THE MYSTERY PLAY

Eventually the place of the Latin prose play in the festivals of the Church was usurped by a Mystery in French verse. No pains seem to have been spared to heighten the attractiveness of the latter in its new home. Characterized in itself by a simple dignity befitting the treatment of such themes, it was acted with all the pomp and circumstances associated with Roman Catholic worship; and nowhere shall we find a grander or more impressive spectacle than a Mystery of the Passion, as performed in one of these grand old Gothic piles.

Banners hung above the fretted arches; the odor of incense filled the air; tapers shone brightly in the dim light from storied and diversely-colored windows; elaborate processions wound their way through the aisle to the strains of solemn music; the figures of the priest-players stood out in clear relief against the splendor of the altar, as, facing thousands of rapt spectators, they gravely declaimed, with appropriate gestures, the dialogue intended to set forth the events which led up to the Crucifixion

The fifteenth century is the century of the "mysteries". The word is doubtless derived from the Latin ministerium and means "act." In the Middle Ages sacred dramas were also called by other names, in Italy funzione, in Spain autos (acts). Even today we say "drama", a word of analogous signification. But the dramatic and the dogmatic mysteries were soon confused, and it was thought that the former derived their name from the latter because the plays frequently took for subject the mysteries of Christian belief. However, the mysteries were often devoted to a saint, and, in exceptional cases, even represented matters which were not religious. Thus we have the "Mystery of the Siege of Orleans", and even the "Mystery of the Destruction of Troy", the only two profane mysteries which have been preserved. The mysteries may be grouped under three cycles, that of the Old Testament, that of the New Testament, and that of the saints. It must be borne in mind that in all these the authors mingled truth and legend without distinction. The most celebrated of these were the passion plays, by which must be understood not only the plays devoted to the Passion properly so called, but also those which set forth the complete history of the Saviour. From 1400 to 1550 the authors were numerous, about a hundred of them are known, many of them priests.

At first somewhat short, the dramas eventually became very long. Thus Arnoul Greban, canon of the church of Le Mans, wrote about 1450 a "Passion" consisting of about 35,000 verses. This play was still further developed more than thirty years later by a physician of Angers, Jean Michel, whose work was the most famous and the best of its kind. The same Greban and his brother Simon, a monk of St. Riquier, composed together an enormous mystery of the "Acts of the Apostles", consisting of nearly 62,000 verses, which was played in its entirety at Bourges, the performance lasting forty days. The number of verses of mysteries still extant exceeds 1,000,000, and an equally large number may have been lost. These pieces were not played by professional actors, but by dramatic associations which were formed in all large towns for the purpose of representing them. Some were permanent, such as the "Confrerie de la Passion", which in 1402 secured the monopoly of the representations in Paris. For the people of the middle classes, artisans, and priests (all ranks in this matter being equal), it was an enviable honour to take part in this religious performance. To play it they condemned themselves to a labour to which few of our contemporaries would care to submit. In some "passions" the actor who represented Christ had to recite nearly 4000 lines. Moreover, the scene of the crucifixion had to last as long as it did in reality. It is related that in 1437 the curé Nicolle, who was playing the part of Christ at Metz, was on the point of dying on the cross, and had to be revived in haste. During the same representation another priest, Jehan de Missey, who was playing the part of Judas, remained hanging for so long that his heart failed and he had to be cut down and borne away.