ABSTRACT

LUDUS COVENTRIAE AND THE BOSSES IN THE NAVE
CH? NORWICH CATHEDRAL: THE CHRISTIAN
IiISTORY OF MAN IN TWO DISCIPLINES

By'

Helen S. Sherman

The bosses in the nave of Norwich Cathedral, carved
with scenes from the Old and New Testaments, express the

message of salvation through the church. Ludus Coventriae,

a Corpus Christi play, expresses the same message and is

built on the same materials. The similarity of program, in
conjunction with other similarities between the two,

prompted this paper, which compares and contrasts the
sculpture and drama in relation to the possibilities and

limitations of the two media, and questions the effect of

medium on form and the power of expression. Two tangential
areas are also considered: first, Emile Male's theory of

dramatic influence on art, and, second, the likelihood that

 

Ludus Coventriae, place of origin unknown, was created in

Norwich, a theory propounded by Mark Eccles.

Beginning with an examination of the many similari-
ties between the sculpture and the play, the present study

reviews both the histories of the two works and their

n: 05 r

W "'
I .
1' "IOFW
.. '.:“ ‘
, 0-.“ R’

a...aUu

‘0

. pn-
u
...-.ci 0

,. uznv -V
‘: ”dosinv.

"may. ‘5‘

- . l
"3 HI. fi‘
“lung“ V‘

;-o.
., "I”QV
’“"Uvfi

I.‘ ‘
h. ‘ “:-
tb-
N‘;.‘
\ in ~:‘
' I
4““
‘
|‘ ‘
. s ‘
Q“ 5" H‘-
i.‘
Q
2" .

u
5
‘
3.1.9

Helen S. Sherman
relations to their respective disciplines. The works are

then analyzed with respect to the choice of incidents,

organization and the effects on them of their different

traditions . Next,

the problems of medium are considered

and the manner in which form is affected by medium.

Finally, the technical qualities of Ludus Coventriae and

the bosses are evaluated.

In conclusion, the comparison reveals that, although

alike in general purpose, the play and the sculpture each

have a separate function of its own; the play must enter-

tain and the bosses must form part of the symbolic

decoration of the church. Some noticeable differences in

the characters of the two arts are pointed out; the drama,

for example, confronts the spectator actively in contrast

to the passivity of the sculpture. As the comparison

develops no evidence emerges to indicate interaction between

the drama and the sculpture.

This lack, in conjunction

with the gaps in Male's theory, makes the theory inappli-

cable to this particular comparison. It confirms that, as

other scholars have warned, Male's theory is only valid

when careful attention is paid to dates of works and when a

number of other factors are taken into account. Nothing

appears in the course of the comparison either to support or

deny Eccles' contention that Ludus Conventriae originated

in Norwich .

.,.n
x

’71

in
«.x

LUDUS COVENTRIAE AND THE BOSSES IN THE NAVE

 

(DF"NORWICH CATHEDRAL: THE CHRISTIAN

}TISTORY OF MAN IN TWO DISCIPLINES

BY

Helen S? Sherman

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to
Michigan State University
jJi partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Department of Arts and Letters

1976

\12

C;
’0
tn

 

*1. ix.“ ‘

‘
H. " flu;-

.
“' 0- Jay

1
7'“. :In
‘hbu a..‘u
' Q

"“an ’

b
"Own-q: &

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am grateful to my committee, Professors John

Yunck, Molly Smith, and Marjorie Gesner,

for their helpful
guidance and unfailing assistance. A special word of

thanks is due Professor Alan Nelson for his valuable con-
sultation and for the use of his photographs. To my family

and friends I am thankful for their patience and encourage-
ment.

ii

.m n.5,...-
' O

‘ 4'
.n noun“...

‘IO .v‘qgl

I , _ u
.n .‘n.~~

'1" ARI: I
r ' !
n.‘na'~dd ' \

Q .
v-01;
v.0“.-.

FL:
’ “I.

I- ‘n
"s” ‘3
.5...»

CF.

"I. CI:
“'0 u.”

t.

\_"‘ R. Q.
J41“.

'"RNA

\.
’12}

a...“

50‘

‘7
.0

(I
Is
..
J

\
~.=.‘~,_
‘.
.
‘\~
“: .
1
‘\
.‘._
¢ VI ‘

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FIGURES . . . . . . . . . . . .
PLATES . . . . . . . . . . . .
TRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . .
Similarities between Ludus Coventriae and

the Norwich Bosses. . . .

Emile Male' 8 Theory of Dramatic Influence
on Art. . . . . . . . . . . .

 

E HISTORY OF LUDUS COVENTRIAE AND THE
NORWICH BOSSES. . C O O C O O O O

 

DUS COVENTRIAE AND THE NORWICH BOSSES:

 

LIST OF
LIST OF
I. IN
II. TH
III. LU
IV. ME
V. SU
APPENDIX
IKATES .

IJST OF WORKS CITED. . . . . . . . . .

THE HISTORY OF MAN . . . . . . . .

The Creation and the Fall of Man. . . .
Punishment and Reward: Cain and Noah . .
Abraham and Moses: Prefigurations of

Christ. . . . . . . . . . . .
Transition to the New Testament:

Kings and Prophets. . . . . . . .
The Birth of Christ . . . . . . . .
The Public Life of Christ . . . . .
The Passion of Christ and the Salvation

of Man. . . . . . . . . . . .

DIUM AND TECHNIQUE IN LUDUS COVENTRIAE
AND THE NORWICH BOSSES . . . . . . .

 

MMARY. . . . . . . . . . . . .

iii

Page

iv

11

15

43

47
58

67
74
77
96

112

149
193
201

205
263

'5

In. t I
a

I” .~"r
-' w

' m. Olin.
9‘ G'
'F- 'lr:
“" t he
I-

. an; i
“ lily 1
d

U .1
': \‘ '4

LIST OF FIGURES

 

Figure Page
1. The Punishment of Salome . . . . . . . 13
2. The Identification System. . . . . . . 45
3. The First Bay. . . . . . . . . . . 46
4. A Page from the Biblia Pauperum. . . . . 57
S. The Sixth Bay. . . . . . . . . . . 179

iv

I'-
. mulch

- £1930!

Plate

1.

2.

18.
19.

20.

LIST OF PLATES

The City of Norwich Today . .

Norwich Cathedral. . . . . . .

Interior of the Nave. . . . . .

S4, The Creation of Eve. . . . .

C4, The Fall of Man . . . . . .

C7, Cain with the Jawbone . . . .

C10,
C14,
C16,
C17,
C19,
C21,
C22,
C23,
C28,
C33,
C34,

Noah in the Ark. . . . . .
The Tower of Babel. . . . .
Abraham and Isaac . . . . .
Isaac Blessing Jacob . . . .
Sarah at the Tent Door . . .
Jacob Wrestling with the Angel.
Jacob Peeling the Rods . . .
Jacob's Ladder . . . . . .
Joseph in the Well. . . . .
Moses and the Burning Bush . .

Pharoah and His Men Drowning in

Red Ser . . . . . . . . .

N35,
C35,
C39,

Parting the Red Sea . . . .
Ark of the Covenant . . . .

David and Goliath . . . . .

Page
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219

220

221
222
223

224

Plate Page
21. C40, David . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
22. (:42, Solomon . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
‘23. C44, The Annunciation . . . . . . . . . 227
24. C46, The Birth of Christ . . . . . . . . 223
25. N47, The Annunciation to the Shepherds. . . . 229
26. C47, The Visitation . . . . . . . . . . 230
27. C48, Herod . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
28. C49, The Flight into Egypt. . . . . . . . 232
29. C50, Christ with the Doctors in the Temple . . 233
30. C51, The Marriage at Cana . . . . . . . . 234
31. C52, The Baptism . . . . . . . . . . . 235
32. C53, The Raising of Lazarus . . . . . . . 236
33. N53, Christ, The Temptation . . . . . . . 237
34. 853, The Demon, The Temptation . . . . . . 238
35. N57, Christ Giving Peter the Keys . . . . . 239
36. C58, The Last Supper. . . . . . . . . . 240
37. C60, Christ Washing the Feet of the Apostles. . 241
38. 560, A Prophet with a Scroll . . . . . . . 242
39. C61, The Agony in the Garden . . . . . . . 243
40. C64, Pilate Washing His Hands. . . . . . . 244
41. C65, The Blindfolding . . . . . . . . . 245
42. C66, The Betrayal. . . . . . . . . . . 245
43. C68, Nailing Christ to the Cross. . . . . . 247
44. C69, Dicing for Christ's Robe. . . . . . . 243

45. $69, Preparing the Sponge . . . . . . . . 249

vi

an H‘
.Ip

',~' 00"

v :‘I W‘n
" 3.1
.-

£9:

Plate Page

46. C70, The Crucifixion . . . . . . . . . . 250
47. C71, The Entombment . . . . . . . . . . 251
48. C74, The Resurrection. . . . . . . . . . 252
49. N74, Christ's Appearance to Mary Magdalen . . . 253
50. C76, The Ascension. . . . . . . . . . . 254
51. C78, Pentecost . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
52. N80, The Devil Taking Souls to Hell . . . . . 256
53. C80, The Devil Putting Souls in Hell. . . . . 257

54. C81, A Demon Wheeling a Man in a Barrow with the
Ale-Wife on his Back . . . . . . . . . 258

55. C82, The Last Judgment . . . . . . . . . 259
56. C83, St. Peter O C O O O O O O O O O O 260
57. $84, Souls Being Led to Paradise . . . . . . 261

58. C84, The Trinity 0 C O O O O O O O O O 262

vii

a ‘

I! 9"
H
H... .01
‘ '0
..._., . .,

\~
“I-u 0. b.

C
“20:: qr V 1
'u‘aOv ‘0 a

‘ ‘ u ‘-
3' " M- 1"!
‘Oo‘ u¢gg

a

'..' 2"” .
‘jduu a n

\
I
.l
film
'1 n
Aheae
I,‘
."A:
“Q, h,
4“
I
‘6

k. .

. ., A
y.

a“ OLd

3“:

"Tuvfiho

I. INTRODUCTION

The tall Spire of Norwich Cathedral, so striking
when seen in the distance, reflects only a small part of
the grandeur of the interior. Here, in perfect harmony,
the early Middle Ages intermingles with the later in one
of England's noblest churches. It has an air of its own;
Westminster Abbey is sumptuous, splashed with color from
silken banners, and Canterbury, every way larger, is quietly
busy with its crowds of pilgrims solemnly seeking Beckett's
shrine. But the primary quality that impresses the visitor
to Norwich is a serene and gracious dignity, warmed and
mellowed by its cream colored stone from Caen, a dignity at
once simple and sophisticated. And this Spirit of the
cathedral is wholly and beautifully expressed in one of its
most distinctive features, the bosses in the vaults of the
nave.

These bosses, stone plaques, vaguely round, carved
in relief and painted, cover the intersections of the ribs
in the vaults (Figure 3). The sculptures on them are scenes
from the Old and New Testaments in an order roughly

chronological. These not only decorate the ceiling but

pa-

.
,.g 0'.
n

”a. v04 v

E “9'31-

‘Iv

',...-.u-O
. .

:4 .-—: o. v I

. .
--9,a,. 9y
.-

rcovo J,

.a-q-J-o u ,-
_

nvuuvi uéfi
.

u
on.» ’Q

U
’"I" .6.
.

.
“": A9 ,‘
w-v J. \
'I

3 '52::
"" ova.

I" .
""‘au - 7

uu.,‘:.l

‘~ “' fl
I. ‘\ .H
ud‘J‘.

s, ‘
‘ .:.A‘ .
uu'.:.l ', c
‘ V
J \,‘F‘I
u. 4
.“3 C
K
1‘“ '

\
5 ”A
"Lj'v I!
‘ u
1 .1?
'U‘Qfl '

”:‘A' u
"‘1? 1

i V
U ”\‘l
' «c1. #-
5"

:f‘» ‘
NJ ,
‘l
3
'7 V.
N

also bear a message, for they exemplify the medieval View

of man and the world as the church presented it to the
people: a world where faith was paramount, founded on the
Old Testament, informed by the teachings of Christ,
structured by the Sacraments and ending in salvation.

This conception of life was the guiding or controlling
principle, in fact, for the major works of the medieval
period in all disciplines: the windows of Chartres, the wall

paintings of Giotto or the Biblia Pauperum to name just a

 

few. The reason is that the clergy, the nobility, govern—
ment officials, i.e., all those with the means or the power
to commission art works, were taught and shared the same
conception. In the case of the bosses the intention to be
meaningful is evident in the selection and arrangement of
subjects which take a coherent form, employing chronology,
emphasizing narrative, allotting space significantly. The
elaborately sculptured facades of some Gothic churches also
reveal such planning but it is rare in bosses, and only at
Norwich is there a narrative sequence of bosses on such a
scale. The cycle is, in fact, close to being unique.

Among the extant medieval English drama cycles
structured in a similar way, of chronologically ordered

scriptural subjects, Ludus Conventriae is especially

 

interesting because it is contemporary with the Norwich
bosses, dating from the last part of the fifteenth century.
It is a collection of plays in which selections from the

01d and New Testaments are dramatized, complete individually

but forming a cycle of the kind called a Corpus Christi play
when taken together. Such a play represents the height of
dramatic develOpment at the end of the Middle Ages, and

Ludus Conventraie, one of the few that have survived, is

 

unequalled in some ways. One is its skillful use of theater
and another is its intellectuality: that is, where the
authors of other plays are satisfied to use religious
clichés when discussing the mysteries of the faith, the

author of Ludus Conventriae offers his audience solid

 

 

theological reasoning of rather a high order. Examples will
be given later. Another intriguing thing about the play

is that is place of origin is unknown. Many scholars have
Speculated about it, but so far no one has proved its
provenance beyond a doubt. Recently Mark Eccles has put

forward a theory that Ludus Coventriae originated in the
l

 

city of Norwich itself, and this exciting possibility would

make any parallels between the bosses and Ludus Coventriae

 

even more significant.

Here, then, are two large Christian works based on
Scripture, from the same time, with the same message--
perhaps even from the same place. The major purpose of
this study will be to explore the parallels between two
diSparate yet similar works; we will compare and contrast
them, particularly with respect to the inherent qualities,

possibilities and limitations, of the two media employed,

lMedium Aevum 40 (1971), 135-141.

 

A
r“ "v e

" 'iOV

”in )“'
-"‘I A."

I’ '
Juv“c

‘ I
.1
..-co '

...; "F.
.‘_.. A...

r“ .o. I!-

l': “a

in.“ 3" r

monv ~

I. ,
.. .nnn. ,

I
a' IvoA~.\
.

.- .X..‘ A?
" 'DOOVOC 1

‘-
1" T
IO. vv‘

‘

,,u
-2 F N
O‘O'U 4‘

‘ l fl‘
“Ibn

" '44:: in:

”'2". w
n:.“.‘at

 

question the effect of medium on form and the power of
expression, and perhaps arrive at some conclusions regarding
the differing intentions and accomplishments of sculpture
and drama. To begin with, in the balance of this intro-
duction, we will look more fully at the inescapable
similarities between the bosses and the play and then
briefly consider Emile Male's theory of dramatic influence
on art which may explain why some of the similarities exist.
After this discussion Chapter II will summarize the
histories and backgrounds of the play and the sculptures,
and in Chapter III I will compare the two cycles, noting
the organization of subject matter in each, as well as
similarities and differences in the choice of subjects, and
the way in which they are affected by the difference in
their respective traditions. Chapter IV will deal more
intensively with the tOpic of medium, and analyze the

technical qualities of the bosses and Ludus Conventriae,

 

concluding with an evaluation of Male's theory in relation
to them. The last chapter will present some conclusions
about the nature of these different art forms and Gothic
art in general.

Similarities between Ludus Coventriae
and the Norwich Bosses

 

Content is, without doubt, the single most important
factor when comparing the sculpture and the play. As in

all Corpus Christi cycles Ludus Coventriae relates the

 

-I‘
I " ”d
J. “uh-o4
‘
t
0" "3. 5
U
*.|dv

.
.1.‘ I F
0‘, ’ s C
a- V“

a

. _..w

. '1“
;--.oJO"

-v-II ‘L;
~ - \
-'w-- in“.

V I
f" oua t
‘I-- '04:

n
n.‘,- I.

~‘--.: «.16?

":1“, P}-
nulu.v."

l..MP' :- -

‘Iv'. w J.‘:
u ‘ .

s . ‘

‘- saw

.::". n

v
‘-
.. 'Y 1
"Q.I a
0 fi
;, _ .
‘Q
i, u'.‘
‘iw‘.
0
O
.l.

m1. Crde

'3‘», C
~..u' 0
4 o

history of mankind from the creation to the last judgment.
It includes selected stories from the Old Testament which
prophesy the coming of Christ or which relate to the theme
of salvation, and the major incidents of the New Testament--
especially the nativity, passion and resurrection. Kolve
interprets this to mean that a Corpus Christi play is

based on the three advents of God, that is, the three
occasions when God intervenes directly into human affairs:
the creation, incarnation and last judgment.2 Legends from
the Apocrypha fill the gaps in the narrative, making the
story complete and adding human interest.

The cycle of bosses over the nave of Norwich
cathedral, 255 in number, covers the same subject matter
generally, although some variation occurs in the selection
of incidents. Some parts of the sequences are out of
Biblical order within a single bay owing to the artistic
necessity of placing the most important scenes along the

3

center ridge rib but no other significant pattern can be

2V. A. Kolve, The Pla Called Corpus Christi
58.

(Stanford, Ca1., 1966), p. He apparently takes no
account of the flood or the giving of the law on Mt. Sinai.

 

3Such a concern is interesting in view of the fact
that a visitor can only see the bosses clearly from the
floor of the church on a bright and sunny day: even then it
is hard to take in the whole series because holding one's
head all the way back in order to look straight up quickly
becomes very uncomfortable. Nowadays mirror-topped tables
on wheels roll up and down the aisles and make viewing easy,
but the medieval worshipper did not have the freedom to move
about during the service and so for another reason had
trouble reading the whole series.

u - b. ‘
'1 "‘ fit
'I.‘ on V

C

Q
".3"? 51:5
‘p'. v. u

.‘u A: f”...
If: UL La;

2;" 7“»
N. G-‘:

I" .‘I! .

~.' 2"

I‘ 1‘ 1m
:-'

11“- ‘
,I‘ ‘atfi
‘ and 4

observed. (The exact design will be described in
Chapter III.) There is also occasional inexplicable
disarray in the placement of the bosses, perhaps because
of the carelessness of the workmen or their failure
properly to identify the subjects. This is a difficulty
the viewer also faces; experience in viewing many other
examples of Christian art is necessary to recognize the
subjects, especially with figures dressed in Gothic
clothing and with Gothic appurtenances.4

The presentation of Bible stories according to the
prevailing traditions was a commonplace in the large scale,
public work of art of the Gothic period;5 it was meant to
honor and glorify God, and to represent with tender and
reverent affection, in a way which would appeal to the
people and impress them, the "theological" facts on which
their hOpe of salvation rested. Therefore, as Gothic style
required, the lives of Mary and Joseph were embellished
with many details and, although treated with dignity, were
presented in a way which accentuated their human joys and

sorrows. Genre touches were added wherever they were

4C. J. P. Cave in "Roof Bosses in the Transepts of

Norwich Cathedral Church,” Archaeologia, LXXXIII (1933),
pp. 45 and 48, blames the master of the works for irre-
gularities in placement.

 

5In comparison with other cycles, however, Ludus
Coventriae contains more theology and seems to be on a more
intellectual level. See Hardin Craig, English Religious
Drama 9£_the Middle Ages (Oxford, 1955), p. 260.

 

 

 

A.
v" A
,4"

w
w. '

nu.

‘uu

 

 

apprOpriate, little domestic motifs from daily life such

as a pan of milk warming by the fire in the nativity
scene,6 but the doctrines of Christianity were always in
control and determined what was to be included. In
addition, the natural desire of the artist and playwright
to appeal to their audiences brought about the inclusion of
secular motifs and comic elements, while the necessity

for communicating clearly was responsible for some of

the costuming (as with the comic and tragic masks of

the classical theater) and for the simple and direct

statements. Ludus Coventriae and the Norwich bosses both

 

employed these conventions, but each also contained original
and individual features which will be pointed out in
Chapter III.

Produced within twenty-five years of each other, as

it happens, both Ludus Coventriae and the bosses were late

 

Gothic creations, coming after a long develOpment in their
respective disciplines. The bosses were put in place when
the nave was vaulted in the third quarter of the fifteenth
century, possibly after the fire of 1455. The manuscript

of Ludus Coventriae, now in the British Museum as Cotton MS.

 

Vespasian D. viii, is generally believed to have been

6Emile Male, L'Art religieux d2 13 fig du moyen age
en France (Paris, 1908), p. 36, and Gustave CohEH, Histoire
§§ la mise 33 scene dans le theatre religieux francais du
moyen age '(Paris, 1956), p. 109. Male's book will be ‘—
referred to from here on as 23 13 fig.

 

 

 

 

 

o"~
.J‘"
,

(1‘

A“

m it.

.. C"

V r
oh 'gfibv

:un-lr
. .5 N‘JMHL

. - AA 0 '- a
3...? '
«0..-.qu

4

H

I
.. ' at."
“4 “0‘

u

('I' IN!“

“I' UV*6‘
c

‘ . .
"-

a“ :r~
th.‘ It.“
ril'.
-“O: 0
no.“
.. -r 3..
"'v-o .cre

I; '
0' n1-

“ 1.." A
"5504:

'::V 0011]

-
:‘hy ‘h

written in 1468 since that date appears on the verso of
folio 100 in the hand of the main scribe.7
In some ways this was a propitious time for the
arts; the Hundred Years War had ended and the towns in the
east of England were full of vitality. Norwich in particular
was pioneering in political experiments leading toward civil
freedom.8 This was undoubtedly one expression of the
breaking down of feudal society, and another was the
disturbed and lawless condition prevailing in Norwich from

the middle of the fifteenth century.9

Although York and
Lancaster were engaged in their struggle for the crown and
the citizens of Norwich raised money and sent soldiers as

they were bound to do,10

the townSpeople seemed in fact to
be more concerned with the problems they were facing in the
city than with who won the Civil War.

But, if there was trouble, there was also prosperity.
Industry had grown and a money economy had developed; the

burghers were able to purchase materials and pay wages and

consequently they had the power of patronage, something

7Esther Swenson, An Inquiry into the Composition and
Structure 9f Ludus Coventriae (Minneapolis, 1914), p. 3.

 

 

8A. S. Green, Town Life in the Fifteenth Century
(London, 1894), I, p. 361.

 

 

9The Victoria History of the Counties of England,
Norfolk (Westminster, 1906), II, pp. 487-489.

 

 

10Green, II, p. 37.

,.
,. 5“
_, A

fl...-.vv

v-V‘ ‘P ’”

u !
J’...| 9‘

. nq.
.2 v-vf'"A
‘Avo-U"

\‘ '
.- Dry.

1
I: 1...-

.4 .O'Ul
_ V

.1 "F...

0 ,

a. 0.....-
' Hi—
.I .‘OIU‘

 

I
1
(.7

g a
L “A:
.7 ‘Jv‘d.

. _ .
’_ “Jun

‘6
DIN”.
UyV‘
.. -
a: ”I L‘
‘4
"a
9:"

t
I ‘
o.
‘u(

".
PE A _

.9

a
VA

 

they had not previously possessed. The increasing wealth
and influence of the merchant class were reflected in the
many parish churches and guild halls erected then, and also
in the renovation and refurbishing of many older buildings,
such as Norwich Cathedral, which were symbols of importance
in the town. The dramatic arts received much support too;
in the fifteenth century St. Luke's Guild (painters,
braziers and plumbers) was responsible for the pageants and
continued to be until 1527 when the Corpus Christi drama

was divided into its component parts and these were assigned
to the local trading companies. The records of the fifteenth
century Norwich plays have not survived, but E. K. Chambers
has published the fifteenth century expense lists for the
plays of some other cities and these give an idea of the
casts, costumes and fees as they probably were in Norwich

1:00.11

Economic conditions accounted for Norwich's position
as one of the important cities of late medieval England.
Now it ranks thirty-third in size, but in the Middle Ages
it was one of the four largest. Although in 1579 the
pOpulation was down to 9,320, it had been 13,000 in 1311;
over 7,000 lives were lost during the plague.12 Except

London which was the largest of all, only Bristol and York

11The Medieval Stage (Oxford, 1903), II; the

Coventry list on p. 363 and the Hull list on p. 370 offer
examples.

12See Josiah C. Russell, British Medieval Population

(Albuquerque, 1948), p. 284.

 

.0"! C?

2 n; V.

 

L... van: a:

 

'.II":‘C

.
-uobvo¢vb

 

v-u.
.
n-I

.
" “F-v-n;
' \A
" ‘DUHNH.

at

r ._. _ ‘
--- my.
“in, . H

_

u. ._
p;-

- J

44*,“‘

3 ‘f‘v§.1
' I" vci

7:? 6}:

I. Hi.»

"R

V.

‘ h"
“d“ _

 

. i" g
. ‘I
¢_b~‘i
a.“
h .I
\, _: '.

 

 

A
is

10

were as big or larger than Norwich. Norwich's prosperity
arose from the cloth trade, the most important industry of
the late Middle Ages; in 1404 the city was wealthy and
powerful enough to request and be granted a mayor.13 It
therefore had the necessary attributes for producing two
such elaborate works as the play cycle and the sculptural
program: wealth, status and population. It is, then, a
little disappointing to find only insignificant references

to the part which the cathedral played in the history of

the town. The Victoria History mentions only that Margaret

 

Paston named it in her will, and John Paston was attacked

at its portal by Charles Newell in 1452 during the civil

war over the possession of Sir John Fastolf's estates.14
However, recorded or not, in such a time and in

such a place Norwich Cathedral received its last glorious

touches, the bosses. Ludus Coventriae may or may not have

 

been written and produced in Norwich, but it was created
at the same time and the place must have been very like

the city of Norwich.

13Nikolaus Pevsner, Norfolk and Norwich (Harmonds-
worth, Eng., 1961), pp. 204-205.

 

14pp. 250-251.

, .
a", an".
at beW‘

.1. nRI’Le'

: u- ‘J;. b

. -A-"‘V“ a
:.l.c.&3C

L: :iaract
5:35:33,
2::eristics

J.‘ V
(a ‘

4:1..2131 51
A

/.

«I,
(J.
(D
(n

I C74

11

Emile Male's Theory of Dramatic
Influence on Art

The similarity between Ludus Coventriae and the

 

bosses in content, message and tone, while strong enough to
make a comparison possible, is not unique. These art works
are typical expressions of Gothic culture singled out here
because they are unquestionably contemporary, and also

because of the possibility that Ludus Coventriae might have

 

originated in Norwich as Eccles has suggested, but they
exhibit characteristics found in other sculptures, stained
glass windows, manuscripts and plays of the period. The
characteristics of many Gothic works, in fact, are so
unmistakably similar that scholars have speculated about
the similarity and the reasons for it, and the one whose
theory has been most discussed is Emile Male. In 1904 he
first published his theory that the iconography of painting
and sculpture changed radically in the fifteen century
under the influence of the theater,15 and new motifs
appeared, costumes and settings were changed, new characters
and incidents were depicted. He believed that because the

plays were such successes and so wholly captivated the

15"La rénouvellement de l'art par les mysteres,"
gazette des beaux arts (Feb. - May, 1904), 215-230.

 

O
"'wr rrr
.3- ’4.( 55\
...,.,,
‘:""Vbb l
“‘ An~
“J‘v' vat

'I": . nah
"-- few.

1'1”. “a V

bah,

‘1", . ' ,
‘u '7] n‘,
‘w'.. ‘ a.

I

, ‘s

"‘3‘. 0 n
” JCCU
:55“

‘v -~I‘

. I‘m-LS
I.."

“on

I..‘

K‘ 1

§' .
u 9 ,

. ‘ 3t

3“

‘ 7

\I\ Q“;
\"~‘:

12

people, artists and sculptors either consciously or uncon-
sciously imitated what they had seen on the stage.16
In some specific cases he is undoubtedly correct.

The Holkham Bible Picture Book, an early fourteenth century

 

English work from the eastern Midlands, has an illustration
which supports his argument. The subject is the punishment
of Salome, one of the midwives Joseph brought to Mary at
the nativity. Not believing that Mary is still virgin
Salome is preparing to test her. According to the legend
when she touched Mary her hand withered, and this is con-
veyed to the viewer by the inclusion of the glove dangling
from her wrist, ready to be put on when it was time to
create the effect (Figure 1). Only the influence of the
drama could explain this detail. However, when choosing
examples to illustrate his theory, Male allowed his
enthusiasm to distract him from careful methodology and he
used examples without regard for their exact chronology.
Consequently many critics have accused him of not clearly
establishing a cause and effect relationship and his theory

has been subject to criticism.17 At the end of Chapter IV

16But he ignores the fact that this phenomenon
did not occur until the fifteenth century though the great
developments in the theater took place in the fourteenth
century, especially after the founding of Corpus Christi
Day in 1311.

17See L. Bréhier, L'art chrétien (Paris, 1918),
p. 342; L. Réau, Iconographie de l'art chrétien (Paris,
1955), p. 263; G. Cohen, HistoIFe d3 la mise en scene

(Paris, 1956), p. 115; A. Watson, Early Iconography of the
Tkee of Jesse (London, 1934), p. 35.

 

 

 

 

 

13

 

 

 

 

 

Fig. l.--The Punishment of Salome. Taken from M. D.
Anderson, Drama and Imagefl i_r_1_ English Medieval
Churches, p. I39.

 

 

 

 

. H.
.J‘

- ls“

.' ," ~
‘0‘ b...‘

“1‘ n

7"‘5' '1

' " 9».-

' ~ .-.._

.
ll
.‘ ..
~..,, u

 

14

we will consider Male's theory in relation to the bosses

and Ludus Coventriae.

 

Although this study was designed specifically to
compare and contrast two examples of Gothic art in different

media, the Ludus Coventriae and the bosses at Norwich, we

 

 

should bear in mind that both are completely in the spirit
of their time and therefore resemble other programs in
sculpture, wall paintings, manuscript illuminations and
plays as much as they do each other. Furthermore other
examples of the Gothic arts might have influenced the two
cycles we are examining instead of, or in addition to,

their possible influence on each other.

fl 1
A. v_
i. .,

"o~
'
“v¢

 

 

 

 

II. THE HISTORY OF LUDUS COVENTRIAE

 

AND THE NORWICH BOSSES

As a foundation for the analysis of the bosses and
plays which will take place in the next chapter, the history
of each of the cycles and its relation to its own discipline
should be reviewed. Such a review will also provide better
appreciation for the very special value of these two works.

Fortunately the history of the cathedral has been
thoroughly studied and recorded--the books by Dean Goulburn
and Nikolaus Pevsner especially will be cited in this paper.
Furthermore, the Society of the Friends of Norwich Cathedral
has been founded for the protection of the cathedral and
has taken charge of its history and preservation. Therefore
vm can say quite definitely that Norwich Cathedral was
tmgun in 1096 under Bishop Herbert de Losinga after the

fmnming of the see of Norwich in 1094, but the conse-
matnxlof the building did not take place until 1278.
memred with other cathedrals it sustained a normal number
Ofaccidents such as the falling of the spire in 1362, and
Sacral damaging fires in 1171, 1272, 1445 and 1463, all

offlhi<2h required rebuilding in various parts of the

15

16

structure.18 As new styles came into fashion other parts

were redone or added to: the west front in 1449 and the
Cloisters from 1297 on into the fifteenth century. The
last entirely new work was the stone vaulting of the nave,
chancel and transepts, in that order, from 1446 until after
1509. But from the eighteenth century on many restorations
have been planned and executed, and still continue to be,
under the sponsorship of the Friends of Norwich Cathedral.
The mixture of styles, Norman through Perpendicular,
was so judicious, however, that a sense of unity has been
preserved. This is even more remarkable in view of the
considerable size of the cathedral. The central tower,
for instance, 315 feet high, is the tallest Norman tower
in England, and it presides impressively over the Gothic
Cloister, an especially large and beautiful cloister
decorated with bosses in its vaulted ambulatory.19 Only
Salisbury in all of England has a larger cloister than that
at Norwich; also it is the only cloister where a second
army, which was probably used as a study or scriptorium,

nmmins. The total length of the church is 410 feet, of

whnfinthe nave takes up 259 feet-—the second longest nave

18Enumerated by Pevsner, p. 210.

M R 19The bosses of the Cloisters are described bY

‘% ~James in the Norfolk and Norwich Archaeological

Anarnal. 1911, pp. 12 ff, and by E. w. Tristram, Eighth
W Report of the Friends of the Cathedral Church _o_f
\WLth. 1935, pp. 12-19.

 

 

 

‘

 

. -
Q. ‘

uv‘

Hun AI

n .-...‘
- —
«nun--4

on”-

1
‘7‘ n

,. ‘1'“
”I ‘66!

1‘2“"!

w.“ a.

 

 

‘I.

. "a
\. ~':~
“

v.‘A.

'I .'

‘-v \
09‘

'1.

.

.I ‘
N. O

'U

 

 

 

17

in England (St. Albans has the longest). The height of
the nave is 72 feet, not as great as the 83 feet of the
choir but still lofty. Besides its outstanding measure-
ments Norwich is embellished with carvings, tracery and
stained glass windows, but each of these decorations is
subordinated to the overall effect of dignity and strength
in the medieval building.

The bosses in the nave are our particular concern,
however, and they were erected with the lierne vaulting20
in the tenure of Bishop Lyhart, 1446-72, after a fire,
perhaps caused by lightning, had destroyed the wooden roof
of the nave. There are two possible explanations as to
why it was considered worthwhile to spend time and money
on the bosses, which are at best difficult to view and at
worst impossible. One is, very simply, that if something
is made to honor God, perhaps it is not important that
people see it--a concept similar to the idea that anonymous
charity is the most pleasing to the Lord. Then, too,

<nanting that the work is not being done to bring glory
migratitude to the doer but only to God and, that the
vmflts of the church symbolize the vaults of heaven, the
bosses relating the history of man and expressing the

mamage of salvation appear there appropriately. There

0Liernes are tertiary ribs, not springing from the
1‘31? ridge rib, serving a purely decorative function.
theey are an English innovation introduced at Bristol at
end of the thirteenth century.

W31
Th

 

18

are other examples in the church of art which may escape
notice: the misericords, sculpture on buttresses, roofs
and towers, and even windows. If one stands directly in
front of a large Gothic window filled with many scenes,
one may be able to understand all of it with time and
patience, but the worshipper or casual stroller receives
at first an impression of color and design rather than
narrative, and perhaps will only be able to perceive a
small part of the subject matter.

The other suggestion (which does not exclude the
first) is that placing sculpture up high in the vaults is
part of the Gothic tendency to spread decoration into all
available spaces. Just as the illumination covers more
and more of the manuscript pages, sculptures, tracery,
cusps, finials and crockets gradually eliminate any solid
wall surfaces on church facades. At the same time, in the
interiors, the vaults become more elaborate and, in some
cases, bosses were added, a means of elaborating the
vmflxs still further, the profusion of decoration offering

mianalogue to the plenitude of creation.

Roof bosses had been in use since Norman times
édUmmgh not extensively. In Norman usage the design in
thecenter of the boss was generally a face-~of a man, a

b$st or a bird-~and this was surrounded by foliage. But
inth53 Early English style, begun at Canterbury, richly

s
qutZLtred.foliage alone covered the whole surface of the

 

3A....
\\—-
-.v--v~

 

 

,-.. _A".
. ‘l
" uvn.

 

‘----‘-1.

a,” .
\ fl
.‘ ‘
.
1
. ..
u
“"6
‘M
\o
5-
".~. :
I ‘c
r._‘ ‘~

 

 

 

 

.41
a” ‘
rh"
3'1.

 

 

 

19

boss.21

Figures, however, began to reappear in the early
thirteenth century. The introduction of lierne vaulting
at the end of the thirteenth century, with more ribs and
therefore more intersections, provided the opportunity for
more bosses and they became much more common in the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Most of these were
created as independent pieces; that is, one was not related
to the next in any pattern either typological, narrative
or chronological, but at Tewkesbury in the fourteenth
century a sequence of bosses appeared which Cave claims is
the first instance of storied bosses.22
Storied bosses never became a commonplace, and
Norwich is unique in having five separate series. The
oldest begins in the east walk of the cloister; it was
probably started at the time of the rebuilding of the
cloister in 1297 and was finished by 1318. The first
bosses in this series are foliage carvings but toward the
northern end of the walk scenes of the passion are pre-
mnmed, surrounded by various other subjects, human, animal
amigrotesque. The narrative continues in the north walk

butthe work there was later, not beginning until the

fnkeenth century, all such projects having stopped when

21C. J. P. Cave, Roof Bosses in Medieval Churches

(Cambridge, 1948), p. 5.

 

 

 

22

bosses wit
smryu.

Ibid., p. 11. Storied is the term he uses for
h figures, used in a sequence and relating a

‘

20

the Black Death ravaged the land. The bosses of the north
walk were completed quickly when once begun, in fact by
1430; their subject matter includes many scenes of Christ's
appearances after the resurrection, and scenes of the
ascension and Pentecost.

The second series is in the south and west walks
of the Cloisters. Here scenes from the apocalypse are
interspersed among other subjects. The first part of the
series, in the south walk, was completed by 1330; then, for

some unknown reason, nothing was done until 1338. The

program was unaffected, however, and the series was finished.

as planned originally, in 1348.23 The first and second

series together contain nearly 400 bosses and are considered
by some critics to be the finest in the country.

The third series to be put in place was the one in
the Bauchun Chapel. The chapel itself had been constructed
early in the fourteenth century, but about the middle of
the fifteenth the roof was removed, the walls were raised
“weral feet and a new roof, vaulted in stone and decorated

wiU1carved bosses, was built as the gift of William of
qumgton who was buried there in 1460. The subject matter

0fthese bosses is totally different from all others in

23Cave, and James whom he Cites on p. 12 of Roof

figfififi in_Medieva1 Churches, both believe these bosses
‘&379C’t the general style of East Anglian MS. In "Roof
55953 in the Transepts of Norwich Cathedral Church,"

page; e"(presses the same opinion about the transept bosses,

 

 

 

21

the cathedral. The story they tell is of an Empress,
falsely accused and condemned to death, who undergoes many
terrible experiences and is finally saved through the
mercy of Mary.24 This is a type of stories known as
Miracles of Our Lady; Chaucer uses an accused queen story,
though not a Miracle of Our Lady, in the "Man of Law's
Tale."

The nave bosses were next in order. Because the
nave is so long25 255 bosses are placed among its vaults
depicting scenes from the Old and New Testaments, beginning
with the creation and ending with the last judgment. A
portrait of Bishop Lyhart on the last center boss, C85,
serves as a kind of signature.

The transept series was the last, put in place in
the early sixteenth century. Its 150 scenes are from the
New Testament, relating the Childhood and early life of
Christ. The intention may have been to supplement what

tad already been done in the nave, to fill in the gaps in

dualives of Christ and Mary, but the designer of the

24M. R. James tells the story and describes the
bmmes in "The Sculptured Bosses in the Roof of the Bauchun
Cmfiwl of Our Lady of Pity in Norwich Cathedral," Norfolk
fifliNorwich Archaeological Society, 1908, pp. 1—7.

 

f 25Norwich nave is the only one in England with
ofourteen bays. See the Thirteen-Hundredth Anniversary
53~§53 lDiocese of East Anglia, Official Handbook, ed. by
desan granage (Norwich, L930), pp. 1-55, for a general
CI'J-ID'Zion of the church.

 

 

 

"v

 

22

puogramrmnst have been unaware of the many possibilities
or working with limited patterns, for a number of scenes
are repeated several times. In addition, the master of
thevmmksciid not strictly oversee the installation of the
bosses so that the narrative is hard to follow. On the
whohathhs series is regarded as the least successful of
ail.26

1km» that the first series at Tewkesbury Cathedral
andtme five series at Norwich have been mentioned, it
0U1YIemains to name three more series to complete the
whohacatalogue of storied bosses in England: the Cloister
at Worcester, the chancel of Nantwich in Cheshire and the
(flfiumel of Salle in Norfolk.27 There are many examples of
Single bC>sses with scenes carved upon them, but the series
we are 90ing to discuss is a rare and important work
becmuka of its completeness and extent. Individual
examples of the series illustrated in this paper have never
beeninlbljshed; the whole has been published only as in

Fi ur .
g e 3 of this paper where the separate bosses are almost

l“decimfierahie.”

2
Norwich 6See Cave, "Roof Bosses in the Transepts of
Cathedral Church," pp. 45-65.

7 . .
Cave, Roof Bosses £2 Medieval Churches, p. 14.

 

2 . . .
at Berk 8Professor Alan Nelson, Univer51ty of California
this paeley, took these photos and allowed their use in

PEr.

23

From this account of the history of the bosses
which so clearly points to their importance as a distinctive
example, one of the few examples ever created, of a very
special kind of work, let us turn to Ludus Coventriae which
is also unique but in a different sense. Whereas storied
bosses were always rare, scripts of the plays were once
PlentifUl--not, it should be noted, as literature but as

scores for guiding the performances. Ludus29 is now one

 

Of only four complete versions of the English Corpus
Christi Play that survived the anti-Catholic suppression.
The forerunners of the Corpus Christi plays were the
sequences, which Kolve defines as groups of plays com-
prising a series of actions that conclude with the episode
appropriate to the particular day of performance.30
Smaller than the Corpus Christi play, they had begun to
develop in the liturgical stage of the drama, when plays
were Still being performed in Latin in the church. They
grew much larger when the plays moved out of the church
into the town and Latin was replaced by the vernacular in
the thi3|'-"Ceenth century.

In general sequences could be divided into two

main . .
tYPEBS. The Climax of one was the nativ1ty and

2 . .

Come“. 9From this point I will use the more conCise and

full t1ent title, Ludus, more appropriate too since the
ltle contains the incorrect attribution to Coventry.

3
0P. 35.

24

therefore it was played at Christmas time; the other dealt
mainly with the passion and resurrection and was presented
at Easter. Both kinds of sequences became very lengthy
on the continent, especially the passion groups in Germany--
and in part this resulted from the addition of Old Testament
plays. These were not always added to the sequences but
they often were: in the passion play man's fall and the
eXPUISiOD from Paradise provide the logical necessity for
Christ's sacrifice, while in the nativity group Moses and
the burning bush or the prOphets would establish the con-
tinnitY between the two Testaments.

Kolve explains how the Old Testament incidents
might haVe been selected--after the basic condition of
typolO<JiCal significance was satisfied3l-—by choosing

32

th .
ose W1lich related to the three advents of God. The

fra -

mework thus set up, he contends, was further refined by
bei . . -

"9 c3Ombined with two conventional systems for under-
Stan ° .

ding man's history. One was the seven ages of man

inco . . . .
rpOrated into Christian philosophy through St.

Au u -
g Stlne's City o_f_ God, and developed afterwards in the

in “Si 31This was necessarily the point of origin, but

the Wife the material to produce the best pOSSible drama

Willialter had many other things to conSider. See A.

(1968)ms' "Typology and the Cycle Plays," Speculum XLIII
' P. 683.

 

3 . . . .
2The creation, incarnation and last judgment.

25

Golden Legend.33 The other conception was the three

periods of law: the natural law, from Adam to Moses; the
Old Law, from Moses to Jesus; and the New Law, from Jesus

to the Last Judgment.34

That the Old Testament incidents must fit into or
relate to these systems is the only explanation Kolve can
find for the fact that some Old Testament stories are
dramatized and others never are, even though they may be
rich in typological significance like the legends about
Joseph, son of Jacob. As the plays grew larger, the
additions and amplifications obscured the original
structuring, but an occasional, otherwise meaningless
reference indicates that underneath such a structure is
still effectively assisting the author by setting limits

to the material. In the Noah play in Ludus, for example,

such a reference appears:3S

In me Noe be secunde age
in dede be-gynnyth as I 3ow say
afftyr Adam with-outyn langage

be secunde fadyr am I in fay . . . (4,14-17)

33Considering which Old Testament figures would be

thought most important, Kolve finds direct correlation
between those enumerated in the seven ages of man and the
Corpus Christi drama. See Kolve, p. 92.

34Ibid., p. 97.

35All citations from Ludus are taken from K. S.

Block, Ludus Coventriae or The PIai Called Corpus Christi,
E.E.T.S., No. 120 (London, 1922).

26

The Corpus Christi play, "the most ambitious of
all literary schemes" in Craig's terms, had a wide dis-
tribution.36 In England, although the south continued to
prefer the older forms of the sequences, the Corpus
Christi drama developed in the north. It used to be
thought that the earliest examples were borrowings from
the French,37 but now an independent origin is considered
more likely. The name Corpus Christi, at any rate, soon
became descriptive of a large cycle which joined the
Christmas and Easter groups of plays, added a play of the
last judgment and possibly other plays on the early life
of Mary and the public life of Christ--some of which may
have existed independently before--and was organized
chronologically. It was, furthermore, acted by the craft
guilds under municipal control. The term was so estab-
lished that it continued to be used when the play was no
longer presented on Corpus Christi Day; in Norwich and
Chester this was the case although the play was acted on
Whitsun.

In a statement which also has relevance for the

development of bosses, Craig explains the formation of the

36Described by Craig, pp. 112-113.

37Craig still cites the Chester cycle as a trans-

lation of a Provencal MS., p. 113, but more recent thinking
is expressed by M. D. Anderson, Drama and Imagery in
English Medieval Churches (Cambridge, 1963), p. 41.

 

 

1.

27

Corpus Christi play as a natural consequence of medieval

thought:

We know that from the earliest times of the religious
drama two tendencies were at work. One of these was a
tendency toward amplification, and the other a tendency
towards the combination of smaller units into larger
ones. Both of these tendencies are characteristic of
the medieval mind, a mind that was actuated by reason
and dominated by logic, that dwelt on particulars and
for its own satisfaction demanded completeness. What—
ever happened had a cause or arose out of a need, and
the desire of the Middle Ages was to fit all details
into their prOper places according to large patterns.
The greatest pattern of all was that of Man's creation,
fall, and redemption, and by far the greatest part of
all medieval writing is devoted to the explanation and
fulfillment of this pattern.38

He is not only thinking of this as a process that occurs
on a sub-conscious level but finds evidence that the
development of the cycle was "a conscious and deliberate
community act," that it was done "formally and intel-
ligently."39 Mainly, the evidence he cites is the dis-
tribution of the individual plays among the guilds, a dis—
tribution which sometimes accommodates the subject of a
play to the labor of the guild, i.e., the Water-carriers
do Noah, and therefore can be seen as the result of
rational decision making.

No records exist to explain why the founding of
the festival of Corpus Christi in 1311 should have been the

inspiration for a new dramatic form. Although it quickly

38F. 50.

39Pp. 132-133.

 

 

“.

 

 

 

 

28

became common practice, no procession was required until
after John XXII decreed it in 1316 as an analogue of the

procession of the Ark of the Covenant.40

But in addition
to the procession two other elements were needed before
the Corpus Christi play could evolve: the sequences of
plays had to be combined into a new whole, and the plays
had to be connected with the procession by having the
actors take part in it. Craig calls this "a more or less
accidental thing."41 The coincidence of timing, however,
appears astonishing, but if the genius of any one person
created the new mode we can no longer determine it. The
appropriateness of the invention is obvious. The Corpus
Christi festival celebrates the Eucharist, initiated by
Christ at the last supper. Urban IV, proposing the new
festival in 1294, wanted the people to have an opportunity
to rejoice over this gift from God and celebrate the
institution of the sacrament fully, without the other con-
siderations attached to the last supper.42 Since this
occasion is regarded as the central point between the fall
and the last judgment it seems to call for a play which
extends to the limit in both directions. Or, perhaps,

because the Eucharist represents salvation it therefore

recalls the fall and points to the last judgment.

4OCraig, p. 128. 41P. 129.

2Kolve, p. 45.

29

And so the great cycles were created by putting
together some existing plays, filling in the gaps between
the incidents by borrowing from other cycles or writing
new plays, and then they were presented at a new and better
time of the year.43 Their popularity was tremendous and by
the end of the fourteenth century they were considered part
of ancient custom. However, by the end of the sixteenth
century they had been suppressed because of the anti-
Catholic position of the government, and to some extent they
were replaced by Biblical, but not Catholic, drama or by

adaptations of the Latin comedies of Terence, Plautus and

Seneca. Even the manuscripts of the mysteries were

destroyed because they contained such "dangerous" sentiments,
except for those in private libraries or which were tucked
away among other documents and overlooked. Many town

records remain, however, which contain much incidental
information about the costs of costumes and props, and
actors' fees. Even the problems of regulating the plays and
processions are hinted at in the mention of the obligations

and responsibilities of various guilds.44 None of this

43Kolve does not agree that the Corpus Christi play

evolved in this way as a dependent once removed of the
liturgical drama. Rather he claims for it an independent
origin directly from liturgy. See p. 42.

44See Craig, pp. 145-150.

v.

~.

 

 

30

information makes up for the sad fact that so many plays
have been lost to us.45
Ludus is one of four complete cycles still remaining
and is the only one of unknown origin. Identified in the
British Museum as Cotton MS. Vespasian D. viii, it is a
small volume, 8" x 5%", with 255 leaves.46 The first
definite evidence concerning it places Ludus in the pos—
session of Robert Hegge of Durham. It is possible that he
acquired the manuscript there, or if not, then later in

Oxford where he died in 1629.47 Ludus then passed into the

 

hands of Richard James, a fellow member of Corpus Christi
College, who was librarian to Sir Robert Bruce Cotton

and as such collected books, coins and other rarities for
him. In this manner Ludus--up to this point untitled--
became part of the Cotton collection, and Dr. James identi-
fied it on the flyleaf, according to custom, with a brief
description of its contents. Here the problem begins, for
he had obviously not read the text and was only writing what
he had been told about it or was surmising. His note calls
these plays of the New Testament which were acted by monks

or medicant friars, to which he added that the book was

45For details of the suppression and decline, see

Craig, pp. 354-363.

46Only a coincidence but the same number of pages

as bosses.

47Madeleine H. Dodds, "The Problem of Ludus

Coventriae," MLR IX, p. 90.

31

commonly called the Ludus Coventriae or The Plai _o_f Corpus
Christi. Miss Dodds offers the suggestion that James'
careless blunder might be explained by the fact that

mystery plays were still being performed in Coventry in the
early seventeenth century, much later than in other places,
and that in 1630 when James labeled the MS. they were still
talked about--meaning that James might have associated any
book of plays with Coventry, not knowing there were others.48

Gang. on the other hand, thinks he might have used the

name generically, perhaps thinking of Ludus Coventriae as a

two Part noun, not to be separated.49

Unfortunately James' error was accepted by Dugdale
who described the pageants of the Grey Friars of Coventry

in his Aitiquities o_f Warwickshire Illustrated, 1656, and

 

rEfel‘red to Ludus as the text of their performance. Not
until the early nineteenth century was Ludus carefully
examined; Thomas Sharp then pointed out in his Dissertation

0—“. ”£- Coventry Mysteries, 1825, that this manuscript was

 

VerY unlike the two plays of the Coventry cycle that had
survived. Later scholarship has proved that there is no
connection between HERE and Coventry, although Chambers
tried to find it in another way by suggesting that, since
the existing Coventry plays date from the sixteenth

cen
tury' Ludus might represent a discarded fifteenth

4
8Ibid., p. 79. 49p. 239.

32

cmuun/cycle.50 He does admit, however, that the differ-
emmsaue very great. The Coventry plays used only New
TESUmmnt material and besides were presented proces-
simmlly. Ludus has Old Testament plays as well as New
andrequires a stationary performance: there are no well
maxed breaks between the plays, the same persons appear
innmre than one play, and the rubrics call for machinery
homecomplex and used in more scenes than could be managed
frmna pageant wagon.51 Then, too, the craft plays did
imhed survive until 1580 at Coventry, but the House of
theGrey Friars was suppressed in 1538. In view of these

faks no one could insist upon any links between Ludus

 

amiCoventry.

The next phase of scholarship on Ludus dealt with
OUWI possibilities. B. ten Brink and M. Kramer, at the
emiof the nineteenth century, separately investigated the
lax“Wage peculiarities of Ludus and determined that it must

52

haveCome from the northeast Midlands, thereby eliminating

Duflmm which had been proposed because it was the original
rendence of Robert Hegge. Kramer's developed theory stated

thalthe core of Ludus was southern in origin: POSSiblY

 

S
0E. K. Chambers, The Medieval Stage II (Oxford,

”03" p. 420

51 . .
99°68~69 Ibid., p. 421. Also discussed by Swenson,

52
Their theories are quoted by Craig, p. 240.

.‘ ‘
'. .‘l‘
.«n- 1
-

v.... 1

.
“9‘.

'uubd

«-

 

 

- .
fun

y“..‘

 

n‘-'

 

 

d.‘

 

 

 

 

33

fiwmvfiltshire, and that only the additions and revisions
tmdtmen done in the northeast Midlands.53
The play itself offers the reader an Opportunity

tosmeculate when the third vexillator says, at the end of

thermoclamation:

A sunday naxt yf pat we may

At vj of be belle we gynne oure play

In N. town . . . . (Proclamation,
525-527)

Thnshas inspired two other suggestions. One is that N.
stmfls for nomen and that Ludus was performed by a company
ofstrolling players who filled in for nomen the name of

wmmever town they were playing in.54 The objections to

 

Hflfi theory are that, on the existing evidence, strolling
cmmmnies consisted of only half a dozen players who acted
shmle plays, not sequences, in performances that lasted
tmaor three hours.55 Eudus needs a large cast and would
takeSeveral days to play.

The alternative theory was that N. was an abbrevi-
ationand perhaps stood for a town's name. Northampton was
su9¥$t€d and discarded; it has too many syllables and would
smfil the scansion of the verse. Norwich was considered
bUtthe idea was not followed up at the time because

mxmher attribution seemed more likely even though it did

53 .
Swenson, p. 2. 54Ibid., p. l.

 

55 . .
Dodds, p. 80. An exception is The Castle of

PerSe _ . __
E$§T%§£SEES which requires about thirty actors and would

“r Or more hours.

34

rmtemplain the N. This was the town of Lincoln. C. W.
(hykwq Chambers and Craig56 all accepted this location
kmcmme of the unusually large number of plays concerning

thelife of the Virgin in Ludus. Lincoln was an ecclesi—

 

astkml and cultural center especially dedicated to the
hmmm and worship of the Virgin; it was also a center for

theecclesiastical drama.

Herbert Hartmann, who also accepted Lincoln as the
Mmm of Ludus, finds another reason for assigning it there.57
amm of the particular kinds of props called for in Ludus,
$Udlas the fiery cloud and the double cloud, are mentioned
inthe city records. These records also contain the
dhmction that every Lincoln Alderman make a gown for one
ofthe kings in the St. Anne's Day pageant, and, since this
wmfld Produce more than the usual three, such a quantity
OfIOYal robes might relate to Egggg' prOPhEt play WhiCh
haSthirteen kings.

The latest study, by Mark Eccles, re-examines the

58

tmfi-Of Ludus linguistically. Eccles saYS that, although

Cnng Used the right criteria for distinguishing between

thedialects of Lincoln and Norfolk, he was not careful

56
Gayley cited by Swenson, p. 2; Chambers, p. 241;

craigv p. 267.

57
”326) "The Home of the Ludus Coventriae," MLN XLI
' PP. 530-531. —'
3" . . . n .
Aewm14 Ludus Coventriae: Lincoln or Norwich? Medium
\ 0 (1971), pp. 135-141.

 

35

mwwfliin applying them to the text, particularly in noting

thetme of "x" and "5." He concludes that the language

oflmdus is definitely East Anglian; in his Opinion the

 

mmnmcript was written in Norfolk or possibly in Norwich,
thelargest city in the area, but certainly not in Lincoln.
Ahmough acknowledging that Ludus is very different from
tmaNorwich guild plays still extant in two versions,

Emfles points out that guild plays were not the only
dummtic productions at Norwich. There the matter rests
fix the present, still theoretical.

Ludus presents a serious problem in its composition
snwe it is a compilation of old and new material. Miss
Bkmk describes the physical characteristics of the manu-
S<Wipt fully in her introduction to the text.59 The
watermarks, for instance, indicate that seven different
khfls of paper were used. The black ink varies (red is
usuifor rubrication, see Block, p. xxv) and so does the
hamdwriting, although one major scribe who wrote a good

60

fifimenth century hand did the greatest part. The stage

dlI-‘eCtions in some plays are in Latin, in others in
Emflish, Many revisions of letters and lines indicate a

pnmess of adaptation and incorporation; this is true of

5
9Craig recaps her findings, pp. 241-243.

6
OfImd 0Also see F. M. Salter, "The Old Testament Plays
US ' n - -
995763: Coventriae, Philosophical Quarterly XII (1933),

K

409.

36

tmzmmmering of the passages also. Still other differ-
mmeseue in the headings and in the occasional use of

. . 6
pelnting.

Miss Swenson's close study of the metrical patterns
coMfirms Miss Block's finding that there was a compilation
pnmess. She found five types of meter in the original
mMmrial which had been connected by means of a tumbling

63 and by varying types of rhyme schemes. Miss Block

meter
cmmludes from all these facts that the surviving manuscript
isthe compiler's book, not a transcript; that it contains
PkWS collected according to a plan which was subject to
ahmration as it proceeded; that some of the plays or

gunps of plays had been acted as separate plays or groups
bekme being incorporated; that one portion of the text,
Pofiflbly two, had had a separate existence also (some

lemms are soiled as if they had been outside leaves); and
thM:the compiler had command of other versions of plays
orgroups of plays from which he drew.64

The confusion of the physical assembly of the text

lsrefleCted in the content. There are small

6
ban; 1A point is a period slightly raised, taking up a
0f the meter.

62
Pp. 4 and 63.

hmte 3Meter constructed around stresses and rhyme
ad 0f by syllables.

64 ...
P. XXXlll.

37

inmxwruities such as in the visit to Elizabeth: Mary says
ShEhdll stay three months until the birth of Elizabeth's
chfld and then leaves immediately, but at the end of the
scmm2Contemplacio talks about Mary's having remained.
Ammher lack of consistency causes names to sometimes
chwge: a character called Abysaker in the trial of Joseph
amiMary becomes Ysaker in the barrenness of Anna and the
Phw of Mary in the temple.65 Mary's three handmaidens
anenot consistently present as the text stands: only two
anamentioned in the return of Joseph and none in the
fiflutation and conception.

More important is the lack of correspondence between
tMalong proclamation and the plays themselves. Since the
anlamation is meant to introduce the plays and describe
‘Umm, and since some plays are not so described, Miss
Smamon claims the proclamation must represent the original
plan or an early stage of the compilation, while the plays
nOtmentioned in it belong to a later stage. For the most
patI'm-these are the plays about the Virgin in the nativity
gnmp, and the passion plays.66 Craig summarizes the
maxer Of all these discrepancies in this way:

It [Ludus] was, to begin with, a cycle of a pronounced

ar““—- . .
s .lan trend that was then reVised and in part recon-
tltUted in three major and various minor ways: first,

6
With 5Cited in a further study by Block, "Some Notes
e Problem 0f Ludus Coventriae," MLR X (1915), p. 51.

See Swenson, p. 83.

38

kw the intrusion of a series of St. Anne's Day plays;
mxmndly, by the re-embodiment within the main cycle
cm'a minor cycle in two parts having been built, with
\mrious additions, out of the Passion group of the
original Corpus Christi play. This Passion play may
have led for a time an independent dramatic existence.
To these add, thirdly, a play of the Assumption of the
Blessed Virgin Mary differing from the rest of the
cycle in Style, paper, and handwriting; also a play of
the Presentation in the Temple. Lastly, add many
minor revisions mainly learned in style, dramatically
necessary, and obviously theological. There have been
some transfers of materials from play to play; that is,
there are some places in which episodes that are
called for by the Proclamation in certain plays are
found in the cycle in other plays.67

It seems, then, that the proclamation was written
fix a full-sized Corpus Christi play which may have been
anented processionally since the word pageant is used
tmmughout the prologue, even though no guilds are
mmmioned.68 In the plays added to the cycle a stationary
Plfidng area or fixed stage is indisputably indicated and
thEemphasis on the role of the Virgin increases. The
lmwth becomes so extensive that almost a week would be
remHIEd for a full performance of the whole, which has

remflted in suggestions about partial presentations.69

6 .
7Craig, pp. 246-247.

681n other cycles the guild name is included in the
frant_as The Hell Cart by the Glaziers and Carpenters,
thm;Lhe list of NorWich plays. .Some historians doubt. '
wn315333§ was presented proceSSionally even in the original
n; See Craig, p. 244.

title,

tmipl 69Swenson, pp. 68-68. AprOpos of the way in which

hunk ay grew, by accumulation so to speak, Professor _

mޣh Eolnts out that it is very like the random manner in
he cathedrals also developed.

39

These alterations, indicating a higher stage of
dnmwtic development in Ludus, make it somewhat exceptional
ascmmpared with the other Corpus Christi cycles; even the
mmuion of playing on Sunday is unusual since Corpus
Cmfisti Day is always a Thursday.70 Ludus is different in
Oder ways tOO; there is more theology in this cycle than
inthe others, possibly indicating ecclesiastical sponsor-
flup or supervision, but certainly going beyond the run of
Um mill sources.71 Miss Block thinks it less likely that
Eggs was a civic cycle for that reason, but Miss Dodds
mnds that it was indeed originally a civic cycle from N.
UN“ filled out with additions from the craft guild plays
OfOther places.72 The more serious tone Of Ludus could be
areflection Of the ecclesiastical influence Miss Block
susPeCts; the Opportunities for farce or low comedy in the
smuies Of Noah, Cain or the shepherds are not taken
ammntage of, and in only a couple of the interpolated plays
isthere any coarseness Of tone. Two other differences
iMfifiate a learned authorship for Lugggz the author is more

amne of legendary material than the authors Of the other

phws aPpear to be (the story Of Veronica for example is

notin the other English cycles), as well as employing

7
the . 0Miss Dodds suggests Whitsun, the Sunday before
holiday, p. 87.

l . . .
pp _ See the introduction to the text for its sources,
. Xllii-l.

72
Block, MLR, p. 56.

 

:'.;‘:erary tech
:iazg‘rgters of

It also h
3: :n o‘her

5“»

V

f3. 9333 have

313' talk
2:323 rhea?
2“ 0f <
:5 other

‘35 Of a

“ 913.

40

many literary techniques (the virtues personified as the

four daughters of God).

It also happens that in Ludus we find more plays

 

unknown to other cycles, although York, Towneley and

Chester each have some too. The ones found only in Ludus

are the conception Of the Virgin, Mary in the temple, the

betrothal, the trial Of Mary and Joseph and the Cherry

tree, but in addition there are incidents or parts of plays

 

which either appear only in Ludus or else show in Ludus a

highly original development. One example is the prophet

Play in which a number Of kings, and the same number of
Prophets, talk Of the "clene mayde" who shall be born of
Jesse's lineage, emphasizing the birth of Mary rather than

the birth of Christ as is customary. This is another

asPEBCt of the important role Mary plays in EELS. compared
to the other plays (and also to the bosses). Another
Example Of a play developed in an original way is Christ
With the doctors in the temple in which the discussion of
the meaning of the Trinity is unique among the five sur-
Viving plays on this subject.

Although £11_c1_u_s._ may seem inferior to the other
Cycles in literary or poetic quality, in pathos or in
humor (compared with the killing Of Abel in the Wakefield
Cycle, the birth of Jesus from the York cycle or others)
from a Standpoint Of dramatic technique it is superior.
It uses more stage devices and other aids to create

SPeCt
acle' such as singing and processions, than the other

 

41
cycles. Judging from the rubrics, the woman taken in

adultery, the death Of Herod and the passion plays must have

been quite impressive. Some of these accomplishments

accrue because Ludus was the last of the cycles to be com-

piled, but Craig compliments it on other grounds: "Whatever

literary credit may be due to clarity, good taste, restraint,

and intelligence may be claimed, within limits, for the

cycle as a whole."73

The above descriptions of the Norwich bosses and

Ludus indicate a number Of likenesses between them: both
were created in the last third of the fifteenth century
With the intention to honor God and express the message of

salvation through the depiction of the Bible. They may

even have been created in the same place. It seems,
therefore, that a comparative discussion of the two works
may help us to understand them better, and also to under-
Stand the similarities and differences of these sister

arts, As the comparison proceeds other works will be
mentioned, for we shall be attempting to evaluate the
accomplishments and originality of Ludus and the bosses, as
indiVidual works, as truly Gothic productions, and as
S“perior examples Of two artistic disciplines. One work
which will be referred to very Often, as it provides a

so . -
rt of norm against which to measure the typological

Poss‘ - - . . . . .
lblllties Of the bosses, is the Biblia Pauperum. This

73
P. 263.

 

42

wmsa most influential and popular manuscript, one of the
inst to be printed as a block book, and its history may
gotmck as far as the ninth century.74 Its great con—
Uimmion was to familiarize preachers, artists in all
dimflplines and the public with the system of typology as
axmmns of expressing the concordance of the Old and New
Teamments. For instance, when the scene of the last

super is presented with the scene of Melchizedek Offering

Mnaham bread and wine (Didron, p. 414), one is seen as a

fineshadowing or type of the other; one the seed, the other
Um flower, the two Testaments are revealed as one truth.
Mme particulars will be given in the next chapter of this

Mgnificant text as we discuss and analyze Ludus and the

Mkwich bosses.

74 . . .
Adolphe Didron, Christian Iconography II (New

York
' 1965), pp. 202-209.

III. LUDUS COVENTRIAE AND THE NORWICH

BOSSES: THE HISTORY OF MAN

Let us now turn to the comparison of the two cycles.

Tmasubject matter will receive our greatest attention,
WiUIthe similarities and differences in the choice of
hmidents, but the way in which their respective traditions
Mfect the choices will be taken into account too, as well
am the techniques by which they are carried out.

Beyond all else, the story told by the bosses and
the play--and the message of salvation--link them together,

but we should remember that the same story is the basis of

moSt Gothic works. Organized on the same principle, each

[Resents the most important events in the spiritual history

cfi man. In general the subject matter falls into four

parts: the Old Testament stories, and the stories from the

NewTestament about the nativity, passion and last judgment.
Aslfla discuss these it will be necessary to mention spe-
cifih: bosses; here, then, is a system by which they can be
identified,

The nave is divided into bays designated here as
firSt

' Second, etc. beginning at the eastern end and pro-

ceed- . . ,
lng West. within each bay eighteen bosses are arranged

43

44

hmo six irregular rows (Figure 2); the fourteenth bay
(uself an unusual addition) has, however, seven rows and
tMnefore twenty-one bosses. The rows are perpendicular
tothe length of the nave and are numbered from one to
mgMy-five, number one being at the eastern end.

The bosses are further identified by position in
therow: central (on the ridge rib, the actual spine of the
rmwfl, north and south (which appear as left and right in

thaccompanying illustration). These are designated by

untials: C, N and $.75

The most important boss in any bay is the central
mm in the fourth row Of that bay.76 It is always the
lbrgest in any bay--there are three or more different sizes
Cf bosses throughout the nave. Figure 3 illustrates the
first bay. From the floor the effect is of three parallel
fines of bosses running the length of the nave vaults
”late 3). Another factor to be noted is that the bosses
ina single bay do not all face in the same direction
”figure 3), although one would expect them to be placed so
“at worshippers facing the altar might easily see them all.

T . . .
fmne doesn't seem to be any reason for such variation in

t - . .
heOrientation of the bosses—-it does not make for better

Phot 5This is the system of Professor Alan Nelson who
ograPhed the bosses.

6
.Technically it may be described as being at the
ectlon of the transverse ridge rib and the longi-

l ridge rib.

45

I IDENTIFIC ATICN SYSTEM

H N C S
‘ “m‘ A A A
RUIZ-o .....
m3 .. .....

ROWB ...--
ROW 5 -. . -.. HRS? an

ROW! ......
ROW 7.. .....

ROW 0 ......
ROW 9 ...... ’/

some-..
ROW11-...-. SEMI) BAY

ROW 12 -....--
ROW 13 .......

 

ROW 15-.....

ROWIS ......
ROW ‘5 ....
ROW 17 ...... THIRD BAY

ROW ‘3 --. -.-
ROW 19 ......
ROW 20 -.-. -.

    
 
 
  

ROW 23.-.- .. FOURTH BAY

ROW 2!- -- .-- -.

 

 

 

Fi .
g. 2-‘-The Identification System.

 

em.

46

.o—’

I ~§Ud
.

 

 

 

Fig.
3 ' “The First Bay.

47

cmmmunication or increase the effectiveness of the message.
Wacan only wonder whether the workmen were careless or
mether they wanted to accommodate spectators looking from
allsides, but in combination with the height of the vaults
therandom placement makes viewing difficult--especially on

a dark day.
The Creation and the Fall of Man

Both cycles begin with the creation as the Scrip-
UHes do (a list of the main subjects in the plays and
lmsses will be found in the Appendix). In play 1 Deus
Speaks first and describes his power:

My name is knowyn god and kynge

My werk for to make . now wyl I wende

in my self restyth my reynenge

it hath no gynnyng ne non ende

And all pat evyr xal haue beynge

it is closyd in my mende . . .

I may it saue I may it shende

After my plesawns

SO gret of myth is my pouste

All thynge xal be wrowth be me (1,1-11)

The Point emphasized throughout is that everything owes its
eXistence to God and that he can take it away again at his
will—-"I may it saue I may it shend." He also explains

that he is the Trinity,77 "oo god . in personys thre/

k .
nyt In 00 substawns," (l. 12’13), C0DClUdin9=

77 .
(Md Te Interjecting the idea of the Trinity into the
the O Stament is an anachronism, a "Christianizing" Of
culture TeStament, which is a common feature of Gothic

 

 

48

I am fadyr of myth

my sone kepyth ryth

my gost hath lyth

and grace with-alle. (1, 23—26)

Dam.proceeds to make "hevyn with sterrys of lyth" (1,30),
amifills it with angels "my servauntys for to be" (1,33).
Thegflay concludes with the non-Scriptural incident of the
faU.of Lucifer which is not pictured in the bosses.
(fins is only the first Of many occasions we shall find
Umt Ludus does not follow Scripture as closely as the
Mmses.) The action carries over into play 2 where Deus
muckly (in sixteen lines) goes through the remaining six
days of creation:

The secunde day watyr I make

The walkyn also ful fayr and b[r]yth

The iijde day . I parte watyr from erthe

tre and every growyng thyng

both erbe and floure of Suete smellyng

the iijde day is made be my werkyng

now make I be day bat xal be fferthe.

Sunne and mone and sterrys Also

be forthe day I make in same

be vte day . werm and ffysch bat swymme and go

byrdys and bestys . bothe wylde and tame

the sexte day my werk I do

And make be man Adam be name

In erthelech paradys with-owtyn wo

I graunt be bydyng lasse bou do blame.

Fflesch of bi fflesch . And bon of pi bon
Adam here is bi wyf and make (2, 85-101)

It . O .

ls tYPical of Ludus that to convey all these actions
Dmi . . .

S Speaks in the first person, i.e., they are not
dra -

matlzed but narrated--although props might have been

USed
to accompany the speech.

 

 

49

In the sculpture God is depicted on C2, a splendid
figure with golden hair and beard, wearing a red robe
spotted with gold. His right hand is raised in blessing;
he holds a compass in his left. The compass is a common
symbol of creation and the scene might represent only the
blessing of the newly created universe except that on
God's right is a lion and on his left a unicorn. These are

symbols that relate to Christ78

and Dean Goulburn, who
wrote the first description of the nave bosses, still the
only comprehensive one, believes that the intention is
therefore to represent the second person of the Trinity.79
In the play the idea is explicit, but as we will see
repeatedly, in the sculpture ideas must be inferred, and
are dependent on the viewer's knowledge of Christian
tradition.

The first center boss consists only of a large face
encircled by golden rays. Dean Goulburn chooses to call
it a representation of light, the first of God's creations
(p. 15), although this is the typical form in which the
sun is depicted in medieval art. This difference in

interpretation presents us with another distinction between

sculpture and drama--the sculpture can sometimes be

78George Ferguson, Signs and Symbols in Christian
Art (New York, 1966), pp. 21 and 26.

 

79Edward Meyrick Goulburn, Ancient Sculptures in
the Roof of Norwich Cathedral (London, 1896).

 

 

 

50

thematically ambiguous if the spectator is not knowledge-
able about the tradition of Christian art whereas the play
can be more specific. Other bosses in the bay, however, are
identified more easily. Six of them, N and S in rows 1, 3
and 5 are conventionally foliated; although surely a
reference is intended to the creation of plants, the number
of bosses seems excessive. N and S in row 2 depict angels
(these are on either side of the image of God). Three
bosses at the other end of the bay represent the creation
of fish and fowl: C5 has a swan, N6 an eagle and 86 a fish.
The creation of animals occurs on C3, an important spot
right next to the center, where a white hart is lying down--
a rebus for the name of Bishop Lyhart under whose auspices
the bosses were erected.80
But the creation in both cycles is treated only
as a prelude to the fall of man. This subject, which
explains the need for salvation and furnishes the necessity
for Christ's incarnation and crucifixion, is given special
emphasis. In the sculpture it occupies the focal spot,
C4 (Plate 5), with the creation of Adam on the South and
Um creation of Eve on the north (Plate 4). In Lgdus
Moing on with play 2), the drama is heightened in several

mes. First, by the extreme generosity of Deus:

80The bishop intrudes again with a portrait of

tlimself on C85.

51

Now come Fforth Adam to parardys
ther xalt bou haue all maner thynge
bothe flesch and ffysch and frute of prys
all xal be buxum at bi byddyng

here is pepyr pyan and swete 1ycorys
take hem all at bi lykyng

both appel and pere and gentyl rys

(2,113—119)
which makes the trespass Of Adam and Eve seem more flagrant,
especially after Adam says, "I haue no nede to towche Bon
tre/ A3ens my lordys wyl to werke . . ." (2,149-150). The
dialogue between Serpens and Eve contrasts nicely the
enticing, intriguing serpent--"Heyl Ffayr Wyff and comely
dame" (2,169)—-and the righteousness of Eve at first--
”That appyl to Ete I were to blame" (2,173). But the ser-
pent has his way and then the scene is re-enacted with Eve
urging and Adam reluctant-~"I dare not towch bin hand ffor
dred/ of oure lord god omnypotent" (2,221-222). As soon
as he takes the apple he is overcome with sorrow, saying,
"Alas Alas ffor bis fals dede" (2, 247), and from that
gmint the scene builds to a climax through their explanations
to Deus, his pronouncements against them and the serpent,
to the expulsion:

Ffor 3our synne bat 3e haue do

out of bis blysse sone xal 3e go

in erthly labour to levyn in wO

and sorwe be xal a-tast

Ffor Bour synne and mys-doyng

An Angell with a swerd brennyng

out of bis joye he xal 30w dyng

Bour welth awye is past (2,357-364)

Amiso they leave Paradise.

52

The story comes directly from the Bible but there
seems to be some stress added, on pride as the cause of
sin. In castigating the serpent Deus says, "Thou wyckyd
worm ffull of pryde/ ffowle envye syt be bi syde" (2,
341—342). In the first play Deus also charges Lucifer with
pride: "ffor bi mekyl pryde/ I bydde be ffalle from hefne
to helle" (1,66-67). As this reveals one of the underlying
themes of £3933 is the moral lesson; we shall find it
sometimes expressed more Openly.

In the sculpture the temptation and fall are com-
pressed into one scene (Plate 5). The serpent, a female
figure with a long tail wound about the tree trunk, stands
in the center of the tree. She has an apple in each hand.
Adam and Eve, little nude figures in the foreground, each
rmld an apple also. Furthermore the tree bears many large
golden apples on its branches. These are both decorative
and a means Of emphasizing the symbol, for this is an
excellent example of the way subject matter is handled in
the bosses. The symbolic and ceremonial quality they
{mefer to action is foremost as the two solemnly hold their
apples and stare intently. Very like a seventeenth century
mfidem, the boss maintains its quiet and timeless air. As
Wmosed to the play, the boss is passive; it awaits the
\dewer's contemplation, offering a vivid and visible
rmuhder of the unseen, spiritual truth. All the center
Mmses in the first half of the nave permit the observer

UJreflect on the history of man by serving as types of

Q Q

Cl.

3»;
(LI

1 f
(n

I" O“: ‘i

... em. '1.

'I n: LII. "
. A c

4:.- July
A

"Ib‘non

, ‘ |
"nova-t y.

‘ I

hp . fl
' u 4',“ -
-'- «an d

..-

44:»

“:nu ‘
«.4 4‘”,
I
II.

'-.1
--=.va ~

‘ I
_ . 1 .

 

 

. . ~
"\‘\
‘1
-“h' .1
l .
\ ‘
. L .
—. : Fr-
.‘ k',
2' . I
<2"

53

the subjects in the second half; the boss of the fall of
man in the first bay relates to the nativity, the center
boss of bay 8. Subordinate to the symbol, the sequence
of actions can be inferred: the serpent handing the apple
to Eve and Eve then handing it over to Adam.81

The punishment of Adam and Eve, sometimes included
in large programs,82 is not depicted in the bosses. There
is no way, then, that we can perceive the incident as part
of the sculptural program. On the other hand, even when
the subject is not given full dramatic treatment, i.e.,
by being acted, it can be referred to as an action taking
place offstage. Language Offers this advantage in the
drama while in sculpture each event must be presented con-
cretely if the viewer is to recognize the existence of the
action. Not seeing a boss with the punishment we may not
perceive it taking place, whereas so easily in Lgdus, with
a few lines of dialogue, Deus condemns Adam to "GO teyl bi
mete with swynk and swoot/ in to bi lyvys ende" (2, 327-
328). And Eve, because Adam sinned at her bidding, is "to
umnnys byddyng bend . . . and bere chyldere . with gret

guonynge/ In daungere and in deth dredynge/ in to bi

81The tempting of Adam is used in the Biblia

Pmmerum with the temptation of Christ. See Didron,
9.409.

82An example of the punishment of Adam and Eve pre-

sawed most expressively is on the bronze doors Of Bishop
Benwmrd at St. Michael's, Hildesheim, 1015. See H. W.
Chnmnn History of Art (New York, 1970), p. 207.

. n ‘
u‘ 'I‘: (‘

» u
1, "adv
.

. u
uu'lla“ f'l‘

......‘iv‘

"I‘D-:F+

.u'vt will E

r. .... g T
u :
who. M o
—

» ;.-;,. a“
O.'-.:‘.l. ‘

, ' "' 'n-IA‘
\ ‘—
~ 'Movnhhb.
I

.. 1. I
V ‘ ('3‘
1‘ ‘ "5v

 

new
'1qu

.

a.”

l

‘0‘.

-... .l
;:"\ :4. On a-
‘ "btt:

Md

 

54

lyvys ende" (2, 336-340). The punishments must have been
pronounced with great dramatic effect and were probably
an important part of the sheer entertainment value of

Ludus but more than that they form another of its themes;

 

punishment and reward are declaimed strongly in Ludus--
the punishments made as horrifying as possible: Diabolus
says, "I krepe hom to my stynkyng stalle" (2,350), and the
rewards beautiful.

The expulsion from Paradise is not depicted in the
bosses either and this is a curious circumstance. First
because it is one of the scenes most often represented,
i.e., there were many models to follow, and second because
it is the inverse of the later scene, the ascension of the

good to Paradise.83

There is a perfect spot for the scene
too, right near the fall on C5. A swan is now carved on
that boss, part of the creation of the animals, but we
already have the hart on C3 and an eagle on N6 adequately
covering the subject. Even if symbolism makes the presence
of the swan desirable (the beautiful white exterior was
believed to cover a black heart, symbol of evil), six
foliage bosses fill out the first bay, only one of which

would be absolutely necessary. In the absence of any

positive information, however, we can merely speculate.

83The expulsion is not presented in the Biblia

Paupe rum e i ther .

 

...-n 'I
vs ‘-
.n-vu ‘1

 

”a.
p
M" I‘

...: ‘l‘
* v

-.
A

'1‘
~ hl‘,‘

 

 

”I
V‘

.. ..-
. ...
-..-

. u
‘ u
. ...‘:
o
. ".~
i.“';

 

 

 

55

By this time, not quite through the first bay of
the nave, it is apparent that someone has been making
choices as to what scenes will be represented and what
scenes will be omitted from the cycle. Whether he followed
one single model, or put together a program eclectically,
cannot be asserted. The possibility that Egdgs was the
model was one of the starting points of this comparison,
but we can already see that the bosses are not following
the exact plan of Egdgs. Because the scene of the expulsion

is lacking in the Biblia Pauperum, as in the bosses, we

 

might consider the manuscript to be one possible source
for the bosses, and undoubtedly it had some influence, even
if only in a roundabout way, for it was imitated in
windows, wall paintings and manuscripts. But it could not
have been the only influence on the Norwich bosses--it
contains incidents such as Jonah in the whale and the
return from Egypt which are not in the bosses, and the
iconography is different--but it made the typological
relationship of the Old and New Testament so familiar that
a program such as the program of the bosses, imbued with
typology, must be related in some way. It had the same
Spirit, with the visible suggesting the invisible, the
fluritual truths of God, and impresses the viewer with the

. . 84
mme mystical expreSSion.

84Didron recaps the history of the Biblia Pauperum,

Pp.202-203, and gives the text in Appendix III, 403-430.

 

 

56

The story of the Biblia Pauperum is based on the

 

New Testament, presenting the important events from
Christ's life beginning with the annunciation and ending
with Pentecost. Commonly there were from thirty-four to
forty pages in the various editions,85 each presenting a
New Testament scene in the center of the page between two
Old Testament scenes which pre-figure the central one.
Prophets appear at the top and/or bottom Of the page,
prophets whose writings predict the coming Of Christ. In
the accompanying illustration (Figure 4) the anti-type is
Christ on the cross, and the Old Testament scenes are the
creation Of Eve and Moses striking the rock. If Adam
asleep is a type of Christ dead on the cross, Eve issuing
from Adam's side is a type of the blood that flowed when
Christ's side was pierced, and so is the water that came
from the rock struck by Moses. Viewed in this way the two
Testaments are revealed as parts of the same truth which
is God's plan, encompassing everything. The book, then,
although possibly intended first of all as an aid to the
clergy, was more than merely didactic; it Offered a per—
ception of truth and revelation unfolding. This is the
kmsis of its powerful impact and explains why it was
butated so widely. In the bosses of Norwich nave,

iflthough the Old and New Testament scenes are presented

85See James Strachan, Earl Bible Illustrations

Khmbridge, 1957), for a description of the various
editions.

 

— Drrv tl‘..!li~ 1....
_ \lll hip. udv 1.. a,» f I. 11‘. "an WI 4
I1- «nV. . w . . . 1.1? I- .. . (\‘ui.miihii....l .--}..l- - . s,.(‘-\\t..).i-l..id.i-5. . illi-

 

g

9 5"
E15. $31
If
)1
it?
{if-g“
3‘?
is?1

21%;},
'43

”mama " W 5T1 mtmrmtrfingpm
ghfiszammn .‘ rm (191111581110 111m»
“Ninth!!!“ ‘ , ‘ g‘JQuIIn 1111111 )fl!‘ 1111;-
mummpmmaurl *“ . | 33111511-J1lhbflmlfiftar'nr
mhrinftari: ummlana ~ (Mm: qu¢1:1%‘fl““l
mm - -11 21 1 111
“m0 ”mm. vinhm 11 grrh 11111-61"- (12)"

i 111112111; 1:1 I1112fft‘11h1rnl
1111151111: >.L'r3.11.';11a‘

S I ‘7) _L‘ul!l! 1' :11" 1'
/"’~\“ I . ‘ ‘ fib g
“:1“!th r1 Amylluy 111%??? [\lgxlgi.bulfi')“w ’111. 1111 .1 uni. \ .

   
  
   

 

 

 

     
  

  
 
 
   
        

,;";1

”fi‘! ......
Kr: mm“...- a *
.2 g _ I
‘, ~ ‘ -Ir“_: . .
E 2' 1f. ' ' . -
.‘ LE: ‘ ~ " . ' _'. f
. ~ I. ... . '-',
33'5", * fl . fa! 2
—' fiJFQ'J: ’ I 1' - ‘ - I
:5 g3" “33 K1 is: -. e
9, ' ‘- 1_’ '
9 .5 g '.
E15" / i} 24.31.-
. '\ - ‘ <-
' '5” 215) ‘ \1‘ i- "z
s: i ' .

 

 

 
  

12‘ £1 {hummus

o 8 minim“:
91% p 3b.”.- 0 m1. Haiti“,

“ 11: mar rant 111 m

N 1111110 '
“ i A’sn‘fii‘n't?“ 1.

’nwt' “j- -P\-
2&an 1““1‘ "11111111111111 mumm1

’19. 4.--A Page from the Biblia gm.

58

sequentially rather than side by side, the intention is the

same and it is carried out in the same spirit.
Punishment and Reward: Cain and Noah

To continue the comparison of Ludus with the bosses,

km us look at the story of Cain and Abel, and Noah, which

Mains in the sculpture with the last center boss of the

first bay. Ludus, too, in play 3 presents these Old Testa-

nmnt incidents with their moral lessons, but (and this is

another difference resulting from medium) the characters

are developed so that we perceive them as individuals with

human qualities. Using their words and gestures the drama

shows the differences between Cain and Abel from the start:

eafter Adam counsels them both "God ffor to loue and

cirede . . . the fyrst frute offyr to hym in scaryfice

" (3,40-42), Abel responds happily, "Gramercy

brent . . .

ffadyr ffor Bour good doctrine/ Ffor as 3e vs techyn so

:xa1.we do" (3,45-46). Cain, however, says reluctantly:

And pow me be loth I wyl now also
On to Bour counsell ffadyr me unclyne
and 3itt I say now to 30w both too

I had levyr gon hom well ffor to dyne.
(3,49-52)

At tflne time of the sacrifice Abel chooses "The best schep
fullhertyly/ amonges my flok pat I kan se" (3.83-84)r

bat Cain thinks he is a fool:

 

59

to tythe be best bat is not sownd

and kepe be werst bat is nere lost

But I more wysly xal werke bis stownde

to tythe be werst and make no bost

Off all my cornys bat may be fownde

I xal lokyn on every syde

here I tythe bis vnthende sheff

lete god take it . or ellys lef (3,94-102)

Ckmrly the two brothers exemplify good and evil; Abel
kwes the Lord and is anxious to do right, Cain loves no
mm, and is a selfish cheat. The expectations that are
amused by their first behavior are fulfilled when Cain
loses his temper because Abel's sacrifice burns more
brightly than his:
What bou stynkyng losel and is it so
doth god be love and hatyht me
bou xalt be ded I xal be $10
bi lord bi god bou xalt nevyr se
Tythyng more xalt bou nevyr do
With bis chavyl bon I xal sle be
bi deth is dyth bi days be go
out of my handys xalt bou not fle
With bis strok I be kylle (3,144-153)
'The play obviously intends to make villainy repulsive and
uses to the full the image of the "hot head"—-a colloquial
\nersion of the allegorical figure of Wrath.
In the sculpture Cain stands, on C7 (Plate 6),
ferociously brandishing the jaw-bone.86 He is a three-
qtfilrter figure holding up his head so high that we see the

under side of his nose and chin--a personification of

a'rr‘3<_37ar1ce. Abel is not visible but we presume this is the

thea 861n the English tradition the jaw-bone is always
Drwann;'e apon. Miss Anderson mentions other possibilities in
“*‘-§i and Imagery, p. 144.

60

scene of the murder--as on van Eyck's Ghent Altarpiece,
Cain is usually shown raising a club. For this significant
subject (significant because Abel murdered was a type of
Christ) the sculptor has chosen the climactic moment, and
created a picture of uncontrolled anger and violence.
Because Abel is not pictured the scene is more generalized,
or even more abstract, violence and so once again takes on
more of an emblematic than narrative character, but the
goal is the same as that pointed out for the play.

Another boss, C6, representing the death of Cain

87

has more of the narrative tendency. This is a subject

that rarely appears in sculptured or dramatic programs,

but, as it happens, _I_._t_id_t_1__s_ has the scene also——a fact which
relates the play to the bosses even more significantly
because none of the other English Corpus Christi cycles had
the episode. On the boss Cain lies dying, the head of an
arrow buried in his chest. Lamech stands over him holding
a bow, while a young boy, probably Tubal-Cain, kneels before
Lamech. More characters and by implication more actions

make this less of an emblem; the comparison with the

87The two bosses relating the story seem to have

Meet, Switched as his death scene occurs first. Other
gigblems with these bosses are that Cain's robe changes
Wheglh red to white and his hair from yellow to black.
rest er the.workmen again were at.fault or whether the
Werkgrers did not follow the original, or whether two
did-‘en created the sceneshunaware of what each other
Unlikwe cannot know. This 1nc1dent, the death of Cain,
‘3 Cain and Abel, is not in the Bible.

61

previous boss thus indicates that treatment of the subjects
is not uniform throughout the nave.

The death of Cain, in the middle part of play 4,
{Hesents the same characters, but, as before, we learn more
flmut them through the drama. Lamech describes himself as
Nd and blind and the playwright builds the dramatic
Mtuation by having him talk of his youth: "whyl I had syht
nwht nevyr man fynde/ my pere of Archerye" (4,146-147).
rm and his companion, called Adolescens in the play, dis-
cuss that and then it seems quite natural for Lamech to say
finally:

and Bit as me thynkht no man xuld shete bett
Than I xuld do now . if myn hand were sett a-

tryght
A-spye som marke boy . my bow xal I bende wyght
and sett myn hand euyn to ahete at som best
and I dar ley a wagour his deth for to dyght

be marke xal I hitt . my lyf do I hest.
(4,160-165)

frhe speech is full of irony for it is indeed his own life
or salvation that he is risking. But the climax has been
set.up in a most natural manner, taking advantage of quite
<erinary feelings that any one could identify with--it is
aJJnOst casual. When he discovers that he has killed Cain--
“Hug expires announcing, "With a brod arwe I am ded and
SCJJiYn" (4,17S)--Lamech has an opportunity to display his
abil-‘ity to express a tremendous change in mood to a state

0f
te r ror and anger:

 

 

62

Haue I slayn cayme . alas what haue I done .
bou stynkynge lurdeyn . what hast bou wrought _. "
bou art be why I scle hym so sone . . .

God wyl be vengyd ful sadly on me

Ffor deth of caym I xal haue vii folde
more peyn ban he had (4,182-193)

Right here there is even a parallel to be noted in

Um actual layout of Ludus and the sculpture. The incident

ofCain and Abel takes place at the end of the play of

Mhm and Eve, and the death of Cain is interpolated in the

awry of Noah--in an interval which may represent the

"hundrd 3ere ryght here haue I wrought/ this schypp for

to make" (4,206-207). In the bosses the first scene is

in the last row center of the first bay which is devoted

to the creation and the fall of man; the second is in the

first row center of the center bay which tells the story of

Ifloah and the flood. Added to the choice of subject (the

rarely used death of Cain), the similarity of placement
offers a specific instance of parallelism between Ludus

and the bosses over and above the general likenesses of

(Rathic style shared by so many other works.

Since the church was understood to be the ship of
salVation, the association of it with Noah's ark was easily

"ufliepag and it became a popular subject in art from the

EariLY’Christian period on. (It is not, however, used in

8Ferguson, p. 180. Typologically, however, the

s . .
bgene relates to the baptism of Christ, the main boss of
3’ 5’ linked by the ancient concept of water as the

0

Cl . .
eansing agent: it cleaned the world of the Wicked Wlth

th
<2 J_ood, and cleansed the soul for salvation.

63

the Biblia Pauperum.) In the bosses it becomes the major

 

mflfiect of the second bay (Plate 7). It is a quaint and
cfimrming scene: the ark, slightly tilted to one side, has
fluee stories as the Old Testament prescribes. In the
lowest story are the beasts: a bull, two cows, a bear with
amuzzle and a lion. In the middle story Noah and his
xflfe, and one son and his wife look out from the two
cmntral spaces. On one side of them a white and gold
mflcorn can be seen, on the other a number of birds with
long golden bills. More birds are in the center of the
uppermost level with some monkeys on the left and a strange
Creature on the right whom Dean Goulburn calls an elephant
(p. 87). Only the heads of the people and animals are
‘visible, lined up in neat rows.
Other bosses in the bay tell what happened before--
Ncmh builds the ark on C8--and what happened later-~Noah
plants a vineyard on C12. Still other bosses fill in the
story; Noah's son is seen with two lambs on N9; on N11 a
wOman carries a tray of birds on her head; on N and S 10
tMKD couples, one with a child, enter or leave the ark. On
59 the raven is depicted eating carrion and on 811 is the
dOVe with the olive branch. A few other bosses have
fOliage patterns and C9 has the scene of the drunken Noah,

asleep and uncovered in his tent, discovered by his sons.

89Noah mocked by his sons is another type, of

Chr '
Ea J‘sst: mocked, when crowned with thorns. See Biblia

L1
w, Didron, p. 418.

64

This story is presented in much more detail in the
sculpture than the story of Adam and Eve, or Cain and Abel;
mumst exactly it follows the Old Testament. The play
takes a slightly different tack. In the first part of
gflay 4 Noah expresses the symbolic nature of his part:

In me Noe be secunde age
in dede be-gynnyth as I 3ow say
afftyr Adam with-outyn langage
be secunde fadyr am I in fay (4,14-17)
mm a more important aspect of this play is the stress on
the punishment of the wicked. In his first speech Noah
says:
But men of levyng be so owt-rage
both be nyght and eke be day
bat lesse ban synne be soner swage
god wyl be vengyd on vs sum way
In dede
Ther may no man go ber owte
but synne regnyth in every rowte
In every place rownde a-bowte
Cursydnes doth sprynge and sprede. (4,18-26)
In her turn his wife tells what will happen to these wicked
xnen:
Ffor synfull levyng oure sowle xal spylle
Synne offendyth god in his face
and a—grevyth oure lord ffull ylle . .
What man in synne doth all wey scleppe
He xal gon to helle ful deppe
than xal he nevyr after creppe
out of bat brennyng brook. (4,30-39)
N<Dah's sons and their wives in their speeches talk about
tk“3117 fear of doing wrong and losing their salvation, and
so the stage is set for Deus to come forward and tell the

d .
UdlenCe' "1 W01 be vengyd . . ." (4,95) and "bat I made

"Ian
£3(Dre doth me rewe" (4,106). Noah will be saved, however,

k

65

because of his piety: "all bis wyde werd xal be dreynt

vdth flood/ saff bou and bi wyff xal be kept from bis

gynne/ and also bi chylderyn with here vertuys good"

”,123-125). This is the main point of the play, that
mfly the good shall be saved, and the miserable fate of the

oUmrs is described in the speeches of Noah and his family:

kw best is dreynt many a skore" (4,200), "In bis flood

qwlt is many a mannys blood" (4,204), "bis fflood is so

(net on every asyde/ bat all bis wyde werd to care now is
brought" (4,220-221), "On rokkys ryght sharp is many a man
torn" (4,233).90 The contrast is striking when Noah
eXpresses his joy after the dove returns with the olive

"Ffor joye of bis token ryght hertyly we tende/
(4,252-253).

branch:
(oure lord god to worchep a songe lete vs synge"

Since the play has been shaped to emphasize one
pcflnt very strongly, some parts of the story which would
have been distracting or tended to obscure that point have
.been.omitted. Noah building the ark, planting the vine-
.yard and lying drunken in his tent are in the sculpture but
TMDt in the play. Another reason may be related to a dif-
ference between the play and the sculpture in their overall
planS which begins to be apparent at this point. This is

truat; whereas the Old Testament takes up fully half the

90It will be noticed that the speeches here are

s
sggill’ing the pictorial element not being actually pre—
eeci on the stage, but which could be easily presented

Vi
8111ally in the sculpture.

~

 

66

length of the nave, seven bays, it is allotted only one-

sfixth of the whole of Ludus. This distribution of Old and

 

bkw Testament material in the sculpture is in the tradition
ofthe visual arts which sometimes includes more of the Old
'kmtament91--the vault of the nave of S. Savin-sur-Gartempe
is decorated, in fact, with only Old Testament scenes.
BEBE! on the other hand follows the pattern of the English
unpus Christi plays; in these the Old Testament is much
less important because typology is a minimal factor. The
plays, unlike the bosses which are stationary and permit
Continuous viewing, move through time. The spectator
cannot contemplate, he can only receive impressions and
only in the minute they are offered. To expect him to
.look at the scene of the nativity, for example, and simul-
‘taneously recall the fall of man, linking them signifi-
caumly, would be putting quite a burden on the medieval
viewer. Although the idea would not be foreign to him, the
excitement of the play would preoccupy his attention. As
Inentioned above E2922 has seven plays (including the
IIrOphets) of forty-two on Old Testament subjects; Chester
has five of twenty-five, York eleven of forty-eight and
TOWneley nine of thirty. Typology may have underlying
importance in the play of Noah, but the lesson of punish-

In .
eTIt (and reward is on the surface--the exact reverse of

19fi8 9lSee Emile Male, The Gothic Image (New York,
of- t:) ., pp. 131-175, for a descfiption of the typical usage
flea Old Testament in cathedral sculpture.

67

the boss where the emblematic character is nowhere stronger

and the typology is the primary motive.
Abraham and Moses: Prefigurations of Christ

The story of Abraham and Isaac and the sacrifice of
a loved son became a popular subject in Early Christian art
because of its similarity to the story of Christ. This is
the whole matter of play 5 in Ludus, a play of greater
length than the play of Noah. On the other hand the
sculpture does not give this purely Scriptural subject as
much space as was given to Noah. Two bosses at the
beginning of the third bay, in fact, have nothing to do
with Abraham; on C13 a mason is shaping stone for the tower
of Babel and on C14 the tower stands, a perfect little
Gothic castle, complete with portcullis and crenellations
(Plate 8). Most of the bosses in the bay relate the legend
cm Jacob and Esau, Isaac's sons. On 817 Abraham's servant
goes with two camels to find a wife for Isaac; on 815
IQbekah stands at the well; Esau, the hunter, kills a deer
m1N18 while Jacob, the shepherd, kills a kid on $18. On
PH4 Rebekah puts the goatskin on Jacob, and on C17 Isaac,
lying in bed, blesses Jacob (Plate 10); on 814 Esau returns
from the hunt and Isaac blesses him on C18. Following the
Bible in every particular the story of Jacob continues over
tlme whole of bay 4 and includes such famous scenes as Jacob

wll‘estling with the angel (Plate 12) and Jacob's ladder

68

(Plate 14), as well as the less well known subject of
Jacob peeling the rods (Plate 13), the central boss of the

bay.92

In art Jacob is very much a part of the tradition
as a type of Christ and a model of faith, but in the drama
a different tradition again prevails and no part of Jacob's
life is depicted in Eugus, nor is it in the York or Chester
cycles, though Towneley's play 6 is a play of Jacob.

The sacrifice of Isaac is preceded in the sculpture
by two scenes of angels who announced the impending birth
of his son to Abraham (a type of the annunciation) on N
and S 16, and also by another scene infrequently rendered,
Sarah laughing behind the tent door (Plate 11). This last
boss is quite out of order, being the first central boss
of the next bay. Another indication of carelessness or
perhaps of a change of plan is that there are two bosses
with the episode of the sacrifice. The treatment is
altogether different in the two scenes. On N15 Isaac
kneels on the ground bowing his head submissively, and
(Muaham stands over him with sword raised and head averted
hwm the awful deed he must perform. Near by is a bundle
CK wood for the fire which will follow the sacrifice,
although there is no carving of Isaac carrying the wood

as there is in the Biblia Pauperum (Didron, p. 418). Nor

 

is there a ram caught in the thicket represented--the

92All these bosses here enumerated are an example

013 the manner in which a story must be broken up and pre—
SEEnted in parts in the visual medium.

69

subject is broken up and some parts are on other bosses.

At any rate the emphasis is not on the details but on the
human emotions involved. The setting is very informal, and
simplicity is the keynote. The other scene, C16 (Plate 9),
shows Isaac seated on an altar. The altar is draped and
fringed, and the typology is as explicit as in the Biblia
Pauperum (Didron, p. 419). In this more formal and symbolic
version the Gothic attitude toward church decoration is
clear: the outward subject and the hidden meaning, the type
and anti-type, were never more strongly combined.

Two other bosses fill in details of the sacrifice
of Isaac: the angel who commands Abraham to stop the
slaughter on N19 and the ram in the thicket on 519. They
vmuld complement either of the two scenes of the sacrifice,
but since the second one (with Isaac on the altar) is on
the center boss it must be taken as the official presenta-
tion; why, then, the other? One possibility is that there
vmre two models for the cycle; another is that the two
versions reflect an effort to portray two different levels
(H exegesis.93 One, on the center boss, is the more
$mbolic and spiritual while the other represents the
Cbthic tendency of humanizing the subject.

22923 in play 5 presents the episode of Abraham
amiIsaac very much as it is in the Bible, but appealing

<kfiinitely to the emotions. That is, rather than stress

93Suggested by Professor John Yunck.

 

 

, . ‘
" O
ul .
n. 1
' !
‘4'" .
a,“ I!
.. . f
‘C‘ql ‘
I
‘ I. .R‘

u
a "‘v1

 

9.

‘." ‘

 

 

in.

.5...“
‘ ~
‘3‘-

V

.; .H ‘1
“I 1‘.

L

‘I

n ‘ ‘

"1".»
I‘l

‘:.

‘u A:
V

70

Um typology, the incident is used dramatically. The
fimling builds up from the beginning; Abraham talks about
Ins "swete sone" (5,14) but also about how he loves the
Mud and fears him. His conflict is thus clearly estab—
hshed. A touch of pathos is added by Isaac's innocent
nmmrk, "Ffadyr fyre and wood here is plente/ but I kan
serm sacryfice" (5,125-126), or again, "tell me fadyr
3mnrgrett mornyng/ and I xal seke sum help ber-fore"

(SASS-136). When he sees that he must indeed carry out

tmesacrifice Abraham cries out:

The wyll of god must nedys be done

to werke his wyll I seyd nevyr nay
but Bitt be ffadyr to sle be sone

my hert doth clynge and cleue as clay

(5,161-164)

At the end, the emotional climax reached, reprieved and
fUII of joy, Abraham praises the Lord:

Now god all thyng of nowth bat made

evyr wurcheppyd he be on watyr and londe
his grett honowre may nevyr more fade

in feld nor town se nor on sonde

As althyng lord bou hast in honde

so saue us all wher so we be

whethyr we syttyn walk or stonde

Evyr on bin handwerke bou haue pyte.

(5,257-264)

The Plday generates more emotion than the sculpture partly
because once more only one main point is set forth--there
is “0 <iiffusion of interest, and also because the play does
not try to express the abstract idea.

The program of the sculpture diverges again from

tha
t (Df the drama in the fifth bay where the story of

1""

 

no‘
u

'9‘

L.)

c D“.

- I
‘I- ‘31;
_

' OHIOHI§

a.
,\
1. o. .5
.
‘ ° ‘-

....

"‘vo .

:u

p

'51.
- :-
-"~ ‘
u I
u
. _ ‘
\ A
‘4‘ at.
‘ u
‘- Du“ ‘
~“~i
L

 

."

I. 5,‘ 1
U; .-

I 9 I]

‘. :)
\\‘

71

Jeseph is presented. It is strange indeed that his story,
so full of analogies with the life of Christ,94 should not
In included in the drama (it is not in any English cycle),
mm it is firmly within the visual tradition including the

Mblia Pauperum (Didron, pp. 414 and 423). Both cycles

 

amm together again in the following subject, the life of
Moses.

As before, the sculpture presents various episodes
madng a more complete picture but a less pointed one. The
sany begins with a scene of Moses in the bulrushes on
C32,;moceeds to Moses as a shepherd with the flock of
JeUub on 832 and then to Moses taking off his shoes on
N32 (actually a type of shoe with latchets across the

inStep, not the customary boot as in the Biblia Pauperum).

 

This last scene is the prelude to C33 where Moses is before
the burning bush, from which a bearded figure rises

(Plate 16). This is the point, after a short speech of
intrOduction, at which play 6 begins. Moses expresses his
amaZement, "A mercy god what menyth 3on syte/ A grene
buschhéas fyre doth flame/ and kepyth his clowre fayr and
bryghtue" (6,17-19). The burning bush is a type of the

nativ ' . . -
ilty (Biblia Pauperum, Didron, p. 404) but the play

 

dOe
S That give it importance except as spectacle. Instead

D811 .
S itnmediately speaks, has Moses take off his shoes as

knit 13 94Male says Joseph typifies Christ not by one act,
1:1 Y his whole life. See The Gothic Image for examples
art. p. 156.

 

.I- RF
.-

..." ii

 

.
'54- c
a

 

‘F--

I.)

‘5 n...

 

 

 

if,
"a :-
. ‘.~‘
6"
o
4
-. :‘-.
' ~

 

 

 

 

72

tithe bosses, and promptly gives him the ten commandments:

“these tabell-is I take be in bin honde/ with my ffynger

hxhem is wrete/ all my lawys bou vndyrstonde" (6,38-40).

flm rest of the play is given to Moses' recital of the ten

cmmmndments. The author of Ludus has combined two scenes

rmre, the burning bush and the giving of the law on Mt.

The story is shortened by this means but retains

i.e., the

Sinai.
tMadramatic spectacle and the moral message,

esayme of both episodes.

The fact that Moses brings the Old Law as Jesus
wastme giver of the New Law makes Moses a type of Christ,
so it is surprising that, although the bosses follow
Scripture quite closely, the ten commandments are not

dePicted--un1ess another boss is understood to represent

that subject. This boss, C35 (Plate 19), is not one of the

largest but it is in quite an important position next to

the Center. On it two clerics are carrying the ark of the

covenant. It appears to be fairly large judging by its

proportions in relation to the men;95 it has the shape of

a
CheSYt with a lid sloping up to a ridge. The sides are

d
eCOIYited and the object as a whole resembles a reliquary.
Tr - .
adltLlonally the ark is the place where the tablets of the
law
Were kept; this boss, then, is acting as an emblem--

Dre
SeEllting the idea symbolically, and suggesting in its

Fu3r{3 . 95The size of an object is not a reliable guide
Swordslnce all the way through the nave many pieces like
3. Peter's keys and dice are deliberately exaggerated.

-.

 

 

 

 

 

 

73

flwpe that the ark is a prototype of the church which is

Um vessel that carries Christ's law. An additional sig-

ruficance of the ark may be read into it also: it forms an

malogue of the Host being carried through the streets of

Um town on Corpus Christi Day.
As opposed to the play where the main point of the

Ikmes story is the ten commandments, the sculpture gives

fhmt place to Pharoah and his men drowning in the Red

Sea(Plate l7). Pharoah, wearing his crown, is half sub-

rmnged in the blood red sea; the heads of three of his men

andaipart of his chariot surround him. All the heads are

turned in different directions giving the viewer several

different perspectives. The main point made by the bosses,

as indicated by position, seems to be the punishment of

those who oppose the Lord's will. This scene is preceded

bY the depiction of Aaron and Moses before Pharoah on S35,
two Sculptures of Israelites ready to leave with Moses on

N a“d S 34, and the portrayal of Moses dividing the Red
S . . .

ea (Plate 18). On this last boss, following earlier
m .

edle\nal models Moses' horns are plainly to be seen. Still

tw . . . . .
O “KDre sculptures belong to this subject--mu51c1ans With
lute . 96
éind harp on N33 and heralds With trumpets on S33.
As -
ln~the case of the scene of Abraham and Isaac, the
atunent of the Moses story seems to point to an entirely

(iif
ferenttradition from that of Ludus; the emphasis is

96These are in the style of medieval instruments.

n n1 ‘0‘

 

l“I.
w

A... it b

~
'v.

.._ L

 

/
4’:
f l

y
L

 

R

u

.

x“ =

a .
‘V

1.. ‘

a.

 

74

rmt on the ten commandments, and many extra incidents are
gmesented. The choice of Pharoah drowning for the central
MES might have been made partly on the basis that it was
unperfect for pictorial purposes. The parting of the Red
Rm could have been the central boss; as a miraculous event
fizwould have then stressed God's grace and protection
rather than punishment, but the bosses do not seem
hmerested in striking that note.
Transition to the New Testament:
Kings and Prophets

From this juncture Eudus and the bosses proceed
'umard the New Testament by parallel but not identical
{mths. The bosses portray some scenes from the life of
$m$on in rows 36 and 37 and then, through the seventh bay,
Invid and Solomon (Plates 20, 21, 22). Meanwhile Ludus in
{flay 7, the prophets, presents thirteen kings and thirteen
Emophets who speak alternately, foretelling the incarnation
émd stressing Mary's royal heritage. The play at first
mmgests the older liturgical drama in which prophets
delivered their predictions of Christ's sacrifice: Isaiah
begins, saying, "bat a clene mayde thourgh meke obedyens/
Shall bere a childe which xal do resystens/ Ageyn foule
Zabulon be devyl of helle" (7,4—6). But after that Jesse,
designated as Radix Jesse, makes his statement that "A
blyssyd braunch xal sprynge of me" (7,17), the play takes a

different turn and Mary remains the focus of attention.

 

 

In

75

Davhi, for instance says, "Of my blood xal sprynge oure
axe" (7,25); Roboas, "of oure kynrede 3itt men xul se/
Aclene mayde trede down foule sathanas" (7,49-50) and so
mu The prophets speak more generally: Jeremias, "god of
Ins high beyvolens/ of prest and kynge wyll take lynage"
0,35-36); Exechiel, "A vysion . . . Of a gate bat sperd
was trewly/ and no man but a prince myght ber-in go"
0,43-46). Thus the connection between the two testaments
is demonstrated in Eudu§.97

The sculpture can be interpreted in similar fashion
aflthough at first glance the seventh bay seems filled with
merely chronological scenes. Following Samson, included as

atype of Christ because he delivered the Israelites from

Um Philistine598--and a figure found in the Biblia Pauperum

 

97Because of the special glorification of the
\Hrgin in this play, the symmetrical arrangement of kings
lmlanced with prophets, the descriptive note in the
pmoclamation: "Of be gentyl Jesse rote/ be sefnt pagent
fln'sothe xal ben" (105-106), and the note at the end of
‘Um play, "Explicit Jesse," both John K. Bonnell in
"Sources in Art of the So-Called Prophets Play in the
lmgge Collection," PMLA XXIX (1914). p. 333, and Miss
Anderson, Drama and Imagery, p. 36, believe this should
rmt be calIEd a prophet play but an equivalent of the many
Jesse windows which were being set up at the time. It is
pointed out that Haggai speaks as a king rather than a
prOphet to fit the scheme, and some prOphets merely repeat
what others have already said, i.e., they have been included
to make up the number although no special prOphecies were
associated with their names.

 

98However the scenes here are of his fight with the
lion, two of his parents, two of Samson with Delilah, and
Samson carrying the gates of Gaza (a type of Christ break-
ing down the gates of Hell).

76

midron, p. 421), David is the first of Christ's ancestors
chpicted. His fight with Goliath occupies two central
unses, C38 (Plate 20) and C39, which are accompanied by
mmnes of Goliath approaching (N38), two men carrying his
mms (838) and David with a prophet after being appointed

lung in Hebron ($39),99 but the chief boss of the bay is

(M0, the coronation of David (Plate 21).100 Wearing his
crown, seated on a throne and holding his harp, he looks
u>one side where a servant holds the sword of Goliath
$40), a symbolic reminder that right may overcome might.
mihis other side a servant carries the royal scepter

(N40). The next center boss depicts David blessing

fiflomon (C4l)~-Bathsheba pleads for Solomon's right to
mmcession on N42--and the last center boss of the bay pre—
sents King Solomon enthroned, holding the temple and a very
large sword (Plate 22). The emblematic quality is striking
in the bosses of both David and Solomon and is partly the
reason meaning can properly be deduced from them. Another
king occupies the first central boss in the next bay; he

is identified only as an ancestor of Christ. We have, then,

three kings on the ridge rib, expressing the idea of royal

succession. The design is completed by three prophets

99Dean Goulburn's attribution, p. 187.

100Placement makes all the difference as this
illustrates. If the scene of David and Goliath were
central as it might have been, the whole meaning of the
bay would have changed.

4

 

L
-f

 

77

holding scrolls on N39, N41 and N43, while on the other
side are three priests: S41, S42 and 843.101 Not exactly
the plan of the tree of Jesse as employed in Ludus, but

there are kings, prophets and priests from the Old Testa-

nmnt leading directly to the incarnation.
The Birth of Christ

Before presenting the nativity Ludus relates Mary's
sauy in its entirety and here much that is apocryphal
muers in. The first speaker in play 8 is Contemplacio who
[mrforms a sort of choral function. Opening with a
greeting which indicates that the next few plays were
finmerly presented as a sequence, she then gives a summary
cfi all they will see and concludes by invoking a blessing.
Although brief, What she has to say would prepare the
audience to better receive the plays. Speaking directly to
the audience, she will admonish them when needed: "Now
of 3our speche I pray 3ow spare/ all bat ben in bis place"
(9,16-17). Once more in this section the author has the
characters express their feelings very naturalistically,
making them human creatures rather than symbols, especially
when Joachim and Anna confront their predicament in the
beginning of the play of the conception of Mary. Joachim
says, "But blessyd wyff sore I drede/ In be temple bis

tyme to make sacryfice . . . I fere me grettly be prest

101842 has both a prophet and a priest.

a.»

 

 
 
 

 

 

78

wole me dysspice" (8,33-36)102 and Anna responds, "3our
swemful wurdys make terys trekyl down be my-face" (8,41).
The play has some very emotional moments; any actor would
enjoy performing Joachim's lament after the worst happens
and Ysakar tells him, "bou joachym I charge be . fast out
tn temple bou go" (8,83):

A mercyfful lord what is this lyff

What haue I do lord to haue bis blame
Ffor hevynes I dare not go hom to my wyff

And amonge my neyborys . I dare not abyde ffor
shame

A Anne . Anne . Anne . Al oure joye is turnyd
to grame (8,95-99)

Although the birth of Mary is part of the well
established tradition for large pictorial programs-—
Giotto's Arena Chapel for example-~the scene is not repre-
sented in the bosses, nor is the subject of the next play
(9), Mary in the temple. Contemplacio returns and intro-
duces the play although its subject is mentioned in her
first introduction. The first action in the play is Mary's
arrival at the temple where as a child of three years she
ascends the fifteen steps to the temple while reciting the
"fyftene grees” (9,79), also painted by Giotto. The pur-
pose of the play is to display her purity and goodness,
and this is accomplished through the personification of the
virtues as her companions. Episcopus introduces five

maidens:

102This technique of building plot by having the
actors anticipate What is going to happen is frequently
used in Ludus.

 

'“ gap,

.-
" ruin.

”‘4. .
\ ”

'U..f
‘o

u-A.

'~ IN-o

 

 

.
... ‘
\ ‘n
‘\. \
oh

 

 

 

 

 

 

79

There is be fyrst meditacion
Contryssyon . compassyon . And clennes

And bat holy mayde fruyssyon
With these blessed maydenes xal be 3our besynes.
(9,180-183)

and then seven priests "to schryve . to teche . and to
nwnystryn to the/ to lerne be goddys lawys" (9,190-191)
and their names are "dyscressyon . devocion . dylexcion .
and deliberacion . dyvynacion" (9,193-194).

In this play, too, the author displays a rather
intellectual (at least in comparison with the other Corpus
Christi plays) pleasure in words. Toward the end of the
play he has inserted an anagram, on the name of Mary.

This unique instance is incorporated in the angel's answer
to Mary after she says, "I am be sympelest creature . bat
is levynge here" (9,243). His praise takes this form:

n 3oure name Maria . ffyve letterys we han

. Mayde most mercyfull and mekest in mende

. Auerte of be Anguysch bat Adam began

. Regina of regyon Teyneng with-owtyn ende

. Innocent be Influens of Jesses kende

A. Aduocat most Autentyk 3our Antecer Anna

hefne and helle here kneys down bende

Whan bis holy name of 30w is seyd Maria.
(9,244-251)

HSU>3H

Almost certainly an audience would not notice this nor how
the anagram is carried through each line by the allitera—
tion and, since the manuscript was not for reading, it
seems that the author was only pleasing himself by insert-
ing this private little bit in Mary's honor.

Still one more purpose served by the play of Mary

in the temple was to fill in the story of her life and

trons
I'D-H

.- nan
. , .C
nocbv

n

s. ‘
...

s

~"‘-U.
A

'{r
. ‘lk\

f:
U,

I
(I,

 

.I.‘

 

.III'

‘

\fi

.V
‘\

 

h‘.
R" ‘
n 1‘
u
\
n
- 1
s“"
u

80

bring her to the time of the betrothal. Here, when Eudus
returns to Scripture, the program is once more the same as
the bosses. The sculptured scene (N44) presents Mary
standing beside Joseph, supporting his elbow with her hand,
am he leans on his stick. He is an aged man with a full
kmard, as he is usually portrayed, but in Eudus his age is
emaggerated for comic effect. He says, "I am so Agyd and
m>olde/ bat both myn leggys gyn to folde/ I am ny
Iflmost lame" (10,226-228). Play 10 is again introduced by
Cbntemplacio, once more reviewing the coming action of the
play and even mentioning what will come after it in the
next several plays. She doesn't mention the humor of it
vmich is unusual in Eudug and carries on through as Joseph
complains steadily. He doesn't even want to go to the
temple, saying first there is no need and then that he
cannot understand:
bat every man xuld come and brynge with hym a
whande
Abyl to be maryed bat is not I so mote I then
I haue be maydon evyr and evyr more wele ben
I chaungyd not 3et of all my long lyff
and now to be maryed sum man wold wen
it is a straunge thynge An old man to take a
Bonge wyff. (10,175-182)
At the temple the suspense begins to grow. Of
course all the humor of Joseph's complaints has also served
the structure of the plot. Joseph tries to avoid the
ceremony--”I xal a-bude be-hynde preuyly/ now wold god I
were at hom in my cote" (10,199-200), he says while the

others lay their wands on the altar. Only when Episc0pus

p-I' A".
..: div

u-l.'
A
§ ‘5‘,-
-: VCHU
.up.‘
w‘
"'IdJ‘ I
u
-..~.. "7'

 

 

t,
u” . ‘
I ' hay
‘h' "Va.
"8 fl
., :.
-~. ‘~
|
.
. 8A.,“
‘ 'J“'

 

 

 

81

cries out in despair, "A mercy lord I kan no sygne a-spy"
(10,229), does someone point out Joseph. Even then he does
not come right forward; "Sere I kan not my rodde ffynde"
(10,235). Finally in exasperation Episcopus demands,
“offyr up 3our rodde sere in goddys name/ why do Be not
as men 30w pray" (10,240-241). Through humor the play-
vnight builds his plot more subtly than in some other plays
and increases the anticipation. From here on the tone is
nmre serious and then, at the end, exuberant:

A gracyous god in hevyn trone

ryht wundyrful bi werkys be

here we may se A merveyl one

A ded stok beryth flourys ffre (10,259-262)
lught after the wedding Joseph leaves to "go laboryn in
fer countre” (10,467), making a point of being gone "ix
monthis bou seyst me nowth" (10,469); the playwright
obviously has the time of a normal pregnancy in mind and,
in fact, all through Egdgg there is evidence of logical
thinking, planning for continuity and building dramatic
effects.

At the conclusion of the betrothal of Mary Eudus
presents another non-Scriptural play (11) called the
parliament of heaven. This is a drama found only in Ludus
of all the English Corpus Christi plays; it also is another
subject not found in the bosses. Placed between the
betrothal and the annunciation, the play explains the

incarnation. Justice, Mercy, Peace and Truth are person-

ified as the four daughters of God. It is an example of

«o

 

 
 

82

scholastic thinking, i.e., applying logic to the mystery at
the heart of Catholicism, to try to understand why Christ
was born on earth. It is worked out by having the four
daughters argue among themselves about what price will
have to be paid for Adam's sin so that men may once more
have a chance to win their way back to heaven, who are now
groaning miserably in hell (11,3-5). In the complicated
reasoning that follows Justice (who calls herself
Righteousness also) and Truth, very offended by man's
kmhavior, are not easily appeased and are only satisfied
when it is decided that another death, of a very special
gmrson, "for mannys deth xal be redempcion" (11,145-150).
Now that it appears reasonable for Christ to take human
fbrm the action proceeds to the annunciation in the second
part of play 11.103
The annunciation, a Scriptural subject, is repre-
sented in the sculpture on C44 (Plate 23). Mary and the
angel are shown, she holding her cape close to her, the
angel dressed in wings, an ermine cape and a feathered
skirt. The symbolic lily is between them and an open book

is inverted behind Mary. The splendor of the fur and

103Although the substance of the argument between
the four daughters could not be represented in stone, the
scene has visual possibilities as implied in a costume note
in The Castle of Perseverance, c. 1425, in which the four
daughters also appear. The note directs that they be
dressed in symbolic colors: "Merci in wyth, Rythwysnesse
in red, Trewth in sad grene, and Pes al in blake . . . ."
Cited by J. Q. Adams, Chief Pre-Shakespearian Dramas
(Cambridge, 1924), p. 264.

 

 

 

. a
r!!- O!
’ I

In». .\

> u
A I up.
I n
O"- I“:

 

L. .

h. ‘0

N.
V.

 

 

 

 

83

golden feathers is somewhat matched by the language of
Ludus when Gabriel says to Mary:

Thow sorwe in 3ow hath no place

3ett of joy lady 3e nede more

Therefore I Adde And sey Fful of grace

Ffor so Ful of grace was nevyr non bore

(11,221-224)

Ck again when he takes leave, this poetic speech:

Ffare weyl turtyl . goddys dowtere dere

Ffare weyl goddys modyr . I be honowre

Ffare weyl goddys sustyr . and his pleynge fere

Ffare weyl goddys chawmere and his bowre.

(11,313-316)

Most of the play, however, does not have such a poetic
touch and deals in a prosaic and literal manner with the
supernatural event. Christ tells Gabriel, for example,
when he is being dispatched to Mary, "Hy3e be bou were
there A pace/ ellys we xal be there the be-ffore/ I haue
so grett hast to be man thore" (11,199-201). Mary talks
like any mother thinking of her child in the womb; after
the conception takes place she exclaims, "A now I ffele in
my body be/ parfyte god and parfyte man . . . Nott takyng
ffyrst o membyr and sythe A—nother/ but parfyte childhood
3e haue A-non" (11,293-298). There is a theological tone
to this too and we can perceive the writer asking himself
how this would have to be. In another speech to Gabriel
Mary talks almost like an ordinary housewife:

I pray 3ow take it in to vsage

be A custom ocupacion

to vesyte me ofte be mene passage
Bour presence is my comfortacion. (11,325-328)

.04 n-
. . ),
.... .

 

 

 

ll

.,'
I. d‘

 

 

I
I-fi-

~-
N I
. l

 

84

At the same time this is one of the plays that reveals the
superior stagecraft of EEQEE' No directions explain how,
but apparently Gabriel managed to fly to Mary: "I take my
fflyth and byde nowth" (11,216). Again, the conception
takes place visibly: "here be holy gost discendit with iij
bemys to our lady . the sone of be godhed nest with iij
bemys . to be holy gost . the fadyr godly with iij bemys
to be sone . And so entre All thre to here bosom" (after
1.292). The effect on the audience must have been
marvelous.

The next incident in Eudus was planned originally
to be the visitation with Elizabeth. Twice during play 11
Elizabeth's pregnancy is mentioned. The Spiritus Sanctus
says to Gabriel: "In tokyn here bareyn cosyn Elyzabeth is/
wak with childe . in here grett Age i-wys" (11,208-209),
and Gabriel in his turn tells Mary, "And se Elyzabeth Bour
cosyn thore/ She hath conseyvid A son in hyre Age/ This
is be sexte monyth of here passage/ Of here bat clepyd
was bareyn" (11,255-258). Mary also states her intention,
"now myn cosyn ffayn wold I se/ how sche hath conseyvid
as 3e dede specyfy" (11,310-311), but another play has been
inserted between the conception and the visitation, a play
describing Joseph's return. Not only is the action inter—

rupted by this play but the whole tone of the drama

 

vu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

85

104 From the beginning of the play when

changes with it.
Joseph cries, "How dame how . vn-do 3oure dore vn-do/ Are
3e at hom why speke 3e notht" (12,1-2), the change is
evident. Louder, more aggressive and much coarser, he
demands to know the identity of her child's father, and
refuses to accept her answer, "Goddys childe bou lyist in
fay/ God dede nevyr jape so with may" (12,43-44). The
part would be played very broadly and was probably received
with delight by the audience:

3a 3a all Olde men to me take tent

and weddyth no wyff in no kynnys wyse

bat is Bonge wench be myn a-sent

ffor doute and drede and swych servyse

Alas Alas my name is shent

all men may me now dyspyse

and seyn olde cokwold bi bow is bent

newly now after be frensche gyse (12,49-56)
At the end the character is completely altered and expresses
a whole different personality: "Now I thank god with spech
and spelle/ bat Euyr mary I was weddyd to the" (12,221—222).
None of this is Scriptural material except the angel's
visit to Joseph and this is the only part depicted in the
bosses, on S44. The angel touches Joseph's shoulder; his
long red and gold Wings and golden robe make him a
splendid figure. One of Joseph's hands is broken off--

it may have been supporting his head, indicating he was

asleep. This story in Ludus, although rather vulgar, is

104Also true of the play following the visitation,
the trial of Joseph and Mary. See Miss Block's intro-
duction to Ludus, pp. xx-xxiv, for a description of how
the return of Joseph relates to the whole manuscript.

 

 

Ma

5..

 

 

 

 

86

less so than in the other Corpus Christi plays which take
every opportunity for ribaldry.
Mary's visit to Elizabeth is represented in both

the sculpture and in Ludus (not in the Biblia Pauperum,

 

however, but by Giotto and many others). As the lesser
miracle which reinforces the greater it occupies a center
boss in row 47 (Plate 26). Here we see the two women
embracing, both dressed in long golden robes, simple in
style; except that they wear different headdresses and one
has a red undergown, there is no difference between them.
This presentation is entirely traditional but Eudug takes
on a new aspect and displays an intention to set an example
of a proper way of living, for after a simple greeting Mary
and Elizabeth begin formal recitation of the Magnificat,
Mary saying the Latin and Elizabeth the English, alter-
nately. Reciting prayers and blessings and singing hymns
smems to be a conventional part of this whole group of
pflays associated with Contemplacio (Joseph's return was

rmt originally part of this group), which probably point

to the way in which the first dramas were interspersed into
the services. When the angel appears to Joachim "be

lmfne syngyng Exultet celum laudibus” (8, after 1.146),

and when the angel brings gifts to Mary "bei xal synge in
lmfne bis hympne . Jhesu corona virginum" (9, after

1.259). Joachim, Anna and Episcopus all recite blessings

Cwer Mary when she is taken to the temple; Episcopus later

‘

87

tflesses Mary's suitors and, when he leaves, gestures
'Signando manu cum croce solenniter" (8, after 1.90).
Ikayers are even more frequent: Episcopus prays for gui-
dance about Mary's wedding (10,ll7-ll9); Joseph and Mary
say their "devocionys" before leaving to visit Elizabeth
(13,19-20); and Mary makes the point clear, speaking for
the church:

Now lord dyspose me to prayour

bat I may sey be holy psalmes of dauyth .

It makyht sowles fayr bat doth it say

Angelys be steryd to help us ber with

it lytenyth therkeness and puttyth develys
Away. (10,429-436)

Almost at the end of this section Contemplacio says, "With

Aue we be-gunne . and Aue is oure conclusyon/ Ave regina

105

celorum . to oure lady we synge" (13,35-36). The whole

is thus enclosed in prayer, i.e., life is seen to be
properly framed by prayer, a lesson for the populace.

Another interpolated play follows this, of the same
type as Joseph's return; again non-Scriptural, play 14
presents the trial of Joseph and Mary. It has an inter-
esting and satirical insinuation about contemporary justice
in the comment of Den, the summoner: "And loke 3e rynge

wele in Bour purs/ Ffor ellys Bour cawse may spede be

105In play 13 Contemplacio's introduction actually
is more informative than usual, giving the history of
Elizabeth and Zachariah. At the end she has a long
speech, explaining that in this play is the origin of the
Ave and that whoever says it daily "ffor A 3er bus/ he
hath pardon . ten thousand And eyte hundryd 3er" (13,7—8).

 

a;

m.

 

 

 

 

88

mus" (13,25-26). Two unpleasant characters called
muractors act as anti-types of good behavior and symbols
cm those who mocked the church: "ber I come I do no good/
to reyse slawdyr is al my lay" (14,6-7), says the first
and his companion adds, "I am bakbytere bat spyllyth all
game" (14,29). Their comments about Mary must have seemed
dangerously sacrilegious; one of the nicer ones is: "such
a mursel as semyth me/ Wolde cause a 3onge man to haue
delyght" (14,59-60). Den also when he brings them to
court must have titillated and horrified the audience:

Ther-fore com forth cokewolde be name

be busschop xal Bour lyff appose

Com forth Also Be goodly dame

A clene huswyff as I suppose

I xal 3ow tellyn with-owtyn glose

and 3e were myn with-owtyn lak

I wolde ech day be-schrewe Bour nose

and 3e dede brynge me such a pak. (14,153-160)

Coming now to the nativity, the programs of the

bosses and the play match one another again. The scene
(Plate 24) occupies the central boss of the eighth bay on
C46, very close to the actual center of the whole sequence
of nave bosses. Midway between the creation and the last
judgment, the position implies that this event is the
central point in the history of man. The boss is a curious
mixture of visual effects. There is realism in the fore-
shortening of the figures of Mary and Joseph sitting in
front of the manger, and at the same time this is one of

several bosses in which the perspective is so arranged that,

while looking up at it, it appears that we see it from

89

flmve. Not quite so realistic is the fact that Mary,
chessed in a golden gown, has a napkin tied apron-like
about her waist, combining the splendid with the homey.
The child in the manger, represented as a sort of trough
right in the center of the boss, seems to be not a baby but
a doll--with a body proportioned like a miniature adult,
and very rigid, the least realistic part of the scene but
the most symbolic, representing the word of God incarnate.
Mary and Joseph stare intensely with uplifted
hands and this generates a feeling of tension; the expres-
sion of motherly love and tenderness incorporated in this
scene by Giotto and many others is missing. EEQEEI
however, does develop much human feeling in play 15. It
ranges from the petty annoyance of Joseph when he cannot
pluck the cherries Mary asks for: "Ow . to plucke 30w of
these cheries . it is a werk wylde/ Ffor be tre is so

hy3 . it wol not be lyghtly/ ber fore lete hym pluk 3ow

106 to his

cheries . begatt 3ow with childe" (15,36-38),
worry over the poor lodging among the beasts which is all
they can find; "god be bin help spowse it swemyth me sore/
bus febyly loggyd and in so pore degre/ goddys sone amonge
bestys to be bore . . . In An hous bat is desolat with-

owty Any wall/ nyer nor wood non here is" (15, 97-102).

Basically Scriptural up to this point, except for the

106This is another incident which only Ludus has,
of all the English Corpus Christi plays.

 

\4

 

 

 

90

little incident of the cherry tree, Ludus now incorporates
several apocryphal stories, continuing to display a variety
of emotions. Mary, when her child is born, is so happy
that she laughs and this seems imprOper to Joseph, "why do
3e lawghe wyff 3e be to blame/ I pray 3ow spowse do no
more so/ In happ be mydwyuys wyl take it to grame" (15,
181-183). Here we see that an anti-type has been created
from the incident of Sarah laughing when she heard the
prophesy that she would bear a son (Gen. 18.12). Finally
there is a moment of horror when Salome, a midwife who
doubts Mary's virginity, sees her hand turn "ded and drye
as clay" (15,255). Not only is there much more and varied
emotion in the play but the cast of characters is larger

107

and so is the scope of the action, always directed,

however, to presenting the idea that Christ was born on
earth to save mankind.

The annunciation to the shepherds (play 16) is a
little different in Eudug from the other English versions

in that the shepherds are not comic characters, nor do they

bring quaint little gifts,108 but the play makes clear the

107Up to this point the program of the bosses was
the expanded one, taking in extra incidents, and Ludus'
program was by comparison contracted, using only the
essences, but with the scene of the nativity this is
reversed, and continues through the rest of the programs.

108See for example the Second Shepherds Play
(Wakefield).

....g- H
.- A.

00.". 'I

- u
'nt 5"

~ In .504

 

 

\_ 2
u.‘
‘U.
I'-
‘
3" In
'| 1-4
a.)-
r

 

 

 

91

supernatural manifestations that accompanied Christ's
birth through the language of the shepherds:

I saw a grett lyght with shene shyne

3it saw I nevyr so selkowth syne

Shapyn vpon be skyes

It is bryghtere ban be sunne bem

It comyth ryght ouer all bis rem

Evyn above bedleem

I saw it brenne thryes (16,15-21)

In the bosses only two of the shepherds are shown;

actually in the Gospel (Luke, 2.8) no specific number is
named, but the reason for settling on three is easy to
deduce. On 847 (Plate 25), with some sheep in the back-
ground, one shepherd blows on a pipe while the other,
holding his crook, looks up at the sky and gestures with
astonishment. The angel making the announcement is on
845; he holds a scroll which Dean Goulburn reads as

Gloria in excelsis (p. 220). The shepherds in Ludus

likewise sing the familiar Gloria in excelsis deo (16,62).

 

The conclusion of the play offers a good example of Ludus'
most graceful alliterative writing:

Heyl floure of flourys fayrest i-fownde

Heyl perle peerles prime rose of prise

heyl blome on bedde we xul be vn-bownde

with bi blody woundys and werkys full wyse

heyl god grettest I grete be on grownde

be gredy devyl xal grone grysly as a gryse

Whan bou wynnyst bis worlde with bi wyde wounde

and puttyst man to paradys with plenty of prys
(16,90-97)

The Magi on bosses N and S 46, which are beside the
nativity, are splendidly dressed in comparison with the

shepherds, wearing robes of gold. Two of them hold

 

92

chalices and one an incense burner.109 In the play (18)

they probably were dressed very richly too and, moreover,
they speak in a much more cultivated way than the shepherds,
showing an awareness on the part of EEQEE' author of the
need for fitting the speech to the character: "Lorde I
knele vpon my kne/ Sote encence I offere to the/ Thow
xalte be be fyrst of hy3 degre" (18,243-245).
The most interesting character in the play of the

Magi is Herod—-in fact it is really his play. No gestures
or expressions would be too extreme for this character;
vain and boastful he struts and declaims:

Of bewte and of boldnes I bere ever-more be

belle
Of mayn and of myght I master every man

I dynge with my dowtynes be devyl down to helle
Ffor bothe of hevyn and of herth I am kyng

sertayn

I am be comelyeste kynge clad in gleterynge
golde

3a and be semelyest syre bat may be-stryde a
stede (18,5-10)

Hiding his anger he is cunning with the Magi: "come a3en
bis same way/ be trewth to me to telle" (18,193-194), but
when they have gone he explodes, "A Fy Fy on talys bat I
haue ben tolde . . . This daye the kynggys xal be kold/

If bey cum ageyn be me" (18,217-224). Surely Herod has one
of the most dramatic parts in Egdug. The end of this

drama is put off to play 20 to allow space and time for

109Like the shepherds, no specific number of Magi
comes from Scripture, Matthew 2.

93

Mary's purification in the temple, an episode which is also
included in the bosses.

The purification, in play 19, is used by Eudus'
author as an opportunity to present a lesson. Although
Joseph tells Mary, "To be purefyed . haue ye no nede"
(19,107) they will follow the law, and do what they are
supposed to do and "take us be-twene/ Dowys and turtelys
ffor sacrefyce" (19,115-116). The sculptor presents a
similar scene (it is a Scriptural subject, Luke 2.24);
Joseph on N45 is carrying a basket of doves, a wattled
basket in fact as in medieval usage. In his other hand he
holds his staff. This is one case where Joseph has no
beard; it may mean that two or more sculptors were working
on separate scenes at the same time but maybe with different
models. C45 has the scene in the temple; the nude infant
is being placed on the altar by Mary while prOphetess Anna
offers to receive him and Simeon stands near. Anna and
Simeon are in the play also where the point seems to be
quite simply the reiteration of what must be believed:
that Christ, the son of God, was born on earth to save man-
kind. A subsidiary theme may be the reward of the
righteous, for Simeon, a good old man who has waited all
his life to see Christ, gets What he has waited for: his
"prayer is herd in hevene" (19,42). His plea as an old
man who is afraid he will soon die, is another instance

of Ludus' expressive qualities:

 

 

 

 

94

gode lorde send dow bi son
bat I with my ful mende
myght wurcheppe hym if I con
Bothe with my fete . and hondys to
to go to hym and handele also
my eyn to se hym in certayn
my tonge for to speke hym to
and all my lemys to werke and do
In his servyse to be bayn.
(19,28-36)

The massacre of the innocents and the flight into
Egypt are the subject of play 20 and of two rows of bosses,
48 and 49, which conclude bay 8 and begin bay 9. Both are
very popular subjects in art and drama, taken from Scrip-
ture, and they are treated in similar fashion in the bosses

and Ludus. The intention is to show what a villain Herod

 

was and he is therefore displayed in Ludus as ranting and
raving in his fury (but in intensely alliterative verse)
because the Magi escaped:

I ryde on my rowel ryche in my regne

Rybbys fful reed with rape xal I rende

popetys and paphawkys I xal puttyn in peyne

with my spere prevyn pychyn and to pende

The gomys with gold crownys ne gete nevyr ageyn

to seke bo sottys sondys xal I sende

Do howlott howtyn hoberd and heyn

Whan here barnys blede vndyr credyl bende

(20,9-16)

The massacre is carried out with as much cruelty as possible
both because it enhances Herod's villainy and for its shock
value dramatically. In the sculpture he is shown dressed
in an ermine trimmed golden coat of a short length. He
stands up between two soldiers in a strange posture--one

leg bent at the knee and crossed over the other (Plate 27).

The peculiar pose may have been intended to express his

'0

95

irrationality. On either side of this boss is a scene of
the massacre; on both a soldier in armor holds a child
upside down by one leg and stabs him with a sword. On S48
a child's mother pushes a soldier unsuccessfully. Eudug
can, of course, give more expression of the action and
emotion of the mothers:

Alas qwhy was my baron born

With swappynge swerde now is he shorn

be heed ryght fro be nekke
Shanke and shulderyn is al to torn (20,90-93)
The flight into Egypt is given only sixteen lines
in Eudus. The angel speaks to Joseph in eight lines
warning him to take his wife and child and flee, and
Joseph immediately calls Mary to take care of the child
while "I Bour clothis ley on hepe/ and trus hem on be
asse" (20,83—84)--the concern for little details, such as
any person would think of if he had suddenly to leave on a
trip, is a human touch. In the bosses (Plate 28) Mary and
her child ride on a very small donkey with two large
bundles behind her. On the boss to the south Joseph holds
his staff, and on the north is the angel.
22323 has an extra incident, the death of Herod,

a non-Scriptural subject and one of the most dramatic
incidents in the whole play. After the massacre Herod is
delighted, thinking he is safe from the Christ child, and

orders a banquet served. The dramatist builds up his

happiness so that the contrast will be greater:

‘1

96

I was nevyr meryer here be-forn
Sythe bat I was fyrst born
than I am now ryght in bis morn
in joy I gynne to glyde.
(20,164-167)

Then in the midst of his expansive and smiling delight, the
dark shadow of Mors creeps in--a sensational climax. Just
in case every spectator in the audience did not get the
message that death may strike at any time and he had better
be ready, i.e., in a state of grace, the play ends with a
sermon:

All men dwellyng upon be grownde

Be~ware of me be myn councel

Ffor feynt felachep in me is fownde

I kan no curtesy as I 3ow tel

Ffor be a man nevyr so sownde

of helth in herte nevyr so wel

I come sodeynly with-in a stownde

me with-stande may no castel

my jurney wyl I spede.

of my comyng no man is ware

Ffor when men make most mery fare

ban sodeynly I cast hem in care

and sle bem evyn in dede.
(20,259-271)

The Public Life of Christ

One incident from the childhood of Christ is part
of the tradition of both sculpture and drama, his visit
with the doctors in the temple. Both Egdgs and the bosses
have the incident; Eudug in play 21 and the bosses on the
three sculptures of row 50. The subject is from the New
Testament (Luke 2:41) but Eudus has expanded on the simple
facts and made it a highly logical and rational explanation

of the incarnation. To win the interest of the audience

 

97

the beginning is comical; the doctors boast extravagantly
about their knowledge, claiming to be masters "of gramer
cadens and of prosodye" (21,6-8) and even more. When
Jesus reminds them that "Al wytt and wysdam of god it is
lent" (21,34), they respond crudely:

Goo hom lytyl babe and sytt on bi moderys lappe

and put a mokador a-forn bi brest

and pray bi modyr to fede be pappe

of be for to lerne we desyre not to lest.

(21,41-44)

But the real matter of the play is very serious. Jesus
first explains the nature of the Trinity: it is like the
sun which has the three elements of "Splendure be hete and
be lyght" (21,92) but is yet one sun--so the elements of
the Trinity are power, wisdom and grace which belong
respectively to the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Tackling
problems which must have indeed been puzzling for the
average layman and in other words being educational, Egdgs
goes on to the difficult question of how Mary remained a
virgin after the birth of Christ:

Lyke as be sunne doth perysch be glas

be glas not hurte of his nature

ryght so be godhed entyrd has

be virgynes wombe and sche mayd purello

(21,97-100)

110The analogy recalls the disguised symbolism of
Northern Renaissance art, notably Jan van Eyck and Robert
Campin. See E. Panofsky, Early Netherlandish Painting
(Cambridge, Mass., 1958), pp. 131 ff. Although original
in English Corpus Christi plays, the thinking behind the
analogy was part of the "commonplace" of Gothic culture
and appears in many places. See A. Temko, Notre Dame of
Paris (New York, 1962), p. 262. _—

 

 

up

"nu-

~...

“11

 

 

 

h".

"n.

 

 

 

 

98

Another question asked is which of the three persons of the
Trinity took flesh and why; Jesus answers that it was the
second because it was against his nature that Adam and Eve
sinned. The serpent "temptyd hym nowght be be faderys
myght/ Of be gostys goodnes spak he ryght nowght/ but in
connynge he temtyd hym ryght" (21,118-120). Jesus explains
one more thorny problem before Mary and Joseph interrupt
and take him away--the problem of his double nature. From
his father, he says, "With-out begynnyng I am endles"
(21,162) and therefore ageless, but in terms of the
mortality he has from his mother he is about twelve years
old. Lastly he explains why Mary was wed to Joseph:

To blynde be devyl of his knowlache

and my byrth from hym to hyde

bat holy wedlok was grett stopage

be devyl in dowte to do A-byde.

Also whan sche xulde to egypte gon

and fle from herowde for dowte of me

be-cawse she xulde nat go Alon (21,245-251)

This is the most theologically sophisticated play

in Eudug and it makes Eudus once again unique in comparison

111 But the intellectual

with the other English cycles.
content does not displace the attention paid to human
feelings which we have noted in other plays, for example

the writer's awareness of the difficult plight of a woman

traveling alone to a far country, and thinking this a good

111The other plays can all be traced back to a
common source, different from the one used by the author
of Ludus. See the introduction of Ludus, p. liii.

 

 

 

 

 

 

14’

I

 

 

 

 

99

reason for Mary's marriage. The same consciousness,
perhaps, of the problems of peOple has Christ give some
advice to the children: ”Euery childe xulde with good
dyligens/ his modyr to plese his owyn wyl forsake"
(21,279-280), and then set the example by being ready to
follow his parents "with obedyence" and do them "hy3
revernce" (21,274-276).

The subject of Christ disputing with the doctors
in the temple is not as frequently depicted in art as some

others; it is not found in the Biblia Pauperum, for

 

instance, but Giotto painted it in the Arena Chapel and
Duccio did also on the Maesta Altarpiece, so it is
thoroughly within the visual tradition. In the bosses the
scene is presented with some of the human feeling shown in
the play. Mary and Joseph are represented searching for
their lost child; he leans heavily on his stick on N50 and
she presses forward anxiously on $50.112 On the center
boss (Plate 29) the youthful Christ is seated above the
three doctors, one of whom, at the bottom of the boss, is
strangely placed on the horizontal, probably so as not to

obscure the figure of Christ. All are holding books with

markings on them suggesting writing. The only noticeable

112These emotional qualities in the works make it

obvious that they were not intended for a monastic audience.
The St. Albans Psalter, on the other hand, is described by
Otto—Pacht as having a very close connection with the

Rule and with the idea of renouncing the world. See

Pacht, The St. Albans Psalter (London, 1960). p. 185.

 

 

100

thing about Christ is that his hair is cut round and short
in the fashion of the serfsll3--this may be meant to
indicate his peasant origin or perhaps may represent a
tonsure. Something about his pose, head held up alertly,
leaning slightly forward, implies that he is explaining or
discussing important matters, but by the nature of the
medium we cannot know exactly what--a great contrast to
the full body of information Eudus gives us, but on the
other hand the boss permits the viewer to bring his own
thoughts to the subject, and to contemplate beyond what he
actually sees with his eyes on what he sees in his mind.
First, however, he would have to recognize the visual pre-
sentation from knowing the play or other visual renditions
of the subject--a significant difference in medium.

The baptism of Christ is the chief boss of the
ninth bay (Plate 31); its central placement makes it more
important, in this design, than the flight into Egypt,
Christ with the doctors in the temple, the wedding at Cana
or the raising of Lazarus—-the other central bosses in the
bay. Jesus stands in the nude in the rippling water which
covers him almost to the waist; John kneels on one knee on
the bank and pours water over Jesus' head from a very large
footed vase without handles. It seems, then, that it is

the act of baptism which is being emphasized, an act that

113Cf. Chaucer's description of the Reeve, "His
heer was by his ears ful round yshorn," 1.588 of the
General Prologue.

"FP F

- .u‘v U

merged.

 

'=- - 4..

AQ‘

'I-Irn

9

u.‘

l~':"'

I."

_ u
"n

 

 

 

101

is one of the two most important sacraments the church
performs, through which the church touches the lives of the
people directly. The scene of the baptism is the chief
boss, one must believe, because here the life of Christ,
the function of the church and the daily life of the people
all come together.
On either side of the baptism an angel is repre-

sented, one holding a towel or wrapper and the other a
robe. Again the visual presentation cannot explain, only
remind, but in Ludus John the Baptist actually preaches to
the audience--he is an advocate for the church:

Baptyme I cowncell yow for to take

And do penaunce for your synnys sake

and for your offens amendys 3e make

your synnys for to hyde. (22,23-26)
The whole of play 22 is in fact a sermon. John speaks
right from the beginning in this manner:

I am be voys of wildirnesse

bat her spekyth and preschych yow to

loke 3e for-sake all wrecchidnesse

fforsake all synne bat werkyth woo

And turne to vertu and holynesse

Both clene of levyng in your sowle also

Than xall 3e be savyd from peynfulnese

Of fyere btynnyng in hell

If bat 3e for-sak synne

hevyn blysse xall 3e wyne

Drede 3e not be devyllys gynne

with Angellys xall yow dwell. (22,2-13)
The lesson is made perfectly clear. Another part of the
message is the importance of baptism; in fact according to

Indus Jesus apparently goes through the ceremony in order

to teach something else: "be vertu of mekenes here tawth

102

xal be/ Euery man to lere/ And take ensawmple here by
me" (22,73-75). One of the least dramatic plays in Ludus,
it ends with two metaphors, again teaching the virtue of
penance, and displaying the literary quality of Ludus:

A tre bat is bareyn and wyl bere no frute

be ownere wyl hewe it down and cast it on be
fyre

Ryght so it be man bat folwyth be fowle sute

of be devyl of helle and werkyth his desyre

God wyl be vengyd on man bat is both dum and
mute . . .

Schryfte of mowthe may best be saue

Penauns for synne what man wyl haue

whan bat his body is leyd in grave

His sowle xal go to blys.

Corne bat is good man kepe it ful clene

Chaff bat is sympyl is ett wul nere at nought

So good man of levynge to god chosyn bene

Whan synful men be lyke chaff and to helle xul

be brought . . .

Now haue I tawght 3ow good penauns

god graunt 3ow grace at his plesauns

to haue of synne delyverauns (22,170-182)

This is one of several plays in Ludus where the

moral lesson, delivered in the form of a sermon, makes part
of the action; other examples are the raising of Lazarus,
the woman taken in adultery and the entry into Jerusalem.
The sculpture cannot give specific instruction as the plays
can but it achieves an approximation through the images it
employs and by poses, gestures and color. For instance,
the grotesqueness of the demons is contrasted with the
bliss of the saved. Furthermore the plentiful use of gold

in every scene helps make visible the precious quality of

the message, although that message must remain generalized

u

 

'I
4‘

 

1.:

103

if not vague, and must depend on the viewer's knowledge of
the subject.

At this point both cycles present the temptation
of Christ and then diverge slightly. In Ludus the woman
taken in adultery is the next subject While in the bosses
the marriage at Cana is depicted, followed by the feast
in the house of Simon. The programs then come together
again with the raising of Lazarus.

In the play of the temptation (23) another incident
in the life of Christ is explained by Ludus. Sathan and
his colleagues, Belyall and Belsabub, who form an unholy
trinity, meet to discuss Sathan's fear of Christ who, he
has heard, is God's son. The three know that if this is
so 'Sorwe and care he wyl sone strewe/ All oure gode days
ban xulde sone be 900/ and all oure lore and all oure lawe
he wyl down hewe” (23,31-33). This is why the temptation
takes p1ace--another instance of the care the playwright
takes to make his story logical. The story comes from
Scripture (Matthew 4) but Ludus supplies the rationale,
and this makes all the difference. They plan to test
Christ ”to make hym to don A-mys/ If bat he synne bis
is no nay/ he may nat be kynge of blys" (23,43-45).114
The Bible does not say why Jesus was fasting for forty

days and nights; Ludus says he fasted "for mannys sake"

114The same type of reasoning is used in the woman
taken in adultery.

A

104

(23,67). Sathan entices him to relieve his hunger by per-
forming a miracle: "turne these flyntys Anon lett se/
ffrom Arde stonys to tendyr brede" (23,81-82), i.e., to
give in to his hunger would make him unfit to be the
sacrifice required by the four daughters of god, and per-
forming a miracle would reveal him as Christ to the devil.
Nothing the devil tries succeeds in tempting Jesus; "Go
Abak bou fowle sathanas“ (23,183), Jesus tells him. At
the end he tells the audience, "To Suffyr temptacion it
is grett peyn” and he has done it "to teche be how bou
xalt rewle the" for which there will be a reward: "Shewe
bi myght a3ens bi ffoo/ whan bi sowle partyth the froo/
In blysse ban xal it be" (23,203-221). The didactic
element is in the fore once more.

The subject of the temptation is often depicted in

art; in the Biblia Pauperum it is found between the fall

 

of man and Esau giving up his birthright for pottage
(Didron, p. 409). Only the first of the three temptations
is presented in the bosses. The hideous demon on N53
(Plate 34) with huge staring eyes and great teeth, horns
and batwings, enormous ears and a lumpy, shaggy body,

holds a scroll in his claw with the panis lap on it (bread

 

from stone). On SS3 (Plate 33) Christ sits, also holding
a scroll; the script on it cannot be read but it is probably

intended to recall to the viewer the familiar words Christ

105

spoke to Satan in Ludus: "Nott only be bred mannys lyff
3itt stood/ but in be wurde of god" (23,92-93).

Play 24 which follows the temptation, the woman
taken in adultery, is one of the most exciting examples

of theater in Ludus. It has everything-—beginning with a

 

sermon on repentance, moving into a plot combining intrigue,
humor and pathos, and ending with Jesus triumphant over his
enemies. The motivation is once again the fear that
Christ "Wyl breke oure lawe and make it lame" (24,44)
which causes Scriba, Phariseus and Accusator to put Christ
in an impossible situation where whatever he does will be
wrong. They expect him to be merciful to the woman they
have caught with her lover, but if he is not it will still
serve their purpose:

Of grace and mercy hevyr he doth preche

And bat no man xulde be vengeable

Ageyn be woman if he sey wrech

Than of his prechynge he is vnstable . . .

than haue we cawse bothe juste and Able

Ffor a £015 man bat he be cawth. (24,89-96)
However, if he does not condemn her they will accuse him of
breaking the law of Moses:

Ffor moyses doth bydde in oure lawe

that Euery Advowterere we xuld qwelle

and Bitt with stonys thei xulde be slawe

Ageyn moyses if bat he drawe

bat Synful woman with grace to helpe

he xal nevyr skape out of oure Awe

but he xal dye lyke a dogge whelpe.

(24,106-112)

Thus the conflict is set up. The basic story comes from

the Bible (John 8) but Ludus adds some interesting details.

106

When the three break in upon the lovers, with great bravado,
'hic juuenis quidam extra currit indeploydo calligis non
ligatis et braccas in many tenens" (24, after 1.124).
Furthermore Juuenis displays a most belligerent character
as he out-threatens them and wins his way free:

Biff Any man stow me bis nyth
I xal hym 3eve a dedly wownde.

I Any man my wey doth stoppe

or we departe ded xal [I] be

I xal bis daggare putt in his croppe

I xal hym kylle or he xal me. (24,127-132)
To which Phariseus can only reply, "Grett goddys curse mut
go with the/ With suche a shrewe wyll I not melle"
(24,133-134).

The woman's case is very different. The tone of
the play, for the modern reader, seems to change from
slapstick to outright cruelty, but to the medieval audience
this part may have been just as funny. She is called out
with the vilest names (and with intense alliteration):

Come foth bou stotte com forth bou scowte

com forth bou bysmare and brothel bolde

com forth bou bore and stynkynge bych clowte

how longe hast bou such harlotry holde.

(24,145-148)

This is another great part for an actor, and the woman,
too, had an opportunity for histrionics in making her
pitiful pleas (which may not have been played as pitiful
but as burlesque):

Serys my wurchepp if 3e wyl saue

And helpe I haue non opyn shame

bothe gold and sylvyr 3e xul haue
So bat in clennes 3e kepe my name.

IIN‘

 

107

Stondynge 3e wyl not graunt me grace

but for my synne bat I xal dye

I pray 3ow kylle me here in bis place

and lete not be pepyl up-on me crye

(24,161-173)

At the end, after Christ has resolved the dilemma as in
Scripture-~"Loke which of 3ow bat nevyr synne wrought/ but
is of lyff clennere ban she/ Cast at here stonys and spare
here nowght” (24,229-231), he promises the audience that
sinners can be saved:

What man of synne be repentaunt

of god if he wyl mercy craue

God of mercy is so habundawnt

bat what man haske it he xal it haue . . .

Whan man is contrite and hath wonne grace

God wele not kepe olde wreth in mynde

(24,285-290)

The woman taken in adultery is sometimes included in visual
programs, for instance in the fresco by the Master of
Campanis, a district in Italy at the end of the eleventh
century, but the incident is not in the bosses nor in the

Biblia Pauperum. The marriage at Cana, probably because

 

of the typology involved, is emphasized instead by its
central position, C51. It is equally Biblical (John 2) in
origin and as a type of the last supper it appears in
Giotto's cycle at the Arena Chapel and many others also.
Only Christ and Mary are present (Plate 30), seated behind
a small table on which are a chicken, bread and perhaps a

115

dish of salt. The bird's-eye perspective permits a

clear view and we see them turned toward each other with

115Dean Goulburn's opinion, p. 250.

u.

 

 

 

\

108

Mary's hand on Christ's arm. Three wine containers are in
front of the table, and on the side bosses, N and S 51, a
servant fills the jars with water and another servant serves
wine.

The supper in the house of Simon the Leper takes
place on another center boss, C54. Christ sits at table
again but alone; a woman is serving him and another kneels,
embracing his feet. A plate with a chicken on it, a cup,
knife and loaf are on the table; a large wine vessel is
nearby on the floor. The kneeling woman is undoubtedly
the repentant Magdalen anointing Christ's feet with the
ointment that provides the motive for Judas' betrayal;
apparently she has been brought into and combined with the
scene of the supper.116

The story of Lazarus is part of both the sculpture
and the play. In the sculpture the miraculous aspect of
the event is what is stressed, but in Ludus the main idea
is once more the gift of salvation. The author begins to
build up to that from Jesus' statement that Lazarus' death
is intended to demonstrate God's power:

Dedly syknes lazare hath non

but for to shewe goddys grete glorye

Ffor bat syknes is ordeynyd a-lon

be some of god to gloryfie. (25,201-204)

Following the Scripture (John 11) but making it much more

dramatic as in Lazarus' death bed scene:

116Ludus combines the episode of Mary Magdalen with
the last supper.

 

 
 

 

..c

\

109

My wynde is stoppyd gon is my breth
And deth is come to make myn ende
to god in hevyn my sowle I qwoth
Ffarewll systeryn ffor hens I wende.
(25,105-108)
the play also contains hints of contemporary practice in
the funeral scene: "Bothe heed and ffoot now is he wounde/
in a chete bothe ffayr and clene" (25,145-146). It is
realistic too in that the three Consolaters have difficulty
in removing the heavy stone from the grave.
The resurrection is accomplished with great effect.
The anticipation is heightened as the action is slowed
while Jesus makes a little speech thanking God for granting
his prayer that "bis pepyl bat stondyth about/ And be-
leue not be power of be and me . . . this day oure myght
thei all xul se" (25,417-20). Two rubrics in this section
are unusual. One describes Jesus, "eleuatis ad celum
oculis" (25, after 1.412) when he is addressing the Lord,
and the other directs him when calling Lazarus, "hic Jhesus
clamat voce magna dicens" (25, after 1.420). These are
the only rubrics in EEQEE that tell the performer how to
do anything. Towards the end of the play Lazarus, upon
rising, makes a statement again delivering doctrine as
happens so frequently through Ludus: "hevyn helle And erthe
3oure buddyng must obeye . . . Of lyff and of deth 3e haue
both lok and keye" (25,426-428).

The raising of Lazarus, depicted in the Biblia

Pauperum (Didron, p. 410), by Giotto and in many other

110

cycles, takes place in the sculpture on C53 (Plate 32).
Only the two figures of Jesus and Lazarus are to be seen,
Jesus bending over Lazarus who is sitting up in his coffin.
Jesus is making a gesture of blessing with his right hand
and opening the shroud with his left. Lazarus' hands are
raised together as in prayer. Two men witness the event
on N54; they may be apostles or, because they wear the
typical Jews' hats, may be neighbors or friends. Martha
and Mary also watch on SS4.

Two things are unusual about the raising of
Lazarus. One is that Lazarus is in a coffin; usually he
is shown in the mouth of a cave, for instance in the
Arena Chapel. This may be an example of contemporary
custom, perhaps used in some theater productions, causing
a change in iconography, or perhaps the sculptor was
influenced directly by the type of burial he was familiar
with. But the influence did not come from Eudug where once
a "pytte" (25,161) and a "cave" (25,165) are referred to.

The second original feature is that Jesus is
opening the shroud. In the earliest versions of the
raising of Lazarus in the catacombs no human assistance
was required; the event was portrayed as a miracle.
Lazarus was wrapped from head to toe in narrow bands of
cloth like an Egyptian mummy and, if one thinks of how the
part of Lazarus would have to be handled on stage, it is

immediately clear that an actor wrapped in such a fashion

111

could not rise and leave the tomb. The change to a more
realistic type of presentation also included a change of
garment, for a shroud would give more freedom of movement.
The use of the shroud on the boss might therefore indicate
dramatic influence on art, unless, as above, the sculptor
was once more influenced by contemporary practice. But,
as to the Opening of the shroud, Male cites some examples
where St. Peter leans over and unties Lazarus' hands,117
but none where Christ does this. In Ludus, where Lazarus
rises "ligatis manibus et pedibus ad modum sepulti" (25,
after 1.428), Jesus as in Scripture, directs the disciples
to help Lazarus: "Goo forthe bretheryn and lazare 3e
vntey/ And all his bondys losyth hem asundyr" (25,429-

430).118

Ludus, then, was not the model for the sculpture;
perhaps it was an original idea of the sculptor's to
transfer the action of St. Peter or the disciples to Christ
to reduce the number of figures.

At this point, with the raising of Lazarus, both
Ludus and the bosses complete the public life of Christ

and, all the groundwork having been laid and everything

explained, begin on the most significant part of the story.

11729 1

fin, 3rd ed., p. 56.

118Towneley also has these directions.

112

The Passion of Christ and the
Salvation of Man

Ludus commences its treatment of this phase of
human history in play 26 with a prologue by Demon who has
a superb part, strutting, boasting and threatening by
turns. He has a chance to display his vanity: "I am Bour
lord lucifer bat out of helle cam/ Prince of bis werd .
and gret duke of helle" (26,1-2); but demands respect: "I
am Norsshere of synne . to be confusyon of man/ To brynge
hym to my dongeon . ber in fyre to dwelle" (26,5-6). To
give an idea of his power he says, "To gete A thowsand
sowlys in an houre . me thynkyth it but skorn" (26,23).
Through him Ludus sets forth some explanation of the
crucifixion; Demon will arrange that "His discipulis xal
for-sake hym . and here mayster denye/ In-novmberabyl xal
his woundys be . . . A tretowre xal countyrfe his deth"
(26,53-55).

In the balance of his long introduction Demon
parodies Christ's discourse to the people. He promises
rewards which consist of the kind of clothing often con-
demned from the pulpit: "A goodly peyre of long pekyd
schon . . . A shert of feyn holand . . . Cadace . wolle .
or flokkys . . . to stuffe with-a1 bi dobbelet, and make
be of proporcyon/ two smale legges . And a gret body . .
syde lokkys . . . to bi colere hangyng down . . . An hey

smal bonet" (26,69-87). Continuing the parody he proposes

113

some new commandments. One is ”lete pride ber be present/
And all bo bat repreff pride, bou sette hem at nowth;"
another says, "And all beggerys and pore pepyll . haue hem
on dyspyte/ On to be grete Othys . And Lycherye gyf bi
delyte/ to maynteyn bin astate lete brybory be present;"
but he also urges, "Lete no membre of god . but with othys
be rent" (26,75-95). He carries on in this way, turning
all the commandments upside down and promising that they
will "In evyr-lastyng peyne . with me dwellyn" (26,120).

As antithesis to this John the Baptist comes on with
a message of penance. It is put in the form of a metaphor
as we have noted the author of Ludus is fond of doing:
walking in the path of the Lord "Neyther to fele . on ryth .
nor on left hande . . . be be ryth syde 3e xal vndyrstonde
mercy/ And on be lefte syde . Lykkenyd dysperacion/ And
be patthe be-twyn bothyn . . . xal be hope and drede . . .
to bis blyssyd enherytawns" (26,13-33).

The actual plot begins with the council of the
Jews. In this play the stage is used masterfully; in a
small area both space and time are dealt with convincingly.
In the beginning Annas and his two doctors, worrying about

119

Christ, send a messenger for Cayphas. Annas first

119The costumes of Annas, the doctors and Cayphas

are described in detail in the rubrics: "annas . . . be—
seyn after a busshop of be hoold lawe in a skarlet gown .
and ouer bat a blew tabbard fyrryd with whyte and a mytere
on his hed after be hoold lawe" while one of the two doctors
holds his staff of "A-stat." Cayphas is "Arayd lych to
Annas savyng his tabbard xal be red." Descriptive rubrics

 

 

 

114

shows himself in his "stage" and, when the messenger sets
out, Cayphas "shewyth him-self in his skafhald" (26,

after 1.44). While the messenger talks to Cayphas, Rewfyn
and Leyon appear in the "place" ready to meet with the
messenger after he leaves Cayphas. Following that meeting
the messenger returns to Annas, who comes down as the
messenger approaches. These two then move to the "myd
place” and Rewfyn and Leyon join them in "a lytil oratory
with stolys and cusshonys" (26, after 1.124). Four loca-
tions are thus arranged, appearing as needed, perhaps with
the aid of curtains that closed and Opened.

Two bosses of bay 10, N and S 56, may possibly
reflect this plotting; each has two men walking side by
side, apparently engaged in conversation. An alternate
theory is that they are apostles, perhaps accompanying
Christ on his entry into Jerusalem-~the center boss of
row 55. There is no center boss in row 56, nor ever has
been, the only omission in the whole cycle. Instead there
is a hole almost two feet in diameter, whose use is not
known. Dean Goulburn, on the basis of some entries in
the Sacrists' Rolls and some descriptions of childish
memories (pp. 276-277), concludes that a censor was lowered

from the opening on special days of celebration.

like these are found throughout the PaSSion play but in

none of the plays before it. This upholds Miss Block's

theory that the Passion play was originally separate, in
fact independently created.

..4’

115

The entry into Jerusalem, C55, depicts Christ on a
donkey, riding on a grassy area. On N and S 55 the towns-
people watch the arrival. The traditional tree is there
but no one is in its branches as is usually depicted and

may be seen in, for example, the Biblia Pauperum (Didron,

 

p. 412) or the Arena Chapel. The Biblical story (Matthew
21) as rendered in play 26, where it follows the council
of the Jews, has almost all the features customarily found
in paintings on the subject: the joyful citizens, "goyng
barfot and barelegged and in here shyrtys" (26, after 1.285),
spread their clothes before his donkey while the children
bring flowers. The entry is the first step towards the
climactic scene of the crucifixion and Christ indicates
this to the people who naturally do not understand him, an
instance of dramatic irony: "The trewthe of trewthis xal
now be tryede“ (26,302).

The preparations for the Passover are described in
both Ludus and the bosses. On the bosses Peter, John and
Christ are standing together on C57, probably indicating
Christ dispatching them as he does in Eudug in play 27:
"Serys goth to syon and 3e xal mete/ A pore man in sympyl
A-ray/ Beryng watyr in be strete" (27,346-348), for on
N57 a man carries a pitcher of water and meets one of the
apostles. Four other bosses are concerned with the
preparations for the Passover, N and S 58 and 59, where

the disciples are collecting fragments of food in large

116

baskets on the first two; on the last two Christ is seen,
in one with a disciple.

The man with the water is identified in Ludus as

 

Simon the Leper and he provides the pascal lamb. As soon
though as they begin eating the action moves to another
part of the stage. In this play, as we noted in the
council of the Jews, the small space is expanded through
imaginative use; here "be cownsell hous beforn—seyd xal
sodeynly onclose schewyng be buschopys prestys and jewgys
syttyng in here Astat lyche as it were A convocacyone"
(26, after 1.397). The plot moves forward as they try to
find a way to charge Christ with some crime, "every man on
his party help at bis nede/ and cowntyrfete all be
sotyltes bat he kan" (27,418-419).

The scene switches back to where Christ is so that
the last supper may continue; the effect is similar to
cutting back and forth in a movie. Mary Magdalen comes in
and has a splendid scene; after describing herself,
alliteratively, as "a cursyd creature closyd all in care/
and as a wyckyd wrecche all wrappyd in wo" (26,462-463),
she begs for mercy:

but bou me borwe lord I xal brenne

with blake ffendys Ay bowne to be
where fore kynge of grace

With bis oynement bat is so sote

lete me A-noynte bin holy fote

and for my balys bus wyn sum bote

and mercy lord ffor my trespace.
(27,481-487)

“4‘

i-
l‘

V

117

Judas listens to her say, "blyssyd be be tyme bat I hedyr , .w
sowth/ and bis oynement bat I heydr brought" (27,510—511),
and complains, "Lord me thynkyth bou dost ryght ylle"
(27,514) and is motivated toward the betrayal. To the
meager information in the Gospels the element of theater
has been added, and this is even more true of the incident
where Christ says, "On of 3ow here syttyng my treson xal
tras" (27,530).

The boss of the last supper is the chief boss of
the tenth bay (Plate 36). Although many versions of the
scene exist the Norwich boss depicts the scene quite dif-
ferently from such well known examples as the one in the

Biblia Pauperum (Didron, p. 414) or by Giotto. Only eight

 

apostles are seated around the rectangular table; all are

easily seen because of the bird's-eye view again used by

120

the sculptor. John leans against Christ whose arm is

around him, while Peter on Christ's other side holds the

121

key. One of the other apostles holds a very large

knife and several have round loaves of bread. In the

120The other apostles preparing the feast on N and
S 58 would bring the number to twelve.

121On SS7 (Plate 35) Christ is depicted giving him
the key, an incident not included in Ludus and out of its
place in the public life of Christ here in the tenth bay.
As it happens bay 9, where most subjects dealing with the
ministry are placed, is rather full. Another boss 083,
right next to the last judgment, has St. Peter again,
holding the keys as guardian of the gates of heaven.

 

5‘”

118

center of the table is a large plate with two fish on it to
which Christ extends his hand.

In Ludus the author cuts away from the Christ and
the disciples once more to present the meeting of Judas
and the priests. The bargain made for "thretty platys of
sylver bryth' (27,626) the action returns to the last
supper: ”and ban xal be place ber cryst is in xal sodeynly
vn-close rownd Abowtyn shewyng cryst syttyng at be table
and his dyscypulys eche in here degre" (27, after 1.669),
an intimation of the way the change of scene was managed.

After Jesus introduces the new ceremony, "A
mystery/ of my fflesch and blood in forme of bred" (27,
684-685), the author introduces another metaphor of the
right way to live, expressed through the clothing they
wear:

The gyrdyl bat was comawndyd here reynes to
sprede
Xal be be gyrdyl of clennes and chastyte . . .
And be schon bat xal be 3our feet vp-on
Is not ellys but exawnpyl of vertuis levyng . . .
And be staf bat in 3our Handys 3e xal holde
Is not ellys . but be exawmplys to other men
teche (27,738-757)
Another example of the author's fondness for this literary
device. The last incident of the supper scene is the
washing of the disciples' feet. In Ludus it is made clear
that Christ does it as a lesson: "How 3e xal leve in

charyte“ (27,834), as in Scripture Peter demurs, "To wassche

my feet bou xal not so/ I am not wurthy it of be to take"

119

(27,839—840). Christ makes his point though, and further
elucidates it:
A memory of bis haue 3e xall
bat eche of 3ow xal do to othyr
With vmbyl hert submyt egal
As eche of 3ow were otherys brother.
(27,853-856)
The scene of Christ washing the disciples' feet is

not found in the Biblia Pauperum but it is in Giotto's

 

Arena Chapel. In the bosses it occupies a central boss at
the bottom of the tenth bay (Plate 37). Peter is seated
but leaning forward as if uneasy, while Christ kneels
holding Peter's feet in a basin. Another apostle waits
his turn in the background and on C59 two more are seated,
one of whom has already removed one boot and is pulling
off the other. N and S 60 each depict an apostle, or
perhaps a prophet, holding a scroll (Plate 38). Nothing
can be read on the scrolls now but formerly they may have
been legible. Since the scroll is a common device in
painting and sculpture for indicating a revelation, it
must be that the scrolls were meant to convey the message
Christ expressed in words in the play. In this way the
incident is completed visually.

At the very end of play 27 Christ, ready to lead
the way to Mt. Olivet, has the familiar conversation with
Peter in which Peter claims he never will forsake Christ,
"Nor for no perellys fro be fle" (27,878). Christ gives

him the answer as it is in the Bible (Matthew 26.33):

 

_fi

.7

120

"bat promese loke bou not make/ For or be cok hath twyes
<:rowe/ Thryes bou xal me for-sake" (27,882-884). This
subject, although represented in art from Early Christian
times, is not in the bosses.
On Mt. Olivet, "a place lych to A park" (28,

after 1.908) according to Ludus, Jesus retreats to pray and
‘the disciples fall asleep as described in Scripture. He
thus has the opportunity to display a little human weakness:

Petyr petyr bou slepyst fast

A—wake bi felawys and sclepe no more

Of my deth 3e Are not Agast

3e take 3our rest and I peyn sore. (28,925-928)
.As Jesus talks to the angel who brings the chalice the
author takes advantage of an opportunity to remind the
audience of the plan that was arranged with the four
daughters of God. Jesus expresses his fear: "My flesche
crnakyth in ferful case/ As bow be joyntys A-sondre xuld
schake" (28,935-936), and the angel gives him the message
from the Lord: "He bad bat bou xuldyst not drede/ But
fulfylle his intent/ As be parlement of hefne hath ment"
(28,947-949). The author often as here, reveals his con-
cern for plot. Although working within predetermined sub-
ject matter, he has nevertheless the desire to tie the
various strands of the story together and to emphasize the
logical relationship of events. In the outcome he presents

the material as if what had actually happened was as he

'would have had it happen.

If

121

In the sculpture the disciples are sleeping on N ‘ x

and S 61 while Jesus adores the chalice on the center boss
(Plate 39). Kneeling on a rocky hill surrounded by palings,
Jesus holds his hands together and looks up at the footed
chalice standing on a ledge above him, from which a wafer
protrudes. This is one of two typical renditions of the
scene, the other having an angel hold the chalice as it is
done in Ludus. Following a tradition which began in the
thirteenth century, the metaphor employed by Jesus——"let
this cup pass from me" (Matthew 26.39)--is transformed

into an actuality. Furthermore, also in the tradition,

the cup by association with the mass becomes a chalice,

and the wafer is added. The meaning of the episode has
been completely altered from the original in the gospel,
but in terms of the sacrament of communion it now has great
relevance to the church and the people. It also is a
prophecy of Christ's sacrifice which is about to take
place.

The sculpture of this scene is the first central
boss of the eleventh bay—-where almost every scene repre-
sented in Ludus from the agony in the garden to the
crucifixion is to be found. In the bosses, however the
scenes are arranged without chronology. The betrayal, the
.next subject in Ludus, is at the bottom of the bay on C66

(TPlate 42), with the scene of Judas leading the conspirators

in on N62. In this version of the betrayal six figures

.L
a
i

 

.1,

122

huddle around Jesus and Judas. Judas clutches at Christ's
arm but does not give him the usual kiss. On the right
side of the boss is a figure with a sword--either a soldier
or St. Peter; in the background three soldiers hold axes
over their shoulders. The remaining figure on the left
seems to cling to Christ and is probably one of the
apostles.

In Ludus the rubrics describe "x personys weyl be-
seen in white Arneys and breganderys and some dysgysed in
odyr garmentys with feyr and lanternys and torchis lyth"
(28, after 1.972), led by Judas who greets Christ and
kisses him. Then "Alle be jewys come A-bowth hym and ley
handys on hym and pullyn hym as bei were wode and makyn on
hym A gret cry" (28, after 1.996). The action of Peter
cutting off Malchus' ear is presented and concluded with
Jesus' reproach: "he bat smyth with swerd . with swerd xal
be smete” (28,100). Malchus is represented in the bosses
too on 866; he has a sword in his left hand and a lantern
in his right and Peter's sword has already severed his ear.
The head of Christ appears in the background.

As the drama continues in Ludus there are frequent
touches that make an impression because of their psycho-
lOgical perceptiveness. When Christ is arrested and led
away the rubric reads: "be jewys lede cryst outh of be

£>lace with gret cry and noyse some drawyng cryst forward

6311(3 some bakwarde and so ledyng forth with here weponys

 

123

A-lofte and lytys brennyng" (28, after 1.1040). This must
result from the playwright imagining himself into the
scene, asking himself how this would have to be.

The second passion play opens with a monologue by
Contemplacio, informing the audience that they will see
Christ tried. This play had been performed alone before
being incorporated into Ludus (see text, p. xxxii), and an
intimation of this fact is found in Contemplacio's speech:
”The last 3ere we shewyd here how oure lord for love of
man/ Cam to be cety of jherusalem . . ." (29,9-18). It
also indicates that shorter presentations of the passion
were customary.

Herod is the first speaker in play 29. He is his
usual self: boisterous, vain and proud to be an infidel.
It is part of his wickedness that he flaunts his allegiance
to Mahounde and hates Christians: "To kylle a thowsand
crystyn . I gyf not An hawe/ to se hem hangyn or brent .
to me is very plesauns" (29,13-14). He is very curious
about Christ and is introduced here as a prelude to the
time in play 30 when he will have a chance to try him.

The rest of play 29 is devoted to the trial before Annas
and Cayphas. It is headed by another dramatic rubric
directing that the announcement of Jesus' arrest be made
.in this fashion: "her xal A massanger com in-to be place
.rkennyng and criyng Tydyngys tydyngys . and so rownd Abowth

£963’ place . jhesus of nazareth is take . Jhesus of nazareth

124

is take" (29, after 1.69). The trial takes place, the same
accusations are made and at the end Christ is beaten. The
final action of the play is the denial of Peter, picking

up the motif mentioned previously.

Play 30 briefly covers Judas' return of the thirty
pieces of silver and his subsequent suicide. He is no
longer important and it is glossed over matter of factly:
Judas says, "I judas haue synyd (30,229), returns the money
and "goth and hangyth hym-self" (30, after 1.236). No more
attention than this is paid to Christ's betrayer, but
neither is more attention given to it in the Scripture
(Matthew 27). The bosses have a scene which may represent
Judas returning the money to the high priest, N66. Dean
Goulburn calls it Pilate's wife and a messenger although
admitting the messenger's headdress is far too grand, and
the woman doesn't look very feminine (p. 322).

The main business of play 30 is the trial before
Pilate. His position, between the pressures of Annas and
Cayphas and his own doubts as to Jesus' quilt, is depicted
with some understanding. He says, "I fynde in hym . non
obecyon" (30,285), but Annas and Cayphas insist:

Sere we telle be al to-gedyr

Ffor his evyl werkys . we browth hym hedyr

And yf he had not An evyl doere be

we xuld not Abrowth hym to be. (30,295-298)
Pilate is happy to find that Jesus should be judged by

Herod and immediately sends him off to Galilee.

125

Herod, who has been wanting to see him, is delighted
and grateful to Pilate: "Now be Mahound my god of grace/
of pylat bis is a dede ful kend" (30,369-370). Nothing
happens, however, Christ will not perform and Herod becomes
furious: "What bou on-hangyd harlot . why wylt bou not
speke/ hast bou skorne to speke on to bi kyng" (30,425-
426). At the end of the play Christ is returned to Pilate
beaten and bloody.

Ludus interpolates the scene of the devil and
Pilate's wife at this point. It is a total change from the
grim and pathetic scene of Christ's scourging to the devil,
both comical and terrifying, who opens play 31. Again the
alliteration is marked as he boasts and threatens: "ho so
serve me sathan . to sorwe is he sent/ with dragonys in
doungenys . and develys fu derke" (31,470-471). Pilate's
wife wakens from her dream and "makyn a rewly noyse .
comyng and rennyng of be schaffold and here shert . and
here kyrtyl in here hand . and sche xal come beforn pylat
1eke A mad woman“ (31, after 1.522), to warn Pilate,

"deme not jhesu . but be his frende" (31,524). The author
is building anticipation, creating tension and providing
dramatic entertainment all at the same time, making real
drama of the few words in the Scripture.

This subject is not presented in the cycle of the

bosses (neither is it in the Biblia Pauperum) but both

 

Ludus and the bosses have the trial before Pilate. Ludus

 

.‘¥

.4”

126

develops the conflict between Pilate and the doctors to a
keen pitch; Pilate reiterates his failure to find any
fault, and "Ne herowdys nother" (31,555), he claims.
Attempting to evade the crucifixion he offers to let Jesus
go free in honor of the Passover, according to custom, but
the doctors will not hear of it and demand Barrabas be set
free instead. Pilate's next tactic is to examine Jesus
privately, but Jesus gives him no way out either:
On me poer bou hast ryth non
but bat my fader hath grawntyd be forn
I cam my faderys wyl to full-fylle
bat mankynd xuld not spylle
he bat hath betrayd me . to be at bis tyme
his trespas is more ban is bine. (31,596-601)
Pilate is further constrained by the threats of Annas:
"bou xalt Answere for his treSpas/ and tretour to be
emperour we xal be kalle" (31,621-623). Finally, the action
having been drawn out and much tension created, Pilate
delivers his sentence:
fyrst his clothis 3e xal of don
and makyn hym nakyd . for to be
bynde hym to A pelere . as sore as 3e mon
ban skorge hym with quppys . bat a1 men may se
Whan he is betyn . crowne hym for Bour kyng
and ban to be cros 3e xal hym bryng
And to be crosse bou xalt be fest
And on thre naylys bi body xal rest
(31,658-665)
In the sculptural program Christ before Pilate is

the central scene of bay 11 (Plate 40). A scene often

premented-—depicted in the Biblia Pauperum too (Didron,

 

‘4l7)--this version shows Pilate seated, a canopy attached

tc> the back of his throne projecting over his head. Christ

6

”a"

 

a
l

127

stands meekly before him with hands crossed on his breast,
and a crowd of soldiers huddles close. Pilate holds his
hands cupped in front of him but the pitcher of water is
not visible; either it is part of the shadowy background
or perhaps has been lost in restoration. The position of
his hands, however, does strongly suggest the scene as
typically depicted. It is interesting to speculate about
why this boss should be the central one for the whole bay;
the three center bosses preceding it are Christ in the
garden of Gethsemane, the crowning with thorns and Christ
brought before Pilate. The two following are the blind-
folding of Christ and the betrayal by Judas. It is one of
an important group of bosses then, but what message or what
action is being pointed up here? One can see why the
treachery of Judas should not be enshrined as the most
important event in the bay, but if the idea intended is
the meekness of Christ or his self-sacrifice, the crowning
with thorns or the blindfolding would show it better. But
if it is Pilate's conviction that Jesus should not have
been crucified and that he, himself, is not really respon-
sible, then the sculpture seems to imply that the crime of
crucifying Christ belongs all the more to the Jews.
.Another possibility is that the boss is saying something
about the relationship between church and state, and the
sovereignty of the state. Finally, the most simple inter—

;xretation, the scene may refer to the ablutions of the

..f‘
c".

128

priests during the service of the Eucharist, and be empha-
sized for its liturgical significance.

The blindfolding is represented on C65 (Plate 41);
Christ sits with bandaged eyes between two men whose raised
arms indicate that they are beating him. Ludus does not
present the incident in this order but directs that it take
place in a rubric following the trial before Annas and
Cayphas (29, after 1.160). Both cycles include the
crowning with thorns; it is mentioned in a rubric at the
end of play 31 and is depicted on boss C62. Additional
bosses that fit with this part of the story are N63 and
N66, men with scourges, S63 and 864, men with swords, and
S65, soldiers with axes. Still one more boss is important
here with a scene not dramatized in Ludus. This is 864,
where Pilate stands with two others, holding a scroll with
five seals dangling from it-—the writ of Christ's execution.
This non-Scriptural subject informs us that Pilate is a
legitimate officer of the Roman government, and puts the

crucifixion within the context of Roman law.122

122William Loerke traces the scroll and its con-
nations back to the Early Christians, specifically the
(hodex Theodosianus, 380 A.D., in "The Miniatures of the
Trdal in the Rossano Gospels," Art Bulletin 43:171-95 8
'61.

 

 

.." ;

129

Infrequently rendered, the subject once again shows
respect for the state and its law.123
Bay 12 opens with a scene of Christ being led away
by several men (C67). He wears the crown of thorns and is
probably on the way to take up the cross. It is very odd,
however, that such a portrayal should be included when the
actual bearing of the cross is not, particularly because

the bearing of the cross is so often represented (in both

the Biblia Pauperum [Didron, p. 418] and the Arena Chapel).

 

In Ludus they "leyn be crosse in hese necke to berynt and
drawyn hym forth with ropys" (31, after 1.677) after the
scourging. Play 32, following Scripture closely, goes on
to describe the way to Calvary, using it to have Christ
teach a lesson:

Dowterys of hierusalem . for me wepyth nowth

but for 3our-self wepyth . and for 3our
chyldyr Also . . .

here synne and here blyndnesse xal turne hem
to wo . . .

ban to be hyllys and mownteynes . they xal
crye and calle

oppyn and hyde us from be face . of hym syttyng
in trone

or ellys ovyr-throwyth . and on us now come
falle

bat we may be hyd . from oure sorweful mone.

(32,686-697)

In the sculpture only two elders are shown following

Christ on N67, and neither Simon nor Veronica is depicted.

123The scroll undoubtedly indicates the appearance
of a writ of execution in the fifteenth century. Dean
Goulburn discusses the writ and the differences between
attached and hanging seals and their history, p. 319.

130

Jesus encounters both in Ludus; no particular point is
made about Simon but for Veronica, because of her love for
Christ and her charity, "I xal bem kepe from all mys-ese/
bat lokyn on bi kerchy . and remember me" (32,724-725),
Jesus tells her.

Events happen much more quickly in this part of
Eudus than in earlier parts: the tempo is faster and there
is less conversation about things and more doing. After
the very brief interludes of Simon and Veronica the soldiers
nail Christ to the cross. The characters who crucify Jesus
are designated simply as i, ii and iij judeus, and they
carry out their task in the cruelest fashion: "Cast hym
down here in be devyl way/ how long xal he standyn on his
fete . . ." "gyf me his arm in hast/ And A-non we xal se/
hese good days bei xul be past . . ." "Ffest on A Rop .
and pulle hym long/ and I xal drawe be A-geyn/ spare we
not bese ropys strong/ bow we brest both flesch and
veyn" (32,728—745). This is not only good theater, full of
action and excitement, but also stresses what Christ
endured to save man.

In the sculpture the crucifixion, a scene invari-
ably included in any cycle like that of the bosses or the

Biblia Pauperum (Didron, p. 419), is broken into several

 

parts: two executioners with hammer and nails, S67; two
soldiers conversing, S68; two soldiers with axe and spear,

S69; two soldiers observing, N70. The nailing to the

..s'"

131

cross, C68 (Plate 43), is presented again from the over-
head view; we see Christ stretched out, ropes attached to
his hands, surrounded by six soldiers. Christ wears a
loin cloth and the crown of thorns; blood streams from the
hand being nailed. The soldiers are pulling so hard on
the ropes that several figures lean right back off the
edge of the boss. The sculptor has posed the figures
ingeniously in the small space, conveying an impressive
sense of action.

Throwing dice for the garment of Christ is
mentioned in a rubric in Ludus, right after setting up the
cross ”ber whylys xal be jewys cast dyce for his clothis
and fytyn and stryvyn" (32, after 1.769).124 The bosses
have the subject too on C69 (Plate 44), where two soldiers
and three very large dice are placed on the robe of Christ
which is very large also. This is another boss with the
bird's-eye view.

The crucifixion is the main boss of the bay
(Plate 46). Many of the incidents recounted in Ludus are
included in this carving and the ones that accompany it.
£3335 begins with the arrival of Mary and the three Maries.
Mary is a character well enough developed to display a

Variety of emotions. At first she speaks with great pathos:

"A deth . deth . deth . Why wylt bou not me kylle"

124In the same rubric it is directed that two more
ctosses be erected and the two thieves hung. The sculpture
as only one cross.

 

...-sf"

132

(32,777) but she becomes reproachful when Christ will not
answer her:

A my sone my sone . my derlyng dere

what haue I defendyd be

bou hast spoke to alle bo . bat ben here

and not 0 word bou spekyst to me. (32,810-813)
At the end, however, her only thought is for Christ; when
they want her to leave she says:

I pray 30w Alle lete me ben here

and hang me up here on bis tre

be my frend and sone bat is so dere

ffor ber he is ber wold I be (32,838-841)
Mary can be seen at the very bottom of the boss behind the
legs of Christ, wearing a crown.

Pilate is next on the scene in Ludus with Annas and
Cayphas. He writes and "ban gon up on A leddere and settyn
be tabyl abovyn crystys hed" (32, after 1.853). Cayphas
objects, ”3e wryte hym to be kyng of jewys/ perfore we
wolde bat 3e xuld wryte bus/ bat he namyd hymself kyng
of jewys" (32,855—857), and Pilate answers, "bat I haue
wretyn . wretyn it is"--that is, Pilate once more states
his belief in Christ's innocence. In this the play is
following the Scripture (John 19.21). The sculpture may
be also; the legend is there above Christ's head, I.N.R.I.,125

and Pilate may be one of the group of ten figures around

Christ although it is impossible to determine this.

125We must recall the restoration of the bosses

which may have changed some features. Goulburn mentions
one restoration in his time (p. 353) and only a few years
ago they were cleaned and repainted again.

 

 

n.”

.4!"

133

The bosses and the play continue along the same
path as Christ expresses his misery in Ludus: "for thrust
a-sundyr my lyppys crake/ for drynes bei do Cleve"
(32,873-874). The soldiers give him gall to drink and ask,
"is not bis drynk of good tast" (32,881). Similarly the
boss shows us a soldier on Christ's left holding up his
lance with a sponge on its point, a sponge dipped in
vinegar and gall. Another boss near-by depicts the
preparation of the drink, N69 (Plate 45). Two soldiers are
busy with a large container standing on the ground; one
man is pouring into it the contents of a large tube, part
of the entrails of an ox (cf. Goulburn, p. 351), that is
he is adding gall, while another man stands by with a
sponge (another example of overhead perspective here).
Returning to the crucifixion boss, we find that it por-
trays another incident, Longinus stabbing Christ with his
lance, which is not presented in Ludus until after the
descent into hell. This at least is what the subject ought
to be, but it is presented in an unfamiliar way. What we
actually see is the figure of a priest touching his left
eye with the fingers of his left hand, and holding up a
staff, with an unrecognizable round object on the end of
it, to Christ's side. Longinus, a soldier not a priest,
is usually represented as stabbing Christ's side with a
spear; blood flows from the wound healing his blind eyes.

The confusion might result from the restoration of the

v...

”I”

-..

.4.“
.

 

 

134

boss. The incident is presented correctly in Ludus;
“blynde longeys" says after his sight is restored: "bis
thretty wyntyr I myth not se/ and now I may se I wote
nevyr hoe" (24,1121-1122). Mary and John have a tender
farewell at the foot of the cross in Ludus (also in the
sculpture, they stand together on a boss near the
crucifixion, S72), and the action turns to the harrowing
of hell. In Ludus this has a short play all to itself,
play 33. The spirit of Christ speaks of his purpose:
”now wole I go streyth to helle/ and feche from be fendys
felle/ all my frendys bat ber-in dwelle" (33,990-992);
he speaks also of his power against hell: "A3ens me it
wore but wast/ to holdyn or to stondyn fast/ helle logge
may not last/ A3ens . be kynge of glorye" (33,1010-1013).
This is the message of salvation again, in another form.
The gates of hell which he attacks are not described
in Ludus, but the common representation was the type used
in the bosses, the huge animal mouth on C72 (also on C80,
Plate 53). The open jaws, huge teeth and large bulging
eyes are a literal rendition of the metaphor which goes

126

back to the Carolingian period. In this example Christ

is about to exit from it carrying the banner of the

126Some examples: in Didron, pp. 160-161, two 14th
century MS.; one even earlier in B. Myers, Art and Civili-
zation (New York, 1967), p. 164; the motif was used several
times by Breughel, see M. Friedlander, From Van Eyck to
Breughel 2 (London, 1969), plate 293.

 

 

 

u.

135

resurrection. A little nude man, probably Adam, and
several other figures are following him.

One incident follows quickly after another now,
and the burial of Christ takes place next. The action
starts in play 34 with the request by Joseph of Arimathea,
”heyl sere pylat bat syttyth in sete . . . I pray be of A
bone . . . to bery jhesu is body" (34,1063-1067). Of
course the burial must be presented strongly so that the
resurrection may be more impressive. It is probably
Joseph of Arimathea on N72 in the bosses, an aged man
kneeling in worship. The arguments with which he supports
his request are interesting (none are given in the Scrip-
tures); they are designed to convince Pilate psychologically
that it would be better for him if Jesus were buried:

And yf we lete hym hange ber stylle

Some wolde seyn ber of A-now

be pepyl ber-of wold seyn ful ylle

bat nother xuld be 3our worchep not prow.
(34,1071-1074)

Joseph of Arimathea assisted by Nicodemus, brings
Christ down from the cross and "joseph leyth hym in oure

ladys lappe" (34, after 1.1139). Strangely this subject

is not depicted in the bosses nor in the Biblia Pauperum,

 

although it was familiar from the early thirteenth century
on, having been developed in the north, perhaps as a
corollary of the madonna and child. The entombment is,
however, portrayed in the bosses on C71 (Plate 47). There

two men are lowering the body of Christ into the coffin.

r .1 ’V:

136

He is a small and rigid figure in comparison with the
other two--in fact he appears to be a mannequin as he was
in the scene of the nativity. (The entombment is one of

the scenes in the Biblia Pauperum [Didron, p. 420] flanked

 

by scenes of Joseph in the well and Jonah in the whale.)
In Ludus the event is treated quite simply; Joseph says,
"I gyf be bis syndony bat I haue bowth/ to wynde be in
whyl it is new" (34,1156-1157).

After the burial Cayphas advises Pilate, following
Scripture, to have the tomb guarded in case "hese dyscyplys
come serteyn/ and out of his graue stele hym away" (34,
1184-1185). Pilate summons his knights and they relieve
the sad and anxious mood with some buffoonery, bragging
and boasting, one trying to outdo the other:

3a and An hunderyd put hem in pres ij miles
bei xal dey I make A vow

And han honderyd fy on An C. and an iij miles
C. per-to
ber is non of hem xal us with-stonde.
3a and ber com An hunderyd iiij miles
thowsand and mo
I xal hem kylle with myn honde.
(34,1218-1223)
Ludus interjects a play at this point in the
beginning of play 35 which continues the action of the
harrowing of hell. Christ calls Adam and Eve and their
friends to come forth "to paradys . . . in blysse for to

dwelle/ be fende of helle bat is Bour ffoo/ he xal be

wrappyd and woundyn in woo" (35,1346-1349). After this

137

re-statement of his power to save, Christ returns to his
body, according to the rubric, "Tunc transiet anima Christi
ad resuscitandum corpus quo resuscitato . . ." (35, after
1.1415). This may have required two actors to do. Mary

is with Christ in this scene; he tells her what awaits her:
"All bis werlde bat was forlorn/ Shal wurchepe 3ou bothe
evyn and morn" (35,1448-1449), and they say their farewells.
Although Christ showing his wounds and saying farewell to
his mother had already been painted by Roger van der Weyden
and others, it was not one of the common subjects and it is
not in the bosses. We do see another familiar treatment
though, Christ stepping forth out of the tomb, C74 (Plate
48). In this presentation he apparently steps right through
the closed lid, holding the staff topped by a cross with

the banner flying from it. With his right hand he blesses
the people. The heads and shoulders of two soldiers appear
on the right and left of Christ in the upper half of the

127 (We have here a com-

boss watching Christ step forth.
bination perspective: Christ is seen at eye level, but the
soldiers are depicted from overhead.) In Ludus the soldiers
are asleep when the resurrection occurs. They wake to all

sorts of unnatural phenomena: "hillis gyn qwake/ And tres

ben shake . . . Stonys clevyd/ wyttys ben revid" (34,

127This boss gives us definite proof of the changes
caused by restoration because Dean Goulburn describes the
soldiers as having their eyes closed, p. 393.

 

an ..
4

*Ju.

~.::

“7'.

h ‘

 

 

 

138

1481-1485), following the Scriptural description of the
unnatural phenomena that accompanied Christ's death on the
cross (Matthew 27.51); Ludus does not use it in that scene.
The dramatic effect of these descriptions must have been
great, and Pilate's reaction when informed must have once
more provided comic relief and a chance to relish the
defeat of the wicked:

What What What What

Out upon the why seyst bou bat

ny vpon the harlat

how darst bou so say

bou dost myn herte ryght grett greff

bou lyest Vpon hym fals theff

how xuld he rysyn ageyn to lyff

bat lay deed in clay. (35,1312-1319)
He refuses to accept any explanation, dismissing them:

now all 3our wurchep it is lorn

And euery man may 3ow scorn

And bydde 3ow go syttyn in be corn

And chare a-wey be revyn. (35,1548-1551)
In other words they are fit only to be scarecrows.

The visit of the three Maries to the tomb is the
subject of play 36. This is a Scriptural subject and was
originally the means by which the resurrection became
known. Since the scenes of farewell with Mary and Pilate's
meeting with the soldiers have been added, there is a
certain amount of repetition--but each scene presents the
subject in a different manner. In this last version Maria
Magdalen, Maria Jacobi and Maria Salome go "with salvys

ffor to leche/ Cryst bat tholyd wounde" (36,3-4), but

find him gone. It tells the story very much as in the

139

Scripture, including John saying, "removyd Away we saw be
ston” (36,152), i.e., Christ did not go through it mirac-
ulously as he did in the sculpture. The three Maries are
pictured on two bosses; two of them on N71 and Mary

Magdalen on S71.128 She appears again soon; Ludus in the

 

next play (37) presents the first of Jesus' appearances
after the resurrection. Taken from the Gospel of John
20.11, Mary mistakes Jesus for a gardener at first, and,
when she realizes who He is, attempts to kiss his feet and
is told in the incident known as the Noli me tangere:
”Towche me not As 3ett Mary/ Ffor to my fadyr I haue not
Ascende" (37,42-43). Christ's appearance to Mary Magdalen
is in the sculpture on S74 (Plate 49). She kneels before
Christ holding her jar of ointment conspicuously; Christ
stands, holding the staff, not the spade as is sometimes
portrayed.

Two more scenes take place in Ludus before the

 

ascension in play 38; one is the appearance of Christ to
Cleophas and Luke, commonly referred to as the supper at
Emmaus. The other is Christ's appearance to Thomas.
Cleophas and Luke are not portrayed in the bosses, nor are

they in the Biblia Pauperum. Ludus treats the story

 

comically in part; for instance, when Jesus asks the two,

"3our myrthe is gon why is it so" (38,48), Cleophas

128But the often used image of the angel sitting

on the empty tomb with the cover askew is not depicted in
the bosses.

n Ina.

~.¢g_

bu.

-..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

140

responds, "sere me thynkyth bou art a pore pylgrym" (38,
49). Furthermore they will not accept Christ's word that
the resurrection took place. "How xulde A ded man evyr A-
ryse" (38,106), "he bled owt All his herte blood/ hoe
xulde he thanne ryse with myght" (38,127-128). Christ
finally becomes exasperated: "why be 3e so hard of truswe"
(38,145). When they are finally convinced they do not want
to part with him, the source of their joy, and actually
become unruly in their insistence:

Trewly from vs 3e xal not go

3e xal abyde with us here stylle . . .

lete us hym kepe with strenth and myght

Sett on 3oure hand with good entent

And pulle hym with us . . . (38,169-180)
The slapstick mood becomes sober later; Christ blesses the
bread and “subito discedit christus ab oculis eorum"
(38, after 1.216), leaving Cleophas and Luke amazed.

This incident runs immediately into the next in

Ludus as Cleophas and Luke meet Peter and tell their
wonderful news. Of all the disciples only Thomas does not
accept their story: "Be in pes petyr bou gynnyst to rave"
(38,301). The incident of Doubting Thomas permits Christ
to make a statement about faith: "Ffor bou hast me seyn
ber fore bi ffeyth is good/ but blyssyd be tho of bis
bat haue no syght/ And beleve in me they ffor here meke

mood" (38,349-351). In the bosses, on N74, Christ, holding

the staff in his left hand, pulls the hand of the kneeling

1

....

 

 

141

Thomas to his side. The Biblia Pauperum has the scene

 

also (Didron, p. 424).

Christ's final appearance occurs at the time of
the ascension. The rubric at the beginning of play 39
reads ”cum maria et vndecim discipulis et duobus angelis
sedentibus in albis" (39, after 1.1). This description
makes the play similar to the sculpture where the heads of
Mary and the eleven disciples surround the top of the mount
from which Christ rises, C76 (Plate 50). Furthermore, on
N and S 76, the bosses on either side, are angels--one on
each--but these angels are garbed in feathers from neck
to foot, and kneel rather than sit. The most interesting
part of the main boss is the figure of Christ ascending;
only his bare feet and the lower part of his gown are
visible, the rest being obscured by the cloud into which

he is ascending.129

This boss employs a perspective based
apparently on the optical perception of the bystanders as
far as the figure of Christ is concerned, but at the same
time uses an overhead view of Mary and the disciples--an
intriguing compromise. Compared to the presentation of
the ascension in more usual style, as in the left tympanum
of the west facade at Chartres, the Norwich boss shows

Christ taking a more active role: he rises into the cloud

by himself--in the instance at Chartres he stands on the

129Meyer Schapiro, ”The Image of the Disappearing
Christ,” Gazette des Beaux Arts S6 v23:l35-52 Mr. 43, gives
the history of the motif whiCh he believes developed in
England.

 

 

uh
I‘

"to

 

 

‘1

 

 

142

it supports him. An earlier example of the Norwich

 

cloud;
design is by Era Angelico in the Academy at Florence, and
alater example is in Durer's Small Passion.

The

In Ludus Christ calls the disciples together.

gflay has three purposes: one, to direct the disciples to

May in Jerusalem to await the Pentecost for they "In be

mny goost xul baptyzid be" (39,29); two, to leave his final

message with them:

lovyth no wrath nor no wronge
but levyth in charyte with mylde stevyn

With myrthe and melody and Aungell songe
now I stey streyte ffrom 3ow to hevyn.
(39,44-47)

amiimmediately "hic ascendit ab oculis et in celo cantent"

(5% after 1.47). The angel carries out the third purpose

amich is to choose another disciple to replace Judas;

lWatthias is the one elected. The angel does give them an

important piece of information: "In a clowde As 3e hym seyn/

Steyng vp so xal comyn A-geyn" (39,54-55). This perhaps

infOrms us also of the way in which Christ appeared at the

last judgment.
In the bosses the time between the resurrection and

P . . . .
entEKNDst is filled With representations of Mary at prayer:

C .
77' é3nd the apostles also, N and S 78. The Pentecost is

o
n true last central boss of the bay, C78 (Plate 51). MarY:

s
ymbo10f the church, is seated in the center with three

aPo
Stles on each side. Above them is the dove of the holy

143

Spirit, very large, from which golden rays stream forth.130

The emblematic character is very strong in this boss and
also the appeal to contemplation of the mystery. Mary is
traditionally present from the sixth century on visual
treatments of the subject, but she is not in play 40, the

play of the Pentecost.131

It begins with a rubric direct-
ing that the apostles speak kneeling as "Spiritus sanctus
descendat super eos" (40, before 1.1). Perhaps the cloud
was used again here. The speeches of the apostles, each

naming an attribute of Christ,132

create a hymn in his
praise.
The assumption of Mary is omitted from the sculp-

tural program (also from the Biblia Pauperum); in Ludus

 

(41) it is one of the plays that had existed separately
before being incorporated into this manuscript. This can
be judged by the introduction which offers a summary of the
life of Mary, and then describes her life after the
ascension: "alle the holy placys in erthe . that criste

duellyd on/ devouthly sche went hem . honouryng the

130Professor Molly Smith suggests that Mary implies
the continued transmission of the holy spirit through the
church, i.e., Mary, to man.

131See The In ebor Psalter in A. Martindale,
Gothic Art (New York, 1974i, p. 66.

 

132The names of the apostles, each with the
attribute of Christ that he will say, are listed like a
cast of characters at the head of the play. This is the
only occasion in Ludus where this happens.

144

godhed" (41,16-17). The different spelling of Christ's
name and the constant use of ”the" instead of "be" also
indicate a different origin. In a later quote it will
also be noticed that the letter 3 changes to y. The
climax of the play is the coronation of the Virgin, and the
beginning is a plot by Episcopus and his henchmen to steal,
burn and hide the ashes of Mary's body when she dies. In
between Mary asks to have the apostles with her when an
angel tells her she will die in three days and they begin
to appear, startled at finding themselves there. John the
Evangelist says, "In pheso I was prechyng . a fer contre
ryth/ and by a whyte clowde . I was rapt to these hyllys"
(41,164-165). Peter is equally surprised when he arrives:
"A holy brether wyth grace . be ye met here now/ lord god
what menyth . this sodeyne congregacyon” (41,206-207).

Paul appears too and in conversation with Peter says, "the
keyes of hevene peter . god hath you betake” (41,216).
There is a link with the bosses here for Peter stands
holding two very large keys on C83 (Plate 56), an unusual
representation.

When Jesus appears at Mary's side, the author,
wanting her to appear modest and humble, has her say, "an
aungyl wold a ssuffysed me hye kyng at this nede" (41,287),
and as they converse another bit of SOphisticated stage-
craft appears: "hic exiet anima marie de corpore in sinu

dei" (41, after 1.301). Through the attempt of Episcopus'

145

man to seize Mary's coffin, her divinity is made clear;
the man's hand is stuck fast on the bier and he is only
cured by expressing his belief in her.

At Chartres, in the central tympanum of the north
portal, and at Notre Dame in Paris, in the left tympanum
of the west facade, the triumph is represented, as well as

in the Biblia Pauperum (Didron, p. 426), but we do not find

 

it among the bosses at Norwich. As we have noted before
the bosses are closer to Scripture than the plays.

The cycle of the play and the cycle of the bosses
both end with Doomsday. Play 42 reiterates the constant
themes of the whole of Ludus: punishment and reward, or
salvation for the good and damnation for the wicked.

The play makes it clear that this applies to everyone:
"Bothe pope prynce and prysste with crowne/ Kynge and
caysere and knygtys kene” (42,14-15). The play begins with
Michael calling, "Surgite. All men Aryse/ venite Ad
judicium" (42,1-2) and they do: "Omnes resurgentes subtuis
terram clamauit ha aa . ha aa . ha aa" (42, after 1.26).
To the worthy souls God extends his hand: "my blyssynge
burnyschith 3ow as bryght as berall/ As crystall clene

it clensyth 3ow clere” (42,46-47), and for them Peter
opens the gates of heaven where "to myrth and joye welcum
3e be" (42,65). Of the damned souls, craving mercy, Deus
demands, "How wolde 3e wrecchis Any mercy haue . . . What

haue 3e wrought 3oure sowle to saue/ to whom haue 3e don

146

Any mercyful dede" (42,70-73), and the devils join in con-
demning them for the sins written on their foreheads: "bou
wore so stowte and sett in pryde/ bou woldyst not 3eve a
pore man breed/ . . . if a thrysty man com any tyde/ Ffor
thrust bow he xulde be deed/ drynk from hym woldyst evyr
hyde . . . In wrath bi neybore to bakbyte . . . eveyr-mor
on Envye was All bi mende" (42,93-105) and so on to the
end, the last page of the manuscript being lost.

The first row of bosses in bay 14 represents the
power of good over evil. On the N and S bosses in row 79
we see a figure scourging a demon and on the center boss
is a scene of exorcism--a demon is emerging from the mouth
of one figure while the other kneels in prayer. The main
boss of the bay, C82, represents Christ judging (Plate 55);
in every way it is typical of the Gothic tradition in art.
He sits on the rainbow between two angels blowing trumpets
with the moon at his feet and golden rays spreading out on
either side. His hands are raised to show the stigmata.
At the bottom of the boss two figures are rising from
their graves, one actually climbing out of his coffin.
Both are nude but one wears the papal crown and the other
the crown of state. Here we have again an emblematic
design, one which the viewer may contemplate and consider
the meaning of life. On either side of this boss N and S
85 have angels blowing trumpets also; two more angels are

represented on N and S 85, kneeling and swinging censers.

147

The worthy souls are represented climbing out of
their graves on N81; on 881, N and S 84 they are being led
to glory by an angel (Plate 57). The scenes of the damned
souls are far more interesting. On 880 (Plate 52) the
devil leads souls to hell; he has a huge red face, the ears
of a bat, claws and hoofs. Three figures with agonized
expressions are confined by a heavy rope he is pulling.

On C80 (Plate 53) the devil is pushing souls into hell,
which is a huge monster head with tremendous open jaws lined
with sharp teeth. Three little souls are within, the devil
(hard to see in this illustration) at the left. On N80

and S83 other damned souls are dragged along by demons.

All this is fairly common and reflects Gothic style as
portrayed in many manuscripts and tympana, but on C81

(Plate 54) a demon is wheeling a man, fearfully hiding his
face, in a wheelbarrow. More interesting even, on the
demon's back a woman rides astride, holding up a jug or
pitcher with one hand and grabbing the demon's head with the
other.

The last of this bay contains two center bosses with
subjects not in Ludus. One is the Trinity, C84 (Plate 58),
another emblematic type of composition. The three are
seated with gold and red rays behind them, each holding

luis right hand up in blessing. The two on the right wear

148

crowns, Christ on the left wears the crown of thorns. He
is half nude, revealing the stigmata.133
The very last center boss, C85, contains the
portrait of BishOp Lyhart who was responsible for the
erection of the bosses. It is possible that he exercised
some control over the program as well, but more likely it
was delegated. At any rate, looking back over the programs
of Ludus and the bosses we can conclude that they are most
alike in their general tendency, i.e., their message and
effect, and appear more different the more closely they are
examined. The bosses certainly are more carefully kept
within Scriptural limits, while the plays are influenced
by the need to meet the requirements of secular enter-
tainment. To better perceive what is happening in these

two works, let us turn to an analysis of their attributes

and techniques.

133Professor Molly Smith believes the Trinity is
introduced to make the statement that God reigns forever
in heaven. The subject is not usual in such a cycle
although it is found in many manuscripts.

IV. MEDIUM AND TECHNIQUE IN LUDUS

COVENTRIAE AND THE NORWICH BOSSES

 

As we have compared the cycles of the bosses and
plays in the previous chapter, it has become apparent
that, when artists treat the same subject in different
media different effects are imposed by those media. Some
of these are due to the natural capabilities and limi-
tations of the medium: the drama, for example, proceeding
in time as well as space, does not permit contemplation.
It presents doctrine under the guise of entertainment,
often having to rely on some character's narration of
events. We are told what is happening or has happened
off-stage, action we never actually see; then the drama
moves on. The sculpture, on the other hand, necessarily
static, offers the viewer the opportunity to observe
repeatedly, and moreover to think and to be uplifted.
Rather than bluntly stating the tenets of Christianity, it
permits the viewer to bring doctrine to it as he meditates
uPon the image before him. It is in this respect that the
bosses inspire comparison with seventeenth century emblem

books, which present symbols picturesquely designed rather

149

....
-

....

Io.

 

 

150

than narrative.134 Such a characteristic accords well

with the more rigidly Scriptural nature of the bosses--

as opposed to the plays which reflect many influences in
addition to Scripture--and with the bosses' tendency to
often dwell on the liturgical aspect of a scene. Further-
more, the sculpture often stems from an entirely different
tradition and has already formulated compositions to
follow.

Technically the difference in medium allows one
discipline to render a scene the other cannot. In the
sculpture Pharoah really drowns in a literally red sea
(Plate 17); nggs does not even try to deal with this.135
On the other hand, in some parts of Ludus, usually its
least dramatic but most informative parts, a long exposition
may be delivered. One example is Moses' explication of the
ten commandments (6, 49 ff.) which he could never offer in
stone, even with the aid of a scroll. Scrolls do enrich

meaning by adding language to the sculpture, although in

a minimal way, as we have noted in a couple of examples in

134Professor John Yunck suggested the comparison
and pointed out that the overlarge swords etc. are also
similar to emblematic devices. Still another similarity is
that the viewer must be able to recognize the subject from
his familiarity with it, i.e., his previous knowledge.

13SBut marvels were presented on some medieval
stages. See J. Mortensen, Lg theatre francais EB moyen
age (Paris, 1903), pp. 179-181), and G. Wickham, Early
Ehglish Stages 1300-1660 (London, 1959), p. 4, for accounts
of flying angels, fire breathing dragons, rainfall, walking
on the water, scenes of flaying and burning, etc.

 

 

 

:‘s :43:

‘ -
nu

"‘1‘45

-4‘..

“vi a h

1,. ‘

a... i

......

«‘4‘

"a“

151

the bosses; however, sometimes they merely reflect their
models, illuminated manuscripts, paintings or stained glass
windows. At any rate in Norwich nave the scrolls are at

such a distance above the heads of the viewers that they

136

cannot be informative, but if they tried they could

never match the ability of Ludus to convey specific
information and, more than that, to broaden the drama by
implication, when it chooses not to render it with actions.
In the creation scene, Ludus needs only a few verses to
cover the subject:

Now hevyn is made ffor Aungell sake

be fyrst day and be fyrst nyth

The secunde day watyr I make

The walkyn also ful fayr and b[r]yth

The iijde day . I parte watyr from erthe

tre and every growyng thyng

both erbe and floure of Suete smellyng (2,83—89)

It is the easiest thing to bring in an extra idea, such as
God giving Adam the privilege of naming all God's creatures:

both ffysche and foulys bat swymmyn and gon

to everych of hem a name bou take

Bothe tre and frute and bestys echon

red and qute bothe blew and blake

bou 3eve hem name be bi self alon (2,102-106)

The writer can fully render the prohibition against the
tree of knowledge, so essential to the plot of the Corpus

Christi play:

136Some scrolls are held by the prophets in bay 7,
an angel in bay 8, Mary and Joseph in bay 9. Also in 9 the
demon of the temptation holds the only scroll that now has
a legend on it, but it cannot be read from the floor. The
other scrolls might have had texts originally.

 

 

 

 

 

 

152

but towche nowth bis tre bat is of Cunnyng

All thynge saff bis ffor be is wrought

here is all bynge bat be xulde plese

A11 redy made on to bin ese

Ete not bis frute ne me dysplese

ffor ban bou deyst bou skapyst nowth

(2,120-125)

All this the play communicates through simple, direct
statements in a short space of time. In the sculpture the
subject has to be broken into segments and each segment
presented individually. In the creation, therefore,
separate bosses throughout the first bay represent fish,

animals, foliage, man, woman--taking up much more space

proportionately than time is taken in Ludus--and all these

 

have to be put together by the spectator into a whole.

Ludus benefits in another way from the fact that it

 

is not only visual but verbal when a figure like Contem-
placio can come on to introduce and describe the play that
is next to be seen, the first of her several functions.

In the introduction to the parliament of heaven she
Operates on several different levels; as a choral figure
she makes a dramatic plea for mercy for the poor souls who
"ly and sobbe ffor syknes and sorwe" (11,20), and have been
in that condition for "Ffowre thowsand . sex vndryd .

foure 3ere" (11,1) in hell.137

Here she speaks for the
peOple, but then she acts allegorically too, as a wise and

all-knowing spirit she reminds God of the prOphecy of

137This is the commonly accepted length of time
between the fall of man and the incarnation.

153

Isaiah, thus giving a hint of the solution which the four
daughters of God will devise. As part of her choral
function she supplies necessary information to the audience,
but as we read her emotional statements we can imagine the
dramatic gestures which would accompany the spoken words
on stage--making her one of the acting company not merely
an announcer:
A quod Jeremye . who xal gyff wellys to myn
eynes
bat I may wepe bothe day and nyght
to se oure bretheryn in so longe peynes
here myschevys Amende . may bi mech myght
As gret as be se lord . was Adamys contryssyon
ryght
Ffrom oure hed is falle be-crowne
Man is comeryd in synne . I crye to bi syght
Gracyous lord . Gracyous lord . Gracyous lord
come downe. (11,25-32)
Another introducer-actor is Demon who opens the
passion play. Like Contemplacio he has information to
offer, but unlike her he does not speak for the people--
that is, he does not act as chorus. But he contributes to
the exposition of cause and effect in the plot by giving
his history: "Ffor I began in hefne synne for to sowe . . .
And ber fore was I cast out . . ." (26,13-15), and also
reveals his purpose,
I am Norsshere of synne . to be confusyon of
man
To bryng hym to my dongeon . ber in fyre to
dwelle
Ho so evyr serve me so reward hym I kan

bat he xal syng wellaway . evyr in peynes
ffelle. (26,5-9)

154

Granted then that sculpture and drama can each do
some things better than the other, nevertheless there are
very few subjects which cannot be presented in some way in
both media. It is not because it is impossible to render,
that the woman taken in adultery is missing from the bosses
or the marriage at Cana from the plays. In fact, the
marriage at Cana would make a very good play, with a
marvelous and dramatic climax, while the woman taken in
adultery could have been sculpted by using the familiar
narrative device of incorporating several actions in one
scene. The sculptor Of the bosses knew of this technique--
while Isaac blesses Jacob in the foreground, Esau leaves
for the hunt in the background (Plate 10). In general,
however, the sculptor of the bosses seems uninterested in
pictorial narrative. Several factors work against the
effectiveness of narrative in this cycle: the small scope
of the boss eSpecially presents a problem, but more than
that, they are necessarily subordinate to the building as
a whole and this must affect the very nature of the program.
Finally, the distance from the spectator makes narrative
hard to follow.

There were, moreover, models for the presentation
of the woman taken in adultery in the visual arts,138

1N1t--and this seems to be the significant factor--the

138Male cites some examples at Verneuil and in the
Crlapel of the Virgin d'Evreaux in De la fin, p. 40.

 

 

K.

155

examples cited are from fifteenth century cycles while the
Norwich bosses seem to follow thirteenth century traditions.
In these the life of Christ takes only a small part of the
design, and the public life of Christ was limited to scenes
of the baptism, the marriage at Cana, the temptation and

the transfiguration.139 (Norwich has three: the baptism,
Plate 31; the marriage at Cana, Plate 30; and the temptation,
Plates 23 and 34.) In the fifteenth century cycles the
number of subjects was expanded and included such scenes

as the good Samaritan, the multiplication of the loaves

and fishes, and the money lenders chased from the temple

as well as the woman taken in adultery. The Biblia Pauperum

 

has the money lenders chased from the temple (Didron,

p. 412); other scenes including Christ teaching and healing
are in a fifteenth century fresco cycle in the church of
Sant' Anastasia, Verona. Some entire fifteenth century
windows were filled with scenes of the public life of
Christ, notably in the chapel of the Virgin at Evreaux,

and the window dedicated to the Madeleine at Verneuil. The
Norwich sculptor shows a conservative tendency in following

a thirteenth century model in the fifteenth century,140

139Male points this out in The Gothic Image (New
York, 1958), pp. 176-177; he also indicates it is rare to
find all four incidents together as representations of the
Enlblic life were usually limited to one or two in a cycle.

 

140Although he felt free to add to the program by
1fltroducing the portrait of Bishop Lyhart, which was not
en} uncommon thing to do.

156

only making one exception by including the feast in the
house of Simon, C54.

nggs was following tradition too in presenting
the woman taken in adultery; it is also in the cycles from
Chester and York. And the marriage at Cana, not in Lgdgs,
is not in any other English cycle play either, even though
this was the scene of Christ's first public miracle.
Tradition, once set, is a powerful force.

Even when the two disciplines deal with the same
subject their varied traditions may produce quite different
effects on the message. For instance, nggs in the
prophet play and the bosses in rows 40-43 deal with the
transition from the Old Testament to the New, following
the basic Christian teaching that the Old and New Testaments
are parts of one truth, that in the Old Testament are the
seeds of the New. But the play and the sculpture make
different points. The play, a more developed prophet play
than is found in any other English cycle, relates the pre-
dictions of Christ's birth by the prophets and the royal
ancestors. Chester, considered the oldest English cycle,
does not have a separate prOphet play but at the end of
the play on Balaam and the ass Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah,
Jonas, Joel and Michael appear with an Expositor and David,
who speaks as a prophet not a king (V, 361 ff.). In the
York cycle the prOphets themselves do not appear but are

quoted by a character called Prologue at the beginning

It

...-I“

 

'r'

157

of the Annunciation. Amos, Isaac, Isaiah, Joel, Jacob and,
from the New Testament, John the Baptist and Luke are the
ones who are mentioned. The royal ancestors have no parts
but David is referred to: "On dauid sege bore sall he
wonne” (XII,67). Towneley did have a whole play, the
Processus Prophetarum, from which only the parts of Moses,
David, the Sibyl and Daniel have survived. From any of
these it is quite a leap to the thirteen kings and thirteen
prOphets of Lgdgs, each one designated "rex" or "propheta,"
all of whom prophesy the birth of Christ.

The sculpture instead puts most emphasis on the
ancestry of Christ and his subsequent right to be recog-
nized as the Messiah. Prophets were often part of the
sculptural decoration of medieval churches: the north
transept of Chartres, the west facade of Amiens, inside
the west facade of Rheims. Individual prOphets often appear
in windows too, cf. the chevet clerestory of Bourges.

Kings can also be seen: the jamb figures on the west facade
of Chartres, the north rose and its lancets; also in the
gallery of kings at Chartres and Notre Dame, Paris.141
Kings and prophets together occupy the space above the
north portal of the west facade of Notre Dame, Paris. In
the Norwich bosses kings and prophets are also combined

into one presentation: David, Solomon and an unidentified

141The kings were taken by the peOple to be the

kings of France.

158

king occupy center bosses in rows 41, 42 and 43 (Plates 21
and 22), but prophets are in subordinate positions on
either side, N and S 41, S42, N and S 43. Moreover they
are unidentified too, which takes some strength from the
prophetic announcements. It seems, therefore, that the
bosses point more emphatically to Christ's royal heritage

and minimize the prophets.142

The medium, then, and its
traditions do in some way affect the artist's handling of
the subject; even though a discipline is capable of pre-
senting a subject, the choice of presenting that subject,
and the method of presentation, may be finally controlled
by established convention.

Another question concerning medium, that arises
with each work we examine, is how skillfully it is used,
how the artist develops it and to what end. In this
respect Lgdgg and the bosses are not equal. Ludgs,
created at the close of the long development of the cycle
plays, is sophisticated in its use of medium, employing
the most advanced techniques of the time in staging, props
and costumes and also in its intelligent construction of
plot. In addition the script was probably updated every

143

time it was performed. The bosses, also dating from

142Another motif expressing Christ's ancestry was
the tree of Jesse used in windows at Chartres and Ste.
Chapelle, in sculpture at Laon, Chartre and Amiens, and in
the Biblia Pauperum.

 

143Crossings out and additions written in bear

this out.

159

late in the Gothic period but looking back to thirteenth
century models, are technically imaginative--especially in
the handling of perspective--and full of charm, but they
tend in a different direction from most fifteenth century
pictorial work. To compare them with contemporary Italian
sculpture which is already Renaissance would be unfair, but
the conclusion is still valid when comparing the bosses
with the Germans, Hans Multscher and Nicholas Gerhaerts, or
such great Flemings as Jan van Eyck and Hugo van der
Goes,144 that the bosses were not primarily designed to

be powerful or expressive or advanced. In very few
instances do they attempt an emotional effect and then it
falls short of the intensity of Multscher, or the poignancy
of van der Goes' shepherds. On the other hand the bosses
do, infrequently and less dramatically, portray the casual
simplicity of Gerhaerts but not the elegant grandeur of

van Eyck.

The decorative qualities of the bosses, however,
are highly significant. They make the building more
beautiful while they impress the viewer with the meaning
of the church, for in the medieval view every part of the
church was interpreted mystically and symbolically. Several

thirteenth century texts are systematic glossaries of the

144See H. Hofstatter, Art gf the Late Middle Ages
(New York, 1968) for illustratiahs: van Eyck, Ghent
Altarpiece, p. 169; Multscher, Man of Sorrows, p. 184;
Gerhaerts, Self-Portrait, p. 214; van der Goes, Portinari
Altarpiece, p. 177.

 

160

subject, one of which is the Rationale divinorum officiorum
145

 

 

by William Durand. In one paragraph he states, "The
material [church] typifieth the spiritual church," which
may explain the function of the bosses in the designer's
eyes, that is, that the material rendition of the biblical
story in the bosses typifies the spiritual story Of
salvation.

The presentation of subject matter in the bosses
has enough variety, however, so that exceptions may be
found to the placid air that generally prevails; Cain
brandishing the jaw-bone does communicate a sense of action
and feeling (Plate 6), although Jacob wrestling the angel
is as formal as a dance (Plate 12).146

The very charm of the bosses rests on their
simplicity, on the fact that the sculptor usually chooses
the familiar image rather than the monumental one; compare,
for example, the tympanum sculpture of the central portal
on the west facade of Chartres where the figure of Christ
exudes an air of grave and serene authority. The designer

of the bosses wanted instead to make the Bible stories as

"real" as possible, i.e., human and understandable. In

145Selections from Durand's text are included in
Teresa Frisch, Gothic Art 1140-1450 (New Jersey, 1971),
pp. 33-37.

 

146Depicting Herod's fury and his unbalanced state
of mind, the sculptor resorts to the strange pose we see
on C48 (Plate 27).

161

carrying out his purpose he renders some scenes as very
ordinary, every day events. Samson carrying the gates of
Gaza (C37) looks like a workman going along to his daily
task; comfortably and quite casually he walks along with a
gate under his arm. None of the angels from the creation
or from the stories of Abraham or Jacob, are depicted as
flying; they walk--as they probably did on the stage.

The angels and demons from the last judgment also walk, and
in addition the demons are sculpted looking as if they are
dressed in costumes (Plate 34). An eSpecially appealing
example is Mary in the scene of the nativity, wearing a
golden gown but with a white napkin tied about her waist as
an apron.

This is not to say that the sculptor of the bosses
was inadequate, for all these effects were the result of
his deliberate choices, determined in the first place by
his goals. But to more completely understand the workman-
ship of Ludgs and the bosses, let us take one part of each
and examine it more thoroughly from this point of view.

Play 20 in Lgdgs, which dramatizes the massacre
of the innocents, the flight into Egypt and the death of
Herod, exemplifies many of Lgdgs' best features. It has
both humor and horror, music, spectacular effects and
dramatic tension. The staging of Lgdgs is rather compli-
cated as a whole and in the course of this play the setting

changes several times. The rubrics do not indicate how

162

the play was staged but we can assume that the means
employed in other parts of Ludus would be used here as
well. Therefore in the opening scene of the play, Herod,
to be informed by Senescallus that the "kyngys iii . stelyn
awey full styll" (20,3), could appear either on the stage,
or on a scaffold as Cayphas does in the council of the

Jews when he "shewyth him-self in his skafhald" (26, after
1.44). Another possibility is that Herod was stationed
somewhere in the area in front of the pageant wagon. The
use of such an empty space or “place" is indicated several
times in Lgdus; for example Christ rides out of the "place"
in the entry into Jerusalem (26, after 1.220), and Judas
goes into the "place" in the last supper (27, after 1.589).
Sometimes it is more than a vacant spot: in the betrayal
Christ leads his disciples to Mt. Olivet and "he comyth

a lytyl ber be-syde in a place lych to A park" (28, after
1.389). Props must have been used to create the park
setting. Simon, in the last supper, "comyth . . . owt of
his hous to welcome cryst" (27, after 1.389) and Christ
enters Simon's house to eat the pascal lamb. This house
must have been a simple structure, perhaps a roof supported
on a pole at each corner, because it would be necessary

to see into it from all sides. More elaborate was the
"lytil oratory with stolys and cusshonys clenly be-seyn
lych as it were a cownsel hous" (26, after 1.124) which

was the scene Of the meeting between the bishops and the

163

Pharisees in the council of the Jews. The direction calls
for this to be in the mid-place, and it remained there
during the last supper with the curtains drawn until it
would "sodeynly onclose" (27, after 1.397), revealing the
conference still going on. We can conclude then that
several different spots in the "place" might be used in
one play.147

If Herod acted his part from the stage--and this is
the way it was done in the Coventry play where "Erode ragis
in the pagond and in the strete also" (after l.783)--the
massacre of the innocents could have been acted in the place.
Undoubtedly there was a great deal of running around in
that scene which could be suitably done on the place, as
it was in the passion play where the messenger was to come
into the place "rennyng and criyng Tydyngys tydyngys . and
so rownd Abowth be place" (29, after 1.69).

The next part of the play, the flight into Egypt,
would need still another locale. A short bit, it is dealt
with in a few verses in Lgdgs: the angel gives Joseph the
warning message and Joseph tells Mary they must go. He
does mention the donkey: "I Bour clothis ley on hepe/ and
trus hem on be asse" (20,84), so this little scene must
have been on the place also. The play would have ended on

the pageant wagon though, where Herod would be standing to

147The fact that the setting remains from one play
into another is an indication of its stationary presen-
tation.

v“:
n
‘V'l

.
'94.

u n

'9

h

164

receive the reports about the massacre of the innocents
from the soldiers and would then tell them, "come up to me"
(29,128). They were probably standing in the place below
the wagon.

Although there are rubrics calling for hymns to be
sung in several parts of Ludus, play 20 contains the rare

mention of a minstrel.148

At the end of the play when
Herod is rejoicing and "be tabyl is redy dyght" (20,151)
Senescallus orders, "now blowe up mynstrall with all 3our
myght" (20,153), and shortly after Herod also commands,
"berfore menstrell rownd a-bowte/ blowe up a mery fytt"
(20,231-232). The music, added to the elaborate staging
would certainly create an impressive effect, even though
in this play there are none of Lgdgs' supernatural phenomena
such as its burning bush or star Of Bethlehem, or an
apparently magical act such as its ascension or, the most
spectacular effect it achieves in the whole play, the con-
ception. In that scene "here be holy gost discendit with
iij bemys to oure lady . the sone of be godhed nest with
iij bemys . to be holy gost . the fadyr godly with iij
bemys to be sone . And so entre All thre to here bosom"

(11, after 1.292). How that could be managed is something

148A minstrel is again mentioned in the adoration
of the magi where Herod also plays a part. Obviously the
minstrel was connected in the mind Of the playwright with
courtly situations.

 

 

165

to wonder about; perhaps tin stars traveled down wires?
At any rate the audience must have been amazed.

Another factor which would have helped to create
spectacle is costuming, and this part of Lgdus has no
rubrics concerning it. We can, however, again make assump-
tions based on the guides that were given in other plays
in Lgdus and what we know of general dramatic practice.149
Herod was surely dressed like a great lord in velvet and
fur with jewels added, as were Annas and Cayphas in the
council of the Jews (26, after 1.40 and after 1.124). Two
other characters in this play who must have looked impres-
sive are Mors and Diabolus. About death we can merely
guess that he may have been dressed like a skeleton since
he was portrayed that way by Bosch, Breughel and Holbein;
in this case he might have worn a black leather suit
painted in white. Another possibility is that he was
dressed as a monk in a black habit with a skull type of
mask, like the German limewood carving from the end of

150 The devils usually wore leather

the fifteenth century.
suits in black or dark red (Adam and Eve wore white
leather), and they were decorated as fearsomely as could

be devised: tails, horns, scales added, animal faces in

149See Phyllis Hartnoll, The Concise History gf
Theater (New York, n.d.), PP. 45-47.

 

150Illustrated in Hans Hofstatter, Art 9£_the Late
Middle Ages (New York, 1968), p. 202.

 

 

166

unexpected places such as the buttocks or stomach (see
Plates 34 and 52), and huge masks as well. As a whole
costumes were elaborate and, judging by civic records,
recognized as worthy of expense.

The plot of play 20 is simple. Here, as in every
play in Lgdus, great care is taken to make motives clear
and actions logical and consistent, and to demonstrate the
cause and effect relationship of all incidents. Play 20
follows after the purification of Mary and begins with
Senescallus' announcement to Herod that the three kings
have escaped him. The conflict begins at once then:
Herod, high and mighty, but threatened by the birth of
Jesus, is frustrated because the Magi, who could have told
him where Christ was, are beyond his reach. His reaction
is outright fury. He is the chief character in the first
part of the play and has several marvelous speeches full of
alliteration, expressing violence at first and later his
delight. His solution to the problem is to eliminate any
child at all who could remotely be the Christ child and
since he is a thorough villain, delighting in blood, his
instructions are full of gore: "Rybbys fful reed with rape
xal I rende" (20,10), "hewe be flesch with be bon" (20,26),
and so forth. Actually through the first part of the play
only Herod's part is of any length; in response to his
commands the two soldiers each speak eight lines promising

to carry out his wishes, as:

167

barnys 3onge

they xul be stunge

thurwe levyr and lunge

we xal hem stynge. (20,69-72)

After their speeches the angel and Joseph each

have eight lines to say also. In rather business-like
fashion the angel delivers his message: "The fadyr of
hevyn hath to be sent/ In to Egypte bat bou be bent"
(20,77-78). Joseph doesn't even answer but speaks directly
to Mary: "Awake good wyff out of 3our slepe/ and of 3our
childe takyght good kepe . . ." (20,81-82), and the play
moves on to the massacre where two women lament, each in
eight lines, and then the two soldiers speak again--once
more in eight lines. Although short the mothers' expressions
of sorrow are quite touching; one says:

Longe lullyng haue I lorn

Alas qwhy was my baron born

With swappynge swerde now is he shorn

be heed ryght fro be nekke

Shanke and shulderyn is al to torn

Sorwyn I se be-hyndyn and be-forn

both mydnyth mydday and at morn

of my lyff I ne recke. (20,89-96)

Using very simple language, the author of Ludus

 

manages to create a dignified and graceful expression Of
emotion.

In contrast, the soldiers, talking about the cruel
deeds they have done, talk as if they had just carried out
some routine and harmless little task like cutting the

lawn:

168

Lord we han spad

as 3e bad

barnis ben blad

and lyne in dych

Fflesch and veyn

han tholyd peyn

and 3e xul reyne

euer more rych. (20,113-120)

Actually they are mere extensions of the character of Herod
and function as his attributes. He answers them in thirty
lines (his first speech was forty-seven lines long),
rewarding the soldiers for their good work: "3e xul haue
stedys/ to 3our medys/ londys and leydys" (20,121-123).
He also explains how he feels:

In sete now am I sett as kynge of myghtys most
All bis werd ffor ber loue to me xul bei
lowt . . .

ber is no lord lyke on lyve to me wurth a toost
nother kyng nor kayser in all bis worlde abought
If any brybour do bragge or blowe a-3ens my bost
I xal rappe bo rebawdys and rake bem on rought
With my bryght bronde (20,129-137)

Full of pride and satisfaction he invites his "jentyll and
curteys knyghtys" (20,142) to dinner, and demands the very
best of everything:

Smertly berfore sett a tabyll a-non here fful
sownde

Couerid with a coryous cloth and with rych
wurthy fare

Servyse ffor be lovelyest lorde bat levynge
is on grownde

Beste metys and wurthyest wynes loke bat 3e
non spare

bow bat a lytyl pynt xuld cost a Ml. pownde

brynge alweye of be beste for coste take 3e
no care (20,144—149)

This is a fine preparation for the irony of the

Climax and when all is ready and he is at his happiest--

169

”in joy I gynne to glyde" (20,167), he tells his soldiers--
Mors appears, at the most effective moment. He has come
for Herod because he is so full of pride:

Ow I herde a page make presyng of pride

all prynces he passyth he wenyth Of powste
he wenyth to be be wurthyest of all bis werde

wyde
kyng ovyr All kyngys bat page wenyth to be
(20,167-171)
He goes on to talk about his power, in a speech as long as
Herod's, saying in part,
I am sent fro god deth is my name
All thynge bat is on grownd I welde at my wylle
both man and beste and byrdys wylde and tame
Whan bat I come them to . with deth I do them
kylle (20,181-184)
In conclusion he relates his intention to kill
Herod and "so cast down his pride" (20,206). The message
of the play, that pride is a sin and will be punished, is
delivered with great artistic effectiveness by a character
who must have made the viewers shiver a bit, marking the
climax of the action. The ending is a happy one for good-
ness is triumphant-~Jesus has escaped and evil is punished
right before the eyes of the audience as Mors kills Herod
and the two soldiers and hands them over to Diabolus. His
part is short but must have been quite exciting. Ironically
he makes sly insinuations in a mixture of the comical and
the terrifying: "I xal hem teche pleys fyn/ and showe such
myrthe as is in helle/ It were more bettyr Amonges swyn/

bat evyr more stynkyn ber to dwelle/ ffor in oure logge

is so gret peyn/ bat non erthely tonge can telle" (20,

170

235-241). Mors has the last word in the play and in a
serious tone, free of bluster and comedy, reiterates the
moral in several different ways:

Off kynge herowde all men beware

bat hath rejoycyd in pompe and pryde
Ffor all his boste of blysse ful bare
hy lyth now ded here on his syde . .
Now is he as pore as I

wormys mete is his body

his sowle in helle ful peynfully

of develis is al to-torn . . .

Ffor be a man nevyr so sownde . . .

I come sodeynly with-in a stownde . . .
of my comyng no man is ware . . .

3it loke 3e drede me nyth and day (20,246-274)

Sermon-like speeches such as this occur throughout Ludus:
Jesus in the woman taken in adultery (9-28, 229-232),
Jesus again in the raising of Lazarus (25,305-310), Peter
in the entry into Jerusalem (26,242-253), to name a few

examples of this aspect of Ludus.

 

The tenor of other plays is as tragic as the
massacre of the innocents or as comic as the devils or as
splendidly histrionic as the blustering and swaggering of
Herod. Variety is one of the virtues of Lgdgs and com-
petency, enriched by intelligence, one of its chief
characteristics. This is especially to be noted in its
use of medium.

Turning to the sculpture, let us consider the story
of Moses which takes up most of bay 6. Four episodes of
his life are depicted: Moses in the bulrushes, Moses and
the burning bush, the exodus from Egypt and, by implication,

the receiving of the tablets with the ten commandments

171

which were later carried in the ark. The second and third
episodes have several parts and twelve bosses in all are
used. The most important is Pharoah and his men drowning
in the Red Sea (Plate 17). This one is about two feet in
width; some of the others are about a foot wide and a few
are only about eight inches. In these small spaces various
numbers of figures are carved; the smaller bosses usually
have the smaller number Of persons--Moses and the burning
bush, and two priests carrying the ark (Plates 16 and 19)
are examples showing only two peOple. These smaller bosses
are as full of detail as the larger but less background is
depicted. In this bay the boss with the largest number of
figures is the center boss of Pharoah drowning--it has
four, but other bosses in the nave have many more. The
ascension, for example (Plate 50), presents Mary and

eleven disciples, and Christ (in this case we see only his
feet whereas in other scenes like Pharoah drowning we see
only heads). Noah in the ark has four people plus eight

or nine large animals and fifteen birds.

The problem of presenting so many people in a small
space is solved in the bosses through changing the per-
spective view. This Offers one of the most distinctive
features of the sculpture. Varying his approach to meet
each challenge, the sculptor has achieved some original
presentations. (It is convenient to refer to "the sculptor"

but actually there must have been a group of workmen

172

involved.) The scene of Pharoah drowning is presented as

if observed from overhead; the boss is covered with the
crimson waves of the Red Sea, and from this emerge two

heads on one side and one on the other, looking up with
rather expressionless faces. Pharoah lies across the center
on his side, wearing his crown and his fifteenth century
plate armor. The only other feature now to be seen,151
is the side Of Herod's chariot, a two-wheeled type with a
railed side and a long pole in the front where the horse
would be attached. In various other bays in the nave this
type of perspective is used. To name a few: the nativity
(Plate 24), the last supper (Plate 36), nailing Christ to
the cross (Plate 43) and Isaac blessing Jacob (Plate 10)
in which the figure of Esau leaving for the hunt is pre-
sented with extreme foreshortening. Usually there is good
reason for employing such a view; in all the bosses men-
tioned above, the scene requires a feeling of depth--

that is, some figures are perceived as being closer to

us and in front of other figures. Fifteenth century
artists had learned to handle this problem through the
device of linear perspective but the sculptor of the boss
chooses to avoid it. Yet he is still able to present the

scene realistically by adopting the bird's-eye view, and

151Before restoration a leg and foot wearing a
black shoe were part of the scene. See Goulburn, p. 157.

173

he does not have to adjust the size of the figures as he
would when using linear perspective.

Most bosses are designed so the spectator has the
feeling he is on the same level as the subject, standing
in front of it. Moses in the bulrushes, C32, is con-
structed this way. A young woman, standing on green land,
places a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes in an ark which
looks like a cradle. The river rises in the background.
In another example on C35, two priests are carrying the
ark of the covenant (Plate 19). Moses and the burning
bush presents a combination: we see Moses from in front and
the bush with the head of God protruding from above
(Plate 16). Moses parting the Red Sea is a combination,
too (Plate 18); the figure of Moses stretching his rod over
the water and his three companions are at eye level, but
the pattern of the water is seen from above. This mixture
of perspectives is used also in the crucifixion where
Christ appears to be directly in front of us but the other
figures seem to be below him, so that we look down on
them (Plate 46).

There are even some examples of perspective based
on a view from below the subject, the worm's—eye view.
Cain and the jawbone (Plate 6) is designed this way;
another example may be the demon from the temptation

(Plate 34).

174

Another aspect of the handling of medium is creat-
ing the effect of plasticity. The Norwich sculptor works
impressively in differing degrees of relief, resulting
in varying amounts of projection and recession. In some
bosses the back plane retains its identity, as in the scene
of Pharoah drowning (Plate 17). The heads jut upward from
the water and Pharoah is submerged only halfway all along
his length but the red waves form a single or unified sur-
face or plane. In contrast other bosses lose the appearance
of a back plane altogether. In Moses and the burning bush
(Plate 16) the head and shoulders of God thrust forward
while Moses seems to lean back; the directional movement
of our eyes is forward and back in the space of the boss
rather than side to side as in the scene of Pharoah drown-
ing, and we are not conscious of a back plane at all.

Other bosses in the nave show even more plasticity, such
as Isaac blessing Jacob (Plate 10); all parts of this
scene move out from the center and the background is even
cut away between Isaac and Jacob.

In other bosses the foremost plane is maintained
across the whole boss, as in two priests carrying the ark
of the covenant (Plate 19) and in Noah in the ark (Plate 7).
In the latter all the heads--Of people and animals--are
even with each other on the front plane. The heads still
seem three dimensional, and, as in all the sculptures,

give a sense of mass and density. But the sculptor is

175

more interested in projecting an image than in action; this
is one of the bosses where the emblematic character of the
treatment reveals that typology is paramount in the sculp-
tor's mind. Comparing this boss with the creation of Eve
(Plate 4) we find the latter has no single front plane.
Each part of the boss projects and recedes separately
according to the subject: Adam's stomach and thigh (look-
ing quite unreal) are closest to the front but the upper
part of his figure leans into the background. God and Eve
appear in the same plane just behind Adam's thigh, and in
the background foliage represents the garden of Eden.

Some of the variety in style found in different bosses may
be due to the fact that a number of sculptors were employed
and worked on different bosses; some may be due to the
divergent problems posed by the subjects.

The human figures throughout the bosses are for
the most part in the same style, rather short and stocky--
not classical in proportion but fairly realistic; that is
they are unlike the figures sculpted by the ancient Greeks
with their slender bodies and small heads, but they are
similar to average people although the heads are a little
large for the bodies. Any of the bosses in the story of
Moses illustrate this. Another characteristic they have

in common is a certain stiffness or rigidity; they are like

176

mannequins, lacking the sense of life.152 If the sculptors

used pattern books it might have caused such an effect,
and the restoration of the bosses undoubtedly contributed
too; for instance when the eyes that had been closed were
repainted as Open (the soldiers in the resurrection,

Plate 48) it reduces the authenticity of the scene. The
flat coloring and generalized and simplified modeling also
take away from the sense of reality and makes the figures
seem more like mannequins.

In many scenes in the sculpture the relative sizes
of the figures have been adjusted for the purpose of the
design or to make a point. In the boss with Jacob peeling
the rods (Plate 13), he is very much larger than he should
be in relation to the animals; thus he becomes a symbolic
figure, typifying Christ before Pilate, as he, under the
protection of God, peels the rods by which he will overcome
Laban. In the scene of the baptism Christ is the larger
figure and John the Baptist is too small (Plate 31). In
this case if Christ had been the same size as John, since
only half his figure appears he would have seemed smaller.
Enlarging the half figure gives a very different effect but

this is preferable to diminishing the image of Christ.153

152The Christ child of the nativitY: undoubtedly

represented by a doll on stage, actually looks like a doll
in this boss.

153Also perhaps influencing the portrayal: the

statement of John the Baptist that Christ was mightier
than he (John 1.30).

177

When Pilate washes his hands with Christ standing before

him (Plate 40), several size discrepancies may be observed.

Christ and Pilate are both larger than the crowd of

soldiers standing around the edges of the boss; quite

simply, more space is given to more important figures. In

another example, however, this is reversed; in the scene

of nailing Christ to the cross (Plate 43), he is the smaller

figure and the executioners pulling on the ropes and

pounding in the nails seem larger than he with their large

heads protruding from the boss. Here it seems that the

sculptor wanted to emphasize the actions of the soldiers

for this is the message of the boss, that Christ suffered

for mankind, and it should not be diminished even by the

image of Christ himself--although he does dominate the

scene by his central position. As with his handling of

perspective, the sculptor varies proportion and size in

order to create the most effective design.154
The colors of the bosses are limited. Gold is by

far the most important. Some scenes are only decorated

with gold, and a little flesh color, against a dark green

background. Examples are Moses and the burning bush

(Plate 16), Jacob wrestling with the angel (Plate 12), or

the annunciation (Plate 23). Red is the second most widely

used color; Pharoah drowning (Plate 17) and Moses parting

154The scene of David and Goliath might have been
more effective if the difference in size were greater
(Plate 20).

178

the Red Sea (Plate 18) show this strong, unmodulated color
used. Other good examples are God the Father (Plate 4)

and the tower of Babel (Plate 8). Small touches of White
are used here and there: Isaac's bed sheet (Plate 10),
Pury's apron in the anunciation (Plate 24), Herod's ermine
collar (Plate 27). Green is present mostly as a background
color; the fall of man is a good example (Plate 5). Blue

155 but one instance of its use is in the

is quite rare
baptism (Plate 31). One of the most natural bosses in
terms of color is the crucifixion (Plate 46) where there
is a minimum of gold, but one of the most imposing is the
Trinity boss where gold is dominant, with some red and a
little green adding richness and variety, and where the.
stiffness of the figures this time serves the design,
supplying strength and adding to the timeless quality.
One must remember, however, that the colors might have been
different originally and changed by the subsequent restora-
tion.

The sixth bay offers a good example of how subject

matter is arranged in the sculpture. A variety of incidents

concerning Moses are presented (see Figure 5):

155Blue pigments were hard to acquire and difficult
to use. See Baron Joseph van der Elst, The Last Flowering
22 the Middle Ages (Garden City, New York, 1946), p. 38.

 

 

Fig.

5.--The Sixth Bay.

179

 

 

. , ...
rt, 1.
.r 3:.

r
.. 7
w . s
.h
m 3 a
.1 .u
51 I. ....
Q I.
a air
. . ...:u.
..9 r1...
. . < s ..
. . s... Am.
.4 a...
. 3.1
......
a pan 1 a
.J. 11...!

180

N C S

Row 32 Moses putting Moses in the Moses with the
off his shoes bulrushes flock of Jethro

Row 33 Musicians of Moses and the Heralds of the
the exodus burning bush exodus with
with lute trumpets
and harp

Row 34 A woman of Pharoah and his Israelites of
the exodus men drowning the exodus

Row 35 Moses dividing Two priests Aaron and Moses
the Red Sea carrying the before Pharoah

ark

The orientation Of the bosses to the bay is typical of the
scheme of the whole nave. In the center the bosses in
the eastern half of the bay face east, and those in the
western half face west. In the north and south rows no
strict rule is followed, they face in all different
directions. The subjects are arranged by importance with
the most important scenes in the center, that is to say,
by their importance to the designer. Moses in the bul-
rushes is in the center while Moses dividing the Red Sea
is not. Moses in the bulrushes may be taken as a prototype
of Christ in the manger, but the miraculous parting of the
Red Sea is also made less important than the punishment of
Pharoah. The implication is that the church would rather
focus on the need for obedience than the cleansing nature
of the sacrament of Baptism which is typified by the
crossing of the Red Sea (Didron, p. 408).

Of the incidents pictured here only the burning

bush and the crossing of the Red Sea are pictured in the

181

Biblia Pauperum, the burning bush being a type of the

 

nativity. But the Biblia Pauperum has other scenes not

 

utilized in the bosses: Moses receiving the ten command-
ments, portrayed as a type of the Pentecost (Didron,

p. 425); Moses striking the rock, a type of the crucifixion
(Didron, p. 420); Moses breaking the golden calf, a type

of the flight into Egypt (Didron, p. 406). The carrying

of the ark is a substitute for Moses receiving the ten
commandments and also forms a parallel to the Corpus Christi
Day procession,156 but the other scenes have been omitted
in favor of presenting Moses with the flock of Jethro,
possibly as a type of the good shepherd, and Moses putting
off his shoes as a type of the priest who officiates on
holy ground in the church, where the sacraments are per-

formed and the word of God is spoken. The relationship

between the bosses and the Biblia Pauperum (as two cycles)

 

is exemplified in this bay: the subject matter is not
identical, nor, compared to the illustration in Chapter III
(Figure 4), are the compositions, but the typological

manner of presentation propounded by the Biblia Pauperum

 

and made so popular by its success is the basis of the

156In the left tympanum of the west facade of

Notre Dame, Paris, the ark is used to symbolize the Old
Testament and the church. (See A. Katzenellenbogen, The
Sculptural Programs gf Chartres Cathedral (Johns Hopkins,
1959), p. 61. Moreover the ark, which held within it the
commandments, the Old Law, may be understood as a symbol
of Mary, who carried within her body the New Law, Christ,
who also symbolizes the church.

 

 

182

program of the bosses. The intention, too, to represent
the history of the church, to impress on the viewers the
lessons of the church and to inspire contemplation of what
cannot be seen with the physical eye--this is the same.
The comparison of the bosses to Lgdgs, however, is
not well exemplified by using this bay. Our analysis has
shown that bay 6 contains a quality of work equal to any
of the best parts of the sculptural cycle, but to only
compare this bay with the subject of Moses in play 6 would

not do justice to Ludus. For in that play, although there

 

is the Spectacle of the burning bush which had to be very
exciting, the rest of the play is without dramatic action,
being merely a recitation of the ten commandments. The
cast is very small, God and Moses at first and then only
Moses, and the play has none of the emotional appeal, none
of the humor, none of the use of metaphor, alliteration or
other literary embellishment that are found in other
plays. What it does have is a more than usual amount Of
the didactic.

To consider a subject where the bosses and the play
are both executed at their very best we must turn to either
the fall of man or the crucifixion. We will discuss the
fall of man as the simpler subject, artistically speaking,
of the two. Play 2 presents a very dramatic scene:
beginning with God's gift of Paradise to Adam: "ther xalt

bou haue all maner thynge/ bothe flesch and ffysch and

183

frute of prys/ all xal be buxum at bi byddyng" (2,114-116),
delivered in graceful, alliterative language. The plot
develops through the cunning of the serpent which must

have had its comic aspect: "Ete bis Appyl and in certeyn/
bat I am trewe sone xalt bou se" (2,197-198), a ploy whose
irony must have made the audience laugh. Deeper emotion

is to be found in the repentance of Adam and Eve: "Lord

I haue wrought a3ens bi wyll/ I sparyd nat my sylf to
spylle . . . . I walke as werm withoutyn wede/ A-wey is
schrowde and sho" (2,285-292). It has a moral message, that
punishment awaits those who disobey the Lord, but the
didactic quality is not overwhelming--the play makes the
statement, but the movement of the plot and the dramatic
quality hold the attention. It is above all entertainment
constructed with dramatic action, suspense, humor, pathos
and a message, all expressed in carefully ordered and
selected language.

The boss (Plate 5) offers, on the other hand, a
symbolic composition. The three figures are grouped in a
triangular arrangement; Adam and Eve kneel in the lower
foreground and are seen slightly from above, the semi-
human serpent from in front. All are holding apples and
the scene, so solemn and rich with gold, arouses recog-
nition both of Adam's sin and the need for Christ's sacri-
fice. At the same time there is some feeling for the

human condition in the tense way Adam and Eve stare at

184

each other. We do not see the actual fall but perceive the
significance of it. The sculpture is not attempting to
narrate, only to present an Opportunity for contemplation.

The boss and the play, then, achieve very different
purposes. Lgdgs gives us action, interesting costume and
stage props in the serpent who may be in the tree at first,
but later, on God's command, "Vpon bi gutt bou xalt glyde"
(2,343) would have to crawl off stage, perhaps again
raising laughter. The boss is not concerned with any
dramatic or humorous aspect of the scene, nor in the
development of story. It cannot be separated from its
position as part of the decoration of the church, pre-
senting the essence of the scene, but more abstractly,
partly typological, partly moral and partly historical in
meaning.

Emile Male's claim that the presentations of the
mystery plays caused radical changes in the visual arts in
the fifteenth century, i.e., that one medium strongly
influenced another, was one of the starting points for this
paper. It was, in part, to examine this theory in relation
to the Norwich bosses and Lgdgg that this comparison was
begun. Male based his theory on his Observations of some
new features that appeared in fifteenth century art.
Tending to oversimplify in his enthusiasm, he stated that
before the fifteenth century persons depicted in art were

dressed in simple clothing unadorned with fur or jewels,

185

usually wearing no hats--in other words clothing of a
timeless nature. But, he stated, in fifteenth century
works the soldiers wear plate armor, the shepherds wear
the ordinary costume of contemporary shepherds and respect-
able figures like Joseph of Arimathea and Longinus wear the
costumes of wealthy merchants. Royal figures also wear
clothing much richer than before, and the dress of the
angels becomes much more elaborate and fanciful. Examples
of these claims can be found in the bosses, for example
those represented in Plates 17, 22, 23, 25, 27 and 46.
However, a study of manuscripts and other work done in the
fourteenth century reveals that these various types of
clothing had already appeared in art before the time Male
claimed the practice began.157
Another change Male points out, again speaking
generally, is that in fifteenth century works the back-
grounds began to reflect the architecture and furniture
of the time. We can find examples of this contention too
in the bosses: trestle tables appear in the stories of
Jacob and Esau ($18), and Joseph, son of Jacob (530). A

contemporary building forms the background of the scene

157For Male's discussion of costume changes, see
22 la fin, pp. 54-60. Earlier examples: Nahash the
Ammonite . . . from the St. Louis Psalter and David and
Goliath from Master HonOFE's Prayer Book 9: Philip the Fair,
both in Janson, p. 267; also Simone Martini's fresco of
the knighting of St. Martin in the lower church of S.
Francesco, Assisi, in A. Martindale, Gothic Art (New York,
1974), p. 209.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“A

5..

it
IQL

' a
5‘.
..L‘

.P

‘s

‘9.

~.‘

'1
‘1

 

g
l
‘

 

186

where Rebekah is putting the skins on Jacob (N14), and the
Gothic castle representing the tower of Babel has a boss

all to itself (Plate 8).158

Here again earlier examples
exist, refuting Male: a Gothic castle in La Somme lg Rey
by Master Honoré and Gothic town architecture in Giotto's
Peruzzi chapel fresco Of the raising of Drusiana.159
Male finds a more important distinction between
works done before and after 1400: new subjects appear in
the later programs such as the marriage at Cana, the
temptation, the feast in the house of Simon, the entry into
Jerusalem, and nailing Christ to the cross. All these are
sculpted at Norwich, but again Male's theory will not
apply. First, he is wrong about the entry into Jerusalem
being a new subject; it has been used in art since the
Early Christian period (sarcophagus of Junius Bassus,
359 A.D.) and by Duccio in his Maesta Altarpiece to name
two examples. Second, none of the English cycle plays has
a play on the marriage at Cana, although Chambers thinks
one may have been lost from York (p. 322), so there was no
model in an English play for the Norwich sculptor to follow.
We must conclude, then, that the drama, specifically Lgdgs,

could afford only a partial precedent for the bosses.160

1581bid., pp. 61-65.

159In Martindale, pp. 128, 193.

160New subjects are discussed on pp. 4-40.

187

Male also has a long discussion on new ways of
presenting subjects that were in common use before the

fifteenth century.161

He mentions the annunciation,

crucifixion and soldiers dicing for the robe of Christ

as examples where the iconography was altered. The specific

changes he sees are that the angel of the annunciation was

depicted as kneeling to Mary in the fifteenth century whereas

in earlier art they had both stood facing each other; that,

contrary to earlier examples of the crucifixion where only

Mary, John and personifications of the church and syna-

gogue were in attendance, a whole crowd of spectators is

portrayed; that the scene of the soldiers dicing was added

to the presentation of the crucifixion and had not been

used before. Although all these events are depicted in

the Norwich bosses (Plates 23, 44 and 46) they can be

found in fourteenth century and earlier cycles too, which

Male did not recognize: Nicola Pisano, Pisa baptistery

pulpit; Duccio, Maesta; Simone Martini, Annunciation;

Pietro Lorenzetti, Crucifixion in the lower church of S.

Francesco, Assisi.162
Another of Male's observations is that fifteenth

century art includes many objects which imitate stage

props. The huge swords of Goliath and Solomon in Plates

161pp. 5-38.

162A11 in Martindale, pp. 155, 197, 206, 214.

188

20 and 22, and the very large chalice in the agony in the
garden (Plate 39), display the kind of exaggeration
expected in stage props. On the other hand the animals
in the nativity scene are too small in comparison with the
figures (Plate 24), perhaps reflecting stuffed or cardboard
animals from the stage--but they had also been painted and
sculpted that way throughout the Christian era: in the
Arena chapel and on the two pulpits by Nicola and Giovanni
Pisano at Pisa in the baptistery and in the cathedral.163
The boss of the fall of man may exhibit stage
influence: the serpent, with human face, body and arms
(Plate 5) might be standing in a property tree, to which
the serpent tail is attached, that covers the actor from
the waist down. Miss Anderson has observed that the tree
seems to stand on a round base which would bear out the
theory.164 A similar example is the creation of Eve
(Plate 4). Here we see Eve coming up from Adam's stomach,
not his side in the usual way, and the stomach has the
appearance of a kangaroo pocket. Perhaps Adam's own legs
are hidden from us and what we see as the lower part of
his figure, including the capacious stomach, is an ela-

borate artifice arranged to permit Eve's spectacular

entrance. This would work very well if a trap door were

163Janson, p. 261.

164Drama and Imagery, p. 144.

 

189

just underneath. A last example is the burning bush
(Plate 16); the tree looks three dimensional so that an
actor might stand inside it. Perhaps it was done this
way on stage and copied by the sculptor.

Some subjects which Male claimed changed in fif-
teenth century art do not show this change in the bosses.
The baptism (Plate 31) for example reveals the ceremony
taking place in the river, although Male states this form
was no longer used after the thirteenth century. The panel
by Andrea Pisano from the south doors of the baptistery
in Florence, cast in the 13305, illustrates the new mode.
Christ kneels on the ground while John pours water over his
head from a basin. Male also says that in the fifteenth
century the annunciation to the shepherds is extended to
include the adoration of the shepherds at the nativity,
which was not represented before that time. This is true
of Ludus but not of the bosses. Another instance where
the bosses fail to follow Male's theory is in Christ's
appearance to Mary Magdalen (Plate 49). On the boss
Christ carries the staff of the resurrection; this is the
way the subject was presented in earlier centuries while
the fifteenth century type portrayed Christ as the
gardener, carrying a spade. The theater had been using
this motif from the time of the liturgical drama but it

had not been adopted by artists until the age of the mystery

190

plays, and not even then by the Norwich sculptor though it
is found in Ludus (play 37).

Possibly the greatest discrepancy between what we
see in the bosses, and what should be there according to
Male's theory, is in the scene of the sacrifice of Isaac
(Plate 9). The most important and profound change Male
points to is one of the Spirit, a change from the presenta-
tion Of the otherworldly or supernatural to the more human
and tender, addressing the heart rather than the mind.165
But on the boss where Isaac is seated on the altar, so
obviously a type of the sacrifice of Christ, the symbolism
is still predominant, not the humanism. In Lgdgs, however,
the typology is lost as the play develops the emotional
side of the subject.

The factor that Male lost sight of is that sculp-
ture and drama in the fifteenth century have a commonplace
of motifs between them which come from the life around them.
Méle was looking for bits and pieces in art which he sur-
mised were the result of theatrical influence, and when
he found them he never stopped to question Whether they
could have come from any other source than theater. They
did often originate in what artists saw of the Gothic
world, and also in manuscripts, and, perhaps first of all,
in stained glass windows or other sculptures. Deliberately

contemporizing their works was a way of transmitting meaning

16593 13 fin, p. 8.

191

more effectively, allowing characters to be identified
more quickly, thus combatting the limitations of the stage
or the visual arts. For example in the Devil's prologue
to the passion play the author uses a simile drawn from
English life: "And now hath he xij dysypulys . to his
Attendauns/ to eche town and cety . he sendyth hem as

166

bedellys" (26,33-34). E. Martin Browne comments on the

 

cycles, "In fact the whole story is conceived in terms of
the English climate, English life in a feudal age, and the
English countryside . . ."167 and this is true of the
sculpture also. Whatever either started with, i.e.,
doctrine, Biblical or clerical specifications, the authors
and artists worked away from, and towards, more dramatic
and artistic goals.168 In sum, what Male did not observe
is that what was a commonplace of the time could appear
in different disciplines without indicating influence or
dependency.

Male could have avoided some Of the criticism his
theory encountered if he had been more careful about the
chronology of the texts and monuments he was using. He

was apparently so excited about his explanation of fifteenth

century art that he selected and arranged materials

166Emphasis added.

167Religious Drama 2 (Cleveland, 1958). p- 14.

 

168wniiams, pp. 683-684.

192

according to assumptions he had made, without checking

dates. In the second edition of L'Art Religieux 92.12 fin

 

d3 Moyen Age 33 France he admitted that he had given too

 

much importance to the influence of religious theater on
art. His change Of mind was due to the discovery of some
ancient frescoes in Cappadocia and his study of Byzantine
works. In both of these, themes appeared in the ninth and
tenth centuries that French artists did not use until the
fourteenth century, and which he thought were just invented.

It seems then that Ludus and the Norwich bosses are

 

much alike and yet have important differences between them
not only because of medium but simply because they are so

thoroughly Gothic, each in its own way.

V. SUMMARY

To summarize the comparison we have been making of

the bosses in Norwich Cathedral nave and Ludus Coventriae,

 

we must first point to the general purpose and content of
both cycles, which more than anything is the foundation of
whatever relationship exists between them. Both are pro-
grammed to relate the history and salvation of man and, in
the course of it, to instill the lesson that God is master
of the world and everything in it, and that He will mete
out both punishment and reward on Judgment Day. The second
part of the lesson is that salvation is possible for
everyone through Christ's sacrifice. Over and over the
point is emphasized; in Lgdus it is expressed verbally, in
the bosses through typology. At the same time the program
of the bosses is somewhat self-serving, stressing incidents
where the functions Of the church enter into the signifi-
cance of the scene, i.e., the baptism of Christ.

A very great difference between the two cycles is
that the plays do have a secondary purpose which sometimes
moves into the fore; not only do they instruct but they
must also entertain. Therefore, the dramatic features are

uppermost, aided by narrative, linguistic tools and stage

193

194

devices. The bosses, while decorating the church, have a
simpler purpose and ignore the dramatic and narrative in
favor of symbol. They present images which, through their
visible qualities, inspire contemplation of the invisible--
physically they are part of the building but spiritually
they are the story Of salvation. Since their appeal is to
lead to a more spiritual level of thought, most of the
bosses, in spite of the homey little touches required by
Gothic style, seem rather to keep their distance. But the
plays, with more fully developed characters and motives,
have a closeness, an immediacy, and appeal on a more
emotional level. Moreover, since the plays take place in
time (which is of no importance in the viewer's relation
to the bosses--they are always there), the plays will make
use of any emotion-arousing feature or any means such as
shock, comedy or spectacle, to reach for the viewer's
attention, and to communicate. The bosses, perhaps because
they remain in one place while time passes by, are more
passive; the viewer must approach them with his own ideas
and resources. Undoubtedly the need for the sculpture cycle
to conform to an artistic scheme larger than itself, i.e.,
the cathedral, also imposes a subdued character on the
bosses.

The bosses tend to confine their subjects to
Scriptural material, and divide the Space equally between

the Old and New Testaments. Such a narrow range of

195

subjects was not the usual thing in the fifteenth century;
the cycle of the bosses must, therefore, be judged as
rather Old-fashioned in that respect. The subject matter
is not used to inform, but rather to celebrate Christian
beliefs, and the viewer must derive from his own prior
knowledge the meaning of what he sees. The bosses tend

to represent more parts of the story than do the plays;
the effect is of scattered scenes, and the narrative line
is diffused. The plays, leaving out much that is beside
the point, are shaped and focused to deliver a more precise
meaning; they intend, always, to be explicit. Altogether
there is much more information in the plays than in the
bosses.

It is interesting to note that, although the pro-
gram of the bosses was presumably designed by one man
(although carried out by a workshop of carvers), and Ludgs
was compiled partly of plays written by other authors,
indeed an accumulation of plays, the program Of the bosses
is less efficient than that of the plays. Too many bosses
are decorated only with foliage carvings, in the earlier
style, which take up spaces that could have been used to
include more of the Bible story. This is especially
noticeable because there are a number of surprising omis-
sions of usually-depicted subjects: the expulsion from
Paradise, Jonah and the whale, Daniel in the lion's den,

the giving of the tablets of the law (the ten

196

commandments) to Moses, Christ offering bread and wine to
the disciples, the denial of Peter, Christ bearing the

cross, the pieta, the road to Emmaus and the assumption and

169

coronation of Mary. There is also the repetition of the

scene of the sacrifice of Abraham and Isaac. If this dis-
tortion of the program is not to be attributed to the
designer, then it must be the responsibility of the master
of the works--we have noted before that there are instances
of bosses placed incorrectly according to chronology.

The program of the plays is full of discrepancies

resulting from the compilation.170 Some are matters of

fairly minor detail: Mary says she will remain with
Elizabeth and then leaves, for example; but the discrep-
ancies of style are much more significant. Some plays,
mostly those dealing principally with Mary, are very

refined in their tone; many hymns and prayers are part of

169Ludus is lacking in some plays too, which are
found in other cycles: York has the exodus, Towneley has
Jacob and Esau, and Jacob and the angel. However, these
are all Old Testament scenes and Ludus could be considered
more modern for omitting them.

170Father Timothy Fry suggests that Ludus is
unified by a particular theory, a Patristic theory of the
Redemption. Known as the abuse-of-power theory, it holds
that when Satan caused Christ's death because he was
deceived by his human nature, he abused the power given him
after the fall of man to bring men to death and hold them
in hell. Because Christ was free of sin, it was an abuse
to make him die, and so Satan could no longer hold souls
in hell. See Timothy Fry, 0.8.3., "The Unity of Ludus
Coventriae," Studies in PhilolOgyXLVIII (1951), p. 529.
Plays, however, are prsented which have no relation to
the Redemption.

 

 

197

the dialogue and the conversations are carried on with
sweet and tender expressions: “I am not wurthy Amonge hem
to be/ Swete systerys to 3ow All I knele" (9,185-186),
Mary says when taken to the temple. Some plays, though,
are as coarse and laden with low humor as the others are
refined. The trial of Mary and Joseph is one such play,
where one detractor says of Mary, "Sum fresch 3onge galaunt
she loveth wel more/ bat his leggys to here hath leyd"
(14,54-55) and so on. Most of the plays follow a different
style and avoid both these characteristics, using some
humor such as the Bishop's exasperation with Joseph, "offyr
up 3our rodde sere in goddys name/ why do Be not as men
30w pray" (10,240-241), or developing the characters and
having them express feeling. "I thanke 30w frendys ffor
3our good chere/ myn hed doth ake as it xulde brest"
(25,281-282), Magdalyn tells Martha after Lazarus' death,
striking quite a realistic note. In terms only of the
subject matter, however, Ludus has a more cohesive program
than the bosses.

With respect to medium we have examined Male's
theory that the drama strongly influenced the art of the
fifteenth century. It was soon apparent that it had little
that applied to the comparison of the bosses and Luggs,
not only because no positive interaction between the two
programs can be detected, but also because the theory

takes no account of the huge number of common motifs used

198

by all the arts, motifs which originated in the daily life
of the Gothic period, and whose use becomes commonplace.
In the final analysis Male's theory has validity only when
applied with the most careful attention to the dates of
the works, and then, in addition, other factors must be
considered such as the presence of the familiar or common-
place, borrowings from manuscripts and other arts, the
patronage and so forth.

As for Eccles' contention that Ludus originated in
Norwich because of the linguistic characteristics, nothing
in this study can either support or destroy it. If some

inescapable correspondence between the bosses and Ludus

 

had been demonstrated by this comparison, it would not have
provided proof of Eccles' idea but would have increased the

likelihood of his being right. As it is the problem

remains as much of a puzzle as it has been.171

171The large east window of the Church of St.
Peter Mancroft in Norwich has a program much closer to
Ludus than that of the bosses. The glass is presumed to
date from 1455 and was originally in various windows around
the church but in 1741 all the pieces remaining of the
original were gathered together in the east window. There
are no Old Testament scenes but the life of Christ is pre-
sented almost in entirety and there are scenes especially
devoted to Mary. The rest of the window has scenes of
St. Peter and other saints. Incidents about Mary found
in Ludus, but not in the bosses, are St. John telling the
apostles about her death, and the story of the Jew who
laid hands on her coffin. Besides narrative scenes some
of the openings are decorated with familiar Gothic motifs:
a heraldric shield, with the keys of Peter, angels, his-
torical figures of kings, bishops and, of course, Becket.
Male's theory applied to this window and Ludus might pro-
duce an entirely different result, more favorable to his

 

199

The fact is that in comparing two different art
forms we have to deal with two different aesthetic
rationales. For, once the subject has been chosen by or
given to the artist or writer, then in either art he must
proceed by using the tools he has been taught--for every
artist begins in any discipline by learning certain tech-
niques and also the established and acceptable traditions.
In other words, the artist's or writer's concern is for
finding the best visual or literary equivalent for the
subject, which will be created by combining artistic ele-
ments in a structural relationship-~and not only is this
true for bringing out the meaning of the subject, but also
for creating an emotional effect. The tools are symbols--
words, colors, gestures, shapes--each used according to
tradition and each contributing to the whole composition.
Thus for the artist or writer the subject is overlaid with
the problems imposed on it by artistic or literary theories
of composition and technique. Therefore, even when the
subject is similar in sculpture and drama, the area which
allows comparative analysis is a small part of the whole

172

of each work. In the case of the bosses and Ludus one

contention. See Christopher Woodforde, The Norwich School
of Glass Painting in the Fifteenth Century (London, 1950),
pp. 16537.

 

 

 

172G. Giovanni, "Method in the Study of Literature
in its Relation to the Other Arts," Journal of Aesthetics
and Art Criticism VIII (Mar. 50), p. 194.

 

 

200

such area is the Gothic milieu they both share. Founded on
the new perception of reality which is the basis of Gothic
works, they are equally contemporized wherever possible in
order to communicate more quickly and easily, that is, to
help the viewers recognize characters and their functions
by their familiar clothing and settings. Then they are
both made complete with every detail and presented in as
beautiful a manner as possible, conveying within their
particular context the story of salvation with the culture
and aura of the fifteenth century.

In conclusion, although the origin of Ludus

Coventriae remains a secret, as long as we have the manu-

 

script of it and as long as the cathedral at Norwich proudly
stands, the Gothic spirit will continue to shine brightly

from that far off time.

APPENDIX

SUMMARY OF THE SUBJECT MATTER IN LUDUS

COVENTRIAE AND THE BOSSES IN THE

 

NAVE OF NORWICH CATHEDRAL

0 (30(7r) rd nra

(30(3()0

APPENDIX

SUMMARY OF THE SUBJECT MATTER IN LUDUS

COVENTRIAE AND THE BOSSES IN THE

 

NAVE OF NORWICH CATHEDRAL

Bosses

Bay 1
Creation

Fall of man

Death of Cain
Bay 2

Cain with the jawbone
Noah uncovered in his
tent
Noah and the ark
Bay 3
Tower of Babel
Abraham and Isaac
Isaac and Jacob
Isaac and Esau
Bay 4
Sarah laughing
Jacob--the rest of the
bay
Bay 5
Joseph--the whole bay
Bay 6
‘Moses in the bulrushes
The burning bush
Pharoah drowning
‘The ark of the covenant
Samson and the lion

Plays
Proclamation
Play 1
Creation of heaven and angels
Play 2

Fall of Lucifer
Creation of the world and man

Fall of man

Play 3
Cain and Abel

Play 4
Noah building the ark
Cain's death

Noah and the ark
Play 5

Abraham and Isaac

Play 6
The burning bush

The ten commandments

201

000 0

Bay 7
Samson and the gates
of Gaza
David and Goliath
Coronation of David
Solomon and the temple

Bay 8
The betrothal

Annunciation

Presentation in the
temple

Nativity

Annunciation to the
shepherds

N,S The Magi

C

The visitation

N,C,S Massacre of the

C

C
C
C

innocents
Bay 9
Flight into Egypt

Christ and the doctors
The baptism
Wedding at Cana

N.S The temptation

C
C

Raising of Lazarus
Feast in the house of
Simon

202

Play 7
The prophets

Play 8
Conception of Mary

Play 9
Mary in the temple

Play 10
The betrothal

Play 11
Parliament of heaven
Annunciation

Play 12
Joseph's return

Play 13
Visit to Elizabeth

Play 14
Trial of Joseph and Mary

Play 15
Nativity
The punishment of Salome
Play l6
Adoration of the shepherds
Play 18
The Magi
Play 19
The purification (Presentation)
Play 20

Massacre of the innocents

Flight into Egypt
Death of Herod

Play 21
Christ and the doctors
The baptism

Play 23
The temptation
Play 24
The woman taken in adultery
Play 25
Raising of Lazarus

Play 26
Council of the Jews

mmn

200000

(0

Bay 10
Entry into Jerusalem
Pharisees consulting
Christ giving Peter the
keys

Last supper

Christ washing the
disciples' feet
Bay ll
Agony in the garden
Crowning with thorns
Christ bound
Pilate washing his hands
Blindfolding of Christ
Judas returns the
thirty pieces
Peter cutting off
Malchus' ear
Betrayal

Bay 12

Nailing Christ to the
cross

Dicing for Christ's
robe

The crucifixion

The burial

203

Entry into Jerusalem

Play 27
Last supper
Conspiracy of the Jews
Mary Magdalen
Last supper
Conspiracy of the Jews and
Judas
The Eucharist
Christ washing the disciples'
feet
Play 28
Agony in the garden
The betrayal
Peter cuts off Malchus'
Play 29
Trial before Annas and Cayphas

ear

Play 30
Death of Judas

Trial before Pilate
Trial before Herod
Play 3l
Pilate's wife's dream
Christ and the thieves before
Pilate
Pilate washes his hands

Play 32
Procession to Calvary
Simon
Veronica

Nailing Christ to the cross

The crucifixion
Mary at the foot of the cross
Pilate inscribes I.N.R.I.
Jesus drinks gall
Play 33
The descent into hell
Play 34
The burial
Longinus
The guarding of the sepulchre

204

Play 35
C Harrowing of hell Harrowing of hell
Christ's farewell to his
mother
N,S Maries at the tomb
Bay 13
C Resurrection The Maries go to the tomb
Announcement to John and
Peter
S Noli me tangere Appearance to Mary Magdalen
Play 38
Supper at Emmaus
N Doubting Thomas Appearance to Thomas
Play 39
C Ascension Ascension
Play 40
C Pentecost Pentecost
Play 41
Assumption of the Virgin
Bay 14 Play 42
N,S Souls in hell Doomsday (The judgment)
N,S Souls going to
Paradise
C Christ judging
C Peter and the keys
C The trinity
C Bishop Lyhart

PLATES

 

Plate 1. The City of Norwich Today

205

206

 

Plate 2. Norwich Cathedral

13v

 

207

 

Plate 3. Interior of the Nave

208

 

Plate 4. S4, The Creation of Eve

209

 

Plate 5. C4, The Fall of Man

210

 

Plate 6. C7, Cain with the Jawbone

211

 

C10, Noah in the Ark

Plate 7.

212

 

Plate 8. C14, The Tower of Babel

213

 

Plate 9. C16, Abraham and Isaac

214

 

Plate 10. C17, Isaac Blessing Jacob

215

 

Plate 11. C19, Sarah at the Tent Door

216

 

Plate 12. C21, Jacob Wrestling with the Angel

217

 

Plate 13. C22, Jacob Peeling the Rods

218

 

Plate 14. C23, Jacob's Ladder

219

 

Plate 15. C28, Joseph in the Well

220

 

Plate 16. C33, Moses and the Burning Bush

221

 

Plate 17. C34, Pharoah and His Men Drowning in the Red Sea

222

 

Plate 18. N35, Parting the Red Sea

223

 

Plate 19. C35, Ark of the Covenant

224

 

Plate 20. C39, David and Goliath

225

 

Plate 21. C40, David

226

 

Plate 22. C42, Solomon

227

 

Plate 23. C44, The Annunciation

228

 

Plate 24. C46, The Birth of Christ

229

 

Plate 25. N47, The Annunciation t0 the Shepherds

 

 

,5
.\c

‘ \v ..I
.. . . \
1... .l! in t

.115???

.\

  

   

230

 

Plate 26. C47, The Visitation

231

 

Plate 27. C48, Herod

232

 

Plate 28. C49, The Flight into Egypt

233

 

Plate 29. C50, Christ with the Doctors in the Temple

234

 

Plate 30. C51, The Marriage at Cana

235

 

Plate 31. C52, The Baptism

236

 

Plate 32. C53, The Raising of Lazarus

 

i .‘l‘l .....‘alll 1!] II

237

 

Plate 33. N53, Christ, the Temptation

238

 

Plate 34. SS3, The Demon, The Temptation

 

Plate 35. N57, Christ Giving Peter the Keys

240

 

Plate 36. C58, The Last Supper

241

 

Plate 37. C60, Christ Washing the Feet of the Apostles

242

 

Plate 38. 860, A Prophet with a Scroll

 

 

243

 

Plate 39. C61, The Agony in the Garden

244

 

Plate 40. C64, Pilate Washing His Hands

245

 

Plate 41. C65, The Blindfolding

’0'“

‘-

.y“

 

246

 

Plate 42. C66, The Betrayal

247

 

Plate 43. C68, Nailing Christ to the Cross

 

 

 

248

 

Plate 44. C69, Dicing for Christ's Robe

249

 

Plate 45. S69, Preparing the Sponge

 

 

 

 

250

 

Plate 46. C70, The Crucifixion

251

 

Plate 47. C71, The Entombment

252

 

Plate 48. C74, The Resurrection

253

 

Plate 49. N74, Christ's Appearance to Mary Magdalen

254

 

Plate 50. C76, The Ascension

255

 

Plate 51. C78, Pentecost

 

Plate 52. N80, The Devil Taking Souls to Hell

257

 

Plate 53. C80, The Devil Putting Souls in Hell

258

 

Plate 54. C81, A Demon Wheeling a Man in a Borrow With the
Ale-Wife on His Back

259

 

Plate 55. C82, The Last Judgment

260

 

Plate 56. C83, St. Peter

261

 

Plate 57. 384, Souls Being Led to Paradise

262

 

Plate 58. C84, The Trinity

LIST OF WORKS CITED

LIST OF WORKS CITED

Adams, J. Q. Chief Pre-Shakespearean Dramas. Cambridge,
Mass., 1924.

 

 

Anderson, M. D. Drama and Imagery in English Medieval
Churches. Cambridge, Mass., 1963.

 

 

Block, K. S. Ludus Coventriae. EETS, Extra Series,
No. CXX. London, 1932.

 

. "Some Notes on the Problem of Ludus Coventriae."
MLR, X (1915), 47-57.

 

 

Bonnell, John K. ”Sources in Art of the So-Called Prophets
Play in the Hegge Collection." PMLA, XXIX (1914),
327-340.

Bréhier, Louis. L'art chrétien. Paris, 1918.

 

Browne, E. Martin. Religious Drama 2. Cleveland, 1958.

 

Cave, J. C. P. Roof Bosses in_Medieva1 Churches. Cambridge,
Mass., 1948.

 

 

. "Roof Bosses in the Transcepts of Norwich
Cathedral Church." Archaeologia, LXXXIII (1933),
45-65.

 

 

Chambers, E. K. The Medieval Stage. 2 vols. Oxford, 1903.

 

Cohen, Gustave. Histoire g3 13_mise en_scene dans lg
théatre religieux francais g3 moyen age. Paris,
1956.

 

 

 

 

 

Craig, Hardin. English Religious Drama of the Middle Ages.
Oxford, 1955.

 

 

Cranage, D. H. 8., ed. Thirteen-hundredth Anniversary of
the Diocese of East Anglia. Official Handbook.
Norwich, 1930, 1-55.

 

 

 

 

263

264

Deimling, Herman. The Chester Plays. EETS, Extra Series,
No. LXII, CXV. London, 1892.

 

Didron, Adolphe. Christian Iconography. 2 vols. New York,
1968.

 

Dodds, Madeleine H. "The Problem of Ludus Coventriae."
MLR, IX (1914), 79-91.

 

Durand, William. "Of a Church and its Parts," c. 1286. In
Teresa G. Frisch, Gothic Art 1140-c.1450. Sources
and Documents. Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1971.

 

 

Eccles, Mark. "Ludus Coventriae: Lincoln or Norfolk?"
Medium Aevum 4 (1971), 135-141.

 

 

Elst, Baron van der. Last Flowering gf the Middle Ages.
Garden City, N.Y., 1946.

 

 

England, George. The Towneleerlays, re-edited by Alfred
Pollack. EETS, Extra Series, No. LXXL. London,
1952.

 

 

 

Fry, Timothy. "The Unity of Ludus Coventriae." Studies i3
Philolong XLVIII (1951), 527—570.

 

Giovanni, G. "Methods in the Study of Literature in its
Relation to the Other Fine Arts." Journal 9:
Aesthetics and Art Criticism VIII (March 1950),
185-195.

 

Goulburn, Edward Meyrick and Henry Symonds. Ancient
Sculptures in the Roof gf Norwich Cathedral.
London, 1896.

 

 

 

 

Green, A. S. Town Life $3 the Fifteenth Century. 2 vols.
London, 1894.

 

 

Hartnoll, Phyllis. Concise History gf Theater. New York,
n.d.

 

Hartmann, Herbert. "The Home of the Ludus Coventriae."
MLN, XLI (1926), 530-531.

 

James, M. R. "Sculptured Bosses in the Cloisters of Norwich
Cathedral." Norfolk and Norwich Archaeological
Society. Norwich, 1911.

 

. "The Sculptured Bosses in the Roof of the Bauchum
Chapel of Our Lady of Pity in Norwich Cathedral."
Norfolk and Norwich Archaeological Society.

Norwich, 1908.

 

 

265

Katzenellenbogen, Adolphe. The Sculptural Programs gf
Chartres Cathedral. Johns Hopkins, 1959.

 

 

Kolve, V. A. The Play Called Corpus Christi. Stanford,
Calif., 1966.

 

 

 

Loerke, William C. "The Miniatures of the Trial in the
Rossano Gospels." Art Bulletin 43 (S 1961),
171-195.

Male, Emile. L'art religieux de la fin d3 moyen age 33
France. Paris, 1908.

 

 

. "La renouvellement de l'art par les mysteres."
Gazette des Beaux Arts (February-May 1904), 215-230.

 

 

. The Gothic Image. New York, 1958.

 

 

Pacht, Otto. The St. Albans Psalter. London, 1960.

 

Panofsky, Erwin. Early Netherlandish Painting. Cambridge,
Mass., 1958.

 

Pevsner, Nikolaus. Norfolk and Norwich, The Buildings gf
England. Harmondsworth, 1961.

 

 

Pierce, James. From Abacus £9 Zeus. Englewood Cliffs,
N.J., 1968.

 

Réau, Louis. L'iconogrgphyedé‘l'art chrétien. Paris, 1955.

 

 

Russell, Josiah Cox. British Medieval Population.
Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1948.

 

Salter, F. M. "The Old Testament Plays of Ludus Coventriae."
Philological Quarterly XII (1933), 406-409.

 

 

Schapiro, Meyer. "The Image of the Disappearing Christ."
Gazette des Beaux Arts 23 (March 1943), 135-152.

 

Smalley, Beryl. The Study_g£ the Bible in the Middle Ages.
Oxford, 1952.

 

 

 

Smith, Lucy Toulmin. York Play_. New York, 1963.

 

Swenson, Esther. ”An Inquiry into the Composition and
Structure of Ludus Coventriae." U. of Minn. Studies

 

 

£3 Lagguage and Literature 1. Minneapolis, 1914.

 

Strachan, James. Early Bible Illustrations. Cambridge,
Mass. 1957.

 

266

Temko, A. Notre Dame gf_Paris. New York, 1962.

 

The Victoria History gf the Counties 9: England. Norfolk 2.
Westminster, 1906.

 

 

Williams, Arnold. ”Typology and the Cycle Plays." Speculum
XLIII (1968), 677-684.

 

Woodforde, Christopher. The Norwich School gf Glass Painting
$3 the Fifteenth Century. London, 1950.