Evening star., 1928-05-13
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church in Normandy In the twelfth
century. The author was not without
humor; he shows Adam refusing the
apple with the prudence of a Norman
peasant" and Eve accepting 1t with the
bravery of q modern woman. He makes
Cain tell Abel do you wish to hear
why want to kill you? You ingratiate
Yourself too much with God" There
Jipon he beats his brother to death; but
the author advises mercifully Abel
shall have saucepan beneath MS
clothes"
Passion Play Frequent.
These religious representations were
called mysteries. Their most frequent
form was the Passion Play" which 10
this day has kept its popularity as hali
The stage was usually platform
erected at some convenient square. often
with several levels that represented
heaven. earth and hell. II was called
q pageante, from the Latin word pa
gina (scaffolding). Travelling actors used
a great box which served as their home
en- route and their stage during per-
formances. Only with the advent OF
the Renaissance we're permanent thea =
ters built,
The rapid secularization of the "Mys-
teries" was dramatically shown In l548,
when the church forbade their repre-
sentation They had become the ve-
hicle of anti-clerical satire and Of a
rebelaisianly profane ,humor; even the
Pope had become their butt The hos
tility of the church to drama had its
beginning here and has continued,
With 71irfnatinf H0mfl IN the l1fnSpnt
time. The prohibitions did not sue
ceed, but only fastened the passage
from religious to secular subjects. The
transition took the form of Miracles
and "Moralities" In the "Moralities"
the characters were personified alb
stractions--Virtue. Vice Apoplexy. Epi-
lepsy. etc: the famous "Everyman" be-
longed to this class Of Intermediates
between religious and secular drama.
Growth Of Comedies.
The final stage In the process OF
separating the theater and the church
came with the growth of comedies.
These had been at first mere interludes
between the religious or serious plays
and we're at first called "interludes,'
or later. "farces" (from farcire, to fill
in) The humor Is at first Of the
EOuSn eACESluIy SOTL 80 utdA W TIA
belais; but In the comedies produced
In Italy during the Renaissance the
humor was sharpened with wit. and
the acting was improved by the de-
velopment of professional actors: the
name for this theater. Con1media dell
Arte, meant that the actors were
artists, that they guaranteed happy
ending. and that their skill could be
relied upon TO improvise dialogue II
the author would give them merely a
scenario, Some of these italian actors
definitely created" parts that were to
remain in various comedies for CEN
turies, like Scaramouche and Pulcinella
(Polichinelle, Punch). Moliere was to
inherit these characters and much OF
their traditional dialogue.
Nothing could have been more char
acteristic Of the exuberance and fer
tility of the Renaissance than this
secularized comedy. the source and in
Spiration of modern comedy in almost
every country OF Europe. And yet the
very independence OF the church. which
the commedia dellA showed. the
satirical nature of It's wit, the earthly
character OF It's humor its appeal to
the simpler classes of the population,
rather than to the aristocracy or the
higher bourgeoisie. were additional fea-
lures in the passing Of the specific
Renaissance spirit One by one the
conditions were created which were TO
put an end to Italys greatest age.
2. The Commercial Revolution.
But the greatest cause OF all was
the loss of Italys supremacy in finance
and trade. In 1883 the Turks took
Constantinople and bit by bit conquered
the maritime empire of Venice. in 1916
they took Damascus and Cairo and
made themselves masters OF both land
and sea routes between Europe and
the East. At once the nations OF the
West began 10 seek other means OF
Spain had already made such efforts
In the hope OF diverting trade from
Italy; and 1t was they who undertook
the most audacious ventures In the
opening Of new routes. The voyages
of Columbus we're but a small part Of
the peninsula's enterprise. and perhaps
the motive OF the most famous of dis
coverers was not merely To find q new
way to the Indies, but to open new
markets TO Spanish trade and conquer
new regions for the Catholic faith
But when. in i499, Vasco da Cana
sailed around Africa to India. the mo-
tive was simple and obvious. Italy
was to be displaced as the main port
of exit for European shipments TO the
East,
Changes Wrought by Time.
Strange to say, the end was at
tanned, but not as Spain and Portugal
had planned. and with no permanent
good TO the peninsula. II was in Amer
lea, rather than In the indies" that
these nations were to find their
transient wealth and glory, and the
prize was to DE snatched from them
within century after Its conquest
But, although France. Holland and
England soon dominated Spain and
Portugal In the exploitation OF the new
continent. the effect on Italy was as
her enemies had intended; the currents
of trade ceased TO flow mainly over the
Alps TO Italian ports; tlfey passed by
Sicily. or along the Atlantic coast or
across the ocean, In the ships OF the
north Atlantic nations, and the wealth
Of both the Americas and the East
flowed into the Golfers Of Spain and
Portugal, then OF France and Holland
and England the financial center oi
the world migrated from Florence Ia
Madrid, Paris, Amsterdam and Lon
don: the Fuggers Of Germany replaced
the Medici of Italy. and the Italian
Renaissance was deprived OF Its eco.
nomic base In one of those impersonal
but ruthless movements OF invention
and trade which dominate the larger
processes Of history.
The Reformation was an incident In
this emcrgence OF the North, II would
have been impossible but for the wealth
that had made Germany and England
at once independent and Jealous OF
Italy. Its success stopped the flow OF
northern gold into papal Golfers and
sadly reduced the sinews OF the Renais-
sance: great art works were out OF the
question for suddenly impoverished
papacy and for a church driven to 2
fight for life and death The Council
OF Trent u544-64) put nm end TO the
delightful and humane paganism that
had grown up IN the italy OF the Re
naissanee under an indulgent church,