From Tableaux to Text: The York Corpus Christi Play ca. 1378–1428

Abstract

Corpus Christi, the quintessential expression of later medieval Eucharistic devotion, was widely marked by processions of the Host, but also by varieties of tableaux performance and sometimes by actual drama. The case of the York Play made up of a large number of pageants representing a biblical narrative from the Creation to Doomsday and performed by the city's crafts is well known and the extant texts are much studied. Although apparently first documented in 1376, the earlier history remains obscure. Recent scholarship emphasizes organization and hence control from above—and specifically by the city government— almost from the beginning. The present article hypothesizes an evolutionary model and suggests that a series of Passion tableaux performed by artisanal guilds developed into a more elaborate cycle once mercantile crafts, connected to civic government, came to be involved. It suggests a possible performance of the city's Creed Play ca. 1420 may have been crucial in this process.