New Approaches To European Theater Of The Middle Ages

New Approaches to European Theater of the Middle Ages: An Ontology examines texts - as well as cultural and performative aspects - of a wide variety of plays, both sacred and secular, in England, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, and Yugoslavia. This collection of fourteen articles in English, by contributors from both sides of the Atlantic, also considers the implications and parameters of communal involvement, and the societal/theatrical roles of the oppressed (the disabled, Jews, and peasants). This book has been designed to appeal to specialists - students and teachers of medieval drama, psychology, religion and hagiography, literature and art - and to readers in general.

The field of medieval studies has shifted towards a growing degree of inter- and multidisciplinarity during the recent decades. The concept of medieval studies covers in fact a multitude of disciplines, some of them being loyal to their long-established traditions, whereas others are very new and borrow methods from other branches of the humanities or even from modern natural or social sciences. Since this means not only new possibilities but also new challenges, sources and methodology should obviously concern anyone engaged in the history and culture of the Middle Ages. Regardless of what aspects of the medieval world a scholar is dealing with, his or her study has much to gain from a source-pluralistic approach: in order to be able to understand and even combine different types of sources, a scholar must be aware of what methods are relevant and available and how they can be adapted and applied. This collection of essays presents a comprehensive overview of current and fresh approaches to the history of medieval Europe. The topics include, among other things, the complex relationship between the spoken and the written word, explorations in social and geographic space, layers and mental images perceivable in medieval texts, source edition techniques, relics as visual and tangible items, not to mention the possibilities offered by prosopography, zooarchaelogy and the natural sciences. Also the question and significance of ethics, an ever more important issue in present-day academic circles, is discussed. The contributors to this volume themselves form a very inter- and multidisciplinary team: although they can all be labeled as medievalists, they in fact they work within different disciplines and in several different research units in different countries. Geographically, several parts of Europe are covered in the essays – not only the westernmost part of the continent but also the poorly known eastern and northern parts as well. This diversity makes the collection worthwhile reading for students and scholars alike.

This volume brings together a wide selection of primary source materials from the theatrical history of the Middle Ages. The focus is on Western Europe between the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of markedly Renaissance forms in Italy. Early sections of the volume are devoted to the survival of Classical tradition and the development of the liturgical drama of the Roman Catholic Church, but the main concentration is on the genesis and growth of popular religious drama in the vernacular. Each of the major medieval regions is featured, while a final section covers the pastimes and customs of the people, a record of whose traditional activities often only survives in the margins of official recognition. The documents are compiled by a team of leading scholars in the field and the over 700 documents are all presented in modern English translation.

This is a thoroughly revised edition of Glynne Wickham's important history of the development of dramatic art in Christian Europe. Professor Wickham surveys the foundations on which this dramatic art was built: the architecture, costumes and ceremonial of the imperial court at Byzantium, the liturgies of countires in the Eastern and Western Empires and the triumph of the Roman rite and the Romanesque style in Western art. Within this context Professor Wickham describes three major influences upon the drama: religion, recreation and commerce. The first produced the liturgical music drama rooted in praise of Christ the King, vernacular Corpus Christi drama, Saint Plays and Moralities centred on the humanity of Christ. The second gave rise to the secular theatres of social recreation based on the games and dances of village communities ad the more sophisticated sex and war games of the nobility. The section on commerce shows how the development of the drama was intimately related to questions of funding and management which led, during the sixteenth century, to the substitution of a professional for an amateur theatre, and to a growing emphasis on stage spectacle. For this third edition the author has added a substantial section on monastic reform and its effect on Biblical translation and the use of allegory; a final chapter charts the transition in different European countries from this medieval Gothic theatre to the neoclassical methods of play construction and representation which flourished for the next two hundred years. The book gorges a coherent pattern through a very large and complicated subject. It is an excellent introduction to medieval theatre for undergraduates and to the growing number of theatregoers who enjoy contemporary revivals of medieval plays. A large plate section gives a pictorial version of the story, using photographs of contemporary manuscript illuminations, mosaics, frescoes, paintings and sculptures.

Aspects of medieval theatre examined for reflection of contemporary life. The essays in this volume explore ways in which plays and public spectacles mirrored the beliefs and values of the late medieval world. Topics covered include seasonal festivals, trade gilds, stagecraft, and the role played by themunicipal governments in fostering and controlling dramatic productions. The geographic range takes in all western Europe, with particular consideration of the connections between the various medieval European dramatic traditions. Inter-disciplinary in approach, perspectives range from the history of theatre to cultural and political history and literary criticism. There is particular emphasis on the real advances that can be made in expanding knowledge of medieval theatre through research in local and regional archives. ALAN E. KNIGHT is professor emeritus of French at the Pennsylvania State University. Contributors: ALEXANDRA F. JOHNSTON, LYNETTE R. MUIR, PAMELA SHEINGORN, R.B. DOBSON, GERARD NIJSTEN, CLIFFORD DAVIDSON, WIM HÜSKEN, STEPHEN SPECTOR, ALAN E. KNIGHT

William Tydeman covers central aspects of western European theatre from the Dark Ages to the building of the first public theatres towards the end of the sixteenth century.

"Examines the performances of a Parisian youth group, Gustave Cohen's Théophiliens, and the process of making medieval culture a part of the modern world. Explores the work of actor Moussa Abadi, and his clandestine resistance under the Vichy regime in France during World War II"--Provided by publisher.

This volume offers a panoramic mosaic of the world-making role of theater and performance in medieval and early modern European societies. This volume is a contribution to the cross-cultural study of theater and performance in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The studies gathered here examine material from Austria, England, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, and Spain from the thirteenth to the eighteenth century. Underlying all of these essays is the understanding that performance shapes reality, that in all of the cultural contexts included here, performance opened a space in which patrons, rulers, writers, painters, spectators, and readers could see themselves or their societies differently, and thereby could assume different identities or construct alternative communities. Addressing confession and private devotion, urban theater and pageantry, royal legitimacy and religious debate, and a wide range of genres and media, this volume offers a panoramic mosaic of the world-making role of theater and performance in medieval and early modern European societies.

Drama in Medieval and Early Modern Europe moves away from the customary conceptual framework that artificially separates ‘medieval’ from ‘early modern’ drama to explore the role of drama and spectacle in England, France, the Low Countries, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, and the German-speaking areas that now constitute Austria and Germany. This book investigates the ranges of dramatic and performative techniques and strategies that playmakers across Europe used to adapt their work to the changing contexts in which they performed, and to the changing or expanding audiences that they faced. It considers the different views expressed through drama and spectacle on shared historical events, how communities coped with similar issues and why they ritually recycled these themes through reinvented or alternative forms that replaced or existed alongside their predecessors. A wide variety of genres of play are discussed throughout, including visitatio sepulchri (visit to the tomb) plays; Easter and Passion plays and morality plays; the French civic mystère; Italian sacre rappresentazioni performed by choirboys in the context of the church; Bürgertheater from the Swiss Confederacy; drama performed for the purpose of royal entertainment and propaganda; May and summer games; and the commercial, professional theatre of Shakespeare and Lope de Vega. Examining the strength of drama in relation to the larger cultural forces to which it adapted, and demonstrating the use of social, political, economic, and artistic networks to educate and support the social structures of communities, Drama in Medieval and Early Modern Europe offers a broader understanding of a shared European past across the traditional chronological divide of 1500. It is ideal for students of social history, and the history of medieval and early modern drama or literature.

The current volume, designed as a tribute to Edelgard E. DuBruck, focuses on the importance and praise of late-medieval women. Founded in 1977 as the publication organ for the Fifteenth-Century Symposia, Fifteenth-Century Studies offers essays on diverse aspects of the 15th century, including liberal and fine arts, historiography, medicine, and religion. Designed as a Festschrift honoring Edelgard E. DuBruck, the current volume focuses on the importance and praise of late-medieval women. Topics include Christine de Pizan's response to Boccaccio's De Mulieribus Claris, the figures of Melibea and Celestina in La Celestina, Catalan love poetry, the Nine Muses in Le Franc's Champion des Dames, and artistic praise of the Virgin Mary. Other topics include a wellness guide for late-medieval seniors, women's sins of the tongue and Villon's Testament, the stoic tradition seen in a farewell letter, medicine and magic, and book-burning. An article demonstrates Bertrand Du Guesclin's extraordinary valor, and two essays on Chaucer explore chivalry and violence in The Knight's Tale and Troilus's withdrawal at the end of Troilus and Criseyde. Contributors: Melitta Weiss Adamson, Gery B. Blumenshine, KarenCasebier, Edelgard E. Dubruck, Olga Anna Duhl, Barbara I. Gusick, Jamie Leanos, Ilan Mitchell-Smith, Christiane Raynaud, Roxana Recio, Barbara N. Sargent-Baur, Karen Elaine Smyth, Steven Millen Taylor, Arjo Vanderjagt, Elizabeth I. Wade-Sirabian, Karl A. Zaenker Edelgard E. DuBruck is Professor Emerita at Marygrove College, Detroit, Michigan, and Barbara I. Gusick is Professor at Troy University-Dothan, Dothan, Alabama.