The New Student's Reference Work/Miracle-Plays

Mir′acle-Plays or Mys′teries were plays performed in the middle ages, the subjects of which were taken from the Bible or the lives of saints. Miracle-plays were founded on legends, and the mysteries on the history of the Bible, but the distinction was not carefully observed. The plays were at first performed in the churches by the clergy and their assistants, but afterward on stages erected in the streets, and at one time every important place had its band of players. The first known specimen of these plays dates back to the 4th century. In 1110, in Dunstable, England, was exhibited the play of St. Catherine, the earliest mentioned in England. They were used at first as means of religious instruction, but became gradually corrupted by jests and vulgarities. After the Reformation they slowly declined, though the first blow against them came from the Roman Catholic church on the ground of their irreverence. The only modern instance of these plays is the Passion Play, which is performed once in ten years at Oberammergau in Bavaria, as the townspeople pleaded successfully to be excepted from the general condemnation in 1779. (See Oberammergau.) See Miracle Plays by Hase and English Miracle Plays, Mysteries and Moralities, by Pollard.