In the late Middle Ages, so called 'mystery plays' enjoyed great popularity in English towns and especially in those of the north. Many of these plays were grouped in greater cycles among which the cycle of York, commonly known as the "York Mystery Plays", is the best preserved, and presumably one of the oldest, largest and most elaborate ones as well. Its forty-seven constituent plays are concerned with Christian belief and sacred history, a circumstance reflected in the collection's authentic title – the Corpus Christi play.
It is interesting that the term 'mystery plays', an invention of the 18th century, does not only point to the content of the cycle, as the alternative expression 'miracle plays' does. The term simultaneously addresses those associations of people that were responsible for the cycle's staging: the trade and craft guilds of a town. Based on the archaic meaning of the word, denoting a 'handicraft or trade', it was occasionally referred to these guilds as 'mysteries' as well. In the case of the dramatic cycle of York, each individual play was assigned to one (or in some cases two) of these 'mysteries' or guilds.
This paper aims at investigating the role these guilds played in the organisation, the funding and the staging of the cycle. It can be argued that aside from their more obvious economic and social functions, the medieval trade and craft guilds also had a cultural function in the narrow meaning of the term. Further can be argued that the Corpus Christi cycle was not only a cultural and a ritual event, but that it had an important social (and perhaps even an economic) function for the city of York and the communal life of its inhabitants. In fact, it may be this interplay of various domains of life and thought that can explain how the cycle could survive in the form of an annual performance for a period as long as two hundred years, and why it came into being as well as disappeared not randomly but at certain moments in history.
Looking upon the play as a civic rather than an ecclesiastical affair, this work thus investigates the cycle's link with the economic history of York and the organisational development of the trade and craft guilds. It will be shown in particular that as a sort of 'producers' the guilds had a range of clearly defined responsibilities and that among these the aspect of funding was the most central.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The York Corpus Christi Play
2.1. The Text and Other Sources
2.2. Content and Mode of Performance
3. The Role of the Trade and Craft Guilds
3.1. Trade and Craft Guilds in the Middle Ages
3.2. Craft Guilds and the York Corpus Christi Cycle
3.2.1. Responsibilities
3.2.2. Financing
4. Conclusions and Summary
Objectives and Topics
This paper examines the influence of medieval trade and craft guilds on the organization, financing, and performance of the York Corpus Christi cycle, arguing that these guilds performed a vital cultural function beyond their primary economic and social roles.
- Historical context of the York Corpus Christi Play and its sources.
- Economic and social functions of medieval trade and craft guilds.
- The specific organizational structure linking guilds to the cycle's individual pageants.
- Financial burdens and management strategies of guilds in staging the cycle.
- The interplay between civic life, economic development, and ritual performance.
Excerpt from the Book
3.2.2. FINANCING
It still needs clarification what precisely it meant if a guild was assigned responsibility for one of the pageants. Before anything else it meant that they were responsible for the financing of their play. The actual preparations usually began early in Lent, i.e. about three months prior the performance. Each guild elected officers who were known as 'pageant-masters', whose first task was to collect the 'pageant silver', i.e. the money paid by the individual craftsmen of the guild. Alongside this annual collection, various fines for poor workmanship or violations of guild regulations contributed towards the financing of the play alike (see ib., xvi).
The money was thereupon used for a variety of purposes: The main material expenses included "the purchase or refurbishment of properties and costumes" (ib.) as well as the storage and maintenance of the pageant-wagon which was "an item of considerable value and prestige" (ib., xxi). Aside from that, a sort of "director" (so Beadle calls him, "though no such word then existed"; ib., xvi) had to be found, who would sometimes be a cleric or a member of a religious order, and whom were given the funds for another range of expenses. "It was evidently his task to hire, rehearse, and pay the actors, which suggests a degree of 'professionalism' in the presentation of the cycle" (ib., xvif.). Hence on this level ecclesiastical authorities had some influence after all, though it should be noted that it were the pageant-masters who selected and paid these "directors", which means that the guilds retained their topmost authority over the production.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Introduces the York Corpus Christi Play as a significant civic enterprise and outlines the paper's goal to investigate the cultural, organizational, and economic roles of guilds in the cycle's production.
2. The York Corpus Christi Play: Provides a historical overview of the manuscript sources and describes the unique processional mode of performance across multiple stations in the city.
3. The Role of the Trade and Craft Guilds: Analyzes the function, history, and internal power dynamics of medieval guilds, and examines their specific administrative and financial responsibilities in organizing the cycle's pageants.
4. Conclusions and Summary: Synthesizes findings to argue that guilds acted as essential producers of ritual drama, fostering civic identity and community solidarity through their management of the performances.
Keywords
York Corpus Christi Play, Trade Guilds, Craft Guilds, Middle Ages, Pageant, Civic Performance, Medieval Theatre, Guild Financing, Pageant-masters, Manuscript Register, Economic History, Social Function, Cultural Function, Processional Drama, York.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this research paper?
The paper investigates how medieval trade and craft guilds were responsible for organizing, financing, and staging the York Corpus Christi Play, and explores their cultural function within the city.
What central topics are covered in the text?
Key topics include the history of the York mystery cycles, the socioeconomic structure of medieval guilds, the processional method of staging plays, and the financial requirements placed on guild members.
What is the main objective of the work?
The objective is to argue that the Corpus Christi cycle was a civic affair rather than merely an ecclesiastical one, driven by the guild structure, which served to express religious belief while reinforcing city prestige.
Which methodology is employed in this study?
The author conducts a historical analysis based on primary documents such as the 'Register' and the 'Ordo Paginarum', alongside scholarly interpretations of medieval guild archives and economic records.
What themes are addressed in the main body?
The main body treats the distinction between trade and craft guilds, the logistics of pageant-wagon performance, the financial burden on guilds, and the correlation between the city's economic health and the continuity of the plays.
Which keywords characterize this work?
Major keywords include York Corpus Christi Play, guild organization, pageant-wagons, medieval economic history, and civic community.
How were individual pageants assigned to guilds?
Each play was assigned to a specific guild, which remained responsible for its performance, although some assignments changed over time due to financial pressures or changes in guild influence.
Did the content of the plays reflect the occupation of the guild?
While not a strict rule, in some cases, such as the Shipwrights performing the Noah play or the Bakers the Last Supper, there was a symbolic or historical link between the guild's trade and the assigned biblical narrative.
- Citar trabajo
- Sylvio Konkol (Autor), 2013, The York Corpus Christi Play and the Role of the Craft Guilds, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/306053
