On Fri, 16 Nov 2001, Lawrence M. Clopper wrote:
> My note was in regard to the second item in Andrzej's original
> note: the letter from Innocent III (1207) that is quoted at the end of
> this e-mail. The letter was partially quoted in the Decretals of Gregory
> IX, 3.1.12 (Corpus iuriis canonici; Friedberg 2.452): Interdum ludi . . .
> theatrales. Ludi theatrales continues to be translated as "stage plays"
> despite the fact that both Chambers and Young insisted that liturgical
> pieces are not the object of the prohibition. The letter and the decretal
> refers to the raukous games of the lower clergy, esp. around Christmas:
> boy bishops, feast of fools and the like. The canonist Bernardo Bottone
> makes this quite clear in his gloss, Cum decorem, which was standard. He
> says that Innocent is not referring representationes of the Nativity,
> Rachel, etc. because these encourage men to worship and devotion.
I am not quite sure why we should refrain from translating 'ludi
theatrales' as 'stage plays' because the decretalists make it clear
that what is being referred to by that phrase is the seasonal misrule
of the minor clergy (often called 'ludi inhonesti' in canonical
literature) rather than 'repraesentationes', which appears to be their
term for at least some of what we call 'liturgical drama'. I am not
sure I can think of a better way to translate 'ludi theatrales' than
'stage plays' -- I think part of the point here (as with the use of
'spectacula' ('shows', a term used in antiquity to refer to the
gladiatorial shows) in canonical prohibitions) is to make an implicit
comparison between the contemporary thing being prohibited and an
ancient, and hence pagan, practice. By calling these things 'ludi
theatrales' the canonist reminds us of the nasty practices of the
ancient theatre (as they were then conceived). It's a lot like the
tendency of twelfth and thirteenth century theologians to call any
contemporary heretic an Arian or Sabellian -- by invoking the ancient
error, which no-one wants to be seen as defending, they automatically
force the object of their disagreement into a defensive role with one
strike against them.
Abigail
Abigail Ann Young (Dr), Associate Editor/ Records of Early English Drama/
Victoria College/ 150 Charles Street W/ Toronto Ontario Canada
Phone (416) 585-4504/ FAX (416) 813-4093/ [log in to unmask]
List-owner of REED-L <http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~reed/reed-l.html>
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~reed/reed.html => REED's home page
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~reed/stage.html => our theatre resource page
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~young => my home page
