Theater historians have long been puzzled by the absence of a crucifixion scene in the ‘Künzelsau Corpus Christi Play’. In its place, an adoration of the cross (‘adoratio crucis’) occured, in which a priest displayed a cross to the... more
Theater historians have long been puzzled by the absence of a crucifixion scene in the ‘Künzelsau Corpus Christi Play’. In its place, an adoration of the cross (‘adoratio crucis’) occured, in which a priest displayed a cross to the audience. Based on connections between the 1479 play text and the Künzelsau procession of holy relics documented for 1499, it is apparent that the cross in question was a reliquary crucifix containing what contemporaries believed to be a fragment of the True Cross. The crucifixion was thus not absent from the play, but rather represented through other, non-mimetic means.
Resumen Tradicionalmente se ha abordado el estudio del teatro evangelizador o bien otorgando individualidad metodológica a cada una de estas representaciones, o bien analizándolas desde la perspectiva de los subgéneros teatrales. Sin... more
Resumen Tradicionalmente se ha abordado el estudio del teatro evangelizador o bien otorgando individualidad metodológica a cada una de estas representaciones, o bien analizándolas desde la perspectiva de los subgéneros teatrales. Sin embargo, una comparación de teatralizaciones que compartieron un contexto histórico determinado puede proveernos de más elementos para su análisis e interpretación. Nuestra hipótesis es que, a pesar de que la mayoría de estas representaciones tenían un argumento relativamente estructurado y tradicional, en su articulación colonial novohispana no sólo se permearon de rasgos prehispánicos e indígenas coloniales sino que también permiten relevar algunas prácticas sociales que fueron puestas en escena por los nativos y por los europeos. Palabras clave: Teatro evangelizador, Nueva España, Colonia, Motolinía. The novo-hispanic Corpus Christi of 1539. Dramatization of a defeat in three colonial representations Abstract Traditionally has been approached the study of evangelist theater or methodological giving individuality to each of these representations, or analyzed from the perspective of the subgenera theater. However, a comparison to dramatizations that shared a given historical context can provide more items for analysis and interpretation. Our hypothesis is that, although most of these representations had a relatively structured and traditional argument, in its articulation colonial New Spain not only permeated the pre-Hispanic indigenous and colonial features but also allow relieving some social practices that were staged by natives and Europeans
This essay represents my first write-up, in German, of the indulgence practices surrounding the Zerbst Corpus Christi play (1507). My 2018 Speculum essay, "Raymond Peraudi in Zerbst," provides a more focused treatment in English of the... more
This essay represents my first write-up, in German, of the indulgence practices surrounding the Zerbst Corpus Christi play (1507). My 2018 Speculum essay, "Raymond Peraudi in Zerbst," provides a more focused treatment in English of the economic aspects of the "indulgence cross," adapted by Zerbst play organizers from the papal indulgence ritual instituted by Raymond Peraudi and the implications of the play's indulgence revenue for our understanding of pre-Reformation indulgence practices. The German essay here offers a broader discussion of the play's "figural" performance, which featured some seventy-five typological tableaux vivants, referred to by contemporaries as "figurae."
The pdf file here includes handwritten corrections of minor errata in the original publication, including the misidentification of the Zerbst "plebanus," or "Leutpriester."
