European Drama of the Early Middle Ages (Routledge Revivals)

Axton, Richard

ISBN 10: 1032945923 / ISBN 13: 9781032945927

Published by Routledge, 2026

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 26405246918

Bibliographic Details

• Title: European Drama of the Early Middle Ages (Routledge Revivals)
• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication Date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1032945923
• ISBN 13: 9781032945927
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

First published in 1974, European Drama of the Early Middle Ages stresses the distinctive variety of the dramatic traditions, both secular and religious, and shows that throughout the period the popular and profane was a constant and lively source of enrichment to the mainstream of charge drama.Dr Axton reconstructs the forms and conventions of the major secular traditions and analyses in detail some of the finest plays of the period from traditions as various as the twelfth century Latin music dramas and the unique drama of Arras in Northern France. Turning finally to late medieval English drama he illustrates and underlines his main theme of the largely unrecognised influence of secular traditions on both the morality and cycle plays.

The period from 900 to 1400 was remarkable, as Richard Axton demonstrates, for a dramatic range which accommodated the bawdy, the crude and the fantastic beside the solemn and sacred in its constant preoccupation with man and his identity. This is a must read for scholars and researchers of English and European Literature.

About the Author

Richard Axton was University Lecturer in English, Christ’s College, Cambridge. He was best known in academic circles for his work on drama of the medieval and early modern periods.