This volume is an interdisciplinary consideration of late medieval art and texts, falling into two parts: first, the iconography and context of the great Doom wall painting over the tower arch at Holy Trinity Church, Coventry, and second, Carthusian studies treating fragmentary wall paintings in the Carthusian monastery near Coventry; the devotional images in the Carthusian Miscellany; and meditation for "simple souls" in the Carthusian Nicholas Love's Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ. Emphasis is on such aspects as memory, participative theology, devotional images, meditative practice, and techniques of constructing patterns of sacred imagery.

Based in records and iconography, this book surveys medieval festival playing in Britain more comprehensively than any other work to date. The study presents an inclusive view of the drama in the British Isles, from Kilkenny to Great Yarmouth, from Scotland to Cornwall. It offers detailed readings of individual plays-including the York Creed Play, Pentecost and Corpus Christi plays and the little studied Bodley plays, among others - as well as a summary of what is known of their production. Clifford Davidson here extends the usual chronological range to include work typically categorized as early modern, enabling a juxtaposition of earlier plays with later plays to yield a better understanding of both. Complementing documentary evidence with iconographic detail and citation of music, he pinpoints a number of common misconceptions about medieval drama. By organizing the study around the rituals of the liturgical seasons, he clarifies the relationship between liturgical feast and dramatic celebration.

Based in records and iconography, this book surveys medieval festival playing in Britain more comprehensively than any other work to date. The study presents an inclusive view of the drama in the British Isles, from Kilkenny to Great Yarmouth, from Scotland to Cornwall. It offers detailed readings of individual plays-including the York Creed Play, Pentecost and Corpus Christi plays and the little studied Bodley plays, among others - as well as a summary of what is known of their production. Clifford Davidson here extends the usual chronological range to include work typically categorized as early modern, enabling a juxtaposition of earlier plays with later plays to yield a better understanding of both. Complementing documentary evidence with iconographic detail and citation of music, he pinpoints a number of common misconceptions about medieval drama. By organizing the study around the rituals of the liturgical seasons, he clarifies the relationship between liturgical feast and dramatic celebration.

This volume is an interdisciplinary consideration of late medieval art and texts, falling into two parts: first, the iconography and context of the great Doom wall painting over the tower arch at Holy Trinity Church, Coventry, and second, Carthusian studies treating fragmentary wall paintings in the Carthusian monastery near Coventry; the devotional images in the Carthusian Miscellany; and meditation for "simple souls" in the Carthusian Nicholas Love's Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ. Emphasis is on such aspects as memory, participative theology, devotional images, meditative practice, and techniques of constructing patterns of sacred imagery.

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 HUESKEN, STEPHEN SPECTOR, ALAN E. KNIGHT

Gesture and movement on stage in early drama have previously received very little attention in scholarship. The present collection of essays is the first book to present sensible, penetrating, and wide-ranging discussions of the gestural effects that were integral to the early stage. In addition to consideration of the influence of classical rhetoric and reference to medieval texts and documents, the essays carefully bring to bear evidence from the art of the period and hence will be of great importance for those interested in the visual arts as well as the theater; eschewing both the naive methodologies promoted in past criticism and ephemeral theoretical concerns, the book is truly ground-breaking. These essays will need to be perused by every serious theater historian or student of art concerned with the late Middle Ages.

One of the greatest medieval drama cycles in England was mounted annually at Coventry at Corpus Christi until suppressed in 1579, and is of particular importance because it was almost certainly seen by William Shakespeare when he was a boy in nearby Stratford-upon-Avon. The two extant pageants from this cycle have been re-edited and are presented here for the first time in a modern critical edition. The introduction provides a full survey of knowledge about the Coventry cycle from the local dramatic records and other sources of information. Comprehensive critical and textual notes are included as well as a select bibliography and glossary. Appendices print the earliest fragments of the Weavers' pageant, texts of royal entries from the Coventry Leet Book, the songs (including the famous Coventry Carol) from the Shearmen and Taylors' pageant, and an analysis of various versions of the Doctors play.

The radical Protestantism that led to the suppression of religious drama in England also by the early years of Queen Elizabeth I destroyed perhaps the majority of ecclesiastical art in the country. The essays in this book provide analysis of the intellectual and religious motivation as well as new historical information concerning this phase of iconoclasm.

The contributions by distinguished American and British scholars to this volume recognize that early drama depended on specific developments in material culture in order to achieve its effects, which included both visual and auditory means of appealing to audiences. The discussions range from the parchment and paper on which the plays were written to the instruments which enhanced their production. Of special interest is Mary Remnant's survey of musical instruments available to producers; she is the recognized expert on medieval English instruments.

The Fool in the Middle Ages and Early Modern period was either a person who capitalized on his natural deficiencies, which were then considered amusing, or a professional entertainer the artificial Fool who specialized in clowning. His distinctive clothing and bauble are known to us through numerous Psalter illustrations where he is shown in connection with Psalm 52, which asserts that The fool has said in his heart there is no God. Attitudes toward the Fool varied, but his place was to become assured on stage, where his role is best known to us through the plays of Shakespeare. The articles in the present volume provide indispensable analyses of the Fool from a number of different perspectives.

Technology, Guilds, and Early English Drama is designed to open up a broader scope of study that calls attention to both social organization and material culture as integrally related to the civic drama of England in cities such as Coventry, York, and Chester. It addresses many questions that have been frequently asked about the sources and design of those things that were used in the production of plays. The book will serve as a model for future interdisciplinary research based on records, archaeological finds, evidence from the visual arts, and the playtexts themselves.

This richly illustrated book surveys representations of the stage and acting from manuscript illuminations, stained glass, sculpture, woodcarving, wall paintings, and the woodcuts that appear in playbooks produced by the first English printers.

The Worlde and the Chylde, issued by the press of Wynkyn de Worde in 1521, is one of the very earliest plays published in England. It also has very considerable interest for its adaptation of the Ages of Man iconography, which is extensively treated in the introduction, notes, and illustrations.

This illustrated volume intelligently provides a much-needed introduction to what may have been the most popular variety of drama in the Middle Ages: the saint play. A comprehensive and collaborative survey is provided with an emphasis on interdisciplinary study rather than only literary analysis. While the saint play in England is the connecting theme of the volume, the papers explore other topics necessary to fully understand the culture of the saint play, such as the genre as manifest on the continent, including plays in French, Italian, and German.

The study of the early art of England can be frustrating for scholars, as the destruction by iconoclasm and neglect was very thorough in certain regions. This volume seeks to aid those studying the early art, including relics and musical iconography, of Coventry, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick, and other Warwickshire locations. Accompanied by 71 illustrations and 2 maps, the subject lists found within provide information from records and antiquarian accounts that should prove invaluable in visualizing the dimensions of the iconography of both lost and extant early art from the region.