medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Thanks again for all suggestions. Earlier contributions, especially those
from Luca Ricossa and John Briggs, convinced me that the situation re the
early church dramas was far more complicated than I had suspected, even
though I'd been aware that I was making an oversimplification in the first
place. So this thread has now served my limited purpose in preventing me
from committing error to print. Still, all sorts of fascinating references
have been turning up, and I hope others are finding this useful too...
Laura
----- Original Message -----
From: "Abigail Ann Young" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: 17 October 2005 13:36
Subject: Re: church dramas
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> I'm also joing in late due to the press of other e-mails, but I wonder if
> Laura had also considered trying out the question on one of the specialist
> lists, like REED-L (Records of Early English Drama). As the list-owner,
> I'd be happy to forward a question, she plugged shamelessly.
>
> A.
>
> Catherine.Lawless wrote:
>> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>>
>> Dear all
>> I've just come upon this discussion after stacking my emails for a while,
>> so
>> I enter both in ignorance and haste. I was just wondering if the works of
>> Nerida Newbigin and Cyrilla Barr on liturgical drama in Florence would be
>> of
>> any use? Or do they deal mainly with confraternities?
>> best
>> Catherine
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Laura Jacobus
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Sent: 17/10/2005 13:00
>> Subject: Re: [M-R] church dramas
>>
>> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and
>> culture I agree that Chambers' idea that the plays spilled out of the
>> churches
>> and on to the town squares is long dead- outdoor performances on sacred
>> themes clearly had their own history and my guess is that this needs to
>> be looked for in histories of civic religion and secular drama.
>> However, I was speaking of something rather different- the idea that
>> early church dramas/para-liturgical performances tended to be performed
>> by and for the clergy, either as devotional practices or didactic ones,
>> rather than for the laity. Hence, *within* the church, they would be in
>> or around the high altar, rather than in the nave. The laity, if
>> present at all, might be aware that a special kind of service was going
>> on, but wouldn't necessarily have seen it. However, since no-one has yet
>> come forth with a source for my original
>> assertion, and the more I think about it the more problematic it seems,
>> I'll assume I made the whole thing up and will scrap that particular
>> sentence! The mind can play funny tricks.
>> Laura
>> ----- Original Message -----
>>
>> From: Bill East <mailto:[log in to unmask]> To:
>> [log in to unmask]
>> <mailto:[log in to unmask]> Sent: 15 October 2005 08:26
>> Subject: Re: church dramas
>>
>> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and
>> culture Laura Jacobus < [log in to unmask]
>> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>>
>>>wrote:
>>
>>
>> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and
>> culture In the course of somethng I'm writing at the moment, I blithely
>> wrote
>> that 'most early church dramas were originally perfomed by and for the
>> clergy in the privacy of their choirs, only gradually becoming
>> accessible to the laity in the nave'. Something of an
>> oversimplification I know, but now I cannot find any reference to this
>> idea, though I'm sure I haven't just made it up! I thought I got it
>> from Young's Drama of the M/E Church, where I thought it was coupled
>> with the idea was that the dramas could be understood as a form of
>> participatory devotion- but can't find it there now! Does this idea
>> ring any bells?
>> Laura
>> This very misleading idea stems from E.K. Chambers, "The Medieval
>> Stage", volume 2, page 69 ff, "The secularization of the plays." I quote
>> the famous sentences: "From ecclesiastical the drama had become popular.
>> Out of the hands of the clergy in their naves and choirs, it had passed
>> to those of the laity in their market-places and guild-halls." But don't
>> believe it!
>> Bill.
>>
>>
>>
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>
> --
> Abigail Ann Young (Dr), Associate Editor/ Records of Early English Drama/
> Victoria College/ 150 Charles Street W/ Toronto Ontario Canada
> Phone (416) 585-4504/ FAX (416) 813-4093/ [log in to unmask]
> List-owner of REED-L <http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~reed/reed-l.html>
> http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~reed/reed.html => REED's home page
> http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~reed/stage.html => our theatre resource page
> http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~young => my home page
>
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