The mediaeval stage, volume 1 (of 2)

Some years ago I was thinking of a little book, which now may or may not ever get itself finished, about Shakespeare and the conditions, literary and dramatic, under which Shake...

[_General Bibliographical Note._ I mention here only a few works of wide range, which may be taken as authorities throughout these two volumes. Others, more limited in their sco...

[_Bibliographical Note._--A convenient sketch of the history of the Roman stage will be found in G. Körting, _Geschichte des griechischen und römischen Theaters_ (1897). The det...

[_Bibliographical Note_ (for chs. ii-iv).--By far the best account of minstrelsy is the section on _Les Propagateurs des Chansons de Gestes_ in vol. ii of L. Gautier, _Les Épopé...

The perpetual _infamia_ of the minstrels is variously reflected in the literature of their production. Sometimes they take their condemnation lightly enough, dismissing it with...

The floor of a mediaeval court, thronged with minstrels of every degree, provided at least as various an entertainment as the Roman stage itself[274]. The performances of the mi...

[_Bibliographical Note._--The conversion of heathen England is described in the _Ecclesiastical History_ of Bede (C. Plummer, _Baedae Opera Historica_, 1896). Stress is laid on...

[_Bibliographical Note._--A systematic calendar of English festival usages by a competent folk-lorist is much needed. J. Brand, _Observations on Popular Antiquities_ (1777), bas...

[_Bibliographical Note._--A systematic revision of J. Strutt, _The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England_ (1801, ed. W. Hone, 1830), is, as in the case of Brand’s book, m...

[_Bibliographical Note._--The festal character of primitive dance and song is admirably brought out by R. Wallaschek, _Primitive Music_ (1893); E. Grosse, _Die Anfänge der Kunst...

[_Bibliographical Note._--The books mentioned in the bibliographical note to the last chapter should be consulted on the general tendency to μίμησις in festival dance and song....

[_Bibliographical Note._--The subject is treated by T. F. Ordish, _English Folk-Drama_ in _Folk-Lore_, ii. 326, iv. 162. The Folk-Lore Society has in preparation a volume on Fol...

[_Bibliographical Note._--I have largely followed the conclusions of A. Tille, _Deutsche Weihnacht_ (1893) and _Yule and Christmas_ (1899). The Roman winter feasts are well trea...

[_Bibliographical Note._--The two works of Dr. Tille remain of importance. The compilations specially devoted to the usages of the Christmas season are chiefly of a popular char...

[_Bibliographical Note._--The best recent accounts of the Feast of Fools as a whole are those of G. M. Dreves in _Stimmen aus Maria-Laach_ (1894), xlvii. 571, and Heuser in Wetz...

The history of the Feast of Fools has been so imperfectly written, that it is perhaps worth while to bring together the records of its occurrence, elsewhere than in Troyes and S...

[_Bibliographical Note._--Most of the authorities for chh. xiii, xiv, are still available, since many writers have not been careful to distinguish between the various feasts of...

[_Bibliographical Note._--The best account of the _Sociétés joyeuses_ is that of L. Petit de Julleville, _Les Comédiens en France au Moyen Âge_ (1889). Much material is collecte...

[_Bibliographical Note._--On the history of the English Masque A. Soergel, _Die englischen Maskenspiele_ (1882); H. A. Evans, _English Masques_ (1897); J. A. Symonds, _Shakespea...

Eusebius, bishop of Barcelona, in 618, ‘quod in theatro quaedam agi concessisset quae ex vana deorum superstitione traducta aures Christianae abhorrere videantur.’ Sisebuthus, _...

[251] Hubatsch, 15. The origin, precise meaning, and mutual relations of the terms _Golias_, _goliardi_ are uncertain. Probably the goliardic literature arose in France, rather...

customs to the pre-Aryans. A. Bertrand, _Religion des Gaulois_, 68, considers human sacrifice characteristically pre-Aryan. There seems to me more hope of arriving at a knowledg...

old beginning of winter feast, and the Beltain the high summer feast. The meaning of ‘Beltain’ (cf. _N. E. D._ s.v. Beltane) seems quite uncertain. A connexion is possible but c...

[491] Mrs. Gomme, s. vv. _Bandyball_, _Camp_, _Football_, _Hockey_, _Hood_, _Hurling_, _Shinty_. These games, in which the ball is fought for, are distinct from those already me...

illustrations. There are always six dancers. A broad garter of bells is worn below the knee. There are two sets of figures: in one handkerchiefs are carried, in the other short...

‘rex,’ who is said still to have been annually slain in Lower Moesia at the beginning of the fourth century A.D.; cf. _Acta S. Dasii_, in _Acta Bollandiana_, xvi. (1897), 5; Par...

[1160] S. R. Maitland, _The Dark Ages_, 141, tilts at the Protestant historian Robertson’s _History of Charles V_, as do F. Clément, 159, and A. Walter, _Das Eselsfest_ in _Caec...

memory of the entry into Jerusalem is a procession on Palm Sunday ‘with the blessed Sacrament reverently carried as it were Christ upon the Asse,’ and comments, ‘But it is prett...

bishop writes to all four bodies in identical terms. He wishes them ‘Salutem, et morum clericalium honestatem,’ and adds ‘Ad nostram, non sine gravi cordis displicencia et stupo...

1540, to the same effect. Johan Bale in his _Yet a Course at the Romyshe Foxe_ (1542), says that if Bonner’s censure of those who lay aside certain ‘auncyent rytes’ is justified...