216 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 



At first, presence in the procession may have been considered 

 evidence of acceptance of the dogma of transnbstantiation,^ to 

 which, as we have seen, the rise of the liturgical play was due '^ 

 but later the spontaneous expressions of piety did not satisfy the 

 desire for a splendid procession. Accordingly in the fourteenth 

 centur}" the Gilds of Corpus Christi arose, which took the procession 

 under their special care. These gilds did not usually foster plays, 

 and were indeed in some cases necessary to preserve the splendor 

 of the procession after the popular interest had turned from the 

 procession to the plays.^ 



How early pageant-tableaux were introduced it is impossible at 

 present to state,^ but it must have been at an early date and in close 

 connection with the royal entry. The body of Christ received in a 

 sense royal honors, and it ma}^ be that at first stationary pageants, 

 a marked tribute to royalty, were sometimes used. It seems evident 

 that movable ^^ageants were carried by the gild in connection with 

 the gild banner, and usually bore the insignia or arms of the gild ; 

 also that at first they presented a connected Biblical story, but after- 

 wards passed through nearly the same developmental stages as did 

 the pageants of the royal entry. These changes, like those of the 

 royal entry, were in the main the same throughout Western Europe, 

 although the intrusion of the civic element doubtless contributed to 

 local variations. The records do not enable us to trace these changes 

 so clearly as in the royal entry, but certain evidences are found. 



1437. The villag-e of Draguignan gave a flox'in to the manager of the procession, "A 

 cause du jeu que chaque annee il a coutume de faire a faire a la fete du corps du 

 Christ, et qu'il ne pent faire sans aucuu subside." 



Similar entries in the records of the village occur until 1558, May 

 8, when the following explanatory note is found : 



" Le dit jeu jora avec la procession comme auparadvant et le plus d'istoeres et plus 

 brieves que puront estre seront et se dira tout en cheminant sans ce que personne du 

 jeu s'areste pour eviter prolixite et confusion tant de ladite procession que jeu et que 

 les estrangiers le voient aiseinent."5 



This attempt to talk Avhile walking could hardly have been a suc- 

 cess. The spoken pla}^ was probabl}^ oratorical rather than dramatic. 

 These so-called plays were maintained until 1615. There are records 

 of similar exhibitions at Bethune from 1544. In the 'remonstrance' 

 of 1549 there is a list of the tableaux, showing the participation of 



1 English Gilds, p. LXXXV. 2 See p. 137. 



3 As at York, though so great was the passion for plaj'S that the Gild presented one, 

 the Creed plaj', once in ten j^ears. 



4 Davies, p. 228. s Julleville, vol. 2, p. 209. 



