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 -----
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]>
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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