492 THE DRAMA. 



Yet, while taking into account these representations, which long held a 

 place in Catholic liturgy, it may be affirmed that from the sixth to the tenth 

 century there was not throughout Europe either a theatre or any theatrical 

 works in the strict acceptation of the word. 



To Hrosvitha, a nun in the Convent of Gandersheim, and a native of Saxony, 

 belongs the honour of having composed the first dramatic works worthy of 

 the name ; and though these works are crude and barbarous, they are none 

 the less very interesting from an artistic point of view. It is said that she 

 was the authoress of six Latin dramas imitated from Terence, which were 

 represented before the nuns of her abbey, in their chapter-house, about the 

 end of the tenth century. The dominant idea in her dramas is the glorifica- 

 tion of chastity, and it must be said that this primitive drama, rude and 

 imperfect as it may appear, contains passages which would be admired in the 

 greatest masters of the ancient and of the modern stage. 



From the eleventh to the thirteenth century it was the custom to celebrate 

 in the porches of churches, and even within the sacred building, dramatized 

 services, in which the principal parts were played by the clergy, from the 

 canon to the deacon, and which were used as an introduction to, and adorn- 

 ment of, the holy liturgy. One of these services, entitled Mystery of the 

 Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, has come down to us, with the par- 

 ticulars of the way in which it was got up, and the music pricked. Three 

 deacons, arrayed in dalmaticas, and their heads covered with veils "like 

 women," says the text, and representing the three Marys, advanced, with 

 vases in their hands, to the middle of the choir: with their heads bent 

 downwards, they proceeded to the desk, singing the anthem, " Who shall roll 

 away for us the stone from the tomb of the sepulchre ? " A chorister-boy, 

 " after the manner of an angel," arrayed in a white alb and holding a palm- 

 branch, addressed them this question : " Whom seek ye here ? " to which 

 the three deacons replied, " We seek Jesus of Nazareth." Thus the mystery 

 of the resurrection seemed to be accomplished in the presence of the people, 

 before whose eyes were unfolded the majestic scenes of the gospel. 



Henceforward a new kind of scenic dialogue was formed under the name 

 of Mystery, and a new era opened for theatrical art. Written solely in Latin 

 at first, the mystery was gradually put into the vulgar tongue, so as to be 

 understood by the general public, and this led to the creation of certain pieces 

 called farcitures, half Latin, half French, upon solemn subjects. It was not 





