The York Corpus Christi Plays
Edited by Clifford Davidson
Paperback (Published)
(October 2011)
ISBN: 9781580441629
7.01 x 10 inches
Price: $29.95
In stock
The feast of Corpus Christi, celebrated annually on Thursday after Trinity Sunday, was devoted to the Eucharist, and the normal practice was to have solemn processions through the city with the Host, the consecrated wafer that was believed to have been transformed into the true body and blood of Jesus. In this way the “cultus Dei” thus celebrated allowed the people to venerate the Eucharistic bread in order that they might be stimulated to devotion and brought symbolically, even mystically into a relationship with the central moments of salvation history. Perhaps it is logical, therefore, that pageants and plays were introduced in order to access yet another way of visualizing and participating in those events. Thus the “invisible things” of the divine order “from the creation of the world” might be displayed. The York Corpus Christi Plays, contained in London, British Library, MS. Add. 35290 and comprising more than thirteen thousand lines of verse, actually represent a unique survival of medieval theater. They form the only complete play cycle verifiably associated with the feast of Corpus Christi that is extant and was performed at a specific location in England.
Acknowledgments Introduction The York Corpus Christi Plays 1. The Creation of the Angels and the Fall of Lucifer 2. The Creation through the Fifth Day 3. The Creation of Adam and Eve 4. The Prohibition of the Tree of Knowledge 5. The Fall 6. The Expulsion from the Garden 7. Sacrificium Cayme et Abell 8. The Building of Noah's Ark 9. The Flood 10. Abraham and Isaac 11. Pharaoh and Moses 12. The Annunciation to Mary and the Visitation 13. Joseph's Troubles about Mary 14. The Nativity 15. The Offering of the Shepherds 16. Herod Questioning the Three Kings and the Offering of the Magi 17. The Purification of the Virgin 18. The Flight to Egypt 19. The Massacre of the Innocents 20. Christ and the Doctors 21. The Baptism of Christ 22. The Temptation in the Wilderness 22A. The Marriage in Cana 23. The Transfiguration 23A. The Feast in Simon's House 24. The Woman Taken in Adultery and the Raising of Lazarus 25. The Entry into Jerusalem 26. The Conspiracy 27. The Last Supper 28. The Agony and Betrayal 29. The Trial before Cayphas and Anna 30. The First Trial before Pilate 31. The Trial before Herod 32. The Remorse of Judas 33. The Second Trial before Pilate 34. The Road to Calvary 35. Crucifixio Christi 36. Mortificacio Christi 37. The Harrowing of Hell 38. The Resurrection 39. The Appearance of Christ to Mary Magdalen 40. The Travelers to Emmaus 41. Doubting Thomas 42. The Ascension 43. Pentecost 44. The Death of Mary 44A. The Funeral of the Virgin ("Fergus") 45. The Assumption of the Virgin (Thomas Apostolus) 46. The Coronation of the Virgin 47. Doomsday Explanatory Notes Textual Notes Appendix: Notes on the Dialect of the York Corpus Christi Plays by Paul A. Johnston, Jr. Bibliography Glossary,
Acknowledgments
Introduction
The York Corpus Christi Plays
1. The Creation of the Angels and the Fall of Lucifer
2. The Creation through the Fifth Day
3. The Creation of Adam and Eve
4. The Prohibition of the Tree of Knowledge
5. The Fall
6. The Expulsion from the Garden
7. Sacrificium Cayme et Abell
8. The Building of Noah’s Ark
9. The Flood
10. Abraham and Isaac
11. Pharaoh and Moses
12. The Annunciation to Mary and the Visitation
13. Joseph’s Troubles about Mary
14. The Nativity
15. The Offering of the Shepherds
16. Herod Questioning the Three Kings and the Offering of the Magi
17. The Purification of the Virgin
18. The Flight to Egypt
19. The Massacre of the Innocents
20. Christ and the Doctors
21. The Baptism of Christ
22. The Temptation in the Wilderness
22A. The Marriage in Cana
23. The Transfiguration
23A. The Feast in Simon’s House
24. The Woman Taken in Adultery and the Raising of Lazarus
25. The Entry into Jerusalem
26. The Conspiracy
27. The Last Supper
28. The Agony and Betrayal
29. The Trial before Cayphas and Anna
30. The First Trial before Pilate
31. The Trial before Herod
32. The Remorse of Judas
33. The Second Trial before Pilate
34. The Road to Calvary
35. Crucifixio Christi
36. Mortificacio Christi
37. The Harrowing of Hell
38. The Resurrection
39. The Appearance of Christ to Mary Magdalen
40. The Travelers to Emmaus
41. Doubting Thomas
42. The Ascension
43. Pentecost
44. The Death of Mary
44A. The Funeral of the Virgin (“Fergus”)
45. The Assumption of the Virgin (Thomas Apostolus)
46. The Coronation of the Virgin
47. Doomsday
Explanatory Notes
Textual Notes
Appendix: Notes on the Dialect of the York Corpus Christi Plays by Paul A. Johnston, Jr.
Bibliography
Glossary
- Edited by Clifford Davidson
Other Titles in this Series
Two Middle English Prayer Cycles
Holkham, "Prayers and Meditations" and Simon Appulby, "Fruyte of Redempcyon"
Guillaume de Machaut, The Complete Poetry and Music, Volume 1
The Debate Poems: Le Jugement dou Roy de Behaigne, Le Jugement dou Roy de Navarre, Le Lay de Plour
Sentimental and Humorous Romances
Floris and Blancheflour, Sir Degrevant, The Squire of Low Degree, The Tournament of Tottenham, and The Feast of Tottenham
The Dialogue of Solomon and Marcolf
A Dual-Language Edition from Latin and Middle English Printed Editions
Similar Books
A Late Antique Harrowing of Hell and Its Medieval Reception
Eusebius of Alexandria's Sermons 15 and 17 (CPG 5524; 5526) and their Latin Rewritings
Volume 99
Innovation and Medieval Communities
The Circulation of Ideas and Practices in and out of the Town (1200-1500)
Volume 63
Medieval Debates on Foreknowledge: Future Contingents, Prophecy, and Divination
Acts of the XXVII Annual Colloquium of the SIEPM, Trento 12-15 September 2023
Volume 31
Medieval Yeghegis, Armenia
History, Archaeology, Society. Local Multiplicities and Global Connections of a Rural Centre on the Silk Road(s)
Power and Women in Southeast and Central Europe in Late Medieval and Early Modern Period (1300-1600)
Volume 10
Tradition, Interpretation, and Change
Developments in the Liturgy of Medieval and Early Modern Ashkenaz
Women in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages
Studies from Western Europe and North Africa
Volume 44
Jüdische Musikerziehung im Preußen des 19. Jahrhunderts
Gesangunterricht an jüdischen Reformschulen als Facette bürgerlicher Akkulturation
Volume 21
