
Contents
-
-
-
-
-
The Archive of Saint Plays The Archive of Saint Plays
-
Show Time Show Time
-
How to Do Things with Saints How to Do Things with Saints
-
Vernacular Improvisation Vernacular Improvisation
-
Sacred Time Sacred Time
-
Iconoclastic Time Iconoclastic Time
-
Disfigurement Disfigurement
-
Re-curation Re-curation
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1 The Archives of Performance and Sacred Time
Get access-
Published:August 2023
Cite
Abstract
Chapter 1 offers a survey of medieval saint plays and the reforms of the liturgical calendar of the English church. The development of theatrical repertoire in the Middle Ages and the shifts in the catalog of saints in liturgical calendars determined which saints and which types of saints were dramatized on the early modern stage. In the Middle Ages, saints were depicted in snippets and scenes of iconography, miracles, transformation, and romance and these performances frequently occurred as part of a sacred temporality. When saints did appear in dramatic form, such as in the Digby Plays and the N-Town Plays, a process of vernacular improvisation interpolated tropes from other established genres and miracles were used to validate claims of sanctity. In all cases, it was common for theatrical and paratheatrical events involving saints to veer from their devotional vitae. The second half of the chapter tracks the growth, iconoclasm, and limited return of saints in English liturgical calendars across the various reforms of the sixteenth century. Despite a contention with saints and sainthood as England underwent Protestant reform, the official inventory of sanctity in the English church made space for certain ancient martyrs and English saints. Chapter 1 is complemented by the book’s two appendices. Appendix I presents a table of nearly three hundred theatrical events involving saints between the tenth and seventeenth centuries, and Appendix II inventories saints in liturgical calendars across the sixteenth century.
Sign in
Personal account
- Sign in with email/username & password
- Get email alerts
- Save searches
- Purchase content
- Activate your purchase/trial code
- Add your ORCID iD
Purchase
Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.
Purchasing informationMonth: | Total Views: |
---|---|
August 2023 | 3 |
September 2023 | 2 |
October 2023 | 4 |
November 2023 | 5 |
December 2023 | 5 |
January 2024 | 2 |
February 2024 | 4 |
March 2024 | 2 |
April 2024 | 3 |
May 2024 | 1 |
June 2024 | 2 |
July 2024 | 2 |
August 2024 | 3 |
October 2024 | 3 |
November 2024 | 4 |
December 2024 | 16 |
January 2025 | 8 |
April 2025 | 2 |
May 2025 | 4 |
Get help with access
Institutional access
Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:
IP based access
Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.
Sign in through your institution
Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.
If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.
Sign in with a library card
Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.
Society Members
Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:
Sign in through society site
Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:
If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.
Sign in using a personal account
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.
Personal account
A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.
Viewing your signed in accounts
Click the account icon in the top right to:
Signed in but can't access content
Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.
Institutional account management
For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.