Seniority and Mastery: The Politics of Ageism in the Coventry Cycle

Abstract

Colophons following the two extant plays from Coventry's Corpus Christi pageants indicate that Robert Croo, 2 a member of the Cappers' guild whose career became increasingly tied to the theatre, 'nevly correcte[d]' (ST. col) and 'nevly translate[d]' (W. col) 3 both companies' plays in the mid-1530s. This date is significant for a variety of reasons. Pamela King and Clifford Davidson note that, in a city known for its toleration of Lollardy, Protestant sympathies were already taking root in Coventry when Croo was commissioned to make copies of the Shearmen and Taylors' and Weavers' pageants; King and Davidson go on to speculate that Croo may have even had a hand in 'Protestantizing' the plays based on certain theological assertions within the pageants that are more consonant with Wittenberg than Rome. 4 Careful attention must also be paid to the relationship between the Coventry Corpus Christi Plays and the events of the previous decades, which placed great stress on the city's economic position as a centre of convergence for a provincial urban network as well as on its institutional hierarchy. Indeed, this period from 1500 to 1530 coincided with the city's economic collapse. With a serious shortage of currency already existing, Coventry's economic difficulties reached the point of crisis when compounded by a local recession, the increasing price of food, a national trade depression, and the sudden withdrawal of huge sums of capital from the city. In light of these considerable events and their impact on the city's socio-political horizons, this discussion will examine Coventry's Corpus Christi plays. Crucial to tracing the evolution of Coventry's social fabric is Charles Phythian-Adams' groundbreaking study, Desolation of a City: Coventry and the Urban Crisis of the Late Middle Ages. This work, which locates the rapid movement toward catastrophe in the years 1518 to 1525 and begins by placing the city's rapid economic decline within a larger context that embraces contemporary socioeconomic trends witnessed by a range of urban centres throughout England, carefully maps out Coventry's social organizations by examining the city's various formal and informal social groupings and the Early Theatre 9.1

Translating Change: A Continuity of Craft Heritage at Coventry Cathedral, UK

“…As many medieval cities held their own mystery plays, the content of these public performances reflected the city within which each play was performed, with the Coventry Weavers’ play, for example, exploring social hierarchy and authority in Coventry 19 (Alakas, 2006, p. 17). Thus, whilst the physical act of crafting things may often be representative of societal dynamics (Sennett, 2008, p. 7), so too were the associated social performances that were undertaken.…”

A Crisis of Gerontocracy and the Coventry Play

“…Alakas reads 'Joseph's diminished status' and 'loss of authority within the household' as a negative representation of age, but he demonstrates how other depictions of age are more positive when traditional hierarchies are upheld. 18 For example, he sees the discussion between the two prophets as a triumphant depiction of age-related authority in the master-apprentice relationship. He comments that the prophets' biblical gloss is expressed 'in language capable of spanning the two worlds of biblical narrative and artisanal culture'.…”

“…As Alakas notes, the artisanal language which characterizes the other two scenes in the pageant continues into this scene: references to 'secrettis' and 'mystere' invoke a craft discourse as well as a religious one, while Christ's recitation of the fourth commandment 'demonstrates a greater sensitivity towards the material realities of living in a highly competitive commercial market'. 30 This language in turn constructs the Doctors as craft masters. In other words, while this section of the pageant is most certainly about the biblical story of Christ's disputation with the Doctors, it is also about both civic and craft authority.…”

“…33 King and Davidson concur, drawing attention to lines added in the Coventry version which 'have two adults discussing Jesus over his head, as it were, … thus adding to the play's characterization of him as plausibly childlike'. 34 Alakas sees this emphasis on Christ's youth as highlighting the age differences, 35 drawing attention to the gerontocratic context, but speeches about and to Christ also characterize his youth as the quality which makes him especially precious. From the moment that the holy family leaves Simeon's temple, Mary and Joseph repeatedly marvel at their good fortune in having a 'soo goodly a childe' (721) who 'waxith feyre and large' (729).…”

“…51 While the Corpus Christi Guild held its last banquet in 1534, 52 this was not, as Alakas suggests, the date of the proposed merger between the guilds. 53 It was on 12 October 1535, seven months after Croo's revisions and just under three months since their premier Corpus Christi performance, that the Leet voted to annex the Corpus Christi Guild to the Trinity Guild by a vote of twenty to four. 54 Despite the fact that this decision was not carried out, it was a logical response to financial and demographic difficulties.…”