THE GROWTH OF THE PASSION-PLA Y 287 



growth of the passion-plays the heathen love of spec- 

 tacular display and of religious festival had already 

 forced the hands of the ecclesiastical authorities in the 

 twelfth century, and at that date the religious drama had 

 advanced far beyond the Church's dramatic ritual. 



In order to study the influence of the second factor, 

 the Church ritual, on the growth of the religious drama 

 it will be necessary to consider the nature of that ritual 

 at some length. It will be noticed that Herrad refers 

 especially to dramatic ritual connected with the birth of 

 Christ, while it is ritual connected with the passion and 

 resurrection of which we find most evidence. The first 

 is to be looked upon as the prototype of the Herod or 

 Magi plays, while the latter leads up to plays dealing 

 with the crucifixion and death of Christ. The one series 

 of rituals is associated with Christmas, the other with 

 Easter ; both alike contribute elements to the developed 

 passion-play. At the very first consideration, however, 

 a difference manifests itself between the Easter and 

 Christmas scenic rituals. The earliest Easter scenic 

 ritual occurs in a manuscript of the eleventh century, 

 and that of the fifteenth century remains practically 

 identical with it. But by the eleventh century we find 

 in existence entire or fragmentary plays of the Wise and 

 Foolish Virgins, of the Birth of Christ, of the Eesurrec- 

 tion and the Disciples at Emmaus, and of Herod and the 

 Magi. For example, Weinhold gives two Herod-plays 

 of the ninth to the eleventh century, 1 and Gervinus even 

 mentions one of the fifth century. 2 Mone supposes the 



1 Q> PP- 55 et seq. 

 2 Geschichte der deutschen Dichtung, 5th ed. Bd. ii. p. 563, footnote. 



