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OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE
Los Angeles, California

MEDIEVAL THEATER AND INDO-EUROPEAN CONTEXT

By

Craig T. Fees

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in Theater
June, 1981

(c) Craig Fees 1981

Precis of the argument and structure of
MEDIEVAL THEATER AND INDO-EUROPEAN CONTEXT

Medieval European theater is placed, in this study, in a common architectual and ideological context with Indian, Roman, Greek, and Romano-Celtic theaters. The inference is that all reflect a common Indo-European ideology, and the suggestion is made that Medieval theater is part of a continuous tradition pre-dating the Roman era. This argument is based in part on the Romano-Celtic theaters of Northern France and Southern England - Roman era theaters with a non-Roman design analogous to Medieval stages.

The thesis begins with a survey of histories of Medieval theater in English from the beginning of the 18th century to the present, emphasising the development of ideas prior to and leading up to E.K. Chambers' The Medieval Stage (1903), and emphasizing the variety of definitions of theater that have been used since. It is pointed out that all the elements of Chambers' theory were essentially in place by the end of the 18th century. The lack of consensus and rigour in definitions is noted as crippling any attemp tto compare historical studies written by different scholars.

To counter the Chambers-Young hypothesis of Medieval theater the following arguments are made: Roman civilization never fell, European culture is consequently continuous into and through the Middle Ages, Western Europe and her culture were influenced by outside theatro-genic cultures, plays were produced before the full development of liturgical drama was achieved, and histories of theater which identify theater with literature are misconceived, and inappropriate to the Medieval era. Specifically, it is shown that Byzantine culture had a major impact on Western Medieval culture; and it is shown that Hrotswitha, writing in Medieval Germany, created plays to be produced, that were produced, long before the liturgical origins theory can account for them.

A short final essay lays the groundwork for a new definition of theater, and argues the rise of a New Theater History, grounded in production as well as the library.

The thesis of Craig T. Fees is approved by:
Basil Busacca
Thomas Bloom
Omar M. Paxson

Occidental College
Los Angeles, California
Date: 6/4/81

Dedication.

This is dedicated to all the
strict princes and princesses,
the Sibis and MacDermots, who give
with one hand and bring the world to bloom.

Particularly to my mother,
who has been a veritable patron.

Contents

Precis of the argument and structure of the thesis

Dedication

List of Illustrations, Maps, Tables

Sources of Illustrations

Preface

Acknowledgements

Essay One: English Histories of Medieval Theater

Introduction: E.K. Chambers
I. Before Chambers: Birth in Conflict
II. The Eighteenth Century
III. The Door of the Nineteenth Century
IV. Stepping into the Nineteenth Century
V. Chambers' Immediate Predecessors
VI. Pause for Definitions
VII. Beyond Chambers: Mainly More Definitions

Essay Two: Questions on Some Basic Assumptions of the Liturgical-Origins Theory

I. Did Roman Civilization "Fall"?
II. Hrotswitha
III. External Influences on Medieval Western Theater

The Islamic World
Byzantium
The Jews
India

IV. What is the Meaning of the Absence of Records?

Essay Three: Theater in Indo-European Tradition

I. Archeology

The Romano-Celtic Theater

General
Design
Situation
Types
Sites

"Indo-European" and the Question of a Pre-Indo-European Drama

The Indo-European Architectural Context of the Romano-Celtic Theaters

II. Ideology

The Category "Theater"
Order, Game and Victory
Conforming to Order, and Truth
Victory and Creation
The Sacred, the Relations of Gods and Men
Praise
Festival
Patronage and Power
Conclusion

III. Theater

1. Vox populi
2. Patronage
3. Theater as Devotion

Rome
Celts
Greeks
India
Western Medieval

4. Theater as Scripture
5. Blessing

Essay Four: Defining Theater

Concluding Remarks

Notes

Bibliography

Folkdrama Bibliography

Sources of Illustrations

Figs. 1,2,3,4: Richard Ettinghausen, "The Dance With Zoomorphic Masks and Other Forms of Entertainment Seen in Islamic Art," in Arabic and Islamic Studies in Honor of Hamilton A.R. Gibb, ed. George Makdisi, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1965, following p. 224.

Fig. 5: S.S. Frere, "Excavations at Verulamium 1959," Antiquaries' Journal 40 (1960), p. 7.

Figs. 6,7,8,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25: Kathleen Kenyon, "The Roman Theatre at Verulamium, St. Albans," Archaeologia 84 (1934), plates and p. 249.

Figs. 9, 10: Rosalind Dunnett, "The Excavation of the Roman Theatre at Gosbeck's," Britannia 2 (1971), pp. 28, 42.

Fig. 11: J-L. Massy and J-L. Cadoux, "Etudes," Revue du Nord 52 (1970), p. 470.

Fig. 12: Gallia 33 (1973), p. 316.

Fig. 13: M-A. Dollfus, "Le theatre 'rustique' gallo-romain de Lyons-la-foret," Bulletin de la societe national des antiquaires de France, 1970, p. 110.

Fig. 14: Gallia 26 (1968), p. 327.

Fig. 15: S.S. Frere, "The Roman Theatre at Canterbury," Britannia 1 (1970), p. 88.

Figs. 26, 27: James H. Butler, The Theatre and Drama of Greece and Rome, San Francisco: Chandler, 1972, pp. 33, 102.

Fig. 28: M. Baudot, "Le probleme des ruines du Vieil-Evreux," Gallia 1 (1943), p. 193.

Figs. 29, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39: J.B. Ward-Perkins, Roman Architecture, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1974, pp. 38, 44, 134, 287.

Fig. 30: Edith M. Wightman, Roman Trier and the Treveri, London: Hart-Davis, 1970, p. 216.

Figs. 31, 34: From Alois M. Nagler, The Medieval Religious Stage, trans. George C. Schoolfield, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1976, p. 50 and frontispiece.

Fig. 32: John R. Elliott, Jr., "Medieval Rounds and Wooden O's," Stratford-upon-Avon Studies 16 (1973), p. 235.

Fig. 33: In Kenneth M. Dodd, "Another Elizabethan Theater in the Round," Shakespeare Quarterly 21 (1970), p. 142.

Fig. 40: Lawrence Richardson, Jr., "Cosa and Rome: Comitium and Curia," Archaeology 10 (1957), p. 50.

Fig. 41: Marija Gimbutas, The Balts, New York: Praeger, 1963, p. 181.

Figs. 42, 43, 44, 45, 46: A.H. Allcroft, "The Circle and the Cross," Archaeological Journal 78 (1921), pp. 371, 363, 361, 362, 381.

Fig. 47: Author's collection.

List of Illustrations, Maps, Tables

Frontispiece

Fig. 1. "The Dance of the Sufis and their Shahids"

Fig. 2. "Entertainers"

Fig. 3. "Entertainers"

Fig. 4. "Entertainers"

Map. Romano-Celtic Theaters

Table. Romano-Celtic Theaters

Fig. 5. Verulamium, 1959

Fig. 6. Verulamium Theater, all phases

Fig. 7. Verulamium Theater, periods I and IA

Fig. 8. Verulamium Theater, period IV

Fig. 9. Gosbeck's Farm, near Colchester

Fig. 10. Gosbeck's Theater, 1967

Fig. 11. Ribemont-sur-Ancre

Fig. 12. Ribemont-sur-Ancre, Theater

Fig. 13. Lyons-la-Foret, Theater

Fig. 14. St. Marcel/Argentomagus, Theater

Table. Indo-European Languages

Fig. 15. Canterbury, Theater

Fig. 16. Herbord, France, Theater

Fig. 17, Vieux, France, Theater

Fig. 18. Vieil-Evreux, France, Theater

Fig. 19. Evreux, France, Theater

Fig. 20. Alesia, France, Theater

Fig. 21, Avenches, Switzerland, Theater

Fig. 22. Berthouville, France, Theater

Fig. 23. Drevant, France, Theater

Fig. 24. Lillebonne, France, Theater

Fig. 25. Valognes, France, Theater

Fig. 26. Theater of Dionysus, Greece

Fig. 27. Vitruvian Roman Theater

Fig. 28. Vieil-Evreux, France, Site

Fig. 29: Augst, Switzerland, Site

Fig. 30: Altbachtal, Trier, Germany, sacred precinct

Fig. 31. The Castle of Perseverance, ground plan.

Fig. 32. Elizabethan Playhouse

Fig. 33. "The Place of Execution", Breugel

Fig. 34. "The Martyrdom of St. Apollonia," Jean Fouquet

Fig. 35. Tibur (Tivoli) Temple of Hercules Victor

Fig. 36. Gabii, Sanctuary

Fig. 37. Praeneste (Palestrina), Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia

Fig. 38. Pantheon, Roma

Fig. 39. Pergamon, east end of the Sanctuary of Aesculapius

Fig. 40. Cosa; Comitium and Curia, second period.

Fig. 41. Baltic Sanctuary, Tushemlja

Fig. 42. Auchquhorthies in Manar

Fig. 43. Hatton of Ardoyne

Fig. 44. Ardlair in Kennethmont

Fig. 45. Auchquhorthies in Banchory-Devenick

Fig. 46. Carol Wood Circle; plan

Fig. 47. Romano-Celtic Theater, Los Angeles.

Backplate

Preface

In all quotes taken from French sources, I have used my English translation in the text and placed the original French text in the footnotes.

Because I have quoted extensively from outside sources, particularly in the first essay, I have elected to indent and single space only longer quotes from literature, but not opinions and statements of other shcolars. I believe this helps to maintain the flow in what could otherwise be a visual scramble.

In the Romano-Celtic theater bibliography, I have used a different style for listing books and articles dealing with specific archeological sites. Because date of publication is particularly significant where the exploration of sites is concerned, I have emphasized the date by putting it first in the listing.

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MEDIEVAL THEATER AND INDO-EUROPEAN CONTEXT
By Craig T. Fees
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in Theater, Occidental College, Los Angeles, California. June, 1981

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