Each year for much of the 14th century, the Parisian Goldsmiths saw a dramatization
of one of the most popular tales of their time. The diversity of the sources, however, is
belied by the homogeneity of the collection. Every one of the plays follows the same
pattern; some authors no doubt contributed several works; certainly, the authors were
familiar with the texts that had preceded theirs. In addition to the normal narrative
framework of any miracle play, the Miracles de Nostre Dame par personnages have a
number of elements in common: a sermon (either before the play proper or incorporated
into the action); frequent prayers to the Virgin; scenes set in Heaven in which Notre
Dame urges God to intervene in the predicament of some one who prays to her, even if
that person is the most wicked sinner; scenes in which Notre Dame descends to Earth,
accompanied by angels (occasionally including St. Éloi) who sing a rondeau. Other
frequently recurring scenes show childbirth, imprisonment, and tortures. The quality of
the texts is variable: some are poorly constructed, provide little character development,
and fail to integrate the traditional elements in a convincing manner; but others, such as
the Enfant ressuscité and the Femme sauvée du bûcher, are vivid examples of almost
realist drama. The collection as a whole provides a remarkable picture of life in 14th-
century France.
Several of the Miracles de Nostre Dame par personnages, had they survived
independently from the collection, would now be considered as mystery plays, especially
the saint plays, such as Saint Valentin. This fact underlines the somewhat arbitrary nature
of labels as used both now and at the end of the Middle Ages. Few miracle plays survive
from the 15th century; one rare exception is the play about a pregnant abbess and her
miraculous delivery, found among the processional plays from Lille. But critics have not
failed to note the relatively short texts, under 2,000 lines, preserved in early 16th-century
printed editions, that in their scope, subject matter, and treatment resemble the
Goldsmiths’ miracle plays. These include the Miracle de saint Nicolas et d’un Juif, the
Chevalier qui donna sa femme au diable, the Femme qui se voulut abandonner au péché,
and the so-called Mystère de saint Christofle. The original versions of these plays were
undoubtedly composed long before they were printed and probably should be attached to
the corpus of surviving miracle plays.
Graham A.Runnalls
[See also: AMI ET AMILE; BARLAAM ET JOSAPHAT; CONFRÉRIE DE LA
PASSION; GAUTIER DE COINCI; JEHAN BODEL; LITURGICAL DRAMA;
MYSTERY PLAYS; RUTEBEUF; SAINTS’ LIVES; THEATER]
Paris, Gaston, and Ulysse Robert, eds. Les miracles de Nostre Dame par personnages. 8 vols.
Paris: Didot, 1876–93.
Runnalls, Graham A., ed. Le miracle de l’enfant ressuscité. Geneva: Droz, 1972.
Frank, Grace. The Medieval French Drama. 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon, 1960.
Jeanroy, Alfred. Les quarante miracles de Nostre Dame. In Histoire Littéraire de la France. Paris:
Imprimerie Nationale, 1959, Vol. 39, pp. 23–91.
Runnalls, Graham A. “Medieval Trade Guilds and the Miracles de Nostre Dame par personnages.”
Medium Aevum 39 (1970):257–87.
The Encyclopedia 1181