
Certainly, the impact of the announcement of a figure's entry onto the
stage followed by that person joining a group of people already on
stage is greater than in the situation where several figures belonging
to independent settings are present from the outset. Although the dra-
matic suspense lessens with simultaneous staging, the opportunity to
integrate a future event into the play of the 'present' persists.

144An indication that the intimate relationship between Caiaphas' 1
and Judas' discussion of the Savior and His immediate apprearance may
be fortuitous or a natural outcome of the biblical tale in hinted at by
examining a similar set of circumstances later in the drama. Given the
dramatic importance of Pilate, one would assume a consistent playwright
to carefully prepare his arrival also. This is not the case, for the

541

text reports: "Inter hec (Peter's lament to the disciples) tollatur
Iesus a presentia cayphe et ducant eum ligatum ante Pilatum dicentes:
Iesum strictum religatum’etc. (perducamus ad Pilatum/iudeorum presidem"
(Mbntecassino BA 127 and 127). The nature of the presentation and its
cultural surroundings may well obviate such preparation. Indeed, to
expect a consistency of dramatic preparation in Mbntecassino is to mis-
understand the intent of the play and the literary alternatives of the
time. Mbntecassino (as well as other Passion presentations) should not
be considered only in light of dramatic technique. Their true meaning
lies somewhere beyond mere facility of delivery. Thus, it is completely
in keeping with a play designed to commemorate Christ's sacrifice and
triumph on the Cross that much dramatic activity well understood by
spectators be left unprepared or unadorned. The focus is not on the
process by which the event is formed, rather on the fact that is oc-
cured at all.

14SBenP BA 169.

146BenP BA 1.

147"Uerum tamen dico vobis, a mode uidebitis Filium hominis sedentem
a dextris uirtutis, et uenientem in nubibus caeli."

148"Et statim iterum gallus cantauit, Et recordatus est Petrus uerbi
quod'dixerat ei Ihesus: .Prius quam gallus cantet bis, ter me negabis"

(Mark xiv: 72).

14993tz, p. 71.

150See above, pp.

151See above, p. 88.

152BenP 131-43.

153Mark xiv: 31.

154BenP BA 145.

155Other indications of the technique do not completely satisfy
all requirements of an oath; they are not oathes in the sense that Judas'
words are. They tend rather toward descriptive promises which, though
similar to oaths, lack their resolve and character. Pilate's expressed
intention in Mbntecassino, ”quod non ipsum cogam mori/nec effandam
sanguinem? 0Montecassino 209-10), is the sole representative and weak
at best. BenP offers a larger quantity of such forms, but their effective-
ness is open to question also. Their inclusion seems to result from
fidelity to Scripture (BenP 2 and 9), or a logical extention of a
dramatic speech (Mary Magdalene' s promise not to move from Christ's
feet until He frees her from sin[BenP 99-1001).

156P3tz, p. 83.

'542

157BenP 123-4.

lsssenp 221-4.

1sng. p. 12.
léopfltz, p. 96.

61Ibid. , p. '97.

162Mbntecassino BA 129, 129-31.
163pfitz, p. 102.

164BenP 73.

165Cf. above, p. 86.

l66BenP BA 82.

167BenP 79.

168

Ben? 85. The noster of these lines provides a clue as to the
borrowing technique employed by this redactor, in this instance a
reproduction of a strophe from a well-known planctus from material nor-
mally reserved for the Easter section, such as the Ludas Paschalis of
Benediktbeuern, preserved in the same carmina Burana manuscript Of which
this Passion is a part. See Young, DMC, p. 432, and text quoted on p.
435. Marie Bath presents an interesting discussion of this scene and the
purchase of rouge from earlier in the play: "Zum Beweis ihres Sinnes-
wandels und ihrer Verehrung will Maria Magdalena wie in den Osterspielen
den toten so hier den lebendigen Christus salben. Dadurch lag es nahe,
eine Scene aus den Osterspielen einzufu en: den Kauf der Salben fur
Christus. Hier ist der Ausgangspunkt fur die vorher erwahnte Schminke-
kaufscene, die sich als eine Doppelung und Umbiegung dieses Motiv er-
klart. Der Verfasser nahm die Strophe so gedankenlos aus dem Osterspiel
heruber, dasz er nicht einmal den Numerus des ,Dic nobis' anderte, das
sich in dem Osterspiel auf die drei Marien bezieht" (p. 100).

16gBenP 116-17.

17°P3tz, p. 104.

171BenP 55-6.

172BenP 53-4.

173Collins, p. 17.

174The music- -dramas which Collins studies include, among Others,
the Visitatio Sepulchri, Planctus Mariae, Peregrinus, Officiwn Pastorum,
0rdo ad Representandum Herodem and Ad Interfectionem Puerorum, 0rdo
Prophetarum, Resuscitatio Lazari, and In Annunciatione Beatae Mariae

543

Virginia Representatio; that is to say that Collins investigates some
of the themes most central to the medieval Church, whose tone and
qualities mitigated against application of 'unsuitable' gesture and
movement.

17 75Collins, p. 17.

176Rosemarie Magnus, Die Christusgestalt im Passionsspiel des
Deutschen Mittelalters, Diss. Frankfurt/Main, 1965, p. 63. Wolfgang
Michael disagrees with this conclusion: see Das Deutsche Drama, p. 37.

177pfitz, p. 137.

178Matthew xxvi: 63 and Mark xv: 61 = Mbntecassino BA 82; Matthew
xxviii: l4 and Mark xv: S = Mbntecassino BA 172.

179BenP BA 187.

18oBenP BA 198.

181Luke xxiii: 9 = BenP BA 179 and BA 180-

182Although directions are not as specific in Ben? to spell out
Jesus' appearance before Pilate, from other contemporary dramas wherein
soldiers play a prominent role. one can imagine a din of voices con-
fusing the scene; the Jews are most active, as they cry, "Crucifigatur"
(BenP l88),zuu1"Crucifige, crucifige cum!" (BenP 193). Mbntecassino
surrounds Him with guards clamoring His guilt (Mbntecassino 76-81), and
Caiaphas badgering Him in a loud voice (Mbntecassino 82-7). The
juxtaposition of silence and noise exemplifies the vast gulf of mis-
understanding which lies between the Master and His persecutors.

183An interest in creating effective contrast between Christ and
His detractors is not a new idea. Creizenach sees such a desire in op-
eration in the growth of Christmas cycles from rather simple rituals
into more inclusive dramatic endeavors. But more importantly, he sees
this phenomenon as a key to the unfolding of Easter plays during the
twelfth century: "Aber auch hier ist vom 12. Jh. an das Bestreben er-
kennbar, etwas vom reicheren dramatischen Leben einzufuhren. . . Dies
geschah, indem man mit der Osterfeier die Ereignisse in Verbindung
brachte, die sich in der Zeit vor dem Ostermorgen abspielten." (p. 81).
For a textual history of this growth, see Young, DMC, L.239-410.

184Piitz, p. 137.

185Magnus, p. 72.

186"Etait illis: Si vobis dixero, non credetis mihi; si autem et
interrogavero, non respondebitis mihi neque dimittetis."

187P"tz z, p. 139.

188See above, p. 108.

544

lsgpfitz, p. 142.

~lgoStrictly speaking, every quotation of a preterite tense has the

potential to integrate meaningfu1 infermation from outside the immediate
dramatic context. Of particular interest for this investigation,
therefore, is not a quantitative evaluation of occurrences, but an
investigation into the quality of epic inclusion and the manner in

which redactors of medieval drama artistically manipulate the past
within the exegencies of their messages.

lglpfltz, p. 55;

192Loc. cit.

193Ibid., p. 156.

194Loc. cit.

' "lgsDiscussion of the value placed upon preceding moments is based
on Putz, p. 157.

196M’ontecassino 10-11.

197Montecassino 82-4.

198M’ontecassino 85-7.

199M’ontecassino BA 94.

200Of the other illustrations of remembrance, the most prominent
are Mbntecassino 157-9 and 318-20. The latter instance, that of Mary's
lament, recalls the pre-Nativity time when she carried her Son and Lord,
an example which will be seized by later dramatists, greatly enlarged
and intensified to shape a substantial portion of Mary's remembrances
of her Son through lament.

201BenP 173.

H
zozPutz, p. 163.

203Ibid., p. 164.

204Ibid., p. 165.

205M’ontecassino 163-5 and 238-43.

206M'ontecassino 157.

zoijntecassino 58-9. The account of Christ's message concerning

the destruction of the temple occurs in the presence of Caiaphas, which
Inight be called pre-trial interrogation.

208Magnus, p. 88.

545

209Cf’. above p. 92.

10For purposes of this presentation I have divested the word
pre-history of all its geological, social, cultural, and purely
historical overtones. Pre—history in this sense is more closely related
to the literary concept story, to a specific tale to be told. For
the Passions, pro-history deals with any activity, dramatized or not,
which traditionally happens prior to Christ's first appearance on
stage. Thus, due to the scope of the individual plays, the period of
pre-history available for exploitation by the authors of StG and
Palat, fer example, are not the same. However, to afford analytical
clarity, I shall in most instances equate pre-history with any time
previous to the Entry into Jerusalem ( since this episode officially
commences the Passion of our Lord).

lepfitz, p. 194.

212Cf. above, p. 88.

leBenP 9.

214pfltz, p. 195.

lepfitz, p. 218.

216Mbntecassino 94-5.

217BenP 176-7.

218M’ontecassino 128-30.

219Loc. cit.

zzoBenP 204-6.

221An additional repetition, but one of questionable dramatic or
structural value surfaces during the conversion of Mary Magdalene, as
discussed on pp. 128-9 above.

222BenP 90.

223Ben? 130.

224BenP 172.

225Wolff, verschmelzung, p. 271.

226Craig, p. 29.

227Ibid., p. S.

2 . . . . .
28Such as adverbial organization in time.

546

229 . . . . .
Like the entire area of succe551on by dialog, plot, prophec1es,
oaths, remembrance, and trials.

230Scholes, pp. 134-5.

231Rudick, p. 285.

32Magnus, p. 64.

2 . .
33Sticca, Passion, p. 171.

234Loc. cit.

235Rudick, p. 285.

236Cf. above pp. 137-8.

237Rudick, p. 272.

238Sticca, Passion, p. 106.

239See below, p. 161.
40
Ingarden, DLK, p. 150.

24 .
libid., p. 140.
Chapter VI- Group II
pages 160-331

1Douglas Gray, Themes and Images in the Medieval English Religious
Lyric (London and Boston: Routledge G Kegan Paul, 1972), p. 122.

2Sticca, Spirituality, p. 70; Paul Maas, Etude sur les sources
de la Passion du Palatinus, Diss. Tiel 1942 (Tiel: St. Maarten), p.79.

3Meier, p. 145.
4Ibid., p. 146.

5Woolf, p. 21. Discussion of medieval Crucifixion iconography is
based on this source, unless otherwise stated.

6Meier, p. 146.
7Sticca, Spirituality, p. 80.

8Etienne Gilson, History of'Christian Philosophy in the Middle
Ages, 8th edition (New York and Toronto: Random House, 1955), p. 130.

9 Sticca, Spirituality, p. 80.

S47

10Woolf, p. 21.

ll ,
Loc. cit.

12 ,
Loc. cit.

13 ,
Loc. cit.

14 . . . .
Sticca, Spirituality, p. 80.
15Quoted in Maas, p. 59.

16F. Vernet, La spiritualite medievale(PariSI 1928), P- 79; quoted
from Maas, p. 60.

l7Sticca, Loc. cit.

18Woolf, p. 22.

19For another perspective on the importance of Bernard for medieval
spirituality and drama see Muller, Elemente3jp. 13.

20Sticca, Loc. cit.j Maas, p. 61.
ZISticca, Spirituality, p. 78.
22Maas, pp. 61-2.
23 . . . .

Sticca, Spirituality, pp. 78-9.
24Loc. cit.

25Maas, p. 62.

26Loc. cit.

2 . . . .
7Sticca, Spirituality, p. 78.

28Text in A.C. Peltier,.St. Bonaventurae, Opera Omnu2(PariSI 1863),
XII, 509-10. Maas, (p. 62) provides the historic personality of John
of Caulibus, placing the work in the thirteenth century and identifying
its inspiration as the writings of St. Bernard. See also Don Denny,
"Notes on the Avignon Pieta," Speculum, XLIV (1969), p.p 215- 6; Sticca,
Spirituality, p.82. Pickering disputes the authorship of Johannes de
Caulibus (Lit and.Art, p. 238).

29 9E. Male, p. 92.

:“ioc. cit.

31Woolf, p. 22.

21bid, p. 20.

S48

33Woolf, p. 20.

34Miiller, Elemente, p. 12.

35Loc. cit.

36Ibid., p. 15.
37
Quoted from Woolf, p. 30.

38Eduard Hartl, Das Benediktbeurer Passionsspiel. - Das St. Caller
Passionsspiel, ATB 41 (Max Niemeyer Verlag, 1952), p. 49; Magnus, p. 93.
Hugo Stopp (p. 118) disputes Hartl's conclusions, maintaining that they
rest on extremely insecure linguistic arguments.

39Stopp, p. 118.

40EduardHHartl, "Untersuchungen zum St. Galler Passionsspiel,"
Festschrift fur Welfgang Stammler (Berlin: Erich Schmidt, 1953), p. 109.

41The six groups of speakers are the pueri of Jerusalem, an extra-
biblical chorus which narrates and comments on dramatic activities, the
discipules, pontifices, judei, who also double as torturers, and the
mulieres of Jerusalem. It is conceivable that several of the individual
and group roles were doubled, thus further reducing player numbers.

42Hartl, op. cit., p. 109.
43Wolfgang Michael, DL 1500, p. 582.

44Brinkmann, Eigenferm, p. 27.
45
p. 128.

46Karl Christ, ”Das altfranzgsische Passionsspiel der Palatina,"
Zeitschrift fur Remanisehe Philologie, XL (1920), p. 409.

Frank, The Medieval French Drama (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1954),

47Frank, French Drama, pp. 128-9.

48Ibid., p. 126.

49Christ, p. 410; also the analyses of several scenes of Palat by
Maas. One disturbing tendency of Maas is to equate the 'proper' unfold-
ing of events of Palat with that of its probable sources. He thus over-
looks the possibility that the author may have intentionally altered the
accepted chain of events, as we will observe in other Passions of the
group. Maas maintains that the position of Judas' suicide in Palat,
when compared to the same scene in the Passion des Jongleurs,is obviously
in error: "Conformement a l'Evangile (my emphasis) J(ongleurs) place la
scene aprés les vers dans lesquels son auteur decrit comment Jesus est
conduit devant Pilate . . . tandis que P(alat), en faisant précédcr 1e
désespoire de Judas par l'interrogatoire devant Herode, commet une

549

nouvelle erreur (p. 51)." I hope to show that a portion of the freedom
an artist exercises over his material enables him to amend biblical or
other source chronology when it benefits his dramatic intention. I

fail to see in the instance cited any disadvantage to the position of
Judas' death. It does not seem critical, except as it fails to conferm
to the letter of established tradition. For other 'errors' by the author
of Palat, see pp. 55 and 64.

50Mass, p. 19.

51Christ, p. 19.

52Emile Roy, p. 45*

53Loc. cit.

54Frank, La Passion d‘Autun, p. 16.

55Frank, French Drama, p. 130; also La Passion d'Autun, p. 9.

56Frank, La Passion d'Autun, p. 9.

57Ibid., pp. 8-9.

SSIbid., p. 13.

ngr. Schumacher, p. 592.

60A work now thought to be a remodeling of the Pelerinage de l'dme
by Guillaume de Digulleville (Schumacher, p. 593); also Jeanroy, "La
Passion Nostre Dame et le 'Pelerinage de I'Ame'," Romania, xxxv1 (1907),
pp. 361-8.

61Schumacher, pp. 592-3.

62Frank, La Passion d'Autun, p. 17.

63Ibid., p. 16.

64Even Augustinus, with his didactic, historical, and doctrinal
observations upon activities just witnessed or yet to come is afforded
117 verses.

65From the introductory remarks we know that Wien originally con-
tained a section about Christ's Passion: "Ad materie reductionem de
(passione dbmini. Incipit ludus pascales (Wien BA 1).

66Miiller, Elemente, p. 30.

67Loc. cit.

68Ibid., p. 56.

550

69Cf. above, pp. 49-50.

70Christ, p. 408.

71Steinbach, p. 151.

72Paul Maas (pp. 44-5) suggests that the sequence of Judas' treason
and Malchus' ear, for instance, do not rest on the same source, but
perhaps on two separate origins which themselves shared a common parent.
73Autun R ends abruptly after Joseph of Arimathea has received per-
mission from Pilate to remove Christ's body from Golgotha. His parting
words, "Nichodemus, s'i vous plet,/Rigarde la grant doleur./Quam je
voir pandus men segnieurs,/Mbnlt suis en grant deleur./James ne meneray
joye ne vie" (Autun R 933-37), indicates that the Passion broke off even
before the Lord's body had been removed from the Tree. The following
statement by the author, "Explicit. Ista passio est michi Anthonio
Ramani," seems to signal a definite conclusion. Perhaps he had at one
time intended to complete the tale, but we have no way to tell. Whatever
the reason, the conclusion of Autun R remains rather dissatisfying; the
theme of Christ's triumph over the grave is lacking. To end with such
a lament by Joseph is highly extraordinary and unfulfilling. This final
observation does not compare dramatically nor structurally with that of
the Joseph of BenP. There the audience had the benefit of a review of
the Lord's Passion; here one experiences only another lament.

74StG 572, 582, 614.

7SStG 577, 986 1152.

76Palat 722.

77Autun B 831.

78P’alat 771-2

79Palat 936, 1925; Autun B 1816-17.

80Palat 1909, 1969; Autun B 55, 60, 1367, 1387, 1449, 1484.

8lStC 560; Palat 281.

82Palat 1315.

83Palat 1315.

84Wien 244-5; Palat 1317.
8SPalat 1688.

86Kolve, p. 121.

551

87Most hints of medieval commercial life assume the form of
discussion of various monetary units. StG and Wien deal in pennige(StG
3%1, 755, 1473, 1482; Wien 288 and 475), mark (StG 1083 and 1144),
punt (StG 1477), and schillinge (StC 476), whereas Palat, Autun B and
Autun R employ marrs (Palat166l, 1706), livres (Palat 1927), denier
(Autun B 200, 204, 331, 336, 624, 931; Autun R 120, 308, 213, 359, 385
527, 574), and soulx (Autun B 1790). Wien provides one of the few
examples of medieval cosmetics. When Mary Magdalene approaches the
institor she requests 'fibt vilzel unt wiz mel . . . das . . . schgn
mache mir min vel"(Wien 289-90).

88As might be expected, the noble or warrior class receives most
exposure along with its particular vocabulary and values, though noble
attributes are often afforded Christ by his friends and followers. A
miles of StG addresses a comrade as drutgeselle (StC 1273) during the
Crucifixion (they also play an unfamiliar game, 'Rudel uf’dem steine'-
StG 1278-89). Caiaphas calls the milites of the grave watch ir
stolzen ritter (StC 1467), indicating their social level. The French
texts make greater use of nouns and adjectives to update their characters'
dialogs: preudam (Palat 94, 329, 747, 1069, 1554, 1770, 1837; Autun B
1037, 1123, 1616, 1995), chevaliers (Palat 1639, 1646, 1664; Autun B
1123,1729,1761,1769,1774,l807,1832), serjanz (Palat 1639,1960),
biaus douz amis (Palat 259, 409), biaus douz seigneur (Palat 328), prevoz
(Palat 346, 358, Autun R 3), barons (Autun R 218, 458, 488), gra and
chevalrie (Autun B 582; Autun R 468), courtoisie (Palat 1793), cebonaire
(Palat 94; Autun B 190,1271;Autun R 108), cortois e__t_ preuz (Palat 173T,
and vaillant et cortois (Palat 874) give these texts— an unmistakable
medieval flavor. Mary Magdalene further supports this character by
expressing her boy of living in a contemporary Minnesang which has come
to be known as the 'Mantelliet' (Nien 311-14, 316-19).

 

 

 

 

89Sathanas of Palat, as he reacts to Jesus' spirit, mentions an
area of France well established in medieval European history: "0r m'en
irai en Lumbardie" (Palat 1418), and the spice merchant originates from
'salerne', travelling by way of the Auvergne (Palat 1864-5).

goAutun B 1191.

91The prejudical overtones of national reaction to the Jewish pre-
sence in medieval culture permeates Group II Passions. A pattern which
fellows pogroms instituted against Jews seems to anticipate in its degree
of severity the ousting or severe social repression of Jewish culture.
The tones established in the two German plays are quite mild (see StG
610, 644, 865, 873, 1081, 1257, 1535, and Wien 205) when compared with the
emotionally-charged outcries of the French texts. Though certain speeches
reveal only a general condescention to Jews or their exclusion from the
mainstream of social life (Autun B 248, 256, 565, 587, 671, 963, 1193,
1327, 1502, 1517, 1600; Autun R 573, 735, 914), others obviously betray
ill will by the addition of the adjectives 'faulz’, 'mauvais', or
'felon' to Juif’ (Palat 1101; Autun B 21, BA 392, 1463, 1504, 1652,
1950, 1974; Autun R 620, 733, 868). It will be recalled that Jews were
driven from France before their troubles began in earnest in Germany,
their trials increasing from general repression during the First and

552

Second Crusades. In 1183 Jews were forced from Paris by King Phillip
Auguste (Saxer, p. 141); the Talmud was burned in the same city in 1242;
a general anathema and purge of Jews in France took place in 1306 and
after an interlude of reacceptance in 1315 (due to monetary difficulties
experienced by the Crown), they were again expelled in 1394, shortly
after the period covered by Group 11 texts (Brockhaus Enzyklopadie,
1970, 9, 511). For an informative and compelling discussion of the
probable historical relationship between Jesus, Pilate, and the San-
hedron, see Max 1. Dimont, Jews, God and History (New York: New American
Library, 1962), pp. 127-44. The account exemplifies the peculiar reli-
guiuus turnabout which occurred with Jew and Roman in Christianity, often
making Pilate a quasi- saint in our plays and creating inhuman, selfish,
unfeeling bigots of the Jewish authorities.

92The representatives of Latin vestiges in Palat are the 'Te Deum
Zaudhmus' from Mary Magdalene's final speech (Palat 1987-8), the incan-
tation by Jesus (Palat 123-4), a benediction prior to the Magdalene's
departure (Palat unnumbered after 122), three of the most traditional
phrases from the Crucifixion (Palat 1006, after 118, 1070), and a
prayer by the souls in Hell (Palat 1429). Autun B and Autun R include
a mere handful of Latin words and phrases (Autun B 152, 233, 1048, 1299,

1306-7, 2039; Autun R BA 6, 49, 793).

93Cf. above, p. 108

94StB 66-68.

953230 106-7.

96StG 89-91.

97St0 145-54. This is one of the few instances in which a trans-
lation is not offered.

98StG 184-5.

99Other circumstances stressed by a Latin introduction are:
221-2, 229, 272-3, 280-4, 343, 358-62, 393-4, 421-5, 440-4, 501-4,
570-1, 583-7, 606-7, 626, 649-66, 665-6, 673-7, 743-5, 758-61, 766-7,
770-1, 776-7, 782, 790-4, 821-3, 828-31, 387-8, 847-50, 856-7, 862,
905-10, 1018, 1057-8, 1089, 1100-1, 1313-14, 1354, 1362-4, 1366-1402
(1FZete,7fideZes animaé), 1450, 1486-8, 1491, 1498-9, 1509-16 ('Adven-
isti desiderabilis'), 1523-5, 1530, 1571-3, 1575, 1579-81, 1588, 1593-7,
1603-4, 1615-21. In all but a small percentage of exchanges, speeches by
angels are untranslated. Most translations appear within the Easter
portion, particularly that initiated by the 'Quem quaerites' trope.
In practically all instances where Latin is expressed in German, rubrics
carefully differentiate between cantat and dicat, consistently employing
the former for Latin phrases, the latter for German dialog. The invar-
iability of the usage of the words can hardly be attributed to chance
and probably indiCates a second means of stressing these textual patterns.

553

100Though this be true, we shall discover in ferthcoming paragraphs
that the playwright of Wien made an obvious attempt to include more
vernacular speeches and to paraphrase several Latin speeches.

101Adam- Wien 124-7, 136-47 ("Ve nobis"); Mary Magdalene -
403-6 (“Hen vita preteritdfi,4lS-22 ("Rina ornatus seculifl),429-31 ("0
magister opeime"), 437-44 ("Peccatrici preheas . . . 0 vos condiscipuli").
In addition to Jesus, to whom the largest number of Latin verses is given,
Judas (Wien 437, 525) and Simon the Pharisee (Wien 457, 466, 479)
briefly express themselves in the language of the Mass.

1OZWien 279-86.

losflien 295-306.

. 104Boletta attributes a particular dramatic significance to this
silete of the angels, as it is thrice repeated before Mary's suit for
fbrgiveness (StG 326-41), and anterior to Christ's response, "Dimissa
aunt peccata tua!"(StG 343). Of the angelic song he concludes: ”It does

. heighten the significance of the moment which ends Magdalene's life
of sin. Here is the most wanton of sinners begging forgiveness. Her
repentance demonstrates to the audience that even the most persistent
of sinners can repent, and Christ's words of forgiveness are another
manifestation of His infinite mercy granted to all who shun the sinful
life. The Silete provides a certain dramatic tension. . . ." (pp. 127-8).

105In this introduction by the messengers of Heaven Boletta sees an
attempt to underscore the importance of the ensuing activity: "Not only
do the events of the Last Supper have sacramental significance in the
institution of the Holy Eucharist, they also mark the beginning of
Christ's Passion" (p. 128).

106Opinions attributed to Creizenach (1:220): and Mone.

107Schuler, p. 46. Boletta lists eight of the twelve occurrences
of Silete in StG which divide scenes as : StG 16, 138, 373, 532, 641,
708, 917, and 1159 (p. 126).

08Reinhold Hammerstein, Die Musik der EngeZ (Bern und Munchen,
1962), pp. 79-80; quoted in Boletta, p. 27.

109Boletta, p. 129.

110The application of rubrics is yet another area of disunity between
medieval and modern texts. Schumacher reminds us of the significant
differences: "La rubrique enfin ne fut d'abord qu'une sorte de titre.
Elle était écrite en encre rouge, de la son nom. 11 se trouve dans
presque tous les mystéres et miracles de véritables rubriques. 0n
ne connaissait pas encore 1a division du drame en actes et en scénes,
mais pour 1e lecture comme pour l'emploi des manuscripts aux repetitions
et representations, on avait besoin de points de repere pour se retourner
ou s'arréter dans les longes 'journées'" (pp. 581-2).

554

lllPaZat 5-12,

llzpaZat 13-14.

113Hartl, Untersuchung StG, p. 111. He perceives a similar impetus
for the degree of dramatization of the Blind man's sequence.

114

Steinbach, p. 134.
1153t0 47.
116Bath, p. 102.
117

Hartl, Untersuchung StG, p. 116.

118This is essentially the conclusion reached by F.S. Mone in
Sehauepiels des Mittelalters(Karlsruhe, 1846), I, p. 56, where he sees
Christ triumphing over evil and Mary Magdalene succombing to it.
Steinbach (pp. 136-7) also finds a prefuguration of the Magdalene in the
adulteress. The account, as presented by StG, does not agree with bibli-
cal chronology, as does,Die Engsung', the most important source for the
Magdalene episodes. There seems little doubt that the StG author alters
the source material to accomplish a specific artistic task, that of
contrasting Mary Magdalene to Jesus and gradually preparing her conversion.

119Froning, p. 303.

120Muller, Elemente, p. 30.

121That is can be active I think is born out by the discussion of
Mbntecassino, BenP, and especially Wien, all in intriguing fashion.

12213. Roy, p. 11.

123Maas, p. 20.

124Ibid., p. 183; Frank, La Passion du Palatinus, pp. v-vi.
12SP’aZat 83-8.

126Palat 107-10.

1”Autun B 28-9; Autun R 6-7.

128Autun B 27-9; Autun R 28-30.

129Cf. above, p. 17.

13OP’aZat 89-92; Autun B 135-9; Autun R 104-8.

131Similar words are employed in Autun B.

555

132Knoll, p. 62. Unfortunately, this author engages in some
questionable rhetoric when attributing this constraint to 'dem Unver-
mogen dieser Nation, tiefe Reue zu empfinden und darzustellen." One
suspects that a certain degree of Germanic 'superiority' enters into
such a generalized statement.

133Saxer, p. 185.

134mm,, p. 60.

135The careful and consistent temporal ordering of succession by
spatial motion, where at least one person of a group is directed to
alter his location, can be found throughout StG: BA 23, BA 234, BA 556,
BA 604, BA 673, BA 696, BA 706, BA 708, BA 752, Ba 817, BA 837, BA 847,
BA 917, BA 1055, BA 1069, BA 1089, BA 1092, BA 1160 , BA 1258, BA1266,
BA 1483, BA 1486, BA 1561, BA 1611, BA 1615 (all these examples build
upon verbs of motion).

136St0 180 and BA 180.

137St0 BA 46S and BA 469. Other references taking this form are:
StG 433 and BA 434, 55105 and BA 556, 582 and BA 483, 1014 and BA 1018,
1112, 1118 and BA 1119, 1130-4 and BA 1135, 1208, 1213—14, BA 1215, 1255
and BA 1266.

1383tG 405-8.

139A further application of internalized motive signals can be seen
in StG 325 and following verses.

140Wien BA 36.
141W'ien 36-7.

142Other evidence of spatially-induced succession may be seen in
Wien BA 80, BA 110, BA 295, BA 361 (evidence of rubrics only) and Wien
186-8 and BA 189, 511 and BA 515 (dialog sutstantiated by stage direct-
ions.).

143 . . . . . .
Christ, p. 409. Ensuing discu551on wh1ch stresses the dramat1c
quality of internalized structuring convinces me that such is not neces-
sarily the case. Se below, p. 196.

144PuZat 545-51.

145puiat S67.

146Pa1at 312.

147Palat 322—3.

SS6

148Palat 352.

149PUZat 179-80.

lsoPaZat 231.

1SlP’czZat 60-8.

152Palat 35-59.

153Situations like these occur throughout the text: Palat 443-4
(completion 448), 553-4 (completion 567), 781 and 785 (completion 787),
862, 1463 (completion 1467-8), 1618-19 (completion 1620), and 1862-3
(completion 1908-50).

154Changes between Palat 699 and 670, 1553 and 1554 (possibly
parallel in time) are not introduced, merely effected.

155Autun R 39-44, 45 and 49 (completion 50-3), 400 and 404-5
(completion 408-13), 431 and 435 (completion 500), and 880 (com-
pletion 883-5).

1S6Autun B 41-54.

1S7Autun B 656.

158Autun B 664-72.

159For additional illustrations of spatial movement without sup-
porting rubrics, see Autun B 79-83 (completion 84-5), 717 (completion
729), 745 (completion 749-59), 865-6 (completion 873-8), 973, 1748-9
(completion 1749-54).

l6oAutun B 285.

161Autun B 286-7.

162Autun B 296.

1634utun B 297-9.

164Indications of their use abound in Autun B: 511, 1473-6, and
1615-18. It will be noted that these narrated forms most often occur
in conjunction with a temporal adverb, thereby unmistakably creating
a succession of events.

16SAutun B BA 87.

166Cf..above, p. 84.

167St0 438-9, 451-4, 457—8, 461-4, 469-70.

1685tG 651-2.

557

693tG 756-7.

17OStG 956-90.

1”51% 1012-17.

17ZStG 915.

173The text makes clear that both Annas and Caiaphas remain behind
when Jesus is taken to Pilate (StG BA 1018: "Deinde ducant Ihesum ad
Pilatum. Anna et Chaypha remanentibus . . . ."). The logical place
for his reintroduction is upon the return from Herod's interrogation.

174StG 1266.

17SStG 1290-8 and 1299-1304.

176StG 1451-62.

177Palat 200.

178PaZat 787- 867. Herode, one of the Jews, even states to one of
his henchmen, "0r Zes (clos) portez a befhs " (Palat 866), at whose
instigation the forging was undertaken (774- 80). The intervening action
may have its own dramatic focal point, but this is always subsumed into
the structure of the Crucifixion. Such a scene adds medieval realism to
the play, but in no way detracts from succession. Indeed, temporal
succession is enhanced by its inclusion.

179Palat 600-69.

lgOAutun B and Autun R exhibit a carry over of figures from one
location to another, which causes succession. In the Passover pre-
paration, Christ's location and that of the host are temporally linked
by Peter and John, who move on command from the first position to the
second, make the necessary contacts with the host, return to their
original place, report their activity and lead the group to the host's
facilities (Autun B 41-111; AutunR39-90). Without a concept of suc-
cession behind them, these individual events show little correspondence
to reality and make no dramatic sense.

lBlWien 333-6.

182W’ien 374-82.

183Wien 391-6;

184Cf. above, p. 149.

18spfitz, p. 33.

186StG 202-3.

558

187StG 209-14.

lsssta 242-3.

1893t0 251-4.

190StG 294-9.

191StG 421-31.

lngtG 440-50.'

193Still other examples of such temporal succession employing
change of character and repetition from the new viewpoint are:StG 631-6
(narration by an eyewitness of Lazarus' raising), 839-46 (Jesus' re-
minder to the disciples that they vowed unyielding fidelity), and
1440-4 (Mary Magdalene's remembrance at the Crucifixion of Christ's
forgiveness). A scene which shows no alternation of speaker, but of
statement,placing several previous utterances into temporal succession
is the word of John the Baptist, "Sehent in mit augen an,/v0n dem
ieh vor gesprochen han" (108), which postdates several prophecies re-
peated from the Old Testament. The dramatic quality of this entrance
of the Lamb of God after He has been identified by the proper scrip-
tural passages is a stroke of dramatic enlightenment which speaks well
of this author's artistic capacities.

194Occasional questions arise wherein textual evidence may at
first appear to represent a possible succession by dialog, such as the
instance of Mary Magdalene's review of her previous life, or a simple
narration of pre-history.' The distinction between the two will be made
in this analysis by evidence of prior dramatization of lack thereof.
Succession by dialog involving a report of circumstance will always
involve the epic repetition of dramatized events, whereas narration
of pre-history will designate the involvement of material not staged.

195Wien 41-8.

196Wien 49.

197W'ien 75-9.

198Adam and Eve epically relive their recent fall from grace,
much as did Ludifer (Wien 154-67 and 173-88). Their corruption and
entry into Hell provide a vivid example of the increasing power of
Lucifer and his cohorts, as well as a dramatic sequel to the devils'
stated intentions. The entry of four medieval souls into the realm
of darkness brings the announced design even closer to contemporary
audiences, creating a greater urgency for Christ's journey into the world
and continued relevance for medieval believers.

1ggpuzczt 1244-7.

559

2 . . . . . . .
00One suspects th1s to be a med1eval 1ntrus1on, seen 1n h1nd51ght,
fon,unless Mary had spoken at length with the disciples sometime
after the arrest, she would have no way of knowing such particulars

ZOIPaZat 1801-4.

202Another example of the medieval interest in the play, for Mary
could not have such perfect knowledge of the situation unless she had
engaged in extensive conversation with the disciples or had herself
been present at the arrest.

ZOSPaZat 1519-31.

204At least two other instances of this technique can be found at
Palat 529-32 (Marques narration of his physical discomfort caused by
Peter), and Palat 1726-8 (a repetition of the earlier command by the
angel to Christ: "Lieve toy de ci."

2OSAutun B 1420-30.

206Autun B 1505-1608.

207Autun B 1609-14.

208Arnold Williams, Pilate, p. 2.

2OgAutun B 442-51.

210Judas reviews the betrayal from his particularly remorseful
viewpoint(Autun B 613-45). His character assumes more life and signifi-
cance as the realization of his deeds,dramatically amplified from the
earlier "Reu quam graviter peceavi" of Mbntecassino, are elongated
and specified in thirty-three lines of text. Mary\Magdalene's
repentance achieves credibility by repetition of her remembrances of
sin (Autun B 128-9, 169-70, and 182-3).

211Autun R 887-919.

212Among the more interesting and structuralLy important instances
of temporal succession by question and answer are the following: StG
81-3 and 89-92, 380-3 and 386-3, 409~11 and 413-l4, 456-7 and 459-60,
493-6 and 497-500; Palat 288-96 and 297-302, 1341, 1344 and 1346-8;
Autun B 591-2 and 597-600, 751-2, and 753.

213Sto 649-50.

214St0 752-7.

2153t0 817-8.

216St6 847-55.

2175130 936-45.

560

2183t0 953-5.

219StG 1403-7. See also discussion on the Longinus of BenP, p. 95.

zzoflien 55-8.

221Palat 1-4.

222Palat 196-230.

zzsPaZat 236.

224In other examples we find Longinus' plan to spear the Suffering
One, though not as specific as other indications in other plays
(Palat 1050-1), Joseph's intent to secure Pilate's permission to take
Christ's body (Palat 1459-64), the continuous and ironic boasting of
the soldiers who watch the grave and their vows to deliver frightful
blows to anyone who dares near the tomb (Palat 1683-6, 1688-90, 1691-5,
1696-9), the only instance where the realization is lacking. Indeed,
this failure to accomplish the stated results adds definition to the
Resurrection. Even these boastful men-of-arms are powerless to alter
the heavenly and foreordained triumph over death. Mary Magdalene gives
voice to the desire of all three Maries to buy precious ointment and
to proceed to the sepulchre to annoint their deceased Master (Palat
1856-60), a suggestion readily accepted by them and immediately
realized.

225Autun B 131-5; Autun R 103-5.

226Autun B 300-12; Autun R 201-4. Both make it clear from the

onset that the Jews will be satisfied with nothing short of Christ's
death.

227Autun B 461-7.

228Autun B 1791-2 and 1812-51.

229StG employs at least forty-six commands, most immediately
executed, Wien nine, Palat thirty, Autun B twenty-four, and Autun R
twenty-nine.

230Cf. above, pp. 97-8,

ZSISee John ii, 28-29.

232Matthew 111: 7-9.

233Matthew iii: 10.

234StG 89-91.

235StG 63-4 and 67-80.

561

236St0 106-l3.

237St0149-S4.

2383t0 91-7.

23931:0 104.

24OStG 106-7.

241Such is the case with the introduction of Huitacelin (Palat
545-56), the smith to forge the Crucifixion nails (Palat 780—4, Autun B
865-72, and Autun R 494-9), and the spice merchant (Palat 1856-60).
All are responses to commands or strong suggestions.

24ZStG 543-8.

2435t0 604-5.

244StG 583-4 and 606-7.

24SJohn xi: 6.

246StG 1486-90.

247St0 1494-7.

2483t0 1517-22.

249Palat 1447.

250Hartl, untersuchung StG, p. 117.

251Steinbach, p. 137.

252Biblical sources for the episodes are: John ix:1-38 (the blind
man), John xi: 1-34 (Lazarus), Matthew xxvi: 17-29, Mark xiv: 12-25,
Luke xxii: 7-24 (the Last Supper), Matthew xxvi: 54-75 and xxvii: 1-26,
Mark xv: 53-72 and xvi: 1-15, Luke xxii: 54-71 and xxiii: 1-25, John
xviii: 13-40 and xix: 1-16( the trials), Matthew xxvii: 32-56, Mark
xv: 21-41, Luke xxiii: 26-49, John xix: 17-37 (the Crucifixion).

2533136 BA 1089.

254StG 1089-91.

255They are: Lucifer's sin and fall, the devils; intrigue, the
fall of the first couple, and the medieval souls in Hell.

256Curiously, the damned monk is not directed to Hell; Lucifer
does not trust him with his mother (Wien 233-8), an amusing reflection
of the popular opinion of many clergymen during the Middle Ages.

562

257Wien BA 279.
258Wien 279-86.
259

As has been seen in prior Passions, Wien creates a strict tem-
poral parallel between Jesus at Simon's house and Mary's spiritual
reawakening.

260Saxer, p. 228.

261Attributed by Saxer (p. 247) to the rise of Saint-Maximin in the
Provence-- a fact which resulted from the 'invention' of the saint's
burial place in that location in 1279--, the open conflict with Vezelay,
and a general climate of neglect in monastic institutions, particularly
in the pilgrimage center of Vezelay, commencing already in the thirteenth
century: "Les luttes du XII siecle avaient donné aux abbés et aux
moines de facheuses habitudes; non-residence, voila pour les premiers;
désunion, voila pour les seconds; relachement de la discipline, dis-
sipation des biens, incontinence et simonie" (p. 226).

262mm. , p. 257.

263The gateway to France for the Magdalene cult was probably Ver-
dun. Of the possible events culminating in the establishment of the
cult in France Saxer says: "Ermenfroi, 1e fendateur de la Madeleine
mosane, etait, on s'en souvient, d'origine germanique. L'année qui
suivit son arrivée a Verdun, 11 y introduisit 1e culte de sainte Marie
Madeleine. On peut penser qu'il l'avait importé d'allemagne" (p. 85-6).

264Bath quotes a theory offered by W. Meyer-Speyer that Mary Mag-
dalene of Wien was a product of another play which concentrated upon her
sinful career and conversion, later simply taken bodily over into Wien

(p. 98).

265This has prompted Bath to posit at least a common Latin Mag-
dalene scene from a Passion from which both Wien and BenP originate.
She qualifies the suggestion by noting the fragmentary preservation of
Wien and raises the possibility of a Latin Magdalene drama (p. 98).

266Wien 403-6 = BenP 73-6; Wien 415-22 = BenP 78-81 and 91-2.
267Wien 278-86 = BenP 27-34-

68Werner offers a comparison between Wien and BenP which shows
that non only a prodigious number of Latin strophes were taken over
directly by the latter, but also that numerous portions of the Mag-
dalene scenes were incorporated according to the content first presented
by BenP(p. 52). He further lists these verses of this sequence of
events not borrowed by Wien (p. 52), those Latin verses which newly
appear in Wien, and German extensions and paraphrases of Latin verses

(p. 53).

269Bath, p. 103.

563

270Cf. above, p. 85.

71 . . . .
Contemporary not 1n the sense of the date of wr1t1ng, but 1n
the sense of enjoying 'currency' and extensive appreciation.

272Quoted in Bath, p. 101.

73These speeches which present an apparently parallel and gen-
erally faithful expression of Latin Verses are: Wien 353-8 (expressing
the "Doctor legis, Ihesu bone" of 349-52), 368-83 (expressing the "Ite,
eiti famuli" of 361-7), 383-90 (expressing the "0 Maria Magdalena" of
374-82), 453-6 (expressing Christ's message, ”Bonum opus mulier hec
est operata" in 449-52), 461-4 (relating the pharisee's feelings on the
situation, "Si peritus arte hie esset prophecie"of 457-60), 463-8
(dealing with the parable of the two debtors of 467-72), 480-1,
483-4, and 491-6 (concluding the discussion of Mary's act of contrition
and her forgiveness, related in 479-82 and 485-90 respectively). It is
interesting to note that all these examples stem from a single scene of
the story. Even the Latin speeches, though reminiscent of the same
sequence of action in BenP, represent the scene in much fuller detail.
The more common manner of relating Latin verse to its German parallels
can be seen in Mary's response to her Lord's gift of salvation:

Ego, que peccamine fueram gravata, .Mit sunden waz min armer Zip
Christi consolamine iam sum consolata. also sere besezzen,
nichil ergo proderint verba pharisey, daz ieh sundegerez wip
nam remisso crimine famula sum dei. het mins gotez vergessen.
(Wien 497-500) den hat mir sin goteheit also
gar verlazen
do von wil ieh vurbas sunden
mich erlazen.
(Wien 501-6)

For this portion of the play Werner has established a similar oppo-
sition of Latin-sacred to German- worldly which was originally noted
for BenP. Of it he writes: ". . . die rein lateinischen (Texte sind)
alle durch die Gestalt Christi oder des Engels auf den sakralen Be-
reich bezogen,"die ausschlieszlich deutschen dagegen zur weltlich-
sundhaften Sphare gehoren. . ." (p. 51). He reminds us at the same
time, however, that one should not expect a completely logical and
consistent application of either language from medieval drama. The
two speeches present similar, but not identical statements concerning
Mary's observations on her former life. Particularly obvious is the
lack of any reference to the validity of the words of Simon in German.

274Wien 288.

275Wien 289.

276Wien 327-8.

277This lament is, again, independent of the Latin lines which
immediately precede its first strophe, "Heu,vita preterita” (Wien 403-6).

564

278In the episode of the Last Supper, only the most noteworthy
incidents are dramatized; the foot washing receives no ferm.

279Palat 196-230.

280Palat 375-3.

1In response to Herod's question of what should be done with
Jesus, Annas suggests that he be returned to Pilate, "Que ce truant
que ci veez/Face occirre et decopper (Palat 413-14), and calls Him
a "truant pelart" and a "papelart".

2 2 . .
8 Maas concludes that the f1age11at1on has no dependence upon its
immediate ancestor, the Passion des Jongleurs, and represents either
original composition or is heavily indebted to an unknown model

(pp. 58-9).

283Maas, p. 59.

284Palat 642-7.

285Palat 658.

286The total number of verses uttered by Mary is ninety (Palat
970-89, 1071-1115, and 1210-34). She plays no part during the descent
from the Cross. The remaining planctus verses are spoken by John.

287Palat 990-1001.

288Palat 972.

289Palat 974.

29°Pa1at 1064-9.

zglpuZat 1070.

292Palat 256-9; cf. below, p. 244, f. 336.

293Palat 1147.

294Palat 1153. Pickering, in the study, "Das gotische Christus-
bild, Zu den Quellen mittelalterlichen Passionsdarstellung," Euphorion,
47 (1953), pp. 20-1, draws particular attention to the application of
"wild dogs" as synonomous with the Jews. He notes that the epithet
'dogs' proceeds from Psalms xxii: l7 ("Quoniam circumdederunt me canes
multi"),and its accompanying adjective,'wild' or 'mad', originates from
verse 13 of the same Psalm, or is derived from Psalms xxvi/xxiv: 16
(Yfrenduerunt super me dentibus suis”). Pickering sees textual history,
not medieval anti-semitism,as the primary factor supporting suéh out-
bursts. These historical developments of texts will be important when
the Crucifixion is taken up.

565

2951 can only conjecture that StG at this point prefers a somber,
formal complaint structure to accompany Jesus' death.

296Meier, p. 181.

297Meier, who is inclined to consider Mary's first complaint as
occurring even before the trial, identifies a theatrical motivation of
her forthcoming activity, initiated as a response to previously dra-
matized scenes: "Ihre erste Klage . . . ist die Reaktion auf die
Schreckensnachricht des Johannes" (p. 181). This represents a inter-
linking of activity absent in BenP from the appearances of the Virgin.

298Cf. Meier, pp. 179-80.

299Maas, p. 79.

300{Smile Male, L'art Religieux du XIIe au XVIIIe Siecle, 26 Ed.
(Paris: Colin, 1916), p. 109.

301Meier, p. 148. I am indebted to Meier's cogent, enlightening,
and well-written study of the Virgin for most of the historical facts
concerning her place in the Passion, and unless so indicated, base this
portion of the investigation on his work.

302Quoted in Meier, p. 149.

3°3rbid., p. 150.

304Sticca, Spirituality, p. 83.

305Loc. cit.

306Meier, pp. 150-1.

307Ibid. , p. 151.

308Quoted in Meier, p. 151.

309Text in Migne, PL, 159. 271-290.

310Text in Migne, PL 182. 1133-1134. Woolf, Medieval English Lyric,
p. 247, notes the extreme popularity of Bernard's thought by citing at
least twenty-three manuscripts of the work translated into English alone.
Meier states that almost the entire corpus of medieval Passion literature
rests on Bernard's tractat (p. 161).

311Pickering, Christusbild, p. 18.

12Meier, pp. 162-3.

313Ibid., p. 163. See also Meier, pp. 161-8 for details on the
religious impact of Bernard and Pseudo-Anselm.

566

314Miiller, Elemente, p. 14.

315Woolf, pp. 115-38.

316The Latin Texts, in order of presentation by Maas, are:
Lat. I Mbestae perentis
Lat. II Ante crucem virgo stabat
Lat. III Virgo plorans filium
Lat. IV Crux, de te volo conqueri
Lat. V , Qfificium de compassione Mariae
Lat. VI 0 filii Ecclesiae
Lat. VII Surgit Christus cum trophaeo
Lat. VIII Planctus ante nescia.

(For additional infermation on its form and con-
tent see Meier, pp. 153-55.)

Lat. IX Qui per viam pergitis

Lat. IXa Flete, fideles animae

. (Discussed by Meier, p. 155.)
Lat. X 0 fratres et sorores

Lat. XI Quis dabit capiti meo aquam
Lat. XII considerate matres

Lat. XIII Dialogus de passione Christi
Lat. XIV .Meditationes vitae Christi
Lat. XV Qui me humilem ancillam

Maas includes sources, brief discussions and literary designations for
Lat. IXa-Lat. XV, pp. 86-7, and textual sources for all sixteen works,
pp. 85-7.

317The two French complaints which Maas believes to have influenced
Palat are:
Fr. I Entendez tous, pecheurs et pecheris
Fr. 11 Je plains e plors come feme dolente

Textual sources and a brief discussion of each are found on p. 88.

318The Catalonian text begins: "Auyats, seyos, qui credets Deu
l0 payre". Source and background given by Maas on pp. 88-9.

319Maas, pp. 98-9. Rather than reproduce the extensive evidence
offered by Maas, I shall cite only the page numbers of his work. Where
applicable, individual words which complise the correSpondances will be
underlined in the quote from Palat

32°1bid., p. 99.

3211bid., p. 97.

322Loc. cit.

323Ibid., pp. 89-90.

3241300. cit.

567

25Maas, pp. 91-3.

326Loc. cit.

327Ibid., p. 96.
328Ibid., pp. 90-1.

329]bid., p. 93.

330Loc. cit.

331Ibid., pp. 93-5.

332Ibid., pp. 95-6.

333 . .
Maas also 1ncludes source 11nes, or perhaps more accurately,
conformatory verses from the Passion des Jongleurs, which is indebted
to most of the same source listings Maas uses for Palat.

334Sticca, Passion, p. 156.

335Palat 1103-4 and 1222-3.

336BenP 256-9: "0 Maria, tantum noli/lamentare tuo proli!/
sine me nunc plangere,/que vitam cupis cedere!"

337St0 1450.

338PaZat 1116-19.

339Palat 1120-5.

340Palat 1126-33 and 1136-41.

341Palat 982-5, 1090, 1216-17, and 1232.

342Other instances of the preponderance of Mary's compassion are:
Palat 1092, 1094-6, 1106—8, 1210-15, 1218-19, and 1225.

343Goodman, p. 62.

344For information on the importance of Judas and his legend for
the Middle Ages, see Paul Lehmann, "Judas Ischariot in der lateinischen
Legendenuberlieferung des Mittelalters " Erfiorschung des Mittelalters,
ed. Wolfgang Stammler (Stuttgart: Anton Hiersemann, 1959), II, 229-85.

34SGoodman, loc. cit.

3463t0 BA 169.

347Hartl, Untersuchung StC, p. 121.

568

348Hartl, op. cit., p. 121.

3493t0 1486-90.

SSOStG 1491-7.

351StC 1498-1503. For an enlightening consideration of the prior
history and usage of these three Latin phrases, see Young, DMC, I,
pp. 92-3 and 148-77.

SSZStG 1509-22.

353StG BA 1483.

354StG 1530.

3553150 1531.

356Text in Froning, pp. 228-44.

357Helmut De Boer, "Der Salbenkauf in den lateinischen Osterspielen
deg Mittelalters," Die Textgeschichte der lateinischen Osterfeiern
(Tubingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag, 1967), p. 346.

358Cf. above, p. 168; also below, p. 128, f. 168.

3SQP’aZat 1238-9.

360Palat 1258-9.

361Palat 1305.

362P’alat 1314-23.

363P’alat 1327-9.

364Palat 1330-1.

365Palat 1346-55.

366P’alat 1365.

367P’alat 1367.

368Palat 1396.

369Palat 1720-3.

370Palat 1252-8.

371Brinkmann, Eigenfbrm, p. 83.

372Loc. cit.

569

373Matthew xxvii: 62-66, xxviii: 1-4.
374
Young, DMC, I, p. 431; text on pp. 421-9.
375Text in Young, pp. 432-7.
376Text in Young, pp. 438-47.
377

Text in Young, pp. 701-8.

378Palat 1591-4.

379Palat 1602-16.

380Matthew xxvii: 62.

381Cf. above, p. 252.

382Palat 1716-19.

383Palat 1728—9.

384Palat 1784.

38SBrinkmann, Eigenform, p. 31.

386Young, DMC, I, p. 412; text on pp. 413-19.
387Bath, p. 100.
388

de Boer, p. 346.

389Text in Young, pp. 403-4. A second play from the same source
is printed on pp. 405-7, where the unguentarius delivers speeches
instead of merely acting.

390de Boer, p. 356.
391Loc. cit.
392Ibid., p. 361.
393Loc. cit.

394Ibid., p. 355.

3IQSP'alat 1785-1863.

396Text quoted from Young, DMC, I, pp. 269-70.

397Palat 1890-1.

398Palat 1868-71.

570

399Palat 1927.

400Autun B 41-111.

401Autun B 126-97. Mary's dialog commences after Jesus calls the
disciples to share one last meal with Him.

402Autun B 112-25 and 198-285.

403I reflect upon exclamations such as the "Peccavi tradens sangui-
nem iustum" of StG 1018, or the "Peniete me graviter,/quod istis argenteis/
Christum vendiderim!" of BenP 203-5, which, when taken by themselves,

have the air of accepted mythology or perhaps the True Word; they are
monumental in their suggestion, but at the same time, devoid of any
meaninfgul humanity.

4O4Autun B 756—7.

405Autun B 646-7.

406Goodman, p. 117.

407Foster, p. 2.

4O8Ibid.,1L 49.

409Ibid., p. 64.

410Pickering, Lit and Art, p. 271.

4111bid., p. 272.

412Loc. cit.

413Loc. cit.

414Ibid., p. 273.

4ISIbid., p. 272.

416Quoted in Foster, p. 65. Miss Foster makes note of the masculine
gender of quendam ribaldum, infering an uncertainty of reference to
the smith's wife (p. 65). Bercheur's words seem to affirm the con-
clusions of Pickering, inasmuch as they specify that someone other than
the smith forged the nails ("et non per fabrum"). The development of
Tubalcain and his servants away from the forge in medieval exegesis
and art suggests that they are also to be excluded from consideration.

417Autun B 817-34.

418Autun B 912.

419Cf. above, p. 169.

571

420Cf. above, pp. 211-12.

421Goodman, p. 103.

422mm. , p. 120.

423Cf. above, p. 225.

4245tG 290-341.

42 '
SHartl, Untersuchung StC, p. 116.

426StC 1018-24 '=‘ 1037ff.

427StG 1169-88 ‘=‘-‘ 1189-1214.

428Hartl, op. cit., p. 117.

429 M v0 ..
Palat 60-80 = 81-98; Autun B 112-26 = 126-47; Autun R 91-97 =

98-113.

430 .,. a .3

Palat 158-96 = 197-230; Autun B 228-99 = 300—58; Autun R 131-80-
181-217.
431

Autun B 541-602 “=‘ 603-47.

432Palat 488-55 ‘9 456-74 '=‘ 475-544. Autun R makes the Peter and
Judas appearances contemporary with Jesus before Caiaphas (Autun R
277-307 "=‘ 308-53 ‘9 354-90, although Judas must logically make his com-

plaint well into the sequence).

433
PALATINUS
[Herode] [Herode]
Marques, venez ca tost alez 0r les portez a cayfas
Au fevre et si commandez Qui du crucefier n'est las.
Trogs cloz et pour fichier (Palat 862-7)

Jhesucrist, le fez pautonier. [Cayfas]

Haquin, Mbsse, venez avant!

Alez me querre maintenant

Une eschiele a chevillons.
(Palat 879-80)

[Marques] _
Sire volentiers je irai,
Vestre commandement feray.
(Palat 781-6)

[Marques a Herode]
Tenez, sire, vouz ci les clos,
Et sachiez pour l'amour de vous

Les a sa fame touz fbrgez:
Ses mairs estoit malhetiez.

572

This rendition continues with the procurement of other tools, until all
are at hand. Obviously, the lines leading into the scene of the smith's
wife occur after Pilate has made his decision to hand over Jesus for
execution, as Palat 764-80 attest. Caiaphas' command seems to emanate
from Calvary instead of Pilate's court, in which case Palat contains no
dramatized way to the Skull, for there is no indication of movement in
the dialog.

AUTUN B

Or parle CAYPHAS es Juifz.
venez tous a moy parlés.
A ung fevre vous en ales,
. Et affin que s'aquiter,
De par moy le saluer,
Et que ly mande diligemment
Que fbrgoit tost apertement
Trays clous grand et de fin acier
Pour a Jhesu piez et main percier.
(Autun B 865-72)

Parle LE JUIFZ es aultres.

-Tenés, compain, vecy les cloux
Qui bien porrons percier les 03
Du truant malvais, par ma fey,
Qui nostre log abassier vouloit.
(Autun B 973-6)

Parle UNG JUIFZ a Jhesucrist.
0r tost, ribaux, or en venés!
Maintenent pandut vous serés.
(Autun B 979-80)

Caiaphas' speech immediately follows an epic discussion by the author
of Pilate's absolution of himself from crime and an expression that

the Jews were wrong (Autun B 853-64). The final quotation signifies
that no motion towards the place of execution has yet been accomplished
until the Jew signals it with his command for Jesus to get under way.
AutunI?1acks a clearcut return to the main activity where Jesus waits,
although the instigation of the forging is similar to Palat and Autun B
(Autun R 494-8). Instead the dream of Pilate's wife takes its place
immediately after the nails have been received by the messenger.

There follows a dialog which has several hints of scriptural origin from
the time of the Christ's way to Calvary, particularly His comforting of
the lamenting women, accompanied by a shortened ferm of Lude's account,
"Cbnversus autem ad illas Jesus, dixit: Filiae Ierusalem! nolite flere
super me, sed super vos ipsas flete, et super filios vestros! Quoniam
ecce! venient dies, in quibus dicent: Beatae steriles, et ventres, qui
non genuerunt, et ubera, quae non lactaverunt" (Luke xxiii: 28—29).

434Hartl, Untersuchung StG, p. 125.

573

435Brinkmann, Eigenfbrm, p. 86.

436St0 235-54.

437StG 265-89.

438St0 486.

439Steinbach, pp. 137-8.

440Ibid., p. 138.

441Brinkmann, Eigenfcrm, p. 19.

4 2 .
4 Loc. cit.

443Wolff, Verschmelzung, p. 286.

444StG 4, 5, and 6; Steinbach, p. 134.

445Mary H. Marshall, "The dramatic tradition established by the
liturgical plays," PMLA, LVI (1941), p. 976.

4468130 1615-16.

447St0 1617-18.

448Wolff, Verschmelzung, p. 270.

449Marshall, p. 997.

450Jodogne, p. 5.

451Miller, Elemente, p. 9.

452Loc. cit.

453Wolff, Verschmelzung, p. 270.

4S4Kolve, p. 32.

455Palat 974-6 and 987-9.

456Autun B 2008-11.

4S7Autun B 2039.

458Gray, Themes and Images, p. 140.

459Woolf, Medieval English Lyric, p. 185.
46OLoc. cit.
461

Hardin Craig, cf. above, p. 12.

462Cf. above, pp. 118-19.

463They are: the servant of the Passover host (StC 689-71), the
flight of the disciples (StC 357), Judas' betrayal (StC 731-4), a para-
phrase of Christ enthroned (StC 984-7), and the promise to the good
thief (StG 1317-20).

464Autun B 265-7.

65Autun B 282-3.

466Autun B 812—19.

467Autun R S97-600.

468Wien 517—23.

469Palat 107-10 and 129-32.

47OAutun B 249-52 and 262-4.

471Palat 123-8

472Palat 1383-5.

473Cf. above, pp 254-6.

474P’alat 1688.

47SStG 10-16.

476Cf. above, p. 188.

477StG 8.

478Autun B 6-8 and 16-36.

479Autun B 9-15. The opening remarks of Autun R are similar,
indicative of either a direct relationship between the two or a shared
source.

480Cf. above, pp. 268-9.

481Cf. above, pp. 224-5.

482Cf. above, p. 224.

483This prophecy by Christ derives from Matthew xxvi: ll.

484Cf. above, pp. 104-5 and 269-70.

485Palat 184-91.

575

486See Staiger, Grundbegriffe, pp. 103-13, for an investigation into
the relevance of pathos for the theater.

487I employ pathos and all generic ferms to denote 'emotions' in
their most general sense, as defined by Aristotle in the Nicomachean
Ethics. See also Staiger, Crundbegriffe, p. 105.

48898tz, p. 102.

489$tG 940.

4goStG 949.

491
StG 953.

492Cf. above, pp. 205.

493French accounts of the Magdalene offer little opportunity for
the useful integration of mood, as her change of heart precedes drama-
tization in all Passions studied here. We find her in the final stages
of repentance, already approaching the Lord.

494StG BA 1189.

495Cf. above, p. 205.

496Autun R 557.

497I see a situation wherein the dramatist simply took over exist-
ing forms, not bothering to determine their proper place in the tale
or recognizing the lack of persuasiveness which filled his final copy.
It is obvious that little critical evaluation has entered into the place-
ment of Uxor's dream, for it concludes with the promise by Pilate to
avoid an imporper judgment (Autun R 577-81) after he has told the Jews
to judge Christ (487-91) and a scant six lines before he bows to Hebrew
pressures yet second time (588-90).

498Cf. above, p. 132.

499Cf. above, p. 133.

500Probably a result of its fragmentary preservation, which breaks
off prior to the trial scene.

SOIPBtz, p. 147.

SOZIbid., p. 143.
SOSIbid., p. 147.
504Luke 1. 76-79.

505Quoted in Bath, p. 8.

576

506Oscar Thulin, Jahannes der Tgufer im geistlichen Schauspiel des
Mittelalters und der Reformationszeit (Leipzig: Dietrich, 1930), p. 134.

507Honorius of Autun, Speculum ecclesiae de sancto Johanne Baptista,
PL 172.965.

sosStG 53-4 and 67-80.

09Magnus, p. 102.

Sloputz, p. 151. Hartl, Drama, pp. 1979-80, also investigates the

technique of contrast in medieval drama.

511Piltz, p. 151.

Slsz. above, pp. 188-9.
513Steinbach, p. 136.
514 n

Muller, Elemente, pp. 30 and 80.

15Ibid., p. 30.

516Cf. above, pp. 174-5.

517Muller, op. cit., p. 58.

SlgIbid., pp. 56-7.

519Ibid., p. 55.

52016id., p. 10.
21Ibid., p. 11

52 zIbid. , p.12. Muller is here in conflict with Brinkmann,
Eigenform, p. 83, concerning the value of psychological motivation in
the drama. Little doubt can be raised about the preponderance of the
divine perspective in these plays, but Muller is certainly correct to
assign more responsibility to individualized characters acting as freer
agents of evil and not functioning as surrogate devils. The "Verteufel-
ung der Juden", which will be found in Donau, is much less an attempt to
explain the events surrounding the Passion in terms of godly causality
than to place all blame on individualized and responsible Jews.

523Cf. above, pp. 139-42.

524St0 89-97.

525StC 970-6; Palat 301-2 and 947; Autun B 420-2; Autun R'294-6.
StC also reports this information in a form which makes the words
responsive to an undramatized event within represented time. Annas'
remembrance, "Dirre ist, den ich horte sprechen,/man solle den tempel
brechen,/ so solte er in in drier dage frist/ganz machen als er istfl

577

(StC 1299-1302), as he heaps ridicule upon a dying man, supports the

idea that, contrary to other narrations of the facts, Annas himself

heard the prophecy. The other alternative that he was witnessing falsely
against Jesus can neither be proved nor disproved.

526
Palat 298-9 and 375-6; Autun B 684-9; Autun R 630-3.

5
27Palat 1590-4.

528Autun B 1890-9.

29Autun B 2021-38. Mary Magdalene also contemplates, rather
ahistorically, the consequences of original sin (Autun B 153-61).

SSOPaZat 1125-41.

531This passage is, theoretically speaking, not a simple recol-
lection of a past circumstance preceding dramatic activity, but rather,
because of the elongation of time representation in StC, an example of a
screened occurrence, emanating from a time after the onset of the play,
but before the Passion section commences. In this particular instance
absolute insistance upon the exclusivity of each technique of time man-
ipulation is neither helpful nor enlightening. There exists a substan-
tial gray area in the codification of time by PUtz and individual pheno-
mena may partake of several potentials. Whenever a textual occurrence
may be typed into one category or another as the result of representative
scope, and where no other factors come into question, I am inclined to
resist the temptation to exact more significance than the evidence
merits, merely to make a subtle differentiation or to add a new category
of time to the theoretical structure of any play. The dangers of dis-
tortion obviously outweigh any perceived advantages.

532Palat 1864-7.

533In Palat 81-8, the experience of the Magdalene exhibits a
substantial potential for the integration of pre-history as a present
circumstance, but this capacity is still-born; the exploitation to
widen the story boundaries is lacking.

534Putz, p. 195. The explanation for the use of epic narration as
the central method of relating pre-history may lie in the very nature
of religious plays, namely that they almost always deal with the twin
facts in medieval life, with Christ's sacrifice and His Resurrection.
This explanation excludes, of course, saints' plays and moralities.
Recognition that the same phenomena are continually reiterated during
the religious year, making all fundamental information pertinent to the
miracles of the Easter season widely known, also obviates the necessity
of delving deeply into Jesus' life for relevant facts. This is particu-
larly true for early religious drama. When Passion plays achieve their
theatrical ascendency, methods previously of questionable value for the
celebration of life are employed to make the productions more interesting
and appealing. Narrated pre-history is the most elementary way of dealing
with the past. It is also the most manageable and the most direct of the

578

three expository techniques, requiring less alteration of the basic
presentation than its counterparts. This latter fact is the one which
makes Wien so unique. In terms of the effective application of expo-
sition, Wien is the most creative and significant Passion play of the
fourteenth century.

53 . . . . . . .
5For a d1scu551on of spec1f1c structural relatlonshlps establlshed
between the initial scenes mentioned, see above, pp. 180, 189-90, 208-9,
and 226-7.

536Wien 197-203.

537Wien 205-6.

538Wien 222-8.

539Wien 226.

S40Wien 241-7.

5 .
41hhen 257-69.
42Froning, p. 302.

543Were it not for the cosmic proportions of Wien, all these bits
of information relayed by the four sinners would not be screened 0c-
currences, but rather useful illustrations of narrated pre-history.
Insistence upon either category will not appreciably alter what I have
previously said about this remarkable play. We are still dealing with
the meaningful integration of narrated past events, the distinction of
which is more an accident of scope rather than of intentional manipulation
of theatrical technique.

S44Sandro Sticca, "Officium Passionis Domine. An Unpublished
Manuscript of the Fourteenth Century," Franciscan Studies, Vol. 34,
Annual XII (1974), p. 156.

S45Mliller, Elemente, p. 12.

46Weber, p. 7.

547Loc. cit.

548Hartl, Drama, p. 1981.

549Goodman, p. 123.

550Michel Mathieu, "Le personnage du marchand de parfums dans 1e
theatre medieval en France," Le Mbyen Age, 74 (1968), p. 43.

SSll’bid., p. 43.

552Loc. cit.

579

553W. Nooman, "Passages narratifs dans les drames médiévaux
francais," Revue Belge de Philologie et d’Histoire, XXXVI (1958),
p. 773.

554Ibid., p. 774.
555Miiller, Elemente, p. 29.
556Loc. cit.

557

E. Picot, "Le monologue dramatique dans l'ancien theatre
francais," Romania, XV (1884), p. 358.

Chapter VII- Group 111
pages 332-47

1Magnus, p. 209.
2Froning, p. 557.
3119122., p. 263.

4

Gray, p. 132.
5Loc. cit.

6J.W. Robinson, "The Late Medieval Cult of Jesus and the Mystery
Plays," PMLA, XX’ (1965), p. 509.

7Cf. above, pp. 282-8.
8Woolf, p. 185.
9Towneley XXIII 233-54.
10Towneley XXVI 232-85.

11Woolf, p. 46. This author is the source of the discussion of
lyrical history unless stated contrarily.

lzl‘bid., p. 53.

13Miiller, Elemente, p. 16.

l . . . . . .

4The Towneley Pass1on 15 one obv1ous dev1atlon, for 1ts structure
attests to several dramatically and structurally meaningful deletions
from the biblical story, among them Jesus before Herod, and Judas'
death.

15Muller, loc. cit.

16Quoted from G.R. Owst, Literature and Pulpit in Medieval England
(Cambridge, at the University Press, 1933), p. 508.

580

17Pickering, Lit and Art, p. 236.
18Ibid., p. 281.
lgIbid., p. 307.

20Magnus, p. 157.

21Hartl, Drama, p. 1983.

22Muller, Elemente, p. 19.

3Loc. cit.

25Miiller, Elemente, p. 31.

26Ibid., p. 17; see also Hartl, Drama, p. 21.

27Ibid.,;L 81.

28M'dller, Elemente, pp. 17-18.

29Peter W. Travis, "The Dramatic Strategies of Chester's Passion

Pagina," comparative Drama, VIII (1974), p. 227.

30Chester XIII 489.

31Wickham, EES, p. 125.

32Loc. cit.

33Craig, p. 195.
34Lyle, Identity, p. 4.
35Carey, p. 230.

36Cf. above, p. 23, f. 2.

37Meyers, Figure, p. 79.

38Some years ago, Dr. Arnold Williams brought it to my attention

that several of the individual parts may have been doubled, and that
if one accepted a stationary performance for the cycle plays, several
characters might be free to take their positions in later plays as well.

39Frank, French Drama, p. 181.
40Ibid., p. 182.

421bid., p. 184.

581

43
Frank, French Drama. P- 185-

4Unfortunately, one cannot posit with complete assurance the same
sentiment for medieval spectators. Our only clue to the original
audience reaction may lie in the great popularity enjoyed by the work
in Gréban's lifetime, though this is by no means unassailable evidence.

45Thompson, p. 133.

46Niedner, p. 122.

47Steinbach, p. 215.

48Hartl, edition of the text, p. 5.

49Steinbach, p. 216.
SOFroning, p. 553.

51Steinbach, p. 164.

52C.W.M. Grein, quoted in Froining, p. 547.

53Froning, p. 549. B verses are: 3510459; 3718-3983; 7632-7997. D
verses are: 460-63; 5740-47; 6621-30; 6637-40;6320-51; 6698-8059.

54Ibid., p. 550. C emendations are: 7455-62; 6483-7631.

SSSteinbach, p. 166.

S6Froning, p. 554.

7Loc. cit.

581 have excluded the following categories, believing them to have
been adequately substantiated and evaluated in previous chapters:
1) adverbial evidence of succession (cf. Appendix A); 2) temporal link-
ing of events; 3) spatial movement; 4) succession by dialog (except
repetition and alternation, argument-counter argument); 5) inquiry and
response; 6) command and execution; 7) prophecy (except where novel
occurrences arise); 8) silence; 9) dreams; 10) trials.

59Salter, p. 45.

601bid., p. 48.

61Travis, p; 277.

62Loc. cit.

63Loc. cit.

64Ibid., p. 276

582

65Travis, p. 279.
“and. , p. 276.

67That this concentration upon the Crucifixion elicited a pro-
foundly emotional reaction in the public may be sensed by the words
of a supposed Wycliffite author, who vehemently opposed the plays:
"Also, ofte sythis by siche myradis pleyinge men and wymmen, seynge
the passions of Christ and of hise seyntis, ben movyd to compassion and
devociun, wepynge bitere teris, thanne thei ben not scornynge of God
but worshipyng." (quoted in Meyers, p. 89 from a work of the late
1300's called A Tretise ofWMiraclis Pleyingc.

68Owst, p. 496.

69Williams, Pilate, p. 27-8.
7OT’owneley XX 19-53.
71 . . .

Wllllams, Pilate, p. 17.
72I'bid., p. 19.

3Loc. cit.

74Evidence seems to support the presence of a trial before Herod
at some time previous to our manuscript, for, during the Flagellation,
Primus Tortor explains that he has just come from Herod's domicile with
Jesus (Towneley XXII 53-4). Pilate has also assumed the most well-known
line of Herod, when he commands: "0f thy greatt warkes shew vs som
skyll"(waneley XXII 190).

75Williams, p. 23. Two further exclusions worthy of mention are
Peter's denial and Judas' hanging. Williams attributes their demise
to unparalleled concentration upon a "straightline development of
action" and an intense desire "to focus the action on Pilate.

(p. 24).

H

76Sister Mary Faith McKean,The Interplay of Realistic and Flam-
boyant Art Elements in the French Mysteres (Washington: The Catholic
University of America Press, 1959), pp. 108-9.
77Steinbach, p. 170.
78
Chester XIV BA 41; 41-56.
79
Chester XVI 665-72.
80
Chester XVIII 361-4.
81Prosserbelieves to find in the Chester Magdalene "a fully

developed penitent", motivated by love, contrite and desirous of amend-
ing her ways (p. 117). She also contends that the author has created

583

a character who could at once touch the audience as its peer (p. 117).
Certainly, this quality, as we have seen throughout all Passions which
investigate her life, is a great tactical and doctrinal advantage. At
the same time, when compared with other Magdalenes, the penitent woman
of Chester does not instill the exCitement nor the dramatic interest
we have come to expect. Prosser also recognizes this fact, observing
that the structural unity of the Magdalene episode in Chester XIV is not
due so much to dramatic and integral qualities of presentation, but

to externally-imposed artificial devices (p. 118). I do not condemn
the handling of this figure by Chester as much as I merely point out
its less spectacular application when placed in parallel to its

near relatives.

82Saxer, p. 266.
83
Towne ley XXII 330-1.
84Towneley XXII 3S4.
85M'istére 17871-74.
86Alsfeld BA 1782; 1782-9, 1832—45.

87Alsfeld 1796-1801.

88Cf. above, pp 227-9.

89416feza 1816-23.
9°4zsfezd 1850-1904.

91Alsfeld 1938-93.

92'Miiller, Stil, p. 29.

93Saxer, p. 266.

94Ibid., p. 325.

95Loc. cit.

96Ibid., p. 326.

97
Cf. above, pp. 30-1, 55-6, and 283-4.

98Cf. above, pp. 179-82.

99Cultural anachronism = Alsfeld 878,887, 1414, 1416, 1421, 1423,
1824, 1931, 1934, 2030, 2086, 2101, 2540, 2787-8, 3169, 1873, 3177, 3184,
3188-9, 3194, 3198, 3212, 4875, 5300, 5379, 5420, 5591, 5624, 6553,

6553, 6557, 6571, 6875, 6895, 6903, 6930, 6044, 6958, 6987, 7027, 7310,
7316, 7333, 7370, 7429, 7433, 7464, 7590;

584

social anachronism = 1257, 1462, 2171, 2173; religious anachronism =
164-5, 240, 376, 436, 1313, 1377, 1436, 1549, 1651, 1695, 1793, 2168—9,
2182, 2198, 3025, 3030, 3046, 3074, 3239-40, 3246, 3253, 3273, 4200,
4390, 4776, 5249, 5736, 4906, 5076, 7606-7, 7715, 8016; religious cri-
ticism is no doubt responsible for directions for Sathanas to appear
"cum habitu lolhardi" (BA 1114); geographical anachronism placing the
performance and activity staged in Europe = 7490, 7496-7504, 7570-2,
8026. The overwhelming majority of place names and cities comes about
from the merchant scene, an episode which readily lends itself to such
embellishment.

100Cf. above, p. 182 and footnotes.

101The word'Jude'and numerous derivitives like 'bosze Juddischeyt',
'snodcn Judden','bosze Juddenart', 'bosze Juddische diet' occur in the
following contexts, most of which throws them into decidedly interior
positions or in some other manner taint the words themselves with un-
pleasant overtones: Alsfeld 185, 195, 235, 236, 270, 285, 300, 315, 332,
359, 363, 1297, 1312, 1595, 1602, 1615, 1624, 1703, 1705, 1707, 2230,
2311, 2339, 2343, 2403, 2505, 2647, 2923, 3135, 3492, 3626, 3674, 3886,
3968, 4546, 4618, 5007, 5406, 5463, 5523, 5911, 5916, 5922, 5958, 5986,
5989, 6017, 6132, 6330, 6348, 6458, 6496, 6722. 6881, 7647, 7881.

102Alsfeld BA 898.

03Dimont, pp. 232-3.

104Miiller, Elemente, p. 55.

105Kolve, p. 104.

106Among many instances are the following: Towneley XX-549, 742;
XXI- 154-62, 208; XXII— 12; XXIII- 658, 662, 666; XXVI- 29-30, 136,
596.

7Numerous social and cultural values are established by examples
like these: waneley XX— 271, 588, 700; XXI- 271, 300, 340; XXII- 6,
12; XXIII- 390, 408, 482, 534, 596, 623; XXIV- 96, 121, 165, 226-7, 331,
369, 373-6, 409; XXVI- 38-40, 190, 206, 484, 496, 506-7.

108Donau 2240.
109Alsfeld 3025, 3046.
lloAlsfeld 3039.
llle. above, pp. 334-5.

12Kolve, p. 108.

113Ibid., p. 116. Chester boasts a torturer who cannot be equal-
led between Chester and London (Chester XVI 327—8).

585

114Towneley XX 747; XXIV 196, 283, 303, 340.

115Towneley XXIII 302.

116waneley XXIII S64; XXIV 245.

117Towneley XXIV 409. This appearance culminates a rather trite
French blessing quite in keeping with his high-handed extraction of the
robe from one of the torturers.

118Cf. above, p. 353.

1190wst, p. 495; also Williams, Pilate, pp. 37-51.

120Williams, Pilate, p. 37.

121Loc. cit.

12ZOwst, p. 495.

123Towneley XXIV 1-46.

124Owst, p. 496.

125Loc. cit.

126Kolve, p. 108.

1271.00. cit.

128Ibid., p. 109.
12913id., p. 110.
130 Cf. above, p. 182.
131Chester XIV BA 209.
132

Chester XVIII BA 154.

133Chester XVII BA 261.

134Cf. above, p. 368.

lSSMistere 22032, 23912, 23916-17.

136Mistere unnumbered after 26255.

137Donau 1561-4.

138Donau 3491-8.

139The single instance of vernacular speech by an angel occurs
at the Resurrection, to introduce the 'Surrexit pastor bonus' (Donau 3894-7).

laoDonau 2032-3.

141Donau 82.

1 7

” ”Donau 3.
143
Donau 4156.

144
Donau 4102-5.

14SDonau 4132-9.

Ir
14C’Steinbach, p. 217.

147 . rr . . .
Rudolf Grieshammer, Sprachgestaltende Krifte 2m geistlichen
Schauspiel des deutschen Mittelalters (Jena: Verlag der Frommannschen
Buchhandlung, 1930), pp. 50-1.

148Loc. cit.

149Chcster XIII 415 and 430; Donau 1302; Alsfeld 2266 and 2288.

130Towneley XXV 27

1:1
“‘71lsfeld639, 3205, 6313.

1'?
ldzChester XVII 242

153Chester XVIII 41.
,
J4The text would appear to answer this criterion rather than either

of the other suggestions.

155 . .
Matthew xxv1: 31; Mark x1v: 17, 30.

156

.-.1

Mistere 19772.

157Mistere 20145-59.

r
1JgFor other illustrations of time indication see: Mistere 29275

(the Resurrection); Chester XVII 243-5 (the Crucifixion) and 258—9
(tie Resurrection); Donau 2629-31 (Jesus appears before Herod early in
the morning); Alsfeld 3505 (nearing of day during Annas' interrogation),
and 7005-6 (the Resurrection).
1‘)9515ter Mary Faith McKean, pp. 37, 42.

160For additional examples of repetition.sxx3 Mistere, pp. 237-8,
240, 250, 252, 255, 257, 273-5, 296, 304-5, 309, 320, 324, 327, 328-30,
337-8, 342, 351-2, 367, 377, 381, 384-5; Alsfeld unnumbered after 7515,
7521, 7525, 5735.

lélpfitz, p. 36.

587

162This disputation could easily have been introduced in the
section on temporal suspension, for it does, indeed, suspend completely
the dramatization of Christ's Passion in favor of a unique medieval
attempt to convert the Hebrew population of Alsfeld. I have decided to
incorporate the argument in the present context because such an appli-
cation of temporal phenomena appears only in Alsfeld. We discern the
possibility of a similar duel of the minds in Donau, when Christiana
and Iudaea square off in debate. The content of each argument is similar,
but not nearly as minutely defined in Donau. One confrontation from
biblical history which held potential for an interesting debate was
that of Pilate with the Lord. Its further definition was, however,
made almost impossible by virtue of the tone of the encounter and the
sacrificial nature of His approaching death. To have Christ the Meek
engage in an extensive theological or legal argument with the Roman
would have been simply unacceptable. We are left, then, with this des-
pute from Alsfeld, which, though it occurs outside the strict temporal
confines of the faithful conception of represented time, nevertheless
does reveal all the ingredients of succession.

163Arnold Williams, "Medieval Allegory: An Operational Approach,"
Papers of‘the Midwest Mbdern Language Association, #1 (1969), p. 79.

164Heinz Brunette 8 Otto Weber, Evangelisches Kirchenlexikon,
2. Auflage (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck 6 Ruprecht, 1962), 111,124.

165 Wolff, Verschmelzung, p. 278.

166One of the many discussions of the debate tradition may be
found in H. Walther' 5 book, Das Streit— -gedicht in der lateinischen
Literatur des Mittelalters (Munchen: 1920).

167That the primary objectives of Ecclesia's arguments are not the
Jews of ca. 33 AD, but those contemporary with the stage is obvious from
the manner in which the arguments are structured, the metaphors which
are employed to localize the dispute, and the personification of
Ecclesia herself, who could speak to Jews with the force of dogmatized
belief only after the religion had been established.

168Micheal, Prozessionsspiele, p. 20.

169Loc. cit.
70413erd 4606.

171The conclusion that the author of the dispute likewise recog-
nized its peripheral necessity is suggested by the stage directions
which directly proceed the clash: "Incipit disputacio Ecclesie cum
Sinagoga, si placet" (Alsfeld BA 4480). The ”si placet" clearly esta-
blishes the director as the final authority on the subject. he may
include or neglect entirely the dispute.

588

172Alsf'eld also furnishes other instances of the dispute. They are,
however, less inclusive, encompassing only one or two exchanges, but
still calling forth succession. See: Alsfeld 1730-43. Donau notes in
some detail a dispute between Jesus and the Jew Naason (1351-84).

173The subsequent history of the debate between synagoga and
Ecclesia shows a decline into the realm of the profane, its religious
bases almost forgotten in the process. Its appeal to popular prejudices
is mirrored in the Vasnachtspiel von der alt und neu Ee von Uberwindung
der Juden in jr Talmut of Hans Folz (cf. Holdschmidt, pp. 50-1).

174Alsfeld 4302.

17SAlsfeld unnumbered after 490.

176Cf. p. 88.

177P'dtz, p. 54.

l78Cf. above, pp. 100-2, 175, 190, 223-5.

179Piitz, p. 54.
180Cf. p. 227-8.
181P'titz, p. 61.
18

2Cf. above, pp. 341-2.

183Cf. above, pp. 355-6.

184Chester XVI 537-660.
185423erd 4058-9.

186Alsfeld 4078-81.

187Williams, Pilate, p. 22.

188413feza 3900-25.

189Alsfeld 3942-67.

190Cf. pp. 256-7.

191Brinkmann, Eigenfbrm , p. 31.

192Alsfeld 7483.

193Alsfeld 7496-7504.

194Alsfeld BA 7604.

589

lgsAlsfeld 7614-20.

196Mistere 22414.

197This may not be an entirely fair representation of the two
texts. After reading each several times, I sense a completely opposed
intent. Greban appears to lay the greatest stress on the absolutely
rationalized flow of events leading ultimately to the Resurrection,
whereas Towneley prefers a novel and structurally elevated method of
studying the contest of evil and good. The two designs are not always
compatible.

198Mistére 26557-608.

199Alsf'eld 3212.

ZOOAZSféZd 3216.

201Alsfeld 3218.

202Froning, p. 557.

203Cf. above, pp. 235-42.

204Miiller, Stil, p. 58.

205Mfiller, Elemente, p. 16.

206Anna Brownwell Jameson, quoted in Pickering. Lit and Art, P- 235‘

207Pickering, Lit and Art, p. 236.

208One can trace many conventional observations and 'realia' of
the Meditationes in the translation into English of the work by Richard
Manning of Brunne in 1315-30. When we compare the images of the Crucifixion
with plays from a time after this exercise, it is apparent that late
Passion authors drew from a vast storehouse of images, visions, and
conventions. Theirs is not an entirely new artistry, but one founded
on a long and stable series of attitudes.

209Pickering, Lit and Art, p. 244.

210Luke xxiv: 44; cf. above, p. 337.

211Pickering, Lit and Art , 246.

leIbid., p. 272.

213Cf. above, pp.263-6.

214For a traditional history of the Cross, its historical, symbolic,
sacred, architectural, and artistic implications and applications, see
M. Didron, Iconographie Chretienne (Paris: Imprimerie Royale, 1843),
pp. 375-426.

590

215Towneley follows a similar pattern, first drawing attention to
the nails and hammer, then vocalizing the actual fettering (Towneley
XXIII 71-6; 131-54).

216The impact of nails and hammers on Alsfeld is decidedly less,
though still a portion of preparations for crucifixion (5594-5601).
They are used almost immediatly to bind Jesus to the Tree (5604-5).

17Mistére 24710-805.
18Froning, p. 276.

19Pickering, Christusbild, p. 22.

220Pickering, Lit and Art, p. 240.

221lbid., p. 239.

222Ibid., p. 244.

223Ibid., p. 243.

224Ibid., p. 301.

225Ibid., p. 292.
226Ibid., p. 306.

227Time and space do not allow an adequate representation of either
the vast amount of evidence and learned scholarship advanced by Pickering
or its impact upon medieval theater and Christian iconography. I can
but urge those interested to study his Lit and Art for themselves.

228Chester XVI 577-88.

229Chester XVI 593-6.

23OCf. above, p. 352.

231Towneley XXIII 89-92.

32Towneley XXIII 119-36.

233Towneley XXIII 147-8.

234Towneley XXIII 155-232.

235Towneley XXIII 307.

236Donau 3285-8.

237Donau BA 3305.

591

238413fe1d 5608-23.

239The flagellatores exhibit a degree of animosity towards the
True Vine, and an acceptance of Jewish argumentation is exemplified
by the speech of secundus fIagellator in Alsfeld 5640-3 and 5651-3.
But this Passion cannot match the vehemence of Donau, where the Jews
themselves drill the holes, pull the ropes, and right the Cross.

240Alsfeld 4-19.

24lDonau 18-21.
242Mistere 27569-84.
243Steinbach, p. 219.
244 n

Muller, Elemente, p. 83.

245Ibid., p. 84.

246Loc. cit.

247Chester XIII 321-6 = 337-76.

248Cf. above, pp. 104-5 and 272.

249Mistere 18198.

25OMistere 18533-650.

251M’istére 18812-927.

252Mistere 18928-45.

ZShMistere 19016-76.

254Mistere 27738-28053.

zssMistEre 28054-121.

2SéMistére 28122-389.

257M’istere 28390-465.

SBMistEre 28466-557.

259MistEre 28554-5.

26QMistére BA 19720 ("Icy s'en va plorer 3. Pierre en la fbsse")
seems to indicate that Peter has remained in this place for as many as
8862 verses. In reality, since a complete day separates Peter's removal
of himself to the spot, I doubt that he would have occupied a position
on stage until some time on the fourth day. As no directions indicate
his return, it is impossible to ascertain how this anomaly was handled.

592

261Mistere BA 28588.

262Other activities in parallel are: Mistere 17465-506'3 17507-22
(conspiracy of priests with Judas' betrayal monolog), 17917—76'? 17977-
84 (a portion of the Last Supper with the Virgin's misgivings),
19421-49 3 19450-505 and 19506-637‘2 19648-701 (Peter's denial with
Jesus' interrogation), 20534-21119'2 21120-181 (Judas' remorse with
Christ's interrogation by Pilate), 22284-427 g'22438-45 (Jesus' pre-
sentation to Herod with one ofMary's laments), 23167-79 "=7 23180-203
(condemnation with Adam in Limbo), 23750-53 3‘23754-81‘323782-845i5'
23806-23 (The Way of the Cross with the construction of three corsses
and the smith), 28868-986‘? 28987-29085 (Satan's intent to snatch
Jesus' soul and God's initiation of the Resurrection). Donau and
waneley make these actions coincide: Donau BA 131‘? 131-150 (The
Magdalene plays chess as Simon dines with Jesus), 1137-40'? BA 1141
(Leviathan reports to the Jews as the Lord makes a whip of rope),
1217-22 §‘1223-34 (Lararus' death with Josephus' arrival at Christ's
locus), 1667-90'? BA 1691 (Priests' intrigue with Judas' skulking to
the temple), 1871-82 E'1883-2005 (the betrayal with the Last Supper
and Gethsemane), 2239-387 :‘2388=2420 (the interrogation with Peter's
denial), 2916-76 2‘2977-86 (interrogation with the dream of Pilate's
wife), BA 3197 (Mary's arrival and the Way of the Cross); Towneley XX
488-559‘? 560-651 (Gethsemane with preparations for the arrest).

263Alsfeld BA 1952.

26%lsfeldm 2724. For other examples of this tYPe 0f Parallelism '

compare Alsfeld BA 1020 (John's demise), BA 3068 (the Last Supper),

BA 5504 and BA 5512 (Jesus' movement along the Way of the Cross), BA
5520 and 5520 (John moves with the crowd), BA 7299'? BA unnumbered after
7298 (Christ to Heaven as the soldiers sleep around the grave).

26sAlsfeld 5265-5319 3'5320-39; see also Brinkmann, Eigenfcrm, p. 87-

266Alsfeld BA 5340.

267Alsfeld BA 5350.

268Cf. above, p. 411, f. 264.

269Cf. above, p. 282.

270Cf. above, p. 109. The single atypicality of the two renditions
is that the Donau text specifies a pronoun indicative of interruption
(”helffent mir_weinen sinen tod"), whereas that of BenP omits all pro-
nouns which might identify the character Mary as the speaker.

271Donau 3187.

27200nau 2438-97.

273423fe1d 5897-899.

274Alsfeld 5906-25.
27SAlsf'eld 5976.
276Alsfeld 2185-2204.

277Alsfeld BA 6288.

27
8Alsfeld 6320-4.

27 »
9Alsfeld 6330.

280
Alsfels 6334-41.

2
81Alsfels 6348-51.

282
Towneley XXIII 232.

283
waneley XXIII 267—73.

284 . . . .
Woolf, Ehglish Religious Lyric, p. 36.

285 ,
Ibid-, p. 44.
86
Towneley XXVI 250—332.

87
Tawneley XXVI 226-49.

288Robinson, p. 509.

289 ,
Loc. cit.

290 ,
Loc. cit.

91Meyers, Figure, p. 89.

292
Towneley XX 3-9.

293Meyers, Figure, p. 53, finds no intentional identification of
'Mahowne' with historical Mohammed. He rather perceives it to be
”but a convenient name, well-known, having pejorative associations, a
name which could be applied to the false gods of pagans or or anyone
who refused belief in Christ."

94Towneley XXII 1-4.

2950f the several interruptions directed towards the audience,
that of the Towneley Nicodemus in the play of the Crucifixion provides
a most interesting amalgamation of many techniques and implications. His
words are couched.in the familiar terms of anachronism surely designed
to update and realize sacred history, to make it as much a part of audi-
ence reality as its own process of cognition:

594

He that dyed on gud fryday
And crownyd was with thorne,
saue you all that now here be!
That lord that thus wold dee
And rose on pasche morne.
(Towneley XXIII 662-666)

296Edmund A. Bowles, "The Role of Musical Instruments in Medieval
Sacred Drama," Musical Quarterly, 45 (1959), p. 82. Bowles further
reveals that this application of bells surrounding the'Te Deum'traces
its history at 'least back to the Regularis Concordia (p. 83). R.W.
Ingram, in an article, "The Use of Music in English Miracle Plays,"
Anglia, 75 (1957), p. 70, also notes the significance of music
surrounding the‘Te Deum'and other liturgical remnants:

”Music was indissolubly wedded to certain of the events of
the stories. Significant moments retained their old
musical accompanyments; the Te Deum to close the cycle;
'Christe Resurgens' at the Resurrection; 'Gloria in excel-
515' at the Nativity. The other pervasive church influence
was the fundamental association of music and religion, music
and heaven."

97Ingram, p. 56.

298Loc. cit.

299Mistere 23226-41.

sooMistere 23666-9.

3OlM’istere BA 23270.

302One further situation pertaining to suspension merits

mention. As with the final example concerning motets, I am unable

to categorically affirm the outcome of the words which conclude

the intrusion from eternity of God the Father in Mistere: "ICy
chantent les anges Kyrie eleison de tenchres, ung ver ou deux"

(BA 26166). I have no doubt as to the familiarity of the words

and melody alike to medieval people, but its dramatic impact on time
and its psychological reception of experience cannot be exactly deter-
mined.

303Karl Dreimdller, p. 28.

304Ibid., p. 31.

305Zumthor, p. 39.

306For other oaths see: Chester XIV 267-8, 287-8; XV 405-8
(Judas); Tawneley XX 378-8, 424-5 (Peter); Donau 1938-9, 1944-7,
1954-7 (Peter); Alsfeld 1495-6, 3280-3, 3287-91, 3294-7 (Peter).

595

307The Chester cycle offers an intriguing prophecy, again indicative
Of the way productions drawing upon tradition present religious truths
independent of any sense of chronological sequencing. After Longinus
has pierced his Savior's side and regained his sight, he begs forgive-
ness and professes eternal fealty. Embedded in his pledge is a pro-
phecy, or an affirmation thereof, which lies entirely and unequivically
outside the experiences of Longinus, the dramatic character:

Thee wil I serue, and with thee be;
for well I leeue, in dayes three
thou wilt ryse through thy posty,
and saue that on thee call.
(Chester XVI 801-4)

308Piitz, p. 79.

309Cf. above, pp. 364-5 and 384. It is obvious from the outset
of waneleyJLX, the Conspiracy, that Pilate, Annas, and Caiaphas are
actively cooperating to catch Jesus. In Towneley no devils insert
themselves into human affairs: the guilt lies solely on men of flesh
and blood.

310Donau 511.

311Donau 1489-94.

312Brinkmann, Eigenfbrm, p. 83.

313Alsfeld 179-80.
314Alsfeld 194-5.
315Alsfeld 210.

316Alsfeld 236.

317423fezd 254-5.

18Froning, p. 263.

319Rudwin, Teufel, p. 28.

320Alsfeld 638-85.

321Rudwin, Teufel, p. 50.

322Mistere 17442-4.

323Mistére 17425-8.

324Mistere BA 17465.

596

sstistere 18015-18.

326Mistére 17593-4.

327Cf. above, pp. 294-6.

328Piitz, p. 86.

329Alsfeld 580-5.

33OAZsf'eZd 2011.

331Alsfeld 2033.

332Donau 2472-3.

333Donau 2491-7.

334Piitz, p. 93.

335Loc. cit.

336See also proclamator's speeches of Alsfeld 2910-29 and l'acteur
of Mistere 19922-45 and 27430-51.

337Alsf'eld 1905-14.

338Alsfeld 1921.

339Alsfeld 1922-5.

340Alsfeld 1926-37.

341Of course, the episode of Judas, as he attempts to buy back his
Master by returning his blood money, is integrated into Group III
Passions. It constitutes in them as it did in those plays before
the waning of the Middle Ages, an example of both the burden of past
activities and an inability to alter the future. But authors generally
have precious little leeway in removing the scene, a fact which makes
the waneley story, which does avoid it, all the more structurally
impressive.

342Chester XV 289-90.

343Also Tawneley XX 494; Alsfeld 3308-9.

344Aslf’eld 477-9.

345Mistere 21182-9.
346Piitz, p. 106.
347

Mistére BA 26029.

597

348Donau BA 3664, BA 3688.

34983tz, p. 106.

350Brother Cornelius Luke, p. 94.

3511bid., p. 96.
352Ibid., p. 88.

353Alsfeld BA 6739.

354Mfiller, Stil, p. 62.

355P'titz, p. 126.

356Ibid., p. 130.

357D'0nau 3075-80.

358Donau BA 3095.

359Yet another application of significant non-verbal signals of
portentious events can be found in Chester XVII, Christ's descent to
Hell. In this situation the devils contemplate His death, reminding
one another that this Teacher of men has vowed to free Hell of its
captives (105-44). As the second demon reiterates their experience
with Lazarus, there comes a mighty cacaphony, heralding Christ's advent
at the Hellgate: "Tune veniet Ihesus et fiet Clamor vel sonitus materi-
alis magnus” (BA 145). The festive 'Attolite portas' ushers in the
redemption of the damned, which follows immediately. A comparison of
the three remaining Passions reveals a lack of any parallel use of
noises, but I am uncertain whether extraneous sounds were a matter of
tradition at this juncture.

360Pursuant to his investigation of forms of epic recovery, Putz
offers an in-depth review of expositional analysis (pp. 202-7), devoting
several pages to a phenomenon he calls "Parallelfabel" (pp. 207-12).
This concept aims at clarifying persons and events which are formally
bound to those characters of central interest, whose experiences in
some degree dramatically illuminate the situation of the main character.
A similarity of thought, word, or deed may create epic bonds of affinity,
leading far back in time from that of the most important stage person-
ality. Though the ultimate artistic application of the "Parallel-
fabel" involves the playwright's absolute freedom to construct a novel
drama, in late medieval plays we find a near relative, the positive
and negative typology investigated above. This phenomenon is probably
the last degree to which tradition-bound Passions were able to develop.

361Cf. above, pp. 305-7.

362Cf. above, p. 306.

598

3634lsf’eld 175-82.

364Alsfeld 645.

365416fe1d BA 968.

366Alsfeld BA 3670.

367Alsfeld BA 6288.

368See above discussion on Christ and John, pp. 305-7.
36gpfitz, p. 148.
370

Meyers, Figure, pp. 37-8,
3 .
71Ibid., pp. 38-40.

3721bid., pp, 44-5, Meyers further suggests that the sin of
pride was deliberately chosen, as it linked these tyrants to the first
and most destructive sin, which already "had an archetypal quality"
(p. 49).

373Tawneley XXIII 22.

74Towneley XXIV 37.

375Towneley XXVI 31.

376Cf. above, p. 367.

377Meyers, Figure, p. 47.

378Loc. cit.

379Ibui, p. 48.

380Steinbach, p. 162.

381 Donau BA 2154, 2157, 2256, 2263, 2277, 2644.

3‘82007’zau BA 875, 1159, 1473, 1651.

383 Donau BA 3075 .

384 Donau 3201-8 .

385 Donau BA 3209.

386Boletta originally makes these remarks in connection with the
Frankfurter Passionsspiel of 1493. Since Alsfeld is the natural heir
to the Hessian Passion tradition and the immediate benefactor of
Frankfurt, I believe the observations to be germane for it as well.

599

387Alsfeld unnumbered after 2583.

388Alsfeld unnumbered after 2583.

389Boletta, p. 135.

390Cf. Montecassino 318-20.

391Analogous emotional stimuli are included in waneley XXIII 435-
40 and in Alsfeld 6405-9. In an interesting lament by Mulier in
Chester XVII 269-80, the women recalls her sins during her earthly
sojourn and relates them to the torture she must bear while other
souls are vouched safe by the Redeemer.

392Alsfeld l39-40.

393Donau 107-9.

394Mistere 20578-89.

sgsutstere 20596-602.

396For additional instances of epic remembrance, see Alsfeld
650-6 and 2857-62. There may also be found in all Group 111 plays,
but particularly in Mistere, a host of epic remembrances. Most of them
originate from the time of performance and provide little artistic
insight. They seem to be representatives of an unavoidable repetition
of facts by characters and I have excluded them completely.

97Towneley XX 248-79.

98Towneley XXII 152-78. The cured ones are the Architriclinus,
the leper, the Centurion's son, and the blind man. A reference to
Christ's raising people from the grave closes the remarks.

399Chester reveals few tendencies to exploit epic narration;
Mistere employs it even less.

400Chester XVII 25-40.

401Chester XVII 41-54.

4OZChester XVII 57-64.

403Chester XVII 65-80.

404Chester XVII 81-8.

OSTowneley XXV 25-88.

4O§Azsfe1d 7189-7214.

407Towneley XX 78-81.

600

408Towneley XX 92-7.

409waneley XX 110-13.

410waneley XX 98—105.

411Towneley XXI 82—4; 100-2.

412Towneley XXI 73-5.

413Towneley XXI 94-5.

414Ibwneley XXI 96-9.

415Towneley XX 520.

416Other appearances of this type of pro-history may be seen in
Alsfeld 285-94, 324-8, 330-7, 1262-6;lknuu4548-62.

417Cf. above, pp. 320-2.
418Piitz, p. 212.
419

Ibid., p. 213.

4ZOMistere 26048-53.

42iMistere 26054-9.

422Mist5re 26074-139.

423Mdstere 6560-7.

424Piltz, p. 218.

425Ibid., pp. 221-2.

426Froning, p. 265.

427Meyers, Figure, p. 16.

428Froning, p. 261.

429Steinbach, p. 151.

430Goodman, p. 103.

431Meyers, Figure, p. 50.

432Williams, Pilate, p. 27.

433McNeir, p. 607.

601

434Miller, Elemente, p. 84.

435Cf. above, p. 431.

436Cf. above, p. 456.

4
37Ingarden, DLK, p. 130.

438Sister McKean, p. 189.

439Ibid. , p. 188.

440Ibid., p. 108-9.

441Cf. above, pp. 333-4.

LIST OF REFERENCES

LIST OF REFERENCES

Primary References

Deimling, Hermann, ed. The Chester Plays. London: EETS, 1916. 2 vols.
#s 62 and 115.

England, George, ed. The Tawneley Plays. 1897: rpt. London: Oxford
University Press, 1926, pp. 204-292. EETS # 71.

Frank, Grace, ed. La Passion D'Autun. Paria: SATF, 1934.

. La Passion du Palatinus: Mystere du XIVe Siecle. CFMA.
Paris: Champion, 1922.

 

Froning, Richard, ed. "Das Alsfelder Passionsspiel." Das Drama des
.Mittelalters. Deutsche Nationalliteratur, 14. Band. 1891/92; rpt.
Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1964, pp. 567-857.

. "Das Benediktbeurer Passionsspiel." Das Drama des Mittel-
alters. Deutsche Nationalliteratur, 14. Band. 1891/92; rpt.
Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1964, pp. 284-99.

 

. "Das Wiener Passionsspiel." Das Drama des Mittelalters.
Deutsche Nationalliteratur, 14. Band. 1891/92; rpt. Darmstadt:
Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1964, pp. 305-24.

 

Gréban, Arnoul. Le Mistere de la Passion. Ed. Gaston Paris 8 Gaston
Raynaud. Paris: Vieweg, 1871.

Hartl, Eduard, ed. Das Benediktbeurer Passionsspiel. - Das St. Caller
Passionsspiel. Altdeutsche Textbibliothek Nr. 41. Halle: Max
Niemeyer Verlag, 1952, pp. 56-131.

. Das Drama des Mittelalters: Passionsspiele II (Das
Donaueschinger Passionsspiel). Reihe Drama des Mittelalters, Band
4. 1942; rpt. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1966.

 

Inguanez, D.M., ed. "Un dramma della Passione del secolo XII."
.Miscellanea Cassinese, 12 (1936), 7—38. Reprinted by Sandro Sticca,
in The Latin Passion Play: Its Origins and Development. Albany:
State University of New York Press, 1970, part III.

602

603

Consulted References
St. Augustine. Confessionum 11.31. PL 32.816-822.

Bath, Marie. Uhtersuchung des Johannesspiels, der Blindenheilungs- und
der Maria-Magdalenenscenen in den deutschen mittelalterlichen
Passionsspielen mit besonderer Berucksichtigung ihrer Beziehungen
zu den franzosischen Mysterien. Diss. Marburg, 1919.

Bergmann, Rolf. Studien zu Entstehung und Geschichte der Deutschen
Passionsspiele des 13. und 14. Jahrhunderts. Munstersche Mittel-
alter- Schriften, Band 14. Munchen: Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 1972.

Bergson, Henri. Time and Free Will. Trans. F.L. Pogson. New York:
Harper, 1960.

St. Bernard. Liber de Passione Domini. PL 182.1138.

Bloch, Marc. Feudal Society. Trans. L.A. Manyon. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1961.

Bdckmann, Paul. Fbrmgeschichte der Deutschen Dichtung. 3. Auflage.
Hamburg: Hoffmann 8 Campe Verlag, 1967.

Boletta, William L. The Role ofNMusic in Medieval German Drama: Easter
Plays and Passion Plays. Diss. Nashville, 1967.

de Boer, Helmut. "Der Salbenkauf in den lateinischen Osterspielen des
Mittelalters. " Die Textgeschichte der Lateinischen Osterfeiern.
Tubingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag, 1967, pp. 346- 62.

Bowles, Edmund A. "The Role of Musical Instruments in Medieval Sacred
Drama." Musical Quarterly, 45 (1959), 67-84.

Brinkmann, Hennig. "Das religidse Drama im Mittelalter: Arten und Stufen."
Wirkendes Wbrt, IX (1959), 257-74.

. "Die Eigenform des Mittelalterlichen Dramas in Deutschland."
GRM, 18 (1930), 16-37 and 81-98.

 

Brunette, Heinz and Weber, Otto, ed. Evangelisches Kirchenlexikon.
2. Auflage. Gottingen: Vandenhoeck 8 Ruprecht. 1962. III, 1241.

Buland, Mable. The Presentation of'Time in the Elizabethan Drama.
Yale Studies in English, Nr. XLIV. New York: Henry Holt 8 Co., 1912.

Cady, Frank. "The Passion Group In Towneley." .Medern Philology, 10
(1912/13), 587-600.

. "The Wakefield Group in Towneley." JECP, 11 (1912), 244-63.

 

Carey, Millicent. The wakefield Group in the Tawneley Cycle. Hesperia:
' Schriften zur Englischen Philologie, Erganzungsreihe ll. Heft.
Gottingen: Vandenhoeck 8 Ruprecht, 1930.

604

Chambers. E.K. The Medieval Stage. 2 vols. London: Oxford University
Press, 1903.

Christ, Karl. "Das altfranzosische Passionsspiel der Palatina. "
Zeitschrift fur Romanische Philologie, XL (1920), 405- 88.

Cohen, Gustav. Etudes D'Histoire du Theatre en France au Mbyen-Age
et a la Renaissance. 5 ed. Paris: Gallimard, 1956.

. Histoire de la Mise en ScEne dans le Theatre Religieux
Francais du Mbyen Age. Paris: Champion, 1951.

 

. "Le personnage de Marie-Madeleine dans le drame religieux
francais du moyen age." Convivium, xx1v (1956), 141-63.

 

Collins, Fletcher Jr. The Production of'Medieval Church.Music-Drama.
Charlottesville: university Press of Virginia, 1972.

Craig, Hardin. English Religious Drama of’the Middle Ages. Oxford:
The Clarendon Press, 1955.

Creizenach, Wilhelm. Geschichte des Neueren Dramas. 2 vols. 2. Auflage,
1911; rpt. New York: Benjamin Blom, 1965.

Denny, Don. "Notes on the Avignon Pieta." Speculum, XLIV (1969), 213-33.

Dimont, Max I. Jews, God and History. New York: New American Library,
1962.

Dorrer, Anton. HDie Deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters." Verfasser—
lexikon. Ed. Karl Langosch. Berlin: Welter de Gruyter 8 Co.,
1943. II, 711-26.

Dreimfiller, Karl. "Die Musik im geistlichen Spiel des spaten Mittel-
alters." Kirchenmusikalisches Jahrbuch, XXXIV (1950), 27-34.

Edwards, Robert. "Techniques of Transcendence in Medieval Drama."
comparative Drama, VIII (1974), 157-71.

Foster, Frances A. The Northern Passion. EBTS #147. London: Kegan Paul
Trench, Trubner & Co. , 1916.

Frampton, Mendel G. "The Processus Talentorum (Towneley XXIV)." PMLA,
LIX (1944), 646-55.

Frank, Grace. The Medieval French Drama. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1954.

. "The Palatine Passion and the Development of the Passion
Play." RMLA, XXXV (1920), 464—83.

 

. "Vernacular Sources and an Old French Passion Play."
Modern Language Notes, XXXI (1920), 257—69.

 

605

Gamer, Helena M. "Mimes, Musicians, and the Origin of the Mediaeval
Religious Play." Deutsche Beitrage zur Ceistlichen Ueberlieferung,
V (1965), 9-28.

Gardiner, Harold C. Mysteries' End: An Investigation of'the Last Days of
the Medieval Religious Stage. New Haven: Yale University Press,
1946.

Gardner, John. The Construction of'the Nakefield Cycle. Carbondale and
Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1974.

Gerlgtei, Eugen. "Die Vorausdeutung in der Dichtung: Keime einer
Anschauung vom Leben der Dichtung." Helicon, 2 (1939), 53-73.

Ghéon, Henri. The Art of the Theatre. Trans. Adele M. Fiske. New York:
Hill 8 Wang, 1961.

Gilson, Etienne. History of Christian Philosophy in the Middle Ages.
8th ed. New York 6 Toronto: Random House, 1955.

Goodman, Hadassah Posey. Original Elements in French and German Passion
Plays. Diss. Bryn Mawr. 1944.

Gray, Douglas. Themes and Images in the Medieval English Religious
Lyric. London 8 Boston: Routledge 6 Kegan Paul. 1972.

Grieshammer, Rudolf. Sprachgestaltende Krafte im geistlichen schau—
spiel des deutschen Mittelalters. Jenaer Germanistische Forschungen
Nr. 16. Jena: Verlag der Frommannschen Buchhandlung, 1930.

Hardison, O.B. Jr. Christian Rite and Christian Drama in the Middle Ages.
Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1965.

Hartl, Eduard. "Das Drama des Mittelalters.” Deutsche Philologie im
Aufrisz. Ed. Wolfgang Stammler. 2. Auflage. Berlin: Erich Schmidt
Verlag, 1960. 11, 1949-96.

. "Die Entwicklung des Benediktbeurer Passionsspiels."
Euphorion, XLVI (1952), 113-37.

 

. "Untersuchungen zum St. Galler Passionsspiel." Festschrift
fflr wolfgang Stammler. Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag, 1953, 109-29.

 

Hasselblatt, Dieter. Zauber und Logik: Eine Kafha-Studie. Verlag Wissen-
schaft und Politik, 1964. esp. pp. 33-53.

Helmrich, Elsie Winifred. The History of’the Chorus in the German Drama.
1912; rpt. New York: AMS Press, Inc., 1966. pp. 1-22.

Holdschmidt, Hans Carl. ”Der Jude auf dem Theater des Deutschen Mittel-
alters." Die Sehaubuhne. Quellen und FOrschungen zur Theater—
geschichte, Nr. 12. Emsdetten: Heinrich Leichte, 1935.

Honorius of Autun. Speculum ecclesiae de sancto Johanne Baptista. PL
172.965.

606

Hunningher, Benjamin. The Origin of the Theater. The Hague: Martinus
Nijhoff, 1955.

Ingarden, Roman. Das Literarische Kunstwerk. 3. Auflage. Tubingen:
Max Niemeyer Verlag, 1965.

. me Erkennen des Literarischen Kunstwerks. Tubingen:
Max Niemeyer Verlag, 1968.

 

Ingram, R.W. "The Use of Music in English Miracle Plays." Anglia, 7S
(1957), 55-76.

Jeanroy, Alfred. "La Passion Nostre Dame et le 'PElerinage de l'3me.'"
Romania, XXXVI (1907), 361-8.

Jodogne, Omer. "La structure des mysteres francais." Revue Belge de
Philologie et d'Histoire, XLII (1965), 827-42.

. "Le theatre francais du moyen age: recherches sur l'aspect
dramatique des textes." The Medieval Drama. Ed. Sandro Sticca.
Albany: State University of New York Press, 1972, pp. 1-21.

 

. ”Le theatre medieval et sa transmission par 1e livre."
Research Studies, XXXII (1964), 63-75.

 

de Julleville, L. Petit. Les MystEres. '2 vols. Paris: Librarie Hachette
et Cie., 1880.

Junghans, Ferdinand. Die Zeit im Drama. Berlin: Otto Eisner Verlags-
gesellschaft, 1931.

Kayser, Wolfgang. Das Sprachliche Kunstwerk. 13. Auflage. MUnchen:
Francke Verlag, 1968.

Knight, Alan E. "The Medieval Theater of the Absurd." RMLA, 86 (1971).
pp. 183-89.

Knoll, Friedrich-Otto. "Die Rolle der Maria Magdalena im geistlichen
Spiel des Mittelalters: Ein Beitrag zur Kultur- und Theater—

geschichte Deutschlands." Germanisch und Deutsch: Studien zur
Sprache und Kultur, 8. Heft. Berlin and Leipzig: Walter de Gruyter
8 Co., 1934. '

Kolve, V.A. The.Play called Corpus Christi. Stanford: Stanford Univer-
sity Press, 1966.

Kosch, Wilhelm. Deutsches Literaturlixikon. 2. Auflage. Bern: A. Francke
AG Verlag, 1956. III, 1985.

Kretzmann, Paul Edward. The Liturgical Element in the Earliest Forms
of'the Medieval Drama with Special Reference to the English and
German Plays. Studies in Language and Literature, Nr. 4. Minneapolis:
University of Minnesota Press, 1916.

607

Lgmmert, Eberhard. Bauformen des Erzdhlens. 5. Auflage. Stuttgart: J.B.
Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1972.

Lehmann, Paul. "Judas Ischariot in der lateinischen Legendenuberlieferung
des Mittelalters." Erforschung des.Mittelalters. Stuttgart: Anton
Hiersemann, 1959. II, 229-8S.

Luke, Brother Cornelius. The R6le of the Virgin Mary in the Coventry,
York, Chester and Tawneley Cycles. Washington: The Catholic
University of America, 1933.

Lyle, Marie C. The Original Identity of the York and Towneley Cycles.
Studies in Language and Literature, Nr. 6. Minneapolis: University
of Minnesota Press, 1919.

McKean, Sister Mary Faith. The Interplay of Realistic and Flamboyant
Art Elements in the French Mysteres. Studies in Romance Language
and Literatures, vol. LX. Washington: The Catholic University of
America Press, 1959.

McNeir, Waldo F. "The Corpus Christi Passion Plays as Dramatic Art."
Studies in Philology, 48 (1951), 601-28.

Maas, Paul Marie. Etude sur les Sources de la Passion du Palatinus.
Diss. Tiel, 1942. Tiel: St. Maartens, 1942.

Magnus, Rosemarie. Die Christusgestalt im Passionsspiel des deutschen
Mittelalters. Diss. Frankfurt/Main, 1965.

Male, Emile. L'art Religieux du XIIE au XVIIIe sie‘cze. 2e 6d. Paris:
Colin. 1916.

Manning, Robert of Brunne. Meditations on the supper of our Lord, and
the Hours of'the Passion, by Cardinal John Bonaventura.
Ed. J. Meadows Cowper. London: EETS, 1875. #60.

Marshall, Mary H. "Aesthetic Values of the Liturgical Drama." Medieval
English Drama: Essays critical and Contextual. Ed. Jerome Taylor
and Alan H. Nelson. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago
Press, 1972. pp. 28-43.

. "The dramatic tradition established by the liturgical plays."
PMLA, LVI (1941), 962-91.

 

Mathieu, Michel. "Le personnage du marchand de parfums dans le theatre
médiéval en France." Le Mayen Age, 74 (1968), 39-71.

Meier, Theo. Die Gestalt Marias im geistliche schauspiel des deutschen
.Mittelalters. Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag, 1959.

Meyerhoff, Hans. Time in Literature. Berkley 8 Los Angeles: University
of California Press, 1960.

 

608

Meyers, Walter E. A Figure Given: Typology in the Hakefield Plays.
Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press, 1970.

Michael, Wolfgang F. Das Deutsche Drama des Mittelalters. Berlin 8
New York: Walter de Gruyter 8 Co., 1971.

. "Deutsche Literatur bis 1500: Drama." Kurzer Grundrisz der
Germanischen Philologie Bis 1500. Ed. Ludwig Erich Schmitt. Berlin:
Walter de Gruyter 8 Co., 1971, II, 537-607.

 

. Die Ceistlichen Prozessionsspiele in Deutschland. Hesperia,
Nr. 22. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1947.

 

. "Tradition and Originality in the Medieval Drama in Germany."
The Medieval Drama. Ed. Sandro Sticca. Albany: State University of
New York Press, 1972, pp. 23-37.

 

Molitor, R. ”Passionsspiel und Passionsliturgie." Benediktinische
Manatsschrift, V (1923), 105-16.

Muller, GUnther. HErza'hlzeit und erzahltezeit." in Festschrift far
Paul Kluckhohn und Hermann schneider Gewidmet zu Ihrem 60.
Geburtstag. TUbingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag, 1948, pp. 195-212.

Muller, Maria. Tragische Elemente im deutschen Passionsspiel des Mittel-
alters. Diss. Gottingen, 1952.

Muller, Walther. Der schauspielerische Stil im Passionsspiel des
Mittelalters. Form und Geist: Arbeiten zur Germanischen PhilolOgie,
I. Ed. Lutz Mackensen. Leipzig: Hermann Eichbaltt Verlag, 1927.

Nelson, Alan H. "Some Configurations of Staging in Medieval English
Drama." Medieval English Drama. Ed. Jerome Taylor and Alan H.
Nelson. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1972.

. The Medieval English Stage: Corpus Christi Pageants and Plays.
Chicago 6 London: University of Chicago Press, 1974.

 

Niedner, Helmut. Die deutschen und franzgsischen Osterspiele bis zum
15. Jahrhundert: ein Beitrag zur Theatergeschichte des Mittelalters.
Berlin: Ebering, 1932.

Noomen, W. "Passages narratifs dans les drames médiévaux francais."
Revue Belge de Philologie et d'Histoire, XXXVI (1958), 761-85.

Osthoff, Helmuth. "Die Musik im Drama des deutschen Mittelalters."
Deutsche Musikkultur, VIII (1943), 29-40.

Owst, G.R. Literature and Pulpit in Medieval England. Cambridge: The
University Press, 1933. '

Petsch, Robert. Wesen und Formen des Dramas. Halle: Max Niemeyer Verlag,
1945.

609

Pickering, F.P. "Das gotische Christusbild, Zu den Quellen mittelalter-
lichen Passionsdarstellung." Euphorion, 47 (1953), 16-37.

. Literature and Art in the Middle Ages. Macmillan 5 Co., 1970.

 

Picot, E. "Le monologue dramatique dans l'ancien theatre francais."
Romania, XV (1884), 358-422 and XVI (1887), 438-542.

Poulet, Georges. ”The Course of Human Time.” Trans. Elliott Coleman.
The Hopkins Review, Spring-Summer (1953), 7-35.

Priestley, J.B. Man and Time. Garden City: Doubleday 8 Co., 1964.

Prosser, Eleanor. Drama and Religion in the English Mystery Plays: A
Re-evaluation.Standord Studies in Language and Literature, Nr. 23.
Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1961.

Pseudo-Anselm. Dialogus Mariae et Anselmi de Passione Domini. X. PL 159.
282-283.

Putz, Peter. Die Zeit Im Drama: Zur Technik Dramatischer Spannung.
Gottingen: Vendenhoeck 8 Ruprecht,1970.

Robinson, J.W. "The Late Medieval Cult of Jesus and the Mystery Plays."
RMLA, LXXX (1965), 508-14.

Rossiter, A.P. English Drama from Early Times to the Elizabethans: Its
Origins and Development. 3rd ed. London: Hutchinson 5 Co., 1958.

Rost, Hans. Die Bibel im Mittelalter: Beitrgge zur Geschichte und
Bibliographie der Bibel. Augsburg: Kommissions-Verlag M. Seitz,
1939.

Roy, Emile. Le Mystere de la Passion en France du XIVe au XVIe Siecle.
Revue Bourguignonne, Tome XIII, Nos. 3—4. Dijon: L'Uhiversité de
Dijon, 1903.

Rudick, Michael. "Theme, Structure, and Sacred Context in the Benedikt-
beuern 'PassiOn' Play." Speculum, 49 (1974), 267486.

Rudwin, Maximilian Josef. Der Teufel in den deutschen geistlichen
Spielen des Mittelalters und der Reformationszeit. Gottingen:
Vandenhoeck 6 Ruprecht,1915.

Salter, F.M. Medieval Drama in Chester. 1955; rpt. New York: Russell 8
Russell, 1968.

Saxer, Victor. Le Culte de Marie Madeleine en Occident: Des Origines a
la Fin du Meyen Age. 2 vols. Auxerre 6 Paris: Librarie Clavreuil,
1959. '

Scholes, Robert 6 Kellog, Robert. The Nature of'Narrative. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1966.

610

Schreiber, Cecile. "L'Univers compartimente du theatre medieval."
French Review, XLI (1968), 468—78.

Schuler, Ernst A. DieAMusik der Osterfeiern, Osterspiele und Passionen
des.Mittelalters.Kasse1 G Basel: Barenreiter, 1951.

Schumacher, Fr. "Les Elements Narratifs de la Passion D'Autun et Les
Indications Sceniques du Drame Médiéval." Romania, XXXVII (1908),
570-93.

Schwietering, Julius. "Der liturgische Ursprung des geistlichen Spiels. "
Philologische Schriften. Munchen: Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 1969.
pp. 254- 68.

Sepet, Marius. Le Drame Religieux au Mbyen Age. 3e 6d. Paris: Librarie
Bloud G Cie., 1908.

Slawinska, Irena. "Les problemes de la structure du drame. " Stil- und
Formprobleme in der Literatur. Ed. Paul Bockmann. Heidelberg:
Carl Winter, 1961. pp. 108-14.

Staiger, Emil. Grundbegriffe der Poetik. 8. Auflage. Zfirich: Atlantis
Verlag, 1968.

Steinbach, Rolf. Die Deutschen Oster— und Passionsspiele des Mittelalters.
Versuch einer Darstellung und Wesensbestimmung nebst einer Biblio-
graphie zum geistlichen Spiel des Mittelalters. Kolner Germanistische
Studien, Band 4. Ed. Paul Bockmann. Koln G Wien: Bohlau Verlag, 1970.

Stevens, Martin. "The Composition of the Towneley Talents Play: A
Linguistic Examination." JEGP, LVIII (1959), 423-33.

Sticca, Sandro. "Drama and Spirituality in the Middle Ages." Medievalia
et Humanistica, New Series, Number 4 (1973), 70-8.

. The Latin Passion Play: Its Origins and Development.
Albany: State University of New York Press, 1907.

 

. "Officium Passionis Domini. An Unpublished Manuscript of the
Fourteenth Century." Franciscan Studies, Vol 34, Annual XII (1974),
144-99.

 

Stopp, Hugo. Untersuchungen zum St. Galler Passionsspiel. Diss. Saar-
brucken,1959.

Taylor, G.C. "The English Corpus Christi Play and the Middle English
Lyric." Modern Philology, V (1907), 1-38).

Thompson, Alan Reynolds. The Anatomy of'Drama. Berkeley 8 Los Angeles:
University of California Press, 1946.

Thulin, Oskar. Johannes der Taufer im geistlichen Sehauspiel des Mittel-
alters und der Reformationszeit. Studien uber christliche Denkmaler,

Nr. 19. Leipzig: Dietrich, 1930.

611

Travis, Peter W. "The Dramatic Strategies of Chester's Passion Pagina."
Comparative Drama, VIII (1974), 275—89.

Tuchman, Barbara. "Hazards on the way to the Middle Ages." The Atlantic
Monthly, 236, #6 (Dec. 1975), 72-8.

Weber, Sarah Appleton. "The Theology of Sacred History." Theology and
Poetry in the Middle English Lyric. Columbus: Ohio State Univer-
sity Press, 1969, pp. 1-15.

Werner, Wilfried. Studien zu den Passions- und Osterspielen des deutschen
Mittelalters in.ihrem Uebergang vom Latein zur Vblkssprache.
Philologisehe Studien und Quellen, Heft 18. Berlin: Erich Schmidt
Verlag, 1963.

Wickham, Glynne. Early English Stages: 1300 to 1600. 2 vols. London:
Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1959.

. The Medieval Theatre. London: Weidenfeld G Nicolson, 1974.

 

Williams, Arnold. The Characterization of'Pilate in the Towneley Plays.
East Lansing: Michigan State College Press. 1950.

. The Drama of’Medieval England. East Lansing: Michigan State
University Press, 1961.

 

. "Medieval Allegory: An Operational Approach." Papers of the
Midwest Modern Language Association, I (1969), 77-82.

 

Wimmer, Ruprecht. Deutsch und Latein im Osterspiel: Untersuchungen zu
den Volkssprachlicnen Entsprechungstexten der Lateinischen Storphen-
lieder. Munchen: C. H. Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1974.

Wolff, Ludwig. "Die Verschmelzung des Dargestellten mit der Gegenwarts-
wirklichkeit im geistlichen Drama des deutschen Mittelalters."
DVjs, 7 (1929), 267-304.

Woolf, Rosemary. The English Religious Lyric in the Middle Ages. Oxford:
The Clarendon Press, 1968.

Young, Karl. The Drama of the Medieval Church. 2 vols. Oxford: The
Clarendon Press, 1933.

Zumthor, Paul. Easai de Poetique Médiévale. Paris: Editions du Seuil,
1972.

612
General References

Ackermann, Friedrich. "Das Spannungsgefflge des Dramas." Wirkendes wort,
13 (1963), 41- 52.

Bates, Katherine. The English Religious Drama. New York 8 London:
Macmillan 6 Co., 1893.

The Venerabale Bede. "Meditatio Horae Sextae." Paraenetica. PL 94. 566-567.

Bergsgn, Henri. Essai sur Les Donnees Immediates de la Conscience. Genéve:
Editions Albert Skira, n.d.

. Matter and.Memory. 5th edition. Trans. Nancy M. Paul G W.
Scott Palmer. New York: Macmillan, 1929.

 

. Memoire et Vie. 38 Edition. Paris: Presses Universitaires de
France, 1968.

 

. Mind-Energy: Lectures and Essays. Trans. H. Wildon Carr.
New York: Holt 6 Co., 1920.

 

Boulton, Marjorie. The Anatomy of Drama. London: Routledge 8 Kegan Paul,
1960.

St. Bruno. Expositio Psalmorum. PL 142. 110.

Didron, M. Iconographie Chrétienne. Paris: Imprimerie Royale, 1843.

Duriez, Georges. La Theologie dans le Drame Religieux en Allemagne au
Moyen Age. Memoires et Travaux, Fascicule XI. Lille: Rene Giard,
1914.

Ebe1,Uda.Das Altromanische Mirakel: Ursprung und Geschichte einer
literarischen Gattung" Studia Romanica, 8. Heft. Heidelberg:

Carl Winter Universitatsverlag, 1965.

Ermatinger, Emil. Die Kunstform des Dramas. 2. Auflage. Leipzig:
Quelle 8 Meyer, 1931.

Hamburger, Kathe. Die Logik der Dichtung. 2. Auflage. Stuttgart: Ernst
Klett Verlag, 1968.

. "Zum Strukturproblem der epischen und dramatischen Dichtung."
DVjs, 25 (1951), 1-26.

 

Hartl, Eduard. Osterfeiern. 2 vols. Reihe Drama des Mittelalters.
Leipzig: Verlag von Philipp Reclam jun., 1937.

Hase, Karl. Miracle Plays and Sacred Dramas. Trans. A.W. Jackson.
London: Trubner 6 Co. 1880.

613

Hebeisen, Hans-Martin. Versuch einer Ontologischen Analyse der Zeit und
der Handlung unter Besonderer Berficksichtigung der Aesthetik des
Dramas. Diss. Zfirich, 1961.

Hoffman, Maria Norberta. Die Magdalenenszenen im geistlichen Spiel des
deutschen Mittelalters. Diss. Mfinster, 1933. unavailable

Jacquot, Jean. "Theatre Medieval et Tragédie Elisabethaine." Le Theatre
Tragique. Paris: ditions du Centre National de la Recherche
Scientifique, 1962. pp. 89-105.

Jeanroy, Alfred. Le Theatre Religieux en Langue Franqaise Jusqu'd la
Fin du XIVe Siecle. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1959.

Kienast, Richard. "Die Deutschsprachige Lyrik des Mittelalters."
Deutsche Philologie im Aufrisz. Ed. Wolfgang Stammler. 2. Auflage.
Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag, 1960. II, 1- 132.

Klotz, Volker. Geschlossene und offene Form im Drama. Munchen: Carl Hanser
Verlag, 1961.

Koischwitz, Otto. Der Theaterherold im deutschen Schauspiel des.Mittel-
alters und der Reformationszeit. Germanische Studien Nr. 46.
Berlin: Ebering, 1926. -

Karner, Josef. Bibliographisches Handbuch des Deutschen Schrifttums.
3. Auflage. Bern G Munchen: Francke Verlag, 1966. pp. 129-31.

Kroll, Joseph. Gott und Hglle: Der Mythos vom Descensuskampf. Studien
der Bibliothek Warburg, XX. Leipzig: Teubner, 1932.

Kurtz, John William. "An Interpretation of the Stage Plan of the
Donaueschingen Passion Play." Germanic Review, X (1935), 219-22.

. Studies in the Staging of the German Religious Drama of'the
Late Middle Ages. Diss. Illinois, 1932.

 

II
Kustner, Paula. Judas in der Auffassung der Passionsspiele. Diss.
Frankfurt 8 Wien, 1918. unavailable

Lebegue, R. "La Passion d"Arnou1 Gréban." Romania, LX (1934), 218-31.

Mattfeld, Jacquelyn A. "Some Relationships between Texts and Cantus Firmi
in the Liturgical Motets of Josquin des Pres." American Musicological
society Journal, XIV (1961), 159-83.

Mendilow, A.A. Time and the Novel. London: Peter Nevill, 1952.

Michael, Wolfgang. "Das deutsche Drama und Theater vor der Reformation."
DVjs, XXXI (1957),106-53. '

. "Das deutsche Drama und Theater vor der Reformation." DVjs,
XLII (1973), 1-47.

 

614

Michael, Wolfgang. "Problems in Editing Medieval Dramas." GR, XXIV
(1949), 108-15.

Muller, Gunther. Die Bedeutung der Zeit. Bonn: Universitatsverlag, 1947.

Nagler, Alois Maria. The Medieval Religious Stage: Shapes and Phantoms.
New Haven, Yale University Press, 1976.

Pacht, Otto. The Rise of'Pictorial Narrative in TwelfthaCentury England.
Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1962.

Roddy, Kevin. "Epic Qualities in the Cycle Plays." Medieval Drama.
Stratford-Upon-Avon Studies Nr. 16. Ed. Neville Denny. London:
Edward Arnold, 1973. pp. 155-72.

Salter, Frederick, ed. The Trial and Flagellation. Publications of the
Malone Society. London: Oxford University Press, 1936.

Schmidt, Leopold. "Zur Innengeschichte der Deutschen Passionsspiele. "
Volk und Volkstum. Munchen: Gorresgesellschaft, 1931. pp. 211— 31.

Schumacher, Ernst. HGeschichte und Drama." Sinn und Form, 11, part 2
(1959), S79-620.

Smolden, William L. "The Melodies of Medieval Church-Dramas and Their
Significance." Comparative Drama, II (1968), 185-209.

Staiger, Emil. Die Zeit als Einbildungskraft des Dichters. 2. Auflage.
Zurich: Atlantis Verlag, 1953.

Stemmler, Theo. Liturgische Feiern und Geistliche Spiele. Buchreihe der
Anglia, 15. Band. Tubingen: Max Niemener Verlag, 1970.

Sullivan, Sister John. A Study of the Themes of'the sacred Passion in the
Medieval Cycle Plays. Diss. Washington, D.C, 1943. Washington:
The Catholic University of America Press, 1943.

Tunison, Joseph S. Dramatic Traditions of the Dark Ages. 1907; rpt.
New York: Burt Franklin, 1970.

Wechssler, Eduard. Die Romanischen Marienklagen. Halle: Max Niemeyer
Verlag, 1893.