The sermon of Quodvultdeus entitled Contra Judæos, Paganos, et Arianos: Sermo de Symbolo and the development of French liturgical drama, Ordo Prophetarum- Part 1

       There are numerous roots in the development of the extraordinary visual textbook of the Jesse Tree.  One such root is the early medieval liturgical plays using the text and stories from the Old Testament.  Almost all discussions about the literary roots of the Jesse Tree begin with a sermon by Pseudo-Augustine or Bishop Quodvultdeus (d. 450) entitled Contra Judæos, Paganos, et Arianos:  Sermo de Symbolo (Against Jews, Pagans, and Arians: Sermon on the Creed) written  in the 5^th century.^[1]   During the Middle Ages, the sermon was attributed to St. Augustine of Hippo and is known to have circulated in England.  For example, The British Library has one copy of a manuscript with sermons from Augustine and the Quodvultdeus’ sermon Contra Judœus from the collection of King George II called Royal 5 B vi.  It is dated to the 11^th or 12^th century.  Quodvultdeus was a 5^th century bishop of Carthage who was exiled to Naples when Carthage was conquered by the Vandals.  The Vandals were Arians believing that Jesus was the son of God and not co-equal with God.  Arianism was considered a non-Trinitarisn heresy condemned at the Council of Nicea in 325.  Arian himself was anathemized at the Council of Constantinople in 381.

       Although the sermon was written to help suppress the Arian heresy (a denial of the Trinity), the sermon attacked Jews for their stubborn and willing disbelief that Jesus was the Messiah born of a Virgin.  The author called forth the Old Testament prophets as witnesses to the coming of the anointed one or Messiah, Jesus, born of a Virgin.  Prophets included Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Moses, David, Habakkuk, also Simeon, Zechariah, Elisabeth, and John the Baptist.  The gentiles added included Virgil, Nebuchadnezzar, and the Erythraean Sybil.  In the sermon, the Preacher questions various prophets about the coming of the Messiah and they answer on their own behalf.  This led to recitation of the speeches by more than one person.  By the 11^th century there were dramatized versions of the sermon.

       In addition to the prophet plays reminding an already Christian audience about the Old Testament sources for predictions about a coming Messiah, Jesus, it served as a message to Jews that there denial of Jesus was no longer defensible.  Defending Christianity from Judaism and Christians who still kept many Jewish laws and traditions was a part of the writings of the early Church including Justin Martyr’s Dialogue with Trypho and Tertullian’s Adversus Judœus.  

      Over time, the writing against Jews and Judaism became more strident, especially in the writings of John Chrysostom.  John Chrysostom wrote Eight Homilies Against Jews in about 387.  In sermons I and VI, John Chrysostom charges the Jews with the murder of Jesus.  A Christian who continued to hold to Jewish festivals such as Passover was insulting Christ.

      There was another sermon entitled De altercatione ecclesiae et synagoga dialogus  that circulated in medieval Europe, but perhaps not in England,that was influential in art and drama.  The Dispuations between Church and Synagogue was attributed to St. Augustine of Hippo but scholars know that the style and grammar of the sermon is very different from the genuine writings of Augustine.  It has been variously attributed including a shadowy figure called Pseudo-Isadore from the 8^th or 9^th century.  In The Disputations between Church and Synagogue, both Church and Synagogue are female figures.  Synagogue is a rich widow who claims domination of the world for herself.  She is confronted by Church, wearing a crown.  Church claims that since she is the bride of Christ, she is the ruler.  In the end Church wins the debate when Synagogue runs out of verbal challenges.  This sermon influenced the production of ivory crucifixion scenes made in Metz and the Lambeth  and Capuchin Bibles’Jesse Trees mentioned previously in August's blog, Seven Doves Part III a.  (A completely irreplaceable source for research in England is Helmut Gneuss and Michael Lapidge. Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100. (2014) Toronto:University of Toronto Press.)

       At first, the early written disputations were between two persons such as the works by Justin Martyr and Tertullian.  Each persona represents one side, Christianity or Judaism (and by extension Judaizing Christians).  At first, the author cited the various passages from the Old Testament as proofs.  Quodvultdeus started to give each persona his/her voice.  It was only a small step to assigning different monks to read and then act each part.

 

     Three different versions of Ordo Prophetarum are known from France including ones from the Limoges (or perhaps Aquitaine), Loan, and Rouen.[2]  All seem to have been presented on Christmas day or during the Octave of Christmas including the Rouen Ordo that was to be presented on the Feast of the Circumcision, January 1.  The Laon manuscript from the first quarter of the 12^th century is especially interesting in that the manuscript before the play gives instructions, in red letters (rubrics), on how each character is to act and/or dress.[3]  Isaias (or Isaiah) is to be “barbatus” or bearded and wearing a dalmatic with “stola rubea per medium verticis ante et retro dependens” (a red stole hanging down the middle in front and back).  Moses is bearded and carrying “tabulas legis ferens” or the tablets of the law.  Daniel is adolescent or youthful.  Elizabeth is pregnant.  John the Baptist has a hair shirt and a palm branch.  Virgil wears an ivy crown and carries wiring materials (a horn and reed).  The Sibyl is told to “insanienti simillima” or act crazy.  The Rouen manuscript also gives stage directions within the script.  The Rouen Ordo Prophetarum hasdirections about what props are to be used such as a furnace for the three boys.  All the major and minor prophets though not necessarily in Biblical or historical order are in the Rouen manuscript.  Both Laon and Rouen make use of the story of Balaam and his ass.  In the Laon play, the ass talks back to Balaam after Balaam causes the animal pain.  In the Rouen play, the part of the story of Balaam and the angel with the sword is retold as Balaam sits upon an ass.

The opening page of the Laon version of the Ordo Prophetarum or Jeu des Prophètes with a listing of the dramatis personae and a description of appearance and/or behavior in red letters.  Ville de Laon Bibliotheque Municipale Tropaire-prosaire-hymnaire MS 263. Provenance Notre-Dame-de-Laon. Bibliothèque médiévale virtuelle

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      The three French texts are not the only texts for Procession of the Prophets plays but are the most complete and longest studied.  The table below summarizes the similarities and difference between the dramatis personæ of the three French plays and the sermon of Quodvultdeus.

“Sermon Against Jews, Pagans and Heretics concerning the Creed”[4]	Ordo Prophetarum Limoges or Aquitaine	Ordo Prophetarum[5] Laon	Ordo Prophetarum Rouen (performed at the Feast of the Circumcision Jan. 1 at the Festum Asinorum)
			6 Jews & 6 Gentiles
Moses	Moses	Moses	Moses and Aaron
	David	David	David
			Amos
		Balaam & a boy under the ass	Balaam
			Angel with sword
			Samuel
			Hosea (Osee)
			Joel (Iohel)
			Obadiah (Abdias)
			Jonah (Iosee)
			Micah (Michæ)
			Nahum (Naum)
			Sophonia (Zephaniah)
			Haggai (Aggeus)
			Ezekiel
Israel[6]	Israel
Isaiah	Isaiah	Isaiah	Isaiah
Jeremiah	Jeremiah	Jeremiah	Jeremiah
Daniel	Daniel	Daniel	Daniel
Habakkuk (Abacuc)	Habakkuk (Abacuc)	Habakkuk (Abacuc)	Habakkuk (Abacuc)
Zechariah			Zechariah
Nebuchadnezzar	Nebuchadnezzar	Nebuchadnezzar	Nebuchadnezar
Elizabeth and Zacharias	Elizabeth and Zacharias	Elizabeth	Elizabeth and Zacharias
	John the Baptist	John the Baptist	John the Baptist
Simeon	Simeon	Simeon	Simeon
	Virgil	Virgil	Virgil
Sibyl	Sibyl	Sibyl	Sibyl
			Boys in the furnace (Azariah)

End Part 1

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[1] Adeline M. Jenney, “A Further Word as to the Origin of the Old Testament Plays,” Modern Philosophy, 13.1 (1915), 59-64.  Also Lynette R. Muir,  The Biblical Drama of Medieval Europe. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press (1995), 83-6.  .

[2] James Grier. “The Divine Office at Saint‐Martial in the Early Eleventh Century: Paris, BNF lat. 1085” in Rebecca A. Baltzer and Margot E. Fassler, ed. The Divine Office in the Latin Middle Ages: Methodology and Source Studies, Regional Developments, Hagiography.(2000) New York:  Oxford University Press.

[3] Robert C. Lagueux. S ermons, Exegesis, and Performance: The Laon Ordo Prophetarum and the Meaning of Advent. Comparative Drama (2009) 43 (2) 197-220.

[4] Edward N. Stone. A Translation of Chapters XI-XVI of the pseudo-Augustine Sermons against Jews, Pagans, and Arians. Concerning the Creed, also the Ordo Prophetarum of St. Martial of Limoges

[5] Karl Young. Ordo Prophetarum. Wisconsin academy of sciences, arts and letters. Transactions; 20 (1922), 1-82

[6] In Stone’s translation, the lines assigned to Israel are given to the precentor or cantor. In Young’s translation, Israel is another character.