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Drama Of The Middle Ages

DRAMA OF THE MIDDLE AGES
THROUGH practically a thousand years while the European theater was "dark" the Christian Church was unable to stamp out completely the festive element among the common people that manifested itself particularly at the spring planting time and the harvest season. It is probable, had not the church itself responded to the primitive desire of people to "act out" the stories of their lives, that secular drama would have sprung up in place of the Mystery, Miracle and Morality plays of the Middle Ages.
It must be remembered, too, that everywhere the service of the church was conducted in Latin rendering it quite unintelligible to the masses of the people. If they were to be familiar with the stories of the Bible that knowledge must come to them through the medium of a portrayal of events in the life of Christ and of his saints. When the early attempts were made by the priests to act out the stories of the Christmas and Easter seasons, there was little or no national consciousness in continental Europe. It was, to all intents and purposes, one vast domain living under a feudal system and acknowledging a nominal allegiance first to Charlemagne and later to the "Holy Roman Emperor of the German people." There was, too, but one religion. This religious and political unity made it extremely easy for the ideas of the Mystery and Miracle plays to spread through the agency of the bards and troubadors that wandered from court to court of the feudal barons.
At first only the priests took part in acting out the events from the lives of Christ and the saints and the portrayal took place in the Church proper. Later as the performances grew more elaborate and space became an important item the Mysteries and Miracles were pushed out into the courtyards of the churches and laymen began to take part in the acting.
By the beginning of the twelfth century national boundaries were becoming more or less marked. England by its geographical position was isolated...