266 THE GERMAN PASSION-PLA Y 



Franck's term Gescliyclitbibel ; they illustrate the medi- 

 aeval notion of unity in history. Nor is the prefigura- 

 tion of the passion-plays entirely confined to Old Testa- 

 ment scenes and characters. Besides the prophets, the 

 Church Fathers appear largely. Thus Augustine is a 

 sort of 'precursor' in the Frankfurt play (S, p. 137). 

 Then we pass to the Sibyls, who occur as frequently in 

 dramatic as in plastic and pictorial art * ; and last, but 

 not least, we may mention Virgil, not the familiar 

 Eoman of our schooldays, but rather his mysterious 

 mediaeval shadow, the Virgil of Dante, not uncoloured 

 by the legends of his sorcery. These and others to as 

 a strangely incongruous group, but to our mediaeval 

 ancestors linked by the great spiritual thread of all 

 history figured on the passion-play stage. 2 



All the plays, however, are not equally prolific in 

 prefigurations. In some we have only a few incidents 

 from the Old Testament, which many pious Christians 

 to-day would consider to have a fairly direct bearing on 

 the life of Christ. In others we have merely one or two 

 sentences repeated by the leading prophets. Yet in a 

 third group, however, we have a very much more com- 

 plete sketch of the Old Testament story. Of this group the 

 JEgerer Spiel may be taken as a sample. In that play the 



1 One of the most complete series of Sibyls occurs on folios x a , et seq. of the 

 If ore beatissime .v'ginis Marie ad verum Sarisburiensis ritum, printed by Prevost 

 in Paris, 1527. Their symbols and prophecies are given. There is a second set 

 of Sibyl cuts scattered through the same Salisbury Hours. The reader may 

 consult an Appendix by Marsh to Husenbeth's Emblems of Saints for further 

 information as to the Sibyls. 



2 Virgil is probably introduced on account of the contents of Bucolics, Eclogue 

 iv. The reader should consult Simrock's Volksbucher, xiii. p. 443 ; Gb'rres' 

 Volksbucher, p. 238, and of the religious plays in our list J, p. 81 ; K, p. 23 ; 

 M, p. 92 ; B, i. p. 305 ; and Q, pp. 73, 74. 



