How did the Church's attitude toward mystery and miracle plays differ from that of most townspeople in Medieval Europe?

Answer 1

Everyone was Catholic in Europe so any play put on by the church was considered to be part of the church teachings.
The church disapproved of them, but most townspeople still

enjoyed them. but they had to approve of them anyway because it was keeping most people happy. When the Church was under attack by reformers, it brought in a complete ban. The study of the Medieval theatre in France gives a clear answer to this question:

At the outset it was the Church that provided plays for religious instruction. The first plays appear around the year 1000, performed in Latin before the Church altar. By the 12th century, they have moved out onto the forecourt of the church and the language is French. Originally the congregation had watched in awe something they did not understand, but now they watched for entertainment. Increasingly, lay people took over their organisation: town officials and other bodies, confréreries (brotherhoods) such as the organisation of legal clerks known as "les Basoches", long established and active in the provinces as well, with a taste for disputation and satire. The clergy became increasingly anxious as they saw themselves losing control of this means of opinion forming and as they saw access to the scriptures, their sole prerogative falling into unauthorised hands. In coming years many Basoches and their associates would know prison and worse.

Among the religious plays found in these centuries were:

• Passion plays, timed mainly for the Christian festivals and depicting mainly the Easter story,
• Miracle plays (In the 14th century) mainly depicting lives of Saints
• Mystery plays- "Les Mystères" (In 15th and 16th century). These were ambitious productions, telling the whole life stories of Saints and of Christ- with performances lasting several days. The poet and playwright Pierre Gringoire wrote a mystery play about Louis IX, (1514) for the Paris guild of masons and carpenters. Wikipedia tells that some scholars consider this to be Gringoire's masterpiece.
• Morality plays - "Les Moralités" - (In the 15th and 16th century). These were similar to religious plays in that they usually preached the victory of virtue over vice, but they contained social satire, dealing with religious controversy- education and politics.

Medieval French theatre brought the people together as a community in the town square, where they were preached at, where they found entertainment, with drama, excitement and music, where together they laughed at and perhaps got angry about people and events in their lives.

Popular theatre, both with its religious and non-religious plays remained strong in France at the turn of the 16th century, . The early years of the 16th century, however, saw the dawning of the French Renaissance, with the exhilaration of new ideas, inspired by a revived interest in the writings of Ancient Greece and Rome. The upsurge of ideas of reform threatened the security of Church and state which together had ruled with absolute authority since the time of Constantine. Kings of France became more aware of the need to control the subversion found in popular entertainment, notably in the sotties that often had the effrontery to ridicule members of the royal family and the church and expressed a viewpoint unfavourable to established authority. Although religious plays remained popular, they were the first target of official sanction. In 1548, the Paris Parlement promulgated a complete ban on the performance of all mystères. Henceforth the only plays that could be performed were on non-religious matters, that were judged decent and in keeping with the laws of the land. Later, between 1588 to 1594, all types of play were forbidden by further edicts of the Paris Parlement . The fate of the Medieval French popular theatre was thus sealed.

Answer 2

Everyone was Catholic in Europe so any play put on by the church was considered to be part of the church teachings.
The church disapproved of them, but most townspeople still

enjoyed them. but they had to approve of them anyway because it was keeping most people happy. When the Church was under attack by reformers, it brought in a complete ban. The study of the Medieval theatre in France gives a clear answer to this question:

At the outset it was the Church that provided plays for religious instruction. The first plays appear around the year 1000, performed in Latin before the Church altar. By the 12th century, they have moved out onto the forecourt of the church and the language is French. Originally the congregation had watched in awe something they did not understand, but now they watched for entertainment. Increasingly, lay people took over their organisation: town officials and other bodies, confréreries (brotherhoods) such as the organisation of legal clerks known as "les Basoches", long established and active in the provinces as well, with a taste for disputation and satire. The clergy became increasingly anxious as they saw themselves losing control of this means of opinion forming and as they saw access to the scriptures, their sole prerogative falling into unauthorised hands. In coming years many Basoches and their associates would know prison and worse.

Among the religious plays found in these centuries were:

• Passion plays, timed mainly for the Christian festivals and depicting mainly the Easter story,
• Miracle plays (In the 14th century) mainly depicting lives of Saints
• Mystery plays- "Les Mystères" (In 15th and 16th century). These were ambitious productions, telling the whole life stories of Saints and of Christ- with performances lasting several days. The poet and playwright Pierre Gringoire wrote a mystery play about Louis IX, (1514) for the Paris guild of masons and carpenters. Wikipedia tells that some scholars consider this to be Gringoire's masterpiece.
• Morality plays - "Les Moralités" - (In the 15th and 16th century). These were similar to religious plays in that they usually preached the victory of virtue over vice, but they contained social satire, dealing with religious controversy- education and politics.

Medieval French theatre brought the people together as a community in the town square, where they were preached at, where they found entertainment, with drama, excitement and music, where together they laughed at and perhaps got angry about people and events in their lives.

Popular theatre, both with its religious and non-religious plays remained strong in France at the turn of the 16th century, . The early years of the 16th century, however, saw the dawning of the French Renaissance, with the exhilaration of new ideas, inspired by a revived interest in the writings of Ancient Greece and Rome. The upsurge of ideas of reform threatened the security of Church and state which together had ruled with absolute authority since the time of Constantine. Kings of France became more aware of the need to control the subversion found in popular entertainment, notably in the sotties that often had the effrontery to ridicule members of the royal family and the church and expressed a viewpoint unfavourable to established authority. Although religious plays remained popular, they were the first target of official sanction. In 1548, the Paris Parlement promulgated a complete ban on the performance of all mystères. Henceforth the only plays that could be performed were on non-religious matters, that were judged decent and in keeping with the laws of the land. Later, between 1588 to 1594, all types of play were forbidden by further edicts of the Paris Parlement . The fate of the Medieval French popular theatre was thus sealed.

Answer 3

Everyone was Catholic in Europe so any play put on by the church was considered to be part of the church teachings.
The church disapproved of them, but most townspeople still

enjoyed them. but they had to approve of them anyway because it was keeping most people happy. When the Church was under attack by reformers, it brought in a complete ban. The study of the Medieval theatre in France gives a clear answer to this question:

At the outset it was the Church that provided plays for religious instruction. The first plays appear around the year 1000, performed in Latin before the Church altar. By the 12th century, they have moved out onto the forecourt of the church and the language is French. Originally the congregation had watched in awe something they did not understand, but now they watched for entertainment. Increasingly, lay people took over their organisation: town officials and other bodies, confréreries (brotherhoods) such as the organisation of legal clerks known as "les Basoches", long established and active in the provinces as well, with a taste for disputation and satire. The clergy became increasingly anxious as they saw themselves losing control of this means of opinion forming and as they saw access to the scriptures, their sole prerogative falling into unauthorised hands. In coming years many Basoches and their associates would know prison and worse.

Among the religious plays found in these centuries were:

• Passion plays, timed mainly for the Christian festivals and depicting mainly the Easter story,
• Miracle plays (In the 14th century) mainly depicting lives of Saints
• Mystery plays- "Les Mystères" (In 15th and 16th century). These were ambitious productions, telling the whole life stories of Saints and of Christ- with performances lasting several days. The poet and playwright Pierre Gringoire wrote a mystery play about Louis IX, (1514) for the Paris guild of masons and carpenters. Wikipedia tells that some scholars consider this to be Gringoire's masterpiece.
• Morality plays - "Les Moralités" - (In the 15th and 16th century). These were similar to religious plays in that they usually preached the victory of virtue over vice, but they contained social satire, dealing with religious controversy- education and politics.

Medieval French theatre brought the people together as a community in the town square, where they were preached at, where they found entertainment, with drama, excitement and music, where together they laughed at and perhaps got angry about people and events in their lives.

Popular theatre, both with its religious and non-religious plays remained strong in France at the turn of the 16th century, . The early years of the 16th century, however, saw the dawning of the French Renaissance, with the exhilaration of new ideas, inspired by a revived interest in the writings of Ancient Greece and Rome. The upsurge of ideas of reform threatened the security of Church and state which together had ruled with absolute authority since the time of Constantine. Kings of France became more aware of the need to control the subversion found in popular entertainment, notably in the sotties that often had the effrontery to ridicule members of the royal family and the church and expressed a viewpoint unfavourable to established authority. Although religious plays remained popular, they were the first target of official sanction. In 1548, the Paris Parlement promulgated a complete ban on the performance of all mystères. Henceforth the only plays that could be performed were on non-religious matters, that were judged decent and in keeping with the laws of the land. Later, between 1588 to 1594, all types of play were forbidden by further edicts of the Paris Parlement . The fate of the Medieval French popular theatre was thus sealed.