Ordinalia Explained

The Latin: Ordinalia are three medieval mystery plays dating to the late fourteenth century, written primarily in Middle Cornish, with stage directions in Latin. The three plays are Latin: Origo Mundi (The Origin of the World, also known as Latin: Ordinale de Origine Mundi, 2,846 lines), Latin: Passio Christi (The Passion of Christ, also known as Latin: Passio Domini Nostri Jhesu Christi, 3,242 lines) and Latin: Resurrexio Domini (The Resurrection of Our Lord also known as Latin: Ordinale de Ressurexione Domini, 2,646 lines). The metres of these plays are various arrangements of seven- and four-syllabled lines. Latin: Ordinalia means "prompt" or "service book".^{[1] [2]}

First play

The first play, called Latin: Origo Mundi, begins with the Creation of the World, the Fall of Man, and Cain and Abel, followed by the building of the Ark and the Flood; the story of the temptation of Abraham closes the first act. The second act gives us the history of Moses, and the third represents the story of David and of the building of Solomon's Temple, curiously ending with a description of the martyrdom of St Maximilla as a Christian by the bishop placed in charge of the temple by Solomon.

An offshoot of the Latin: Origo Mundi is the Creation of the World with Noah's Flood (Cornish: Gwreans an Bys: the Creacon of the World), written in Cornish with English stage directions, copied by William Jordan in 1611.^[3]

Second and third plays

The second play, Latin: Passio Domini, represents the Temptation of Christ in the desert,^[2] and the events from the entry into Jerusalem to the Crucifixion, including the Passion. This goes on without interruption into the third play, Latin: Resurrectio Domini, which gives an account of the Harrowing of Hell, the Resurrection, and the Ascension, with the Legend of St Veronica and Tiberius, the death of Pilate, the release of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus from prison, The Three Marys.^[2] As in the Poem of the Passion, the pseudo-Gospel of Nicodemus and other legendary sources are drawn upon.

Relationship to the Legend of the Cross

However, running through the whole and interwoven with the scriptural narrative comes the beautiful and curious Legend of the Rood (Legend of the Holy Cross). The legend, most of which is in the Ordinalia, is this:

Extant manuscripts

There are three manuscripts of this trilogy in existence:

• Bodley 791, Oxford manuscript of the fifteenth century, given to the Bodleian Library by James Button on 28 March 1614. This manuscript is the original from which the others were copied, and from which Dr Edwin Norris edited the plays in 1859.^[1]
• Bodleian MSS 28556-28557,^[1] another Oxford manuscript, presented to the Bodleian Library by Edwin Ley of Bosahan about 1859, with a translation by John Keigwin. The copy of the text is older by a century than the translation.
• Peniarth MS 428E,^[1] a copy which was in the library of Sir John Williams, Bart., of Llansteffan, Carmarthenshire, with an autograph translation by Keigwin. On the death of Sir John it went to the National Library of Wales as part of his bequests.

See also

• Cornish: [[Beunans Meriasek]], another play in the Cornish language
• Cornish: [[Bewnans Ke]], another play in Cornish (both plays are dramatisations of legends of Cornish saints, i.e. St Meriadoc and St Kea)
• Cornish: [[Plen-an-gwary]], the common place for an Latin: Ordinalia performance

Footnotes

Citations

References

Editions, translations

• Book: Norris, Edwin. The Ancient Cornish Drama: In Two Volumes. 1. Oxford. The University Press. 1859. 978-0-405-08819-3 . (Latin: Origo Mundi, Latin: Passio Domini Nostri) [edition and translation]
  • volume 2 (Latin: Ressurexio Domini Nostri, notes)
• Harris, Phyllis Pier (1964). 'Origo Mundi, First Play of the Cornish Mystery Cycle, The Ordinalia: A New Edition' (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Washington) [edition]
• The Cornish Ordinalia, trans. by Markham Harris (Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 1969) [translation]
• Ordinalia: The Cornish Mystery Play Cycle, trans. by Alan M. Kent (Francis Boutle Publishers, 2006), [translation]

Secondary sources

• Book: Kent, Alan M.. Alan M. Kent . Ordinalia. Koch. John Thomas. Minard. Antone. The Celts: History, Life, and Culture. ABC-CLIO. 2012. 623–4. https://books.google.com/books?id=3cHdQC1cXLEC&pg=PA623. 978-1598849646.
• Book: Scherb, Victor I.. Cornish Ordinalia. Kastan. David Scott. The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature. Oxford University Press. 2006. 74–6. https://books.google.com/books?id=DlMUSz-hiuEC&pg=RA1-PA74. 0195169212. (With additional bibliography.)
• Book: Jenner, Henry. A Handbook of the Cornish Language. Henry Jenner. 1904. A Project Gutenberg eBook.
• A brief history of the Cornish language.

External links

• Origo Mundi from Wikisource
• Passio Christi from Wikisource
• Resurrexio Domini from Wikisource

Notes and References

1. (in: Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature)
2. (in: Koch and Minard edd. The Celts)
3. Book: Cawley. A. C.. Everyman: and Medieval Miracle Plays. 2. Dutton. 1957. 1959. 235–. 0525470360. registration. (Appendix I, The Cornish Trilogy, The Death of Pilate