298 THE GERMAN PASSION-PLA Y 



of Nicodemus (chapters xv. -xx.) of the descent into 

 hell, where use is made of the 24th Psalm. Supple- 

 mented by further extracts from that gospel, it forms 

 the entire backbone of the popular hell -scenes of the 

 passion-plays. 1 



We can scarcely doubt the Elevatio is as old as the 

 Visitatio, which immediately follows ; and we may safely 

 assume that we have here the first origin of the Devil 

 as a character in the religious drama a character 

 which in after ages became all -prominent, and acted 

 as a centre for the introduction of popular and comic 

 incidents into the original tragedy of the Passion. In 

 the form of the ritual given above, the populace are 

 excluded from the church while the ceremony of the 

 resurrection takes place. They stand outside with the 

 Devil, and are only admitted when the procession, 

 returning to the altar, signifies the ascent from hell. 

 The opportunity thus given to the ' subdeacon dressed as 

 the devil' for a little pantomime, while the ceremony 

 went on inside, is obvious. The exclusion, however, was 

 not universal. Sometimes the ritual was prefixed to the 

 matins, and formed an integral part of the service ; at 



church. It seems doubtful in this case whether the public were admitted. We read : 

 ' ' Ante missam et ante campanarum pulsationem conveniant clerici ad Ecclesiam . ' ' 

 Compare also Martene, loc. cit. Liber iv. cap. 25. 5, 7. In an Ordo Bajocensis 

 Ecdesiae printed by Martene the populace is expressly mentioned as being 

 present. In his 9 we read : " In pervetusto etiam libro rituali Parthenonis 

 Pictaviensis S. Crucis haec reperio : In prima vigilia noctis Paschae duo Presby- 

 teri revestiti cum cappis pergunt ad sepulchrum . . . Inde elevatur et defertur 

 Corpus Dominicum ad majus altare, praecedentibus cereis et thuribulis et pulsanti- 

 bus signis." I think it in nowise possible to accept Milchsack's view that the 

 populace were always excluded from the Elevatio. It may have been done in 

 certain localities to repress heathen practices or beliefs, which, as I have remarked, 

 were only too readily associated with the ceremony, but it was certainly not 

 general. 



1 F, p. 284 ; I, p. 141 ; C, p. 224 ; D, p. 88 : B, vol ii. p. 341, etc. 



