Young—Officium Pastorum. 
343 
Whether or not Francis of Assisi drew a measure of in¬ 
spiration from mediaeval drama, there can he no doubt that 
the Prcesepe of Greccio itself provided dramatic inspiration 
to later writers. A happy testimonial of this influence comes 
to us in the following lines from a Bavarian poet of the 
early seventeenth century: 
Ein gw'onheit ist zur Jahresfrist 
dass iezundt celebrire 
unnd dieser Zeit die Christenheit 
den Christag renovire. 
Franciskus dess ein Zeug mir ist 
die hoch seraphisch Sonnen, 
der richtet auch ein Kripplein auf, 
nur mit stum men Persohnen . 1 
hlo doubt the tradition of St. Francis was felt in numerous 
dramatic efforts of which we have now no knowledge. The 
texts of the strictly liturgical plays of the thirteenth, four¬ 
teenth, and fifteenth centuries, however, betray no explicit in¬ 
fluence from the Crib of Greccio. 
As a matter of fact, from the thirteenth century onwards 
the Prcesepe became less important as a dramatic raise en scene 
and more important as a center of public and private devotion. 
Through the devout enthusiasm of the Franciscans, Christmas 
Cribs were eventually erected throughout Western Europe. 
Churches, dwellings, and public squares were brightened an¬ 
nually by the familiar scene. |The living actors of the liturgi¬ 
cal plays were supplanted by dumb figures, from the hands, of 
artisans. The Crib gathered about itself not dramatic action 
but prayers and Christmas carols. Finally, through the addi¬ 
tion of scores of human and animal figures, through scenic 
elaboration, and through lavish adornments of jewels and fab¬ 
rics, the Prcesepe of Bethlehem, of Pome, and of the liturgical 
1 K. Weinhold, Weihnachtsspiele und Lieder aus Suddeutschland und 
Schlesien, Vienna, 1875, p. 175. Cf. Hager, p. 12. 
