738 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1294-1517.
Shera told her they were about to set sail, but still she resisted entreaty and all hands were called to join together and " fetch her in."
One of the best qf^the English plays, Everyman^ has for its subject the inevitableness^fjieath and the^Judgn^^ God sends Death to Everyman and, in his attempt to withstand his message, Everyman calls upon his friends Fellowship, Riches, Strength, Beauty and Good Works for help or, at least, to accompany him on his pilgrimage. This with one consent they refused to do. He then betook himself to Penance, and has explained to him the powers of the priesthood : —
God hath to priest more power given Than to any angel that is in heaven. "With five words, he may consecrate God's body in flesh and blood to take And handleth his Maker between his hands : The priest bindeth and unbindeth all bands Both in earth and in heaven, He ministers all the sacraments seven.
Such plays were impressive sermons, a popular summer-school of moral and religious instruction, the mediseval Chatauqua. They continued to be performed in England till the 16th century and even till the reign of James L, when the modern drama took their place. Thejast survival of the religious drama of the Middle Ages is the Passion Play given at Oberammergau in the highlands of Bavaria. In obedience to a vow, made during a severe epidemic in 1634, it has been acted every ten years since and more often in recent years. Since 1860, the performances have attracted throngs of spectators from foreign lands, a performance being set for 1910. Writers have described it as a most impressive sermon on the most momentous of scenes, as it is a solemn act of worship for the simple-hearted, pious Catholics of that remote mountain village.
Pilgrimages and the worship of relics were as popular in the 15th century as they had been in previous periods of the Middle Ages. 2 Guide-books for pilgrims were circulated in Germany
1 The text in Pollock. It was revived in New York City in the Winter of 1902-190.3 and played in three theatres, creating a momentary interest.
2 See Erasmus : Praise of FoUy, Enchiridion and Colloquies. — Gasquet : Eve of the Reformation, pp. 365-394. — G. Ficker : D. ausgehende Mittelalter.
§ 78. POPULAR PIETY. 739
and England and contained vocabularies as well as items of geography and other details.^ Jerusalem continued to attract the feet of princes and prelates as well as persons of less exalted estate. Frederick the Wise of Saxony, Luther's cautious but firm friend, was one of these pilgrims in the last days of the Middle Ages. William Wey of England, who in 1458 and 1462, went to the Holy Land, tells us how the pilgrims sang "O city dear Jerusalem," Urbs beata, as they landed at Joppa. Sir Richard Torkington and Sir Thomas Tappe, both ecclesiastics, made the journey the same year that Luther nailed up the Theses, 1517. The journeys to Rome during the Jubilee Years of 1450, 1500, drew vast throngs of people, eager to see the holy city and concerned to secure the religious benefits promised by the supreme pontiff. Local shrines also attracted constant streams of pilgrims.
Among the popular shrines in Germany were the holy blood at Sternberg from 1492, the image of Mary at Grimmenthal from 1499, as a cure for the French sickness, the head of St. Anna at Diirenfrom 1500, this relic having been stolen from Mainz. The holy coat of Treves was brought to light in 1512. As in the flourishing days of the Crusades, so again, pilgrimage-epidemics broke out among the children of Germany, as in 1457 when large bands went to St. JNIichael's in Normandy and in 1475 to Wilsnack, where, in spite of the exposure by Nicolas of Cusa, the blood was still reputed holy.^ The most noted places of pilgrimage in Germany were Cologne with the bodies of the three Magi-kings and Aachen^jwhere.JVIary's undergarment, Jesus' swaddling-cloth and the loin-cloth he wore on the cross and other priceless relics are kept^ Some idea of the popularity of pilgrimages may be had from the numbers that are given, though it is possible they are exaggerated. In 1466, 130,000 attended the festival of the angels at Einsiedeln, Swit-
Leipzig, pp. 69-73. — H. Siebert, Rom. Cath. : Beitrdgezur vorreformatorischen Heiligen-und Eeliq^iienverehrung, Freib. im Br., 1907. — Bezold, p. 105 sqq., Janssen-Pastor.
1 Falk : Druckkunst, pp. 33-37 ; 44-79 etc. Siebert, p. 55 sq. — Wey : Itineraries, ed. by Roxburghe Club, 1857.
2 We have the account of the latter by an eye-witness, the chronicler priest, Conrad Stolle of Erfurt. See Ficker, p. 69 sq.