Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/645

MIRACLES AND MORALITIES 627 out of hell, and threw the spectators into con- sternation by spreading his wings close by them. The mystery of the " Acts of the Apos- tles " was acted for many successive days in 1541 before the nobility, the clergy, and a large popular assemblage in Paris. The dramatis persona are God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the Virgin and Joseph, archangels, an- gels, the apostles and disciples, Jewish priests, emperors, philosophers, magicians, Lucifer, Satan, Beekebub, Belial the attorney general of hell, Cerberus the porter, and a multitude of other personages, amounting altogether to 485. A large number of French miracles exist in manuscript, and many have been printed or reprinted during the present century. The Germans have numerous miracle plays, two of which cannot be traced in the contemporary productions of other European nations. The subject of the first of these is Dr. Faustus, which represents the life, death, and damna- tion of a daring libertine. The subject of the second is the canonization of Pope Joan, which was written in 1480 and attained general pop- ularity. It has 25 characters, among which are the devil and his mother Lilis, three good angels, the Virgin Mary, her Son, Pope Basil, four cardinals, a Roman senator, and Death. The scene shifts between earth, hell, purga- tory, and heaven. It begins with a council of devils, who agree to tempt Jutta, the heroine, to profane the papacy. She assumes boy's clothes, accompanies a young clerk to the uni- versity of Paris, acquires a doctor's degree, goes to Rome, and is made successively car- dinal and pope. The Virgin Mary sends an angel to ask Jutta whether she prefers perdi- tion or penance and final pardon. She resolves to repent, but death suddenly seizes upon her soul while she is lying-in, and carries it to the devils in hell. The Virgin again intercedes, and sends an angel from the throne of grace to release her from torment. The play ter- minates with the magnificent spectacle of her ascension into heaven. Germany was celebra- ted for its Fastnachtsapiele, or carnival plays, in which religious subjects were treated with unbounded license. In one of them, which is extant, Virgil accompanies the shepherds to adore the new-born Christ. The records of English miracle plays are at least as ancient as those of France or Germany. Their early popularity is attested by Langlande and Chau- cer, and subsequently immense crowds assem- bled with the greatest enthusiasm to witness their performance. They may be traced from the beginning of the 12th century, but whether they were originally in Latin or in Norman French is not certain. Iligden, who wrote, translated, or compiled the Chester plays in 1328, is said to have been obliged to visit Rome three times before he could obtain leave to have them acted in the English tongue. The Chester, Coventry, and Towneley mysteries form three great series. As early as 1268 re- ligious dramas were exhibited by the incorpo- rated trades in Chester, where they continued with some interruptions till 1577. They con- sist of 24 dramas, which were annually repre- sented from Whit Monday to the following Wednesday. Among the subjects are the fall of Lucifer, performed by the tanners ; the crea- tion, by the drapers ; the deluge, by the dyers Abraham, Melchizedek, and Lot, by the bar- bers and wax chandlers; Moses, Balak, and Balaam, by the hatters and linen drapers ; the killing of the innocents, by the goldsmiths; the descent into hell, by the cooks ; the ascen- sion, by the tailors ; Antichrist, by the dyers ; and the day of judgment, by the websters. The sacred dramas of Coventry drew immense multitudes to that city, as well from its cen- tral position as from the patronage of royalty. They were performed by the trade companies of Coventry on Corpus Christi day, from 1416 to 1591. The subjects are nearly identical with those of the two other series, but more numer- ous, the plays being 42 in number. The friars encouraged them as a means of stigmatizing the labors of Wycliffe, branding his Testament as false, anathematizing Scriptural inquiry as heresy, and enlivening the attachment of the people to the "good old customs " of the church. The Towneley mysteries, so named from the family having possession of the manuscripts, belonged according to tradition to the abbey of Widkirk, and are supposed to be the plays written and performed by the Augustinian friars of Woodkirk. Fairs were held there annually on the feast of the Assumption and on the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Mary, and internal evidence indicates that these were the occasions of their exhibition. The series consists of 32 plays, bearing a near re- semblance to those of the Chester and Coven- try collections. The artificers and tradesmen of York also annually celebrated a Corpus Christi play, and the same day was similarly observed by the incorporated trades at New- castle-on-Tyne and several other large towns, and by the parish clerks and gray friars of London. Christmas also was observed in this way in connection with the festivities of the abbot of misrule. At York every trade was obliged to furnish out a pageant to adorn the occasion, and these pageants were 54 in num- ber in 1415. The first part of the miracle of that year, in which God the Father appears creating the heavens, the angels, archangels, Lucifer, and the angels that fell with him, was performed by the tanners. The second part, in which God the Father creates the earth and all which is therein in the space of five days, was represented by the plasterers. The third part, in which God the Father creates Adam and Eve and breathes into them the spirit of life, was played by the card makers. The 54th part, which includes Jesus, Mary, the apostles, four angels with trumpets, four angels with lances and scourges, four good and four bad spirits, and six devils, was performed by the mercers. There are in the Bodleian