medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Cecil,
Actually I was referring mainly to the Croxton Play of the Sacrament. There
is this scene where the Eucharistic host onstage must bleed in order to
silence the figures of the mocking and disbelieving Jews, which probably
just about reminds one of the anti-Semitism prevalent in medieval England
then.
Part of my interest is however not just in the idea of the Eucharist Host
onstage, but also the very 'real' Body of Christ which is pierced by the
'soldiers' enacted onstage and the similitude between this and the
Eucharist. It came across my mind while I was watching the movie itself
directed by Mel Gibson, that he chose intentionally to juxtapose the scenes
of Jesus taking the freshly baked bread out of the furnace and breaking it
with His disciples with those of Jesus being crucified, almost as if to
suggest that Jesus is the Bread from heaven that is broken for the sake of
mankind and then found again in the institution of the Latin through the
Eucharist. Are there any such parallels in medieval sacramental plays which
would affirm this very correlation between the corpus Christi in both
senses?
Thanks very much to those who replied. And yes, Eliana, I did come across
Miri Rubin's book, but it does appear that further debates on this doctrine
and its authenticity or veracity as debated by Catholics(or Orthodox) and
dissenters like Lollards seem to be rather scant. John Wycliffe's claim that
the Body of Christ came about as accidents in contrary to the doctrine of
Real Presence was by far what would be controversial and in dissent against
the 'orthodoxy' of this doctrine, but I am, of course, looking into the
aspects of this debate more.
Either way, many thanks again so far for having responded.
Best, Kevin
----- Original Message -----
From: "Cecil T Ault" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, September 16, 2005 4:08 PM
Subject: Re: [M-R] Real Presence
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> I am not sure I can help you on this, Kevin, but I am just finishing a
> translation of extracts from 15th century Ferrara that give descriptions
> of the perfomance of The Passion of Christ. There is no bleeding host in
> the performance, but other details are interesting, including the The
> Trial of Jesus, Hanging of Judas, Harrowing of Hell, & other well known
> episodes from the life of Jesus. Jews in Ferrara were required to hear a
> sermon during holy week and one one occasion a converted Jew gave the
> sermon. Most of Ferrara's jews came from Spain and in 1492 there were
> about 1,500 living there. I have never heard of a "bleeding host" in
> performance of a play and would be interested in any details you find
> about it. yrs, tom ault
>
> On Fri, 16 Sep 2005 14:37:17 +0800
> Jia Jun <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>>
>> I asked a question about the presence of bleeding Hosts and the Corpus
>> Christi(including the crucified body of Christ as represented through the
>> actor) in medieval plays. So far, I have been considering the doctrine of
>> Real presence in relation to it. As in Corpus Christi and Jeu de Passion
>> plays, part of the stipulations being raised inside the plays would be
>> that the host(s) must bleed and especially produce signs of its
>> transformation in order to proselytize and convert hardened Jews and
>> pagans. I am wondering about the extent to which the rule of Real
>> Presence, that the bread and wine are indeed the Body and Blood of
>> Christ, applies to the onstage setting with the vital premise of mimesis.
>> Are there any books which can point me out to the doctrine of Real
>> Presence and its sustained developments over the course of the Middle
>> Ages? Thank you very much.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>> Kevin Teo
>>
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