Catherine. William Fitzstephen, in his "Life
of St. Thomas a Becket," written in 1182, brings into contrast with the
pagan shows of old Rome the "holier plays" of London, which he terms
"representations of the miracles wrought by the holy confessors or of
the sufferings whereby the constancy of the martyrs became gloriously
manifest." Thus we perceive how the term "miracle" attached itself to
this species of theatrical exhibitions. Probably, towards the
commencement of the twelfth century, French playwrights fastened on the
miracles of the saints as their special themes, and, by force of habit,
the English public in ensuing generations retained the description,
though subjects had come to be chosen other than the marvels of the
martyrology. Dr. Ward would limit the term "miracle play" to those
dramas based on the legends of the saints, and would describe those
drawn from the Old and New Testaments as "mysteries" in conformity with
Continental usage. The distinction is logical, but its acceptance would
practically involve the sacrifice of the former term, since the
Dunstable play of St. Catherine, the plays founded on the lives of St.
Fabyan, St. Sebastian, and St. Botolph, which were performed in London,
and those on St. George, acted at Windsor and Bassingbourn--no others
are recorded--have all perished.
According to the "Banes," or Proclamation, of the Chester Plays, at the
end of the sixteenth century, the cycle of plays acted in that city
dates from the mayoralty of John Arneway (1268-76), and the author was
Randall Higgenet, a monk of Chester Abbey.
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