PERFORM Log
January 1993
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Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 14:56:54 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Jesse Hurlbut
Subject: Douai Donkey Day
I just came across a reference in some of my notes from the Douai
Archives discussing preparations for La Feste des Asnes (15th-c). Apparently,
this was an annual celebration of the New Year (le jour de lan) which
involved lots of food as well as 'jeux et esbatements jouez par personnaiges.'
Does anyone know more about this particular festival? My first question is
whether it took place on Easter, since the new year was calculated by that
date? Are there similar New Year's celebrations elsewhere with performances
of some kind? Do we know anything about what these 'esbatements' depicted
(religious material or bacchanalia)?
The archivist at Douai (Monique Mestayer) has published some material on the
subject, but it's precious little to go on.
Besides, I thought it'd make a nice topic for the season...
Jesse Hurlbut
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Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 21:08:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: MRIGGIO@TRINCC.BITNET
Subject: Re: Douai Donkey Day
Dear Jesse:
I won't be the slightest help to you, I am afraid, knowing nothing as I
do about Donkey Day at all. My only two cents worth is a reminder, which
I'm sure you don't need, that the term "esbatement," which signified a
light play designed, according to John Cartwright, "to drive away cares" could i
ndicate a play as complex as The Blessed Apple Tree, which was both read and
performed at Kalamazoo some years ago and which was produced by LeMoyne College
of Syracuse for the 25+ festival of plays in Toronto in May. I amsure the
term can also signify much simpler entertainment as well, but you could have
a large range of possibilities going under that term, as well as "jeux."
Good luck with finding out more.
Milla Riggio
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Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 10:30:09 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Pamela Sheingorn
Subject: Re: Douai Donkey Day
In-Reply-To: Message of Thu, 7 Jan 1993 14:56:54 EST from
Dear Jesse,
I suggest you get in touch with Anne E. Witte of the University of
Nice, who wrote a dissertation at the CUNY Graduate Center entitled
A STUDY OF THE FEAST OF THE ASS IN THIRTEENTH CENTURY FRANCE. It
contains a great deal of useful information about the history of
such feasts, especially their historical and iconographical
background. Anne's address is 41, route de Bellet
06200 Nice, France
I have a copy of the dissertation if there is something specific
you'd like me to check. I don't remember that she specifically
mentions Douai.
Pamela Sheingorn
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Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 11:02:34 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Jesse Hurlbut
Subject: Re: Douai Donkey Day
In-Reply-To: Message of Fri, 8 Jan 1993 10:30:09 EST from
Pamela,
Great tip, THANKS!
Jesse
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 14:38:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: WRIGHTS@CUA.BITNET
Subject: Douai Donkey Day
Jesse: You can get started on your Donkey Day project by checking
Chambers, II, 279 ff. The "Prosa de Asino" was usually (but not
always) performed by clerics in minor orders on (but not always)
Jan. 1, the Feast of the Circumcision. Hence your reference to
the New year's season. In the Beauvais "Ludus Danlis" King Darius
actually mimics the donkey's bray. The MS in which the play is
preserved (Egerton 2615) also has two settings of the Prose of the
Ass, one for unison voices and one polyphonic. As I recall, the
practice was usually associated with cathedral schools (like
Beauvais). Does your citation refer to a school or to the town
at large? If the latter, it would seem to be a rare case indeed.
The reference to food is also interesting. The celebration
could involve plenty of wine, and I seem to recall something
about censing the altar with a sausage.
Let us know what you find out.
--Steve Wright
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 16:07:54 CST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: larry schwartz
Subject: costume design and (or vs.) microfilm
here's the question, o oracles:
magazines, bound or unbound, take up space, are subject to vandalism,
and deteriorate over time. microfilm takes up less space and is easier
to store, suffers less from vanadalism (tho' it does walk away), and
doesn't deteriorate as quickly as paper. magazines often employ full
color; microfilm is usually in black and white.
30 years from now, when costume designers look back to see those wacky
fashions of the '60s, what will be the effect when all they have to
base their designs upon are (perhaps) poorly reproduced blac-and-white
copies from microfilmed archives?
larry schwartz, humanities librarian
north dakota state university
fargo, nd
(-30 degrees keeps the riff-raff out)
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 16:57:23 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Jesse Hurlbut
Subject: Re: Douai Donkey Day
In-Reply-To: Message of Fri, 8 Jan 1993 14:38:00 EST from
Thanks Steve for another good tip. I should remember: check Chambers,
THEN ask PERFORM! Anyway, there's no mention of any cathedral school,
but then it's really just a record of payment (by the city of Douai) for
a banquet for municipal officers, the duke and his entourage on
the occasion of the feast day. Here's a partial transcription:
Pour fraix et despens de bouche fais au disner en halle par le lieutenant
de monsieur le bailli, eschevins, vi hommes, les conselliers ... et autres
officiers dicelle ville en compaignant illeq aucuns chevaliers et nobles
hommes ansamble plusieurs officiers de nostre tres redoubte seigneur et
prince nostre seigneur le duc de Bourgogne qui celli jour et le jour
precedant vinrent en ledite ville esgarder les jeux et esbatemens que
len dit des asnes jouez par personnaiges... xxv f. viij s. x d.
Archives Municipale de Douai, ms. 228 Comptes de la ville, 1461-62, fol.
62v.
A similar account from 1451 seems to indicate that food is served DURING
the plays (again, at the city's expense):
...tant aud. disner comme aux aprez disners lesd. nuit (veille) et
jour de l'an en pain, vin, espices et autrement en regardant lesd. jeux...
(Quoted from Monique Mestayer's article on feasts and ceremonies in Douai)
Precursors to beer and pizza during the Rose Bowl?
Jesse
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 17:42:50 -0500
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: James Cummings
Subject: Re: Douai Donkey Day
In-Reply-To: <9301081744.AA27923@epas.utoronto.ca>; from "Jesse Hurlbut" at
Jan 8, 93 11:02 am
It has been written by the hand of Jesse Hurlbut that:
[Question deleted]
Just a point which is probably totally unrelated, but the fact that
it was a 'light play to drive away cares' made me think of it.
Enid Welsford mentions in her book The Fool: ... That the standard
motely hat now associated with jesters (i.e. 3 pointed hat) comes
from the Fool's Donkey Ears. I thought this might in some way relate
in at least describing the costumes of the ppl. preforming this
play. Sorry if that's of no use.
James Cummings
University of Toronto.
jcumming@epas.utoronto.ca
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 10:46:19 -0500
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: REED Project
Subject: Sad News (fwd)
Forwarded message:
I think this message from REED-L will be of general interest to the
PERFORM list as well.
AAY
> From reed Mon Jan 11 10:41:55 1993
> From: reed (REED Project)
> Message-Id: <9301111541.AA23715@epas.utoronto.ca>
> Subject: Sad News
> To: reed-l@utoronto
> Date: Mon, 11 Jan 93 10:41:53 EST
> Cc: reed (A. Young)
> X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11]
>
>
> Sad news for all in the early drama community. We received a fax from
> Peter Meredith at Leeds University telling us of the death of Arthur
> Cawley on Friday: There will be a strictly private cremation on
> Wednesday the 13th, but we will distribute information as available on
> more public ceremonies, such as a memorial service.
>
> AAY
>
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1993 16:08:20 -0700
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: CARNAHAN_S@CUBLDR.COLORADO.EDU
Subject: mystery language
From: IN%"ANSAX-L%WVNVM.BITNET@vaxf.colorado.edu" "ANSAXNET Discussion Forum"
15-JAN-1993 04:02:54.34
To: IN%"ANSAX-L%WVNVM.BITNET@vaxf.colorado.edu" "Multiple recipients of lis
t ANSAX-L"
CC:
Subj: Shay fan yan lay
Dear Net,
Can anyone identify the language (and perhaps even the meaning) of
this song, brought to me by a hopeful student who says she heard it in
a 'medieval mystery play' and the programme described it as
'traditional' ?
Shay fan yan lay,
Shay fan yan lay,
Shay fan yan lay,
Yrie ralt nah maginah gow,
In mannan hyum.
Thank you very much!
Lynne Grundy
English Department
King's College London
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Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1993 16:09:45 -0700
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: CARNAHAN_S@CUBLDR.COLORADO.EDU
Subject: forwarded message
Thought this message about language might be of interest to our
net as well as ANSAX.
Shirley Carnahan
University of Colorado, Boulder
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1993 18:11:26 +0000
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Mrs M Twycross
Subject: Re: E-mail address
In-Reply-To: from "MRIGGIO@EARN.TRINCC" at Jan 7, 93 09:08:00 pm
Help! I'm a novice at this networking business, and an attempt to send a message
to the PERFORM network crashed, so I think I must have got the address wrong.
Can you tell me what address I should use from Britain? I've got a lovely
message stored to transmit!
Greetings, by the way, to friends and colleagues over there from over here.
Meg Twycross.
=========================================================================
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 13:09:08 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: MICHAEL L NORTON <76216.2165@COMPUSERVE.COM>
Subject: Re: Douai Donkey Day
Jesse,
You might also check Margot Fassler's recent article:
"The Feast of Fools and _Danielis Ludus_: Popular Tradition in a
Medieval Cathedral Play," _Plainsong in the Age of Polyphony_, ed.
Thomas Forrest Kelley, vol. 2 of _Cambridge Studies in Performance
Practice_ (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1992), 65-99.
Hope this helps!
Michael Norton
=========================================================================
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 16:50:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: WRIGHTS@CUA.BITNET
Subject: mystery language in mystery play
The passage you cite closely resembles the songs chanted by the Jews
in medieval German Esater plays. As they approach Pilate with the
request to set guards at the tomb, the Jews typically chant a
gibberish song (meant to be perceived as comic?) compunded out of
German, Latin, Hebrew, and pure nonsense syllables. I can't
identify your passage offhand, but if it does come from a German
play you should be able to find the complete text in Ernst August
Schuler, _Die Musik der Osterfeiern, Osterspiele, und Passionen
des Mittelalters_ (Basel, 1951), Entry number 689, pp. 365-74.
He lists dozens of examples. For music in the English cycle plays,
see Jo Anna Dutka's book. Can you give us a bit more context--
a hint as to the language/provenance of the play itself?
--Steve Wright
Catholic University
=========================================================================
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 19:12:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: MRIGGIO@TRINCC.BITNET
Subject: Abraham -- and Shakespeare through performance
To anyone at all:
I am looking for illustrations of Abraham sacrificing Isaac, preferably
fifteenth century. Any suggestions will be welcome. Also, I'd welcome
any information anyone has on Jewish Abraham legends (pertaining to the
sacrifice) and/or Muslim legends that link Abraham's sacrifice to Ismael.
Any takers?
Also, I am proposing an MLA volume on teaching Shakespeare through
Performance; the MLA staff is interested, and I'm now working on a
prospectus. I'd welcome any ideas about possible essay topics
linking the teaching of Shakespeare to performance.
Thanks,
Milla Riggio
P.S. bibliography on either Abraham or Shakespeare through performance
also welcome.
=========================================================================
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 13:09:21 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: MICHAEL L NORTON <76216.2165@COMPUSERVE.COM>
Subject: Re: New Sources
Abigail,
I apologize for taking so long to respond to your inquiry. I searched
through my database for "person", "gerer", and "gest". I found the following
matches (none of which really helps, I fear):
Regularis Concordia: "...turribula cum incensu manibus gestantes..."
"...deponant turribula, que gestuaerant in eodem
Sepulchro..."
(LOO 394,395 - 10th century)
Frankfurt am Main: "duo vel tres reverende persone..."
Mainz (LOO 207, 1468 -- LOO 256, ca. 1480)
Herzogenburg and "...prebyteri in persona mulierum..."
Klosterneuburg "...duo presbyteri sub persona Iohannis et Petri..."
"...dyaconus in persona angelus..."
(various sources, 13th-16th centuries)
Laon: "Personam angeli sedentis in sepulchro...
(LOO 112, no date)
Melk: "...retro altare, qui angeli sedentis ad sepulchrum
Domini vicem debent gerere."
(LOO 264, 1180)
Metz: "Episcopus vel alia persona..."
(LOO 268, 12th c., copied 1264)
Belethus/Sicardus/ "...et ibi introducuntur personae sub personis
Durandus mulierum et duorum discipulorum ... et quaedam
(quoted from aliae personae in personis angelorum..."
Sicardus, others (LOO 120-122, 12th-13th centuries)
similar)
Mainz: "Respondentibus personis"
(LOO 260, 1547)
Paris, Ste. "Quibus geste surgant milites,..."
Chapelle (LOO 149, 1471)
Prague: "...predicta persona..."
Pru"fening bei "...et iam gestantes thuribula..."
Regensburg (LOO 311a, 12th c.)
Rheinau "...gestantes turibula..."
(LOO 315, ca. 1120 -- LOO 315a, 12th c.)
St. Florian "Unus in persona angeli"
(Klosterneuburg, Stiftsbibl., MS 998, 16th c.)
Zwiefalten "...gestantes thuribula..."
(LOO 379, ca. 1150)
Unfortunately, the database is yet imcomplete. Missing are most of the
German/Austrian Type II rubrics as well as the Magdalene plays. I will
search through Lipphardt for the latter when time becomes available.
Michael L. Norton
=========================================================================
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 22:14:32 -0700
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: CARNAHAN_S@CUBLDR.COLORADO.EDU
Subject: Re: Abraham -- and Shakespeare through performance
Milla, I have a few books with illustrations in my office; I'll
check tomorrow.
As to Shakespeare, our Colorad Shakespeare Festival puts out a
yearly periodical called _On-Stage Studies_ that is up to about
#13. Several articles in these might be useful. Also, do you know
John Barton's _Playing Shakespeare_? A wonderful companion to the
video series that was first shown in GB. Gosh, I have a ton of
other goodies, but it's late and class prep calls. I'll check
more over the weekend. (I teach Shakespeare through performance
myself, so I have loads [my mother would say "too many"] of books
on the subject. More to come . . . .
Hmmmm, poorly proofed . . . how about "ColoradO" and a closed
parentheses. It IS late.
Shirley Carnahan
University of Colorad-O
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Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 07:33:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: MRIGGIO@TRINCC.BITNET
Subject: Re: Abraham -- and Shakespeare through performance
Dear Shirley:
Thanks for the response. Yes, I do know the Barton tapes and the book.
Where can I get back issues of your Colorado "On Stage Studies" --
fast? If you have them, we can buy them and pay for postage, but I'm
trying to get this prospectus in shape as quickly as possible.
Thanks,
Milla
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 08:18:27 -0500
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: CLARY@SMCVAX.BITNET
Subject: Abraham
Images of Abraham and Isaac:
What comes immediately to mind is the pair of bronzes prepared by Ghiberti and
Brunelleschi around 1401 in the competition to design the east doors of the
Baptistery for the Cathedral in Florence. Perhaps you are already familiar
with these images as well as with the actual image that appears on the door.
Nick Clary
clary@smcvax.bitnet
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 06:52:27 -0700
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: CARNAHAN_S@CUBLDR.COLORADO.EDU
Subject: Re: Abraham -- and Shakespeare through performance
Milla, "On-Stage Studies" is available at $5.00 a copy ($5.50 by mail)
from this address: Editor, "On-Stage Studies"
University of Colorado at Boulder
Campus Box 261
Boulder, Colorado 80309-0261
but let me go over today after class to see if I can start the
ball rolling faster. I'll e-mail you tonight and let you know
what I've done.
Shirley
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 10:24:57 CST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Jody Enders
Subject: abraham
Dear Milla,
There's a fabulous sacrifice of Isaac scene (rife with exegetical
commentary) in the 15th-century Mistere du Viel Testament. It's a huge
thing edited by Rothschild in about 5-6 volumes. I can send you the
exact reference at a later date, if you like. Please tell us all more
about your project
Jody Enders
Dept. of French and Italian, UCSB
Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (805) 893-3111/4696 FAX: (805) 893-8826
E MAIL: jenders@humanitas.ucsb.edu
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 15:56:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: WRIGHTS@CUA.BITNET
Subject: Iconography of Abraham and Isaac
Milla: My memory of this is so dim that I'm ashamed to pass it along,
but I'll mention it for whatefer it may be worth. Several years ago
at Kalamazoo someone connected with the Princeton Index of
Christian Art gave a paper that included examples of the Abraham
and Isaac story. One miniature showed the sacrifice in the
foreground, and in the background a second mountain peak where
the devil was appearing to sarah . Seems there is a Jewish legend
that the Devil wanted to distract Sarah so that she would not
interrupt the proceedings, but God got the better of him anyway
by sending the ram. I think I still have notes on this lecture up
at my office. I will try to track down the exact reference if this
is the sort of thing you're looking for.
--Steve Wright
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 15:56:59 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Jesse Hurlbut
Subject: Re: Abraham -- and Shakespeare through performance
In-Reply-To: Message of Thu, 21 Jan 1993 19:12:00 EST from
Here is a very small lead: Abraham sacrifices Isaac on a historiated capital
just to the right of St. Donatian's cross in Van Eyck's Madonna with
Canon van der Paele (15th c.) The nick-o-time angel is also clearly
distinguishable, even though the scene is postage-stamp size. I've
got some other leads I'll check on for you this weekend.
Jesse Hurlbut
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 12:45:41 GMT-0500
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: acarr@ALLEG.EDU
Subject: Re: Abraham
Milla Riggio,
Abraham turned up when I did research on figures holding swords,
which includes Abraham in western tradition, although the Biblical
text speaks of a sacrificial knife. The origin of western imagery
seems to be the frescos in St Peter's and St. Paul's painted during
the pontificate of Leo (440-460). The basic source here is: I.
Speyard van Woerden, "The Iconography of the Sacrifice of Abraham,
_Vigiliae christianae_ 15 (1961), 214-53. Abraham's exemplary virtue
is mentioned specifically in Gal 3:16. Fragments from a 12th c.
Mosan ciborium (now in the Wien Dom- und Dioz. Mus) pair Justice with
Abraham & Isaac. The basic iconography and the typological
connections with the Crucifixion are laid out in: Heide Lenzen and
Helmut Buschhausen, "Ein neues Reichsportatile des 12. Jhr.," _Wiener
Jahrbuch_ 20 (1965), 21-73. I don't recall if either of these
articles discusses material as late as the 15th century, but the
thrust of the illustration remains typological. Also, the Roman
frescoes were probably still around then (they aren't now!). A & I
appear on numerous gothic cathedral portals; there were several
references in Male, _Religious Art in France: The 13th Century_. A &
I also appear on the Crucifixion page in the _Biblia pauperum_. I
don't have my material on this to hand, but I've been looking at
Easter pages from the exemplars from Austria (of course) if you want
bibliography here. (Cornell and ...Gerhaert? on St. Florian mss, I
think).
The typological depictions tend toward the iconic, with minimal
visual elaboration. The expanded narrative context of the Florence
Competition panels mentioned by Nick Clary hasn't received too much
attention from the style-oriented Renaissance scholars, but the
addition of the servants standing by must have some textual source.
I would be intrigued to pin it down, in fact.
You don't mention the purpose of your request. If you're looking
for ideas for staging, it occurs to me that there are so many
depictions that you could narrow your search for images to a single
relevant area.
This is the material I could get to right away. Please post again
if your project wants more.
Amelia Carr
Allegheny College
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 18:47:00 CST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: TB0WPW1@NIU.BITNET
Subject: Re: Abraham -- and Shakespeare through performance
There is, of course, +Shakespeare Bulletin+ which is
specifically focused on teaching and studying Shakespeare
in performance.
William Proctor Williams TB0WPW1@NIU
=========================================================================
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 00:17:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: MRIGGIO@TRINCC.BITNET
Subject: Re: Iconography of Abraham and Isaac
Dear Steve:
Yes, that is exactly the kinds of legends I am looking for. If you
can find notes on the paper, with some specific references or leads,
that would be great. Thanks,
Milla
=========================================================================
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 00:23:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: MRIGGIO@TRINCC.BITNET
Subject: Re: Abraham
Dear Amelia:
Thanks for the information. No, I'm not at the moment thinking of
staging, though we did plan to take the Abraham/Ibrahim plays to
Toronto last year and I may stage them together some day. What I
have is aa Persian play focusing on Ibrahim and Ismael that pairs
well with the European Abraham and Isaac plays. I'm writing on the
plays, with background materials from Jewish legends, some
information from iconography, and as much Muslim material as I can
find -- to compare the Abraham traditions themselves (Jewish,
Christian, Muslim) and then look at three plays in particular,
the Brome Abraham, a French Abraham play in which Sarah appears
and the Muslim play, which I have just gotten translated for this
project. So, the servants are interesting; if you want to chase
any of this down, that would be great.
Many thanks already,
Milla
=========================================================================
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 00:31:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: MRIGGIO@TRINCC.BITNET
Subject: Re: Abraham -- and Shakespeare through performance
Thanks for the reminder of the _Shakespeare Bulletin_.
Milla Riggio
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 23:19:36 -0700
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: CARNAHAN_S@CUBLDR.COLORADO.EDU
Subject: Re: Abraham -- and Shakespeare through performance
Milla: For Abraham, do you know Margaret Rickert's _Painting in Britain:
The Middle Ages_ (Penguin, 1954)? My notes from earlier meandering say
pg. 89 Psalter and pg. 102 Bible for Abraham's sacrifice.
As to Shakespeare: I talked the Colorado Shakespeare Festival director
(Dick Devin) out of the most recent _On-Stage Studies_ (#15, 1992) and
will send it if you give me an address. I'll include a just-published
goodie called _Insights_ (which is a collection of comments on the
teaching of Shakespeare through performance in high schools . . . the
comments are by the teachers themselves, I believe . . . I have yet
to see it as the editor is dropping it by tomorrow). I believe I've
already given you the address if you would like more _On-Stage Studies_
volumes. Both Dick and the editor of _Insights_ (Judith Bock) are
very interested in your project.
Another pair of books for your bibliography: _Players of Shakespeare_
(two volumes from Cambridge Univerisity Press). The second is edited
by Russell Jackson and Robert Smallwood (the first may be too but I
can't put my hands on it at the moment). The essays are by members
of the RSC and deal with the performance of the plays from the inside.
Must run . . . _Othello_ calls (there's a joke there somewhere, but
on Friday nights my word-hoard is empty).
Shirley Carnahan
University of Colorado, Boulder
=========================================================================
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 17:10:39 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Lyn
Subject: Re: Iconography of Abraham and Isaac
In-Reply-To: Message of Fri, 22 Jan 1993 15:56:00 EST from
I don't have anything to contribute to the iconography discussion,
but I do have a very strong memory of the "Abraham and Isaac" section
of a mystery cycle I saw performed at Canterbury Cathedral in the summer
of 1989. There were many children in attendance, all of whom became
extremely agitated at the Abraham and Isaac play. I suppose it's a
child's worst nightmare--a father telling his son that God has wants him
to kill him. Anyway, the responses of the children were both
disturbing and fascinating--no aesthetic distance here!
Lyn Tribble
Dept. of English, Temple University
=========================================================================
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 00:29:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: MRIGGIO@TRINCC.BITNET
Subject: Re: abraham
Dear Jody and Jesse:
Thanks for your references. I've replied with more information on my
project already to Amelia Carr. But I did not say that I am, among
other things, really interested in thinking about the cultural
function of the Abraham "sacrifice" story. This story is distinctive
as a sacrifice in that it seems to be very personal; there is no
real issue of the community involved in the sacrifice itself, though
to be sure the very continuity of Abraham's line depends on the
sacrifice NOT taking place. Still, this seems to be a personal test,
and in that sense not an ordinary sacrifice. So, I'm thinking
comparatively about the nature of the Abraham story in three
traditions, and at the same time, I'm also wondering about the
cultural function of the event AS A SACRIFICIAL RITUAL. Led to
Rene Girard a few years ago by Naomi Liebler, I began with Girard's
sense of the "sacrificial crisis," and while one does certainly
get the surrogate creature, the ram, the actual sacrifice event
does not fit the usual pattern. Anyone want to bat this idea
around a little? I'd love it, along with any other references that
come to mind.
Many thanks,
Milla Riggio
=========================================================================
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 13:27:00 CST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Bob Clark
Subject: Sacrifice of Isaac
I've deleted the initial query about images of the Sacrifice of Isaac,
so I don't remember exactly what the person was looking for. But I've
turned up a couple of examples from Books of Hours, where this scene was
rarely represented, it would seem. Here is what I found:
1) The catalogue of 119 mss. that Roger Wieck includes in his _Time
Sanctified: The Book of Hours in Medieval Art and Life_ shows only one
such image (unless I missed something). It is in Walters Art Gallery,
ms. W. 224 (France, Rouen, ca. 1480), which contains 13 large miniatures
by the Master of the Geneva Latini. The miniature accompanying the hour
of None (which is not reproduced) is described as follows: "Sacrifice of
Isaac; Baptism of Christ in `D'; border: Presentation in the Temple."
This is fol. 37 in the ms. The Presentation of Christ in the Temple was
the standard image for the None in the Hours of the Virgin. Wieck notes
on p. 61 that this scene was sometimes conflated with that of the
Circumcision. Could this possibly explain the linking of the Sacrifice
and the Presentation here? A query to those more versed in typology
than yours truly.
2) In the Visconti Hours in the Biblioteca Nazionale in Florence (mss.
BR 397 and LF 22), in the Propers for the Hours of the Virgin there is a
miniature of Abraham sacrificing Isaac for the Proper of Advent, Hour of
Compline, LF fol. 74. It is reproduced in Millard Meiss and Edith W.
Kirsch, _The Visconti Hours_ (NY: Braziller, 1972). Iconographically,
this is a rather strange image in that, to quote the commentary: a
"... grill in the Visconti miniature, however, resembling the
instrument of death common in representations of the martyrdom of St.
Lawrence, replaces the altar traditional to the Sacrifice." Yep, Isaac
is being roasted, even as the angel stays Abraham's knife-wielding hand.
There's a pile of burning firewood next to the ram. Hmm... who's going
on the grill next? I'd be interested, out of idle curiosity, if anyone
knows more about this unusual image.
Hope this helps. It's been sort of fun tracking these down.
Bob Clark
Kansas State Univ.
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 11:43:45 -0600
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Rick Jones
Subject: Abraham story
>> So, I'm thinking
>>comparatively about the nature of the Abraham story in three
>>traditions, and at the same time, I'm also wondering about the
>>cultural function of the event AS A SACRIFICIAL RITUAL. Led to
>>Rene Girard a few years ago by Naomi Liebler, I began with Girard's
>>sense of the "sacrificial crisis," and while one does certainly
>>get the surrogate creature, the ram, the actual sacrifice event
>>does not fit the usual pattern. Anyone want to bat this idea
>>around a little? I'd love it, along with any other references that
>>come to mind.
>>
>>Many thanks,
>>Milla Riggio
Sure, but don't count on me for much insight. For what it's worth,
you might want to look at Kierkegaard again: some of his discussion
approaches the question from an entirely different perspective than
you seem to want to do, but some of it seems pretty close... or at
least that's what I remember (it's been longer than I care to think
about since I actually read it).
Rick Jones
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 19:15:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: MRIGGIO@TRINCC.BITNET
Subject: Re: Sacrifice of Isaac
Dear Bob Clark:
I am the "person" making the request about the sacrifice of Isaac, and I
thank you heartily for your tracking efforts. About the Visconti hours:
I don't have any specific information, but there is a long-standing
Jewish tradition that Isaac was, after all, sacrificed and -- in most
versions -- ultimately resurrected. In some of the ACTUAL sacrifice
stories, he was burned. God stayed Abraham's hand, it appears, but the
flames devoured Isaac. This story was developed for a variety of reasons,
as I am learning, but part of the justification for the story was that
Abraham only is described as returning from the place of sacrifice, with
no mention of Isaac. So, it would be interesting if your Visconti hours
reflected some echoes of the Jewish "Akedah" legends. Any guesses about
this, anyone?
Thanks, again.
Milla Riggio
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 19:19:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: MRIGGIO@TRINCC.BITNET
Subject: Re: Abraham -- and Shakespeare through performance
Dear Shirley Carnahan:
My address is: Trinity College, Hartford, Ct. 06106. And I thank you
heartily. I will certainly order back copies of On Stage Studies, and
I will keep you informed as (or if) this project developes. I'll be
sending in the prospectus next week. I'm optimistic, but then so were
the passengers on the Titanic.
I won't be at Kalamazoo this year, but I'm still savoring the memory of
your wonderful music last year. And I gave you a momentary nod in
a review of the 25+ Toronto festival coming out in RORD.
Best wishes,
Milla Riggio
=========================================================================
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1993 10:57:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: MRIGGIO@TRINCC.BITNET
Subject: Re: Abraham
TO: Amelia Carr, Jody Enders, Jesse Hurlbut, Ruth Sternglantz
From: Milla Riggio
I recently replied to each of your good suggestions about Abraham
and Isaac and, in the process, explained my own project in more
detail. That was about 2 days ago. At the time I worried about
cluttering the PERFORM wires with multiple messages, when perhaps
one would have been sufficient, but each inquiry seemed to me to
ask for a specific response. So far, I haven't seen ANY of my
own four messages coming through PERFORM. Could you let me know
if you got a response, or if all simply went astray or may even
yet make their way through the intricacies of the system.
The composite gist of all those letters was to say, first, to Ruth that
I am precisely talking about Akedah (which I know under this spelling
rather than Akeida, probably a variant) and am anxious to trace the
many versions of the "tying" story in Jewish lore in more detail.
Particularly the story by which Abraham sacrificed Isaac who then
returned in some way from the dead. I am NOT at this particular
point looking for staging pictures, though we came close to staging
the Brome Abraham and a Persian Ibrahim and Ismael play in conjunction
with each other for the Toronto PLS 25+ festival last spring. We
just couldn't get our act together (literally) in time; I needed
Persian music (the Persian play is, in effect, a short opera) and
more time generally than I had. Now, however, I'm writing on the
Christian European plays (particularly Brome, though I'm also looking
at the four cycle plays, a couple of Italian plays, and one french
play) and the Persian version. The Jewish materials constitute
background for me only, but are fascinating in their own right and
if the project grows, could become more central. I'm also interested
not just in collating versions of the Abraham story but also in
considering the sacrificial act itself. Led a couple of years ago
by Naomi Amos to Rene Girard, I've been using Girard's analysis
of the sacrificial crisis as a starting place, but have been struck
by the fact that i the case of Abraham, the sacrifice seems almost
entirely personal, at least superficially. Isaac is not to be
sacrificed for the betterment or the rescuing or saving of the
culture itself. Indeed, in some ways only his rescue from the
sacrificial altar insures Abraham the continuity of his seed and
so of his society. So though the sacrifice does fit the
conventional pattern in many ways, with an animal surrogate for the
intended human victim, it also has other, possibly psychoanalytical
parameters: father devouring son implications? I'd welcome BOTH
references in theological commentary (midrash is important, of
course), art, literature and particularly drama that you may know
of AND conversation about Abraham's sacrificial act itself. I've
said all this before in four separate letters. But since I haven't
seen themon my screen, I'm assuming they all somehow went astray.
So, despite the possibility of redundancy, here they are again.
Looking forward to responses. Sorry about this composite rather
than personal answers, but I tried that and didn't get anywhere,
it seems.
Let's hope this goes through.
Best wishes and thanks for the help you've already given,
Milla Riggio
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 21:35:06 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: FKILGALL@UCS.INDIANA.EDU
Subject: Re: abraham
These are just a few minor, unpolished thoughts that I feel almost embarassed
about, but here they are:
1. If we accept that child sacrifice was fairly common in the region and time
of the Abraham story, then a story involving ones founder functions at some
level as a means of affirming the Hebrew LACK of that particular mode of
sacrifice.
2.We, as modern readers, are of course shocked by the notion.It is quite likely
that the community of readers/listeners for whom the Abraham story was told
were also shocked by the notion of his being asked to do such a thing. Abraham,
though, is not. What's more, Abraham never appears to doubt the outcome;
neither does he question it. As an attitude towards religious practice, such a
frame of mind is pretty desireable: Don't question, don't doubt. Be faithful.
As regards the notion of "sacrificial crisis," I'm afraid I can't comment. It
sounds quite interesting, though. I'm sorry if this is a waste of your time, I
just found the question so much more interesting than what I am forced to
ponder on a daily basis I couldn't resist.
F. Kilgallin
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 01:12:50 -0500
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: GR4302@SIUCVMB.BITNET
Subject: Cultural significance of Abraham and Isaac
Milla: I hope I'm not being too simplistic, but here goes. In the
English mystery cycles the Sacrifice of Isaac is a prefiguring of
Christ's sacrifice to come, for which it functions rather effectively.
The story could very well have had a messianic prefiguring role to
the ancient Semitic groups as well, who certainly believed in history
and prophecy. It probably had at least a similar function for them,
being that it is not a ritual at all, but rather a story about a
historical / mythical episode which included ritual sacrifice.
This story is certainly more significant to the community than just
the fact that Isaac doesn't bite it. From the KJV: "And the angel
of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And
said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast
done this thing, and hast not witheld thy son, thine only son: That
in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy
seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea
shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy
seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast
obeyed my voice" (Gen. 22: 15-18). This story-ritual establishes
the cultures that spring from Abraham as sanctioned by God, blessed
to multiply and be conquerers, and as being the means by which the whole
earth is blessed (perhaps the messiah). Pretty strong stuff I'd say!
I'll send my second suggestion in a second post.
Jeff Taylor gr4302@siucvmb.siu.edu
Southern Illinois University
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 01:42:31 -0500
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: GR4302@SIUCVMB.BITNET
Subject: further Abraham and Isaac cultural significance
Second suggestion: When I called the episode mythical I was refering
to its function in the culture, not questioning its historicity. There's
good secular evidence to believe that Abraham/Ibrahim indeed existed
and was many things that later traditions claim. If so his life was
during the intermediary periods between epochs in the ancient Near
East. Egypt was in turmoil having been taken over by some other Semitic
peoples, the Hyksos, or Shepherd Kings, which is why Abraham and later
Joseph and Jacob and the tribe were welcome in Egypt. Then arose "a
Pharoah who knew not Joseph" (Exodus 1), the "old religion" reconquering
from the south. During these trying times there was much decadence in
all the cultures of the Near East. (For example, The Epic of Gilgamesh,
the oldest written story, begins by describing the ancientness of the
culture, and its decay and decadence symbolized by Gilgamesh himself).
In myths these periods are ripe for Heroes to come to the cultural
rescue. In that sense Abraham and his descendents were Heroic.
To skip the gory details and to the point: Sacrificing one's children
to the gods was (probably) commonplace in those times, a striking
symbol of the decay of the early civilizations. Part of the ferocity
and success of the semitic groups which grew out of that intermediary
period was due to their utter rejection of the child-sacrificing cults,
hence the injunction against "seething a kid in its mother's milk" and
other such tags of the corrupted fertility cults. So: Abraham's
acceptance of this horrific command (God's asking him to become what
it's been both their plan all along that he shouldn't beomce) and then
God's halting of the act is potentialy symbolic of the culture
markedly differentiating themselves from their neighbors. One must
remember that when big civilizations fall (as did the Bronze age),
terrible things ensue. This is, I believe, the historical setting
through which this episode should be viewed. Those who have read
this, thanks for your patience. Am I crazy? What?
Jeff Taylor gr4302@siucvmb.siu.edu
Southern Illinois University
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 10:13:42 -0500
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: CLARY@SMCVAX.BITNET
Subject: wedding interludes
I am interested in historical information or bibliographical leads on the
genesis and development of a sub-species of interlude that was included as
part of the wedding festivities in England. Were particular kinds of plays
especially suitable? Do we have any useful documentation on the way these
interludes were played? As part of the wedding-night revelry, was there an
appropriate audience decorum?
Thanks,
Nick Clary
clary@smcvax.bitnet
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 10:42:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: MRIGGIO@TRINCC.BITNET
Subject: Re: Abraham story
Dear Rick:
Kierkegaard is, actually, important to me. The notion of a "Knight"
who might, instead, be a "murderer" if we only looked at it differently
--that's "knight of faith," of course, frames the moral ambiguity of this
sacrifice just as I would want it framed.
--Milla
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 10:48:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: MRIGGIO@TRINCC.BITNET
Subject: Re: abraham
Dear F. Kilgallin:
Your ideas about Abraham are far from uninteresting. In fact, as I
understand the Hebrew legends, the story of Abraham and Isaac is, in
part, an affirmation of that distinction in Hebrew culture, although
interestingly there is a tradition in midrash that Abraham did actually
sacrifice Isaac, or that Isaac was burned to death, despite Abraham's
withholding his own hand. This leads to a kind of resurrection story.
I'm reading some of these materials now. So, the notion of a story
that sets Abraham apart from surrounding cultures is interesting.
To follow that through, I would myself need a little more informaton
on the child sacrifice customs of the area. Any help there?
Also, it seems to be true, according to Bob Potter, that in Mexico
the Abraham/Isaac mystery play was used by Christians as a counter
to human sacrifice rituals, so the weight of the story: DON't
sacrifice your son -- does seem to have cultural impact.
Thanks for the response.
Milla Riggio
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 10:56:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: MRIGGIO@TRINCC.BITNET
Subject: Re: further Abraham and Isaac cultural significance
Dear Jeff Taylor:
Crazy? Like a fox? No, you have a very good handle on this question, and,
in fact, if I may use your e-mail entry as something of an idea-creating
source, I will give you credit for helping me to frame this question, and
when I have a little more time tonight, I'd like to think through your
interesting analysis a little more. How does one footnote e-mail?
This discussion could lead in some really good directions, I think,
because I'm also interested in the cultural functions of plays like
the English mystery Abraham/Isaac play, where the story is domesticated
and sentimentalized as it is ALSO done in the Persian play, where
Ismael actually goes around to his mother, his teachers, and all his
friends to tell them good-by before taking off for the sacrifice hill.
Thanks. Let's reflect some more.
Milla Riggio
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 11:30:00 EDT
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: STRNGLNTZ@NYUACF.BITNET
Subject: Milla Riggio's cry for help
Milla--
It has been my experience that unless you specifically send a command to the
listserver (something like SET listname ACK) asking to receive messages that
you send to the list, you will not get those messages.
Rest assured that there have been about a dozen postings with your name on them
over the last few days, and that I have received your response to my note. NB,
I'll have more for you in a couple of days . . .
Ruth
*******************************************************************************
Ruth E. Sternglantz |Bitnet: strnglntz@nyuacf
New York University |Internet: strnglntz@acfcluster.nyu.edu
Department of English |
19 University Place, Room 200 |Phone: 212 998-8800
New York, New York 10003 |
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 11:14:04 -0700
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: CARNAHAN_S@CUBLDR.COLORADO.EDU
Subject: Re: Abraham -- and Shakespeare through performance
Milla,
Thanks for the address . . . I'll get the goodies off today. (And just
remember . . . SOME of the Titanic passengers lived to tell the tale.)
Also thanks in advance for the "nod" . . . can't wait to see RORD!
Glad you liked the music at Zoo. We have such fun making it, that
we're twice blessed when those listening enjoy it too.
Sorry you won't be at the conference, but I'll see you at the next
dramatic event.
Best wishes,
Shirley
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 16:08:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: COX@HOPE.CIT.HOPE.EDU
Subject: Re: abraham
On the Abraham story, see also Erich Auerbach's first chapter in *Mimesis*,
one of the best commentaries available on Genesis 29.
John Cox
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 21:52:00 CST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: TB0WPW1@NIU.BITNET
Subject: Re: further Abraham and Isaac cultural significance
Milla Riggio asks a very good question: "how does one footnote
e-mail?" This is a matter that I keep harping on about in my
department, but most folk (generally non-e-mail users, but some
who do) don't seem interested. It is an interesting question
which has personnel and professional ramifications, and which
we will be forced to deal with sooner than we think. What
happens when we, or our colleagues, start putting electronic
scholarship on their CVs and annual service reports? I assume
that we can't just ignore it. Much of the discussion about
Abraham and Isaac has been as interesting and sound as anything
I've heard at MLA, SAA, or the like. Any suggestions about this?
I've asked the matter be put on a future agenda of our department's
governing committee and would like further thinking about this.
And I might add, I don't want my request to divert us from the.
interesting discussion of the Abraham and Isaac story.
William Proctor Williams TB0WPW1@NIU
English/Northern Illinois University
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 16:54:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: WRIGHTS@CUA.BITNET
Subject: Abraham and Isaac in early German plays and processions
Milla: I realize that you are probably not interested in
compiling a lengthy catalogue of early European performances of
the Abraham story strictly for its own sake, but I thought
you might be interested in early German examples--if for no
other reason than to help gauge how widespread such
performances were and in what specific social contexts they
were enacted. Here's a brief summary of what I found out today:
I. Extant texts
An episode in Arnold Immessen's _Spiel vom Su"ndenfall_ (15th
century), lines 1893-1991. The title is a misnomer, since the
play covers Biblical and apocryphal material from the Creation to
the birth of the Virgin.
An episode in the Old Testament section of the _Egerer Passionsspiel_
(c. 1500), ll. 757-810.
An episode in the _Freiburger Fronleichnamspiel_ (both the A and
B versions, late 16th century), ll. 199-302.
An episode in the _Heidelberger Passionsspiel_ (1514). In some ways
this is the most interesting example of all. This huge play has
no OT cycle at all; it opens with John the Baptist. The
Sacrifice play is inserted in the midst of the Passion sequence,
between the crown of throns and the dream of Pilate's wife.
An episode in the _Ku"nzelsauer Fronleichnamspiel_ (c. 1480), ll.
621-64.
The scene was evidently part of the Lo"bau procession of 1521--the
text itself is lost; only the order of the procession survives.
An episode in both the 1571 and 1583 versions of the Luzern Passion,
ll. 661-780.
An episode at Zerbst (1507).
II. Allusions to performances for which no texts survive.
1. Frankfurt Passion (1498)
2. Ingolstadt Procession (1507)
3. Rheinau Procession (c. 1573)
4. Munich: a 1551 payment for a "comedi" of Abraham and Isaac to
be performed in "trinkstuben und rathaus"!!!
5. 1466 performance at Beek bei Maastricht
6. 1564 performance as a prelude to Schmalkalden passion play
7. :Abraham play" at Verden, 1552.
If anything in this list looks useful to you, I'll provide full
references.
--Steve Wright
wrights@cuavax
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 07:33:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: MRIGGIO@TRINCC.BITNET
Subject: Re: Abraham and Isaac in early German plays and processions
Dear Steve Wright:
Your German examples are, as a matter of fact, wonderfully helpful to me,
not that I would at this point try to examine their content, though some
details I'm beginning to look for could be helpful: Does Sarah appear
in any of them, as far as you know? Does the angel hold the ram, or
is it in a bush? Are logs provided for the fire? Are there servants
in the play? When does Isaac know he is to be killed and what is
his response? Do he and Abraham talk about Sarah, even if she is not
present?
Now, obviously, you haven't been reading these episodes lately and so
no doubt do not have answers to these questions. Thus, if you can give
me fuller citations and I have time, I may try to chase down one or
two of them for comparative purposes. I'm not precisely trying to
"catalogue" all European occurrences but I AM trying to get some idea
of when and where the story did occur in European drama. I have two
Italian plays myself, which seem to have been kept, as was the Brome
Abraham play, in separate texts rather than as part of a larger play
or play cycle. So, the German material is highly useful. If you
do have more exact citations and can pass them along without trouble
that would be great.
Many thanks.
Milla R
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 12:37:49 CST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Tomas Geczi
Subject: Re: Abraham
In-Reply-To: Message of Wed,
27 Jan 93 12:20:14 CST from
Larry; Thanks for info. ca. jobs, & iconogrfia; busy here ordering books
& being generally a nuisance to all parties concerned. Job at Boston
College looks good; I have several others in the fire; hope things are
more positive now with the new administration in D.C.
My car croaked again; carborator is being rebuilt; $250 more bucks; spent
$650 last year.
It's warm out again; yuk-another Dallas hot season coming up; yuk, yuk.
Shalom. T. Geczi
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 14:29:13 CST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Jody Enders
Subject: abraham
Dear Milla et al.
This is a very stimulating discussion about Abraham. And, at least
in the Viel Testament mystery, Jeff Taylor's comments are quite relevant.
What's interesting about this 15th century monster (that is, its' about
50,000 verses) is that there is
constant reference to "figures" and "figuration" (the latter being
the purpose of the play): all this as Abraham's sacrifice unfolds.
The drama of
the incident here is also the staging of intentions, because it is Lady
Mercy (battling Lady Justice) who stays God's hand, arguing that to see
the enactment of noble intentions is sufficient and therefore
that to require the actual sacrifice is not necessary.
The reference is to volume II of 6
and begins with Sarah's conception around I, 8345. The sacrifice itself
begins around II; 9470 as God explains that Abraham "figures" him in order
to show His perfect love for human nature (9435-40). More later
Jody Enders
Dept. of French and Italian, UCSB
Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (805) 893-3111/4696 FAX: (805) 893-8826
E MAIL: jenders@humanitas.ucsb.edu
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 16:59:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: WRIGHTS@CUA.BITNET
Subject: Midrash on Abraham and the death of Sarah
Milla: I finally tracked down the notes I mentioned several days ago.
They are scribbled in the back of my 1990 Kalamazoo program book.
The paper was "The Index of Jewish Art as a Model for New Projects,"
presented by Bezalel Narkiss of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem as
part of a very interesting session on "The Use of Computer Databases
to Access Medieval Pictures and Diagrams." One of the examples he
chose to show the caspabilities they were designing into the database
was the iconography of Abraham and Isaac.
According to my scribbles, the Midrash reports that the devil
hoisted Sarah to the top of a nearby mountain so that she could see
Abraham preparing to kill Isaac, thereby hoping to prevent God's
eventual blessing of Abraham and his descendents. When Sarah saw
what was happening, instead of rushing off to stop it, she died
on the spot. This explains why the death of Sarah is narrated as
the very next episode in Genesis 23.
An interesting connection, no? The life of the son is spared
by God; the life of the mother is sacrificed when the devil's plan
is foiled.
Unfortuately, as far as my notes are concerned, "Here endeth
the reading." But it sounds like an interesting connection for you
to track down. Happy hunting.
--Steve Wright
=========================================================================
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 10:03:49 +1100
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Nerida Newbigin
Subject: A&I
Thanks to Jesse Hurlbut and MRDS at Kalamazoo in 1991, I'm now a subscriber.
I joined the conversation only yesterday so I've missed the beginning, and
Milla's full explanation. Maybe I should keep my trap shut, but 'tis not in
my nature.
Milla, do you know E. Wellisch, _Isaac and Oedipus: A Study in Biblical
Psychology of the Sacrifice of Isaac; The Akedah_ (London: Routledge and
Kegan Paul, 1954)? In my photocopy of selected pages have noted (almost
twenty-five years ago, during a lecture on Feo Belcari's A&I by the late
Frederick May)AA that AkedaAh is a nonce word, reserved for one only
phenomenon.
A
If you are looking at Italian versions of the story, let me know. Since "Il
testo e il contesto dell'_Abramo e Isac_ di Feo Belcari," _Studi e problemi
di critica testuale_ 23 (1981): 13-37, I have been collecting further
material, some of which I had missed.
Creighton Gilbert, "The Smallest Problem in Florentine Iconography," in
_Essays Presented to Myron P. Gilmore_, ed. Sergio Bertelli and Gloria
Ramakus (Florence: La Nuova Italia, 1978), 2: 193-205
(On the Brunelleschi and Ghiberti panels for the Baptistry door competition;
Elijah and the son of the widow of Zeraphath, I Kings 17:23)
G. Mantovani, "Brunelleschi e Ghiberti: In margine all'iconografia del
Sacrificio," _Critica d'Arte_ 39, n. 138, 27-29 (Abraham offering Isac to
Mary and God the Father offering Christ to the Church).
According to John Law, citing from the _Cronaca Bellunese_, ed. P. A.
Doglione (Belluno, 1976), an A&I play was performed in Belluno, directed by
a Venetian franciscan, on 8 and 24 July 1402 (see John Law, "A Clerical
Chronicler of c. 1400: Clemente Miari of Belluno," _Renaissance Studies_ 2
(1988), p. 174). I have not looked at the description, but this may well be
the earliest Italian A&I.
I would welcome any information that scholars of the northern drama can
provide about plays seen in Italy by northern visitors, other than the good
Russian bishop of 1439.
Nerida Newbigin, Department of Italian, A26, University of Sydney, 2006
Australia
Nerida.Newbigin@Italian.su.edu.au
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 17:02:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: WRIGHTS@CUA.BITNET
Subject: Abraham and Sarah again
Milla: A quick follow-up thought on my posting about the Midrash abnd
the death of sarah. Could there be any connection between this and
Isaac's deep concern for his mother's well-being in the Brome play?
I seem to recall that he refers to his mother several times, and
asks Abraham not to tell her that he is dead--only that he has gone
far off into another country.
--Steve
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 21:08:38 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: FKILGALL@UCS.INDIANA.EDU
Subject: Re: Abraham and Isaac in early German plays and processions
Milla:
Sorry to piggyback in on this message, since mine is unrelated to the topic
at hand, but I don't know how to reach individual addresses via this list...
Anyway, I have a couple of references regarding child sacrificial practices
in Canaan and the region: W.F. Albright "Yahweh and the gods of Canaan;"
Garden City, N.Y. Doubleday, 1968; and Otto Eissfeldt, "The Old Testament, an
Introduction;" New York: Harper, 1965. Also see Leviticus 20:1-5. Hope it
helps.
Fred Kilgallin
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 17:30:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: WRIGHTS@CUA.BITNET
Subject: German Abraham and Isaac plays
Milla: Here are the most recent editions of the plays I cited, plus
one newcomer to the list that I just turned up today:
1.Arnold Immessen, _Der Su"ndenfall_, ed. Friedrich Krage (Heidelberg,
1913)
2. _Egerer Fronleichnamsspiel_, ed. Gustav Milchsack , Bibliothek
des Litterarischen Vereins in Stuttgart, 150 (Tu"bingen, 1881)
3. Ernst Martin, _Freiburger Passionsspiele des XVI. Jahrhunderts_
in _Zeitschrift des Gesellschaft fu"r Befo"derung der Geschichts-,
Altertums- und Volkskunde von Freiburg, dem Breisgau, und den
angrenzenden Landschaften, 3 (1873-74), pp. 1-206. (This one
is pretty hard to find, but I have my own copy. I'll xerox the
scene if you want it.)
4. _Heidelberger Passionsspiel_, ed. Gustav Milschsack (Tu"bigen 1880)
5. _Das Ku"nzelsauer Fronleichnamsspiel_, ed. Peter K. Liebenow,
Ausgaben deutscher Literatur des XV. bis XVI. Jahrhunderts, Reihe 2
Drama (Berlin, 1969). Ralph Blasting at Towson State knows just about
everything there is to know about this text.
6. _Das Luzerner Osterspiel_, ed. Heinz Wyss (Bern 1967)
7. _Das Zerbster Prozessionsspiel 1507_, ed. Willm Reupke (Berlin, Leipzig,
1930).
The new piece I ran across is a single role for sarah
from Zutphen, 15th century, edited by J. Gimberg, "Fragment van een
geestelijk drama," in _Gelre. Bijdragen en Mededelingen, 6 (1903),
279-81.
--Steve Wright
PS: As you can see, I have no idea what to do with umlauts and other
diacritical marks in e-mail. Is there a standard convention I
should know about?
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 20:19:03 -0700
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: CARNAHAN_S@CUBLDR.COLORADO.EDU
Subject: Well-meaning Information
From: IN%"MEDTEXTL%UIUCVMD.BITNET@vaxf.colorado.edu" "Medieval Text - Philolo
gy, Codicology, and Technology etc." 27-JAN-1993 10:02:44.04
To: IN%"MEDTEXTL%UIUCVMD.BITNET@vaxf.colorado.edu" "Multiple recipients of
list MEDTEXTL"
CC:
Subj: Waking a well?
Of what import would "waking a well" be in late medieval England,
perhaps elsewhere as well? My OED1 just says "To pass the night by (a
well) as a superstitious observance" and refers to a late-15th-cent. lyric
in which a girl who wakes the night is impregnated by a cleric Sir John,
and who then resents her situation (at the end of the verse is a tag "Bryan
hys my name iet"--is there a female Brian or is this a male writing with
a female persona?). This is the lyric on pp. 669-70 in Garbaty, which he
titles "Sir John Doth Play."
In contrast, there is an early-14th-cent. lyric "Maiden in the Moor
Lay" on which Garbaty comments (p. 657, before the text) that there might
have been a fertility ritual of "sleeping beside a well as an aid to
conception."
The purpose of waking a well in the first above is evidently not
conception, and this would belie Garbaty's comment attached to the second.
Can anyone shed light on this? Why would women wake wells?
Juris G. Lidaka Internet Lidaka@WVSVAX.WVNET.EDU
Bitnet Lidaka@WVNWVSC
=========================================================================
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 15:40:30 -0800
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: GREENFIELD@UPS.EDU
Subject: E-mail documentation
Fellow PERFORMers--
My colleague Sarah Sloane, who writes on artificial intelligence and
other computerly subjects, tells me that the APA style sheet (and
possibly the MLA) already contains a format for documenting e-mail.
Deciding how to count e-mail submissions in faculty evaluations isn't
so easily resolved, unfortunately.
Peter Greenfield
University of Puget Sound
=========================================================================
Date: Sat, 30 Jan 1993 19:15:00 CST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Bob Clark
Subject: Abraham sacrifiant (Beze)
Dear Milla,
The other day I stumbled on a ref. to _Abraham sacrifiant_ by Theodore
de Beze, and naturally I thought of you! Also, I don't recall having
seen any mention of it in the discussion thus far. Petit de Julleville
(_Les Mysteres_, vol. 1, p. 450) gives the title as _Tragedie francaise
du sacrifice d'Abraham, necessaire a tous chretiens pour trouver
consolation au temps de tribulation et d'adversite_. It seems that it is
a tragedy in name only, having the form of a mystery play (i.e. it
isn't divided into acts and scenes, doesn't observe the unities, doesn't une
elevated language, etc. etc.). P. de J. lists the characters as Abraham,
Isaac, Sara, the angel, Satan, and the shepherds, and he characterizes it as:
"... une page du _Viel Testament_, refaite par un protestant, avec un
caractere tout nouveau d'apologie et de satire."
Donald Stone has a few words about _Abraham sacrifiant_ in his _France
in the Sixteenth Century_ (pp. 106-107). The date of the play is, BTW,
1550. His main interest is to demonstrate that the play was
not the first French tragedy, an honor he bestows on Jodelle's
_Cleopatre captive_ of 1552. He does say that the Beze play shows the
influence of Euripides' _Iphigenia in Aulis_, i.e. it is still very much
a humanist project.
There are two recent critical editions of the text:
Author: Beze, Theodore de, 1519-1605.
Title: Abraham sacrifiant. Ed. critique avec introd. et notes par
Keith Cameron, Kathleen M. Hall, Francis Higman.
Published: Geneve, Droz, 1967.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author: Stone, Donald.
Title: Four Renaissance tragedies. With an introd. and glossary by
Donald Stone, Jr.
Published: Cambridge, Distributed for the Dept. of Romance Languages and
Literatures of Harvard University by Harvard University
Press, 1966.
Contents: Jephte; ou, Le voeu, by G. Buchanan.--Abraham sacrifiant, by
T. de Beze.--Didon se sacrifiant, by E. Jodelle.--Saul le
furieux, by J. de la Taille.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I haven't looked at the play, but it sounds as if it may offer an interesting
take on the Abraham and Isaac material.
Hope it's of interest. Cheers.
Bob Clark
Kansas State Univ.
-- End --