Tag Archives: research

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@hiddentheatre.com) 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 2

Posted on by under Academic Curiosity, Farces, French Farces, Musings

Continuing from our last #FridayFarces, here is the second installation of our farce director’s lengthy reading list!

If last week wasn’t enough book list for you, here is the second half, which includes most, though possibly not all, of the editions which I consulted in trying to carve out our translation. I don’t assume you’d want to read all of these, or possibly any, but I have once again put asterisks by those books that were especially helpful in getting my head around this project, and at the bottom you’ll find a list of editions that were consulted in preparing our translation. I sincerely hope that our plays will have a similar effect on you that they did on us: a kindling of curiosity, a window that beckons towards you and whispers, “I want to know more about this.”

Jacob, P.L. Recueil de Farces, Soties et Moralites du Quinzieme Siecle. (1859) Adolphe Delahays: Paris.

** Knight, Alan E. Aspects of Genre in the Late Medieval French Drama. (1983) Manchester University Press: Manchester. 

Knight, Alan E. “The Condemnation of Pleasure in Late Medieval French Morality Plays”, The French Review, Vol. 57 No. 1 (1983), pp. 1-9.

Knight, Alan E. “The Medieval Theatre of the Absurd”, PMLA, Vol. 86, No. 2 (1971), pp. 183-189.

Koopmans, Jelle & Darwin Smith. “Un Théâtre ‘Français’ du Moyen Âge?”, Mèdièvales, No. 59 (2010), pp. 5-16.

Koopmans, Jelle. “La farce, genre noble aux prises avec la facètie?”, Cahiers de recherches médiévales et humanistes, Vol. 32 (2016), pp. 147-163.

Kramer, Femke. “How to Deal With Farces?” Medieval English Theatre, Vol. 21 (1999), pp. 66-78.

Langle, Paul Fleuriot de. Les sources du comique dan “Maître pathelin”. (1926), Librairie du Roi René: Angers, France.

Lejeune, Rita. “Pour Quel Public ‘La Farce de Maistre Pierre Pathelin’ A-T-Elle Été Rédigée?”, Romania Vol. 82 No. 328 (1961), pp. 482-521.

Lemercier, P. “Les Éléments Juridiques de ‘Pathelin’ et la Localisation de l’oeuvre”, Romania vol. 73 No. 290 (2) (1952), pp. 200-226.

Lewicka, H. “Pour la Localisation de la Farce de M e Pathelin”, Bibliothèque d’Humanisme et Renaissance, T. 24 No. 2 (1962), pp. 273-281.

Maddox, Donald. “The Morphology of Mischief in ‘Maistre Pierre Pathelin'”, L’Esprit Créateur, Vol. 18 No. 3 (1978), pp. 55-68.

Maddox, Donald. The Semiotics of Deceit: the Pathelin Era. (1984) Associated University Presses: Lewisburg, PA and London.

Manzour, Charles. “Vingt ans de recherches sur le théâtre du xvie siècle: deuxième partie: le théâtre comique, les genres nouveaux, les spectacles de cour, le théâtre scolaire”, Nouvelle Revue du XVIe Siécle, Vol. 17 No. 2 (1999), pp. 301-318.

Maskett, David. “The Aesthetics of Farce: ‘La Jalousie du Barbouillé”, The Modern Language review, Vol. 29 No. 3 (1997), pp. 581-589.

Meyerhold, Vsevolod & Nora Beeson. “Farce”, The Tulane Drama Review, Vol. 4 No. 1 (1959), pp. 139-149.

Nitzie, William A. & Preston Dargan. A History of French Literature. (1938) Holt, Rinehart & Winston: New York.

Norland, Howard B. “Formalizing English Farce: Johan Johan & Its French Connection”, Comparative Drama (1983), pp. 141-152.

Oliver, Thomas Edward. “Some Analogues of Maistre Pierre Pathelin”, The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 22 No. 86 (1909), pp. 395-430.

Peters, Edward et al. “A Feast of Law: A Symposium on the Teaching of Medieval Legal History”, The History Teacher, Vol. 22 No. 1 (1988), pp. 7-31.

Philipot, Emmanuel. “Remarques et Conjectures sur le Texte de ‘Maistre Pierre Pathelin'”, Romania, Vol. 56 No. 224 (1930), pp. 558-584.

Picot, Émile. Recueil Général des Sotties (3 vols.). (1968) Librairie de Firmin Didot et Cie: Paris.

Pinet, Christopher. “French Farce: Printing, Dissemination and Readership from 1500-1560”, Renaissance and Reformation, Vol. 3 No. 2 (1979), pp. 111-132.

Redmond, James, ed. Farce. (1988) Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.

Roques, Mario. “Notes sur ‘Maistre Pierre Pathelin’: I: Manger de l’Oie”, Romania, Vol. 57 No. 228 (1931), pp. 548-560.

Roy, Bruno. “Quand les Pathelin Achètent du Drap”, Médiévales, No. 29 (1995), pp. 9-22.

Schaumburg, K., et al. La Farce de Patelin et Ses Imitations. (1889) C. Klincksieck: Paris.

Schoell, Konrad. “Humour in Farce, Sotie and Fastnachtspiel“, European Medieval Drama, No. 4 (2000), pp. 9-22.

Schreiber, Cècile. “L’Univers compartimenté du théâtre médiéval”, The French Review, Vol. 41 No. 4 (1968), pp. 468-478.

Schumacher, Joseph. Studien Zur Farce Pathelin. (1911) C. Hinstorff: Rostock, Germany.

Segre, Cesare & John Meddemmen. “Maistre Pathelin: Manipulation of Topics and Epistemic Lability”, Poetics Today, Vol. 5 No. 3 (1984), pp. 563-583.

Small, Graeme. Late Medieval France. (2009) Palgrave Macmillan: New York.

Smith, Darwin. “About French Vernacular Traditions: Medieval Roots of Modern Theatre Practices”, Journal of Early Modern Studies, No. 8 (2019), pp. 33-67.

Smith, Darwin. Maistre Pierre Pathelin: Le Miroir d’Orgueil. (2002) Tarabuste: Saint-Benoit-du-Sault.

Stephenson, Robert C. “Farce as Method”, The Tulane Drama Review, Vol. 5 No. 2 (1960), pp. 85-93.

Symes, Carol. “The Appearance of Early Vernacular Plays: Forms, Functions, and the Future of Medieval Theatre”, Speculum Vol. 77 No. 3 (2002), pp. 778-831.

Urwin, Kenneth. “Pathelin ‘Pendable'”, The Modern Language Review, Vol. 42 No. 3 (1947), pp. 359-361.

Watkins, John H. “The Date of the ‘Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles'”, The Modern Language Review, Vol. 37, No. 4 (1942), pp. 485-487.

EDITIONS

Allen, John. Three Medieval Plays. (1953) Heinemann Educational Books: London.

Bowen, Barbara C. Four Farces. (1967) Basil Blackwell: Oxford.

Champion, Richard T. Maistre Pierre Pathelin. (1970) Librairie Honore Champion: Paris.

Coustelier, Antoine Urbain. La farce de maistre Pierre Pathelin. (1723) Antoine-Urbain Coustelier: Paris.

Dondo, Mathurin. Pathelin et Autres Pièces. (1924) D.C. Heath & Company: Boston.

Dufournet, Jean. La Farce de Maître Pierre. (1986) Flammarion: Paris.

Eliot, Samuel A. (ed.). Little Theatre Classics, Vol. 2. (1920) Little, Brown & Company: Boston.

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

Faivre, Bernard. Les Farces Moyen Age et Renaissance, Vol. 1. (1997) Imprimerie Nationale: [unknown].

Fournier, Edouard. La Vraie Farce de Matire Pathelin. (1881) E. Dentu: Paris.

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

Gassies, G. Anthologie du Théatre Français du Moyen Age. (1925) Librairie Delagrave: Paris.

Hankiss, János. Farce Nouvelle. (1925) JHE Heitz, GE Stechert & Co.: New York.

Harden, A. Robert. Trois Pièces Médiévales. (1967) Meredith Publishing Co.: New York.

Holbrook, Richard T. Master Pierre Pathelin. (1914) Walter H. Baker & Co: Boston.

Holbrook, Richard. The Farce of Master Pierre Patelin. (1905) Riverside Press: Cambridge, MA.

Jacob, P.L. La Farce de Maitre Pathelin. (1876) Librairie des Bibliophiles: Paris.

Jagendorf, Moritz. The Farce of the Worthy Master Pierre Patelin. (1949) Walter H. Baker Co.: Boston, MA. 

Jodogne, Omer. Maître Pierre Pathelin. (1983) Peeters: Louvain, Belgium.

Leteissier, Anne. La Farce de Maître Pierre Pathelin. (2001) Magnard: Paris.

Malaunoy, Marion de. Maistre Pierre Pathelin: Hystorie, Reproduction en Fac-smile. (1904) Librairie de Firmin Didot Etc.: Paris.

Marin, Fanny. La Farce de Maître Pathelin. (2000) Hachette Livre: Paris.

Pickford, C.E. La Farce de Maistre Pierre Pathelin. (1967) Bordas: Paris.

Picot, Guillaume. La Farce de Maistre Pathelin. (1972) Librairie Larousse: Paris.

Relonde, Maurice. The Farce of the Worthy Master Pierre Patelin, the Lawyer. (1917) R.G. Badger: Boston.

Robert-Busquet, L. Farces du Moyen Age. (1942) Lanore: Paris.

Snook, Lee Owen. The Fourth Yearbook of Short Plays. (1938) Row, Peterson & Co.: Evanston, IL.

Tissier, André. Farces du Moyen Age. (1984) Flammarion: Paris.

Unknown. The Village Lawyer. (1809) D. Longworth: New York.