The Play of St. Nicholas: A 12th Century Liturgical Drama - New York Ensemble for Early Music

Play of St Nicholas liner notes

The four Plays of Saint Nicholas belong to a category of religious drama scarcely associated with scriptural tradition, though designed for use in the church. These "church dramas" or "plays," as they may be called, were dramatizations of legends dealing with the life and miracles of a saint. In the early medieval period, such legends were numerous enough to have inspired a large repertory of plays, such as the fourteenth-century collection entitled Les Miracles de Notre Dame, the famous Le Jeu de Saint Nicolas of the fourteenth century by Bodel, and Play of the Sacrament, by Croxton, dating from the fifteenth century. However, despite the extensiveness of these legends during the earlier centuries, only a few plays have survived; a majority concerns Saint Nicholas.