Tag Archives: academia

The War in Heaven: Bibliography

Posted on by under Academic Curiosity, Drama, History, Mystery Plays, York Mystery Plays 2026

For our #mysteryplaymonday, our play’s director shares the research that has helped to inform our production.

Both fortunately and unfortunately, a full bibliography of the York Mystery Plays would be far too large to list here! There are many wonderful books that I would recommend to anyone who isn’t especially familiar with the Plays, and many of them have informed our play in the long term, since they have also gone into my academic work over the last twenty years. But of necessity I’ve chosen to focus here on those studies that were either especially helpful or are specific to our project with The War in Heaven. If you are interested in reading about the York Mystery Plays on a more general level, please email me (Laura) and I would be happy to offer suggestions!

Ashton, Gail. “Bridging the Difference: Reconceptualising the Angel in Medieval Hagiography”, in Literature & Theology, vol. 16 no. 3 (Sept 2002), pp. 235-247.

Auffarth, Christoph and Loren T. Stuckenbruck, eds. The Fall of the Angels. (2004) Brill: Leiden and Boston.

Berefelt, Gunnar. A Study on the Winged Angel. (1968) Almqvist & Wiksell: Stockholm.

Butterworth, Philip & Katie Normington. Medieval Theatre Performance. (2017) D.S. Brewer: Cambridge

Chase, Steven. Angelic Spirituality. (2002) Paulist Press: New York.

Davidson, Clifford. Staging the York Creation and Fall of Lucifer. (1976) American Society for Theatre Research: Pittsburgh.

DuBruck, Edelgard. “The Devil and Hell in Medieval French Drama: Prolegomena”, in Romania, vol. 100, no. 398 (1979), pp 165-179.

Eszenyi, Edina. “The Edge of Heaven: Revelations 12:7-9 and the Fall of the Rebel Angels in Anglo-Norman Apocalypse Illustration”, in Arts(2022), vol. 11, p. 41.

Fox, Michael. “Alefric on the Creation and Fall of the Angels”, in Anglo-Saxon England (2002), Vol. 31, pp. 175-200. 

Gabor, Ittzes. “Spirits Immortal In and Out of Time”, in The AnaChronisT (2004), vol. 10, pp. 1-30.

Gathercole, Patricia May. Depiction of Angels and Devils in Medieval French Manuscript Illumination. (2004) Edwin Mellen Press: Lewiston, NY.

Gill, Meredith J. Angels and the Order of Heaven in Medieval and Renaissance Italy. (2021) Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.

Harkins, Franklin T. “The Embodiment of Angels: a Debate in Mid-Thirteenth-Century Theology”, in Recherches de theologie et philosophie medievales (2011), vol. 78, no. 1, pp: 25-58.

Hoffman, Tobias, ed. Companion to Angels in Medieval Philosophy. (2012) Brill: Leiden.

Hoffman, Tobias. Free Will and the Rebel Angels in Medieval Philosophy. (2021) Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.

Iribarren, Isabel & Martin Lenz. Angels in Medieval Philosophical Inquiry. (2008) Ashgate: New York.

Koszkalo, Martyna  and Robert Koszkalo. “What the Fall of Angels Tells Us About the Essence of Morality”, in Religions (2021), vol. 12, p 920.

Lyle, Marie Caroline. “The Relation of the Lucifer Tradition in the Literary Composition of the Middle Ages to the Story of the Fall of the Angels in the Mystery Plays”, unpublished thesis, University of Minnesota (1912). 

Martin, Dale Basil. “When Did Angels Become Demons?”, in Journal of Biblical Literature (2010), vol. 129, no. 4, pp. 657-677.

Medicus, Gustav. “Some Observations on Domenico Beccafumi’s Two ‘Fall of the Rebel Angels’ Panels”, in Artibus et Historiae (2003), vol. 24, no. 47, pp. 209-218.

Murphy, Mary Agnes. Representation of Angels & Angelic Orders. unpublished MA thesis, University of Leicester, Jan 2010.

Norcross, Katherine R. “Counter-Empathy and Elegiac Critique in the Old English Christ and Satan“, in Philological Quarterly (2017), 96.2, pp. 143-170.

Ogilvie, Sheilagh. “The Economics of Guilds”, in Journal of Economic Perspectives (2014), vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 169-192.

Pagels, Elaine. “Christian Apologists and ‘The Fall of the Angels’: An Attack on Roman Imperial Power?”, in Harvard Theological Review (1985), vol. 78, no. 3/4, pp. 301-325.

Parma, Mariana Valeria. “Entre los Signos del Cielo y las Voces de los Hombres: la Vision Medieval del Cielo y Su Representacion Apocaliptica”, in Espacio, Tiempo y Forma (2019), pp. 473-498.

Raiswell, Richard & David R. Winter, eds. The Medieval Devil: a Reader. (2022) University of Toronto Press.

Rice, Nicole R. & Margaret Pappano. The Civic Cycles. (2024) University of Notre Dame Press.

Rosser, Gervase. Crafts, Guilds and the Negotiation of Work in the Medieval Town. (1997) Oxford University Press for the Past & Present Society.

Schall, James V. The Politics of Heaven and Hell. (2020) Ignatius Press: San Francisco.

Schmindt, Gary D. The Iconography of the Mouth of Hell. (1995) Associated University Presses: Selinsgrove, PA.

Shinners, John Raymond. Medieval Popular Religion, 1000-1500. (2009) University of Toronto Press: North York.

Sowerby, Richad. Angels in Early Medieval England. (2016) Oxford University Press: London

Tamburr, Karl. “The Dethroning of Satan in the Chester Cycle”, in Neuphilologische Mitteilungen (1984), vol. 85, no. 3, pp. 316-328.

Toulmin Smith, Joshua & Lucy Toulmin Smith, English Guilds. (1870). Trubner: London

Vos, Nienke & Willemien Otten. Demons and the Devil in Ancient and Medieval Christianity. (2011) Brill: Leiden.

Walker, Greg. “‘In the Beginning…’: Performing the Creation in the York Corpus Christi Play”, in The Oxford Handbook of Tudor Drama, ed. Thomas Betteridge and Greg Walker (2012), pp. 36-54.

A Farce Bibliography, Part 1

Posted on by under Academic Curiosity, Farces, French Farces

If you’re wondering what we’ve read behind the scenes for the French farces and for our #FarcesFriday writings, here’s the first part of the director’s bibliography.

I went into this project knowing extremely little about farce from any era, so this is a longer reading list than usual (and it actually isn’t totally comprehensive; many other things were read as well). I don’t assume you’d ever want to read quite this much about them- though I hope you’ll find something that intrigues you!- so I’ve put asterisks by those titles which were particularly helpful. I’d especially like to highlight the wonderful anthologies by Jody Enders, which even the most casual reader will find entertaining rather than academic, though they have a deeply erudite foundation. They were the inspiration for this project, and while we have taken a different approach to adapting and translating the plays, they show a unique approach to bringing plays which were very much a reflection of their own time, into our own era. On to the books…..

Arden, Heather. Fools’ Plays. (1980) Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.

Badawi, Abdurrahman. “Influences Islamiques sur la littérature française a l’époque classique”, Studia Islamica, No. 45 (1977), pp. 5-25.

Bazin, François Emmanuel Joseph. Matire Pathelin, opéra comique en un acte. (1879) Léon Escudier: Paris.

Beam, Sara. Laughing Matters. (2007) Cornell University Press: Ithaca & London.

Beck, Jonathan. Théatre et propagande aux débuts de la Réforme. (1986) Editions Slatkine: Geneva, Paris. 

Bentley, Eric. The Life of The Drama. (1964) Applause Theatre Books: NY.

Bermel, Albert. Farce: a History from Aristophanes to Woody Allen. (1990) Southern Illinois University Press: Carbondale & Edwardsville.

Bloch, Marc. French Rural History. (1966) University of California Press: Berkeley & Los Angeles.

Bloch, R. Howard. “Medieval Misogyny”, Representations, No. 20 (1987), pp. 1-24

Bowen, Barbara C. “Metaphorical Obscenity in French Farce, 1460-1560”, Comparative Drama, 1977, pp. 331-344.

Brown, Arthur. “Folklore Elements in the Medieval Drama”, Folklore, Vol. 63 No. 2, (1952), pp. 65-78.

Brun, Laurent. “French Studies: Late Medieval Literature”, The Year’s Work in Modern Language Studies, Vol. 76 (2016), pp. 14-34.

Campbell, Josie P. “Farce as Function in the Wakefield Shepherds’ Plays”, The Chaucer Review Vol. 14 No. 4 (1980), pp. 336-343.

Cannings, Barbara. “Towards a Definition of Farces as a Literary ‘Genre’”, The Modern Language Review, Vol. 56 No. 4 (1961), pp. 558-560.

Caputi, Anthony. Buffo: the Genius of Vulgar Comedy. (1978) Wayne State Detroit Press: Detroit.

Cazalas, E. “Où et Quand se Passe l’Action de ‘Maistre Pierre Pathelin’?”, Romania Vol. 57 No. 228 (1931), pp. 573-577.

Chase, Carol J. & Marie-Sol Ortolá. “The Ideology of Deception in ‘La Farce de Maistre Pathelin'”, Modern Language Studies, Vol. 16 No. 3 (1986), pp. 134-148.

Chevaldin, L.E. Les jargons de la farce de Pathelin. (1903) A. Fontemoing: Paris.

Conroy, Peter. “Old and New in French Medieval Farce”, Romance Notes, Vol. 13 No. 2 (1971), pp. 336-343.

Cons, Louis. “L’Auteur de la Farce de Maistre Pathelin”, Revue du Seizième siècle, (1913), pp. 473-476.

Cons, Louis. “L’ L’Auteur de la Farce de Maistre Pathelin”. (1926) Princeton University Press: Princeton, New Jersey.

Crist, Larry S. “Pathelinian Semiotics: Elements for an Analysis of ‘Maistre Pierre Pathelin'”, L’Esprit Créaeur, Vol. 18 No. 3, (1978), pp. 69-81.

Cunningham, W.R. “The Date of the ‘Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles'”, Modern Language Review, Vol. 38 No. 3 (p. 250).

Dane, Joseph. Res/Verba. (1985) Brill: Leiden.

Davidson, Clifford, ed. Fools and Folly. (1996) medieval Institute Publications: Kalamazoo, MI.

*** Davis, Jessica Milner. Farce. 2003) Transaction: New Brunswick, NJ.

Davis, Natalie Zemon. Society & Culture in Early Modern France. (1975) Stanford University Press: Stanford, CA.

Dean, Joan F. “Joe Orton and the Redefinition of Farce”, Theatre Journal, Vol. 34 No. 4 (1982), pp. 481-492.

Devereux, George. “Ethnopsychological Aspects of the Terms ‘Deaf’ or ‘Dumb'”, Anthropological Quarterly, Vol. 37 No. 2 (1964).

Diller, Hans-Jurgen. “Laughter in Medieval English Drama: a Critique of Modernizing & Historical Analyses”, Comparative Drama, Vol. 36 No. 1/2 (2002), pp. 1-19.

Droz, E. “L’Illustration des Premières Éditions Parisiennes de la Farce de Pathelin”, Humanisme et Renaissance, 1 No. 1/4 (1934), pp. 145-150.

Dunn, E. Catherine. “The Farced Epistle as Dramatic Form in the Twelfth Century Renaissance”, Comparative Drama(1995), pp. 363-381.

Dutton, Kenneth R. “Farce/Farts: Divergent Styles of Comedy in Medieval France.” Stylistyka, Vol. 10 (2005), pp. 351-361.

Enders, Jody. “Allegory Plays”, Studies in English Literature Vol. 55 No. 2 (2015), pp. 447-464.

*** Enders, Jody. The Farce of the Fart & Other Ribaldries. (2011) University of Pennsylvania Press: Philadelphia.

*** Enders, Jody. Holy Deadlock. (2017) University of Pennsylvania Press: Philadelphia.

*** Enders, Jody. Immaculate Deception. (2022) University of Pennsylvania Press: Philadelphia.

*** Enders, Jody. Trial by Farce. (2023) University of Michigan Press: Ann Arbor.

Evans, Joan. Life in Medieval France. (1989) Lonsdale & Bartholomew Ltd: Leicester.

Famiglietti, R.C. Tales of the Marriage Bed from Medieval France (1300-1500). (1992) Picardy Press: Providence, RI.

Field, W.H.F. “The Picard Origin of the Name ‘Pathelin'”, Modern Philology, Vol. 65, No. 4 (1968), pp. 362-365.

Frank, Grace. The Medieval French Drama. (1954) Clarendon Press: Oxford.

Frank, Grace. “Pathelin”, Modern Language Notes, Vol. 56 No. 1 (1941), pp. 42-47.

Frappier, Jean & A.M. Gossart. Le Theatre Comique au Moyen Age. (1935) Larousse: Paris.

Ganderax, Louis. “Revue Dramatique”, Revue des Deux Mondes (1829-1971), Vol. 46 No. 3 (1881), pp. 694-704.

Guynn, Noah D. “A Justice to Come: The Role of Ethics in la Farce de Maistre Pierre Pathelin”, Theatre Survey, pp. 13-31.

Guynn, Noah D. Pure Filth: Ethics, Politics, & Religion in Early French Farce. (2020) University of Pennsylvania Press: Philadelphia.

Haug, Hélène. “‘Maistre Pierre de Hurion, Agille Imitateur’: Bilan sur les Auteurs Actifs á la Cour de René d’Anjou (1434-1480)”, Romania, Vol. 131 No. 521 (2013), pp. 130-151.

*** Harvey, Howard Graham. The Theatre of the Basoche. (1969) Harvard University Press: NY

Holbrook, Richard. Etude sur Pathelin. (1965), Elliott Monographs, reprint by Kraus Reprint Corporation: NY.

Holbrook, Richard. “Exorcism with a Stole”, Modern Language Notes, Vol. 19 No. 8 (1904), pp. 235-237.

Holbrook, Richard. “The Harvard Manuscript of the Farce of Maistre Pierre Pathelin and Pathelin’s Jargons”, Modern Language Notes, Vol. 20 No. 1 (1905), pp. 5-9.

Holbrook, Richard. “Le Plus Ancien Manuscrit Connu de ‘Pathelin'”, Romania, Vol. 46 No. 181 (1920), pp. 84-108.

Holbrook, Richard. “Pour le Commentaire de ‘Maistre Pierre Pathelin'”, Romania, Vol. 54, No. 213 (1928), pp. 66-98.

Holmes, Urban T. Jr. “Pathelin, 1519-1522”, Modern Language Notes, Vol. 55 No. 2 (1940), pp. 106-108.

Howe, Irving. “Farce and Fiction”, The Threepenny Review, No. 43 (1990), pp. 5-6.

Hue, Denis & Darwin Smith. Maistre Pierre Pathelin, Lectures et contextes. (2000) Presses Universitaires de Rennes: Rennes, France.

Hughes, Leo. A Century of English Farce. (1956) Princeton University Press.

Hughes, Leo. “The Early Career of ‘Farce’ in the Theatrical Vocabulary”, Studies in English, Vol. 20 (1940), pp. 82-95.