VALENCIENNES PASSION PLAY

A FRENCH PASSION PLAY

As Christianity spread, liturgical dramas flourished. A way of communicating Biblical narratives to a population that could not read (let alone read Latin), early liturgical dramas were enacted in churches.

But the 12th century, vernacular plays (not in Latin) were being staged all across the Christian world and they had moved out of the cathedrals.  

They had "they moved into the courtyards of aristocratic mansions (Valenciennes) and invaded the central market squares (Lucerne, Frankfort, Mons); they were produced in earthen arenas (Perranzabuloe, St. Just) and even within the remains of Roman amphitheaters (Bourges)." (Nagler, p. 47).
 

Created in 1547 on the grounds of the Duke of Arshot, the Valenciennes drama is said to have taken 25 days to perform -- with mansion houses being changed as the play progressed.

It was a major town event, with more than 100 roles assigned to 72 actors.

http://library.calvin.edu/hda/node/1308

The first chronicler of Valenciennes gave a resume of the most spectacular aspects of the Passion production in 1547: 

At Whitsuntide of the year 1547, the leading citizens of the town [of Valenciennes] presented the life, death, and Passion of Our Lord on the stage of the mansion of the Duke of Arschot. The spectacle lasted twenty-five days, and on each day we saw strange and wonderful things. The machines (secrets) of the Paradise and of Hell were absolutely prodigious and could be taken by the populace for magic. For we saw Truth , the angels, and other characters descend from very high, sometimes visibly, sometimes invisibly , appearing suddenly. Lucifer was raised from Hell on a dragon without our being able to see how. The rod of Moses, dry and sterile, suddenly put forth flowers and fruits. Devils carried the souls of Herod and Judas through the air. Devils were exorcised, people with dropsy and other invalids cured, all in an admirable way. Here Jesus Christ was carried up by the Devil who scaled a wall forty feet high. There He became invisible. Finally, He was transfigured on Mount Tabor. We saw water changed into wine so mysteriously that we could not believe it, and more than a hundred persons wanted to taste this wine. The five breads and the two fish seemed to be multiplied and were distributed to more than a thousand spectators, and yet there were more than twelve baskets left. The fig tree, cursed by Our Lord, appeared to dry up, its leaves withering in an instant. The eclipse, the earthquake, the splitting of the rocks and the other miracles at the death of Our Lord were shown with new marvels.

Nagler, A. M. (2013-04-09). A Source Book in Theatrical History (Kindle Locations 1276-1278). 

Pages by Mrs. D

"One of the most admirable things about history is, that almost as a rule, we get as much information out of what it does not say as we get out of what it does say. . . . History is a frog; half of it is submerged, but he knows it is there, and he knows the shape of it."

"The Secret History of Eddypus", Mark Twain