Young—Ordo Prophet arum. 
71 
experienced, at least surreptitiously, some of the mirth openly pro¬ 
claimed in the festa asinaria . 156 
We have still to notice the special chants with which the dramatic 
performance of Rouen begins and ends. Like the Laon play, the 
version before us begins with a processional use of the Gloriosi et 
famosi. It will be observed, however, that the Rouen play dis¬ 
closes 157 several stanzas that we have not seen hitherto. The ap¬ 
propriateness of this chant to the fundamental theme of the Ordo 
Prophetarum is so complete as to suggest that the Gloriosi et 
famosi was composed specifically for use in the dramatic procession 
of the Prophetce . 15S 
Unfortunately a like appropriateness cannot be claimed for the 
prose II or turn prcedestinatio which the Prophetce et Ministri in pul - 
pito sing after the concluding prophecy of the Sibyl. The com¬ 
plete text of this prose will be examined below. 159 Suffice it to say 
here that in content this composition is related, not to the Ordo 
Prophetarum , but to the theme of Easter. I can offer no plausible 
conjecture to account for its presence in the Rouen version before 
us. 160 
Glancing back over our survey, we observe that of the extant 
examples of the Ordo Prophetarum in its use as a strictly liturgical 
play, the Rouen version shows the most extended development. 
The importance of this development consists not so much in the 
mere addition of new prophets as in the use of mise en scene and 
dialogue for the roles of Balaam and Nebuchadnezzar. Whereas all 
the other prophetce are provided merely with a conventionally ade¬ 
quate impersonation, these two personages are the centers of dia¬ 
logues that approach the status of independent dramatic episodes. 
158 As to whether the Feast of Fools was cultivated at Rouen itself, alongside 
the prophet-play, I have no information. Chambers (Vol. I, pp. 303-304) 
traces the presence of a Feast of Fools at Laon from “about 1280” on into the 
sixteenth century. 
157 The Rouen text, here and elsewhere, provides only the initia. 
158 For its use elsewhere, see below, pp. 72-80. 
159 See pp. 75-77. 
160 Nor can Sepet (p. 47) or Gaste (p. 20). I consider this matter in detail 
below, pp. 76-77. 
