The procession and play of Corpus Christi in York after 1426

Abstract

One of the most famous documents concerning the York Corpus Christi Play to survive is the record of the sermon that was preached by William Melton in 1426. In this sermon, Melton urged that because the play tended to keep the citizens of York away from the strictly religious observances of the feast of Corpus Christi, the play and the procession honouring the host should be held on different days. The first evidence concerning the procession after 1426 is found in an ordinance of the Marshalls and Smiths, internally dated 1428. At that time the Marshalls and Smiths were pledged not only to look after their pageants but also to ‘uphald thair torches in the procession of Corpus Christi day’. The entry recording the expenses for the mayor’s feast in 1445 is headed in the Chamberlains’ roll, ‘Expensis in festo corporis cristi’.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 45 citations exist upstream.