Aurélie Blanc is a lecturer at the University of Fribourg. Her research on convent drama was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. In 2018 she was awarded the Dobson scholarship.

• List of IllustrationsAcknowledgementsIntroductionChapter 1. Medieval Spectators and Participants in the Barking Abbey Elevatio and Visitatio sepulchriChapter 2. Contemporary Spectators and Participants: Performing the Barking Abbey Ceremonies in 2018ConclusionAppendicesBibliographyIndex

After matins on Easter in the early fifteenth century, the nuns and clergy of Barking Abbey performed two ceremonies in the church that blended Latin chant with movement, props, and costumes: the Elevatio, which portrays the Harrowing of Hell and Christ’s Resurrection, and the Visitatio sepulchri, where the Three Marys (Mary Magdalen, Mary mother of James, and Mary Salome) visit Christ’s tomb and, after Mary Magdalen meets Jesus, announce Christ’s Resurrection. Such “dramatic liturgical ceremonies”--terminology Blanc uses to convey their fluid and dual nature--were a relatively common feature of medieval monastic life: Elevatio, Visitatio and other similar ceremonies survive from male and female monasteries across Europe.Blanc’s monograph seeks to understand how the performance of these two dramatic liturgical ceremonies affected the performers and audience at Barking Abbey. She does this by analyzing the Barking ceremonies in their historical context and by staging a modern performance of them.[...]Blanc offers a fascinating case study of Barking’s dramatic liturgical ceremonies and an example of how modern staging can elucidate scholarly questions about performance and liturgy. I would especially recommend watching the recording of the performance (the URL is provided on p. 133) while referring to the production script (Appendix 2). There, one can see the solemnity of the performance in action, as well as the inseparability of the dramatic and the liturgical elements

Aurélie Blanc is a lecturer at the University of Fribourg. Her research on convent drama was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. In 2018 she was awarded the Dobson scholarship.

• List of IllustrationsAcknowledgementsIntroductionChapter 1. Medieval Spectators and Participants in the Barking Abbey Elevatio and Visitatio sepulchriChapter 2. Contemporary Spectators and Participants: Performing the Barking Abbey Ceremonies in 2018ConclusionAppendicesBibliographyIndex

After matins on Easter in the early fifteenth century, the nuns and clergy of Barking Abbey performed two ceremonies in the church that blended Latin chant with movement, props, and costumes: the Elevatio, which portrays the Harrowing of Hell and Christ’s Resurrection, and the Visitatio sepulchri, where the Three Marys (Mary Magdalen, Mary mother of James, and Mary Salome) visit Christ’s tomb and, after Mary Magdalen meets Jesus, announce Christ’s Resurrection. Such “dramatic liturgical ceremonies”--terminology Blanc uses to convey their fluid and dual nature--were a relatively common feature of medieval monastic life: Elevatio, Visitatio and other similar ceremonies survive from male and female monasteries across Europe.Blanc’s monograph seeks to understand how the performance of these two dramatic liturgical ceremonies affected the performers and audience at Barking Abbey. She does this by analyzing the Barking ceremonies in their historical context and by staging a modern performance of them.[...]Blanc offers a fascinating case study of Barking’s dramatic liturgical ceremonies and an example of how modern staging can elucidate scholarly questions about performance and liturgy. I would especially recommend watching the recording of the performance (the URL is provided on p. 133) while referring to the production script (Appendix 2). There, one can see the solemnity of the performance in action, as well as the inseparability of the dramatic and the liturgical elements

Aurélie Blanc is a lecturer at the University of Fribourg. Her research on convent drama was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. In 2018 she was awarded the Dobson scholarship.

• List of IllustrationsAcknowledgementsIntroductionChapter 1. Medieval Spectators and Participants in the Barking Abbey Elevatio and Visitatio sepulchriChapter 2. Contemporary Spectators and Participants: Performing the Barking Abbey Ceremonies in 2018ConclusionAppendicesBibliographyIndex

After matins on Easter in the early fifteenth century, the nuns and clergy of Barking Abbey performed two ceremonies in the church that blended Latin chant with movement, props, and costumes: the Elevatio, which portrays the Harrowing of Hell and Christ’s Resurrection, and the Visitatio sepulchri, where the Three Marys (Mary Magdalen, Mary mother of James, and Mary Salome) visit Christ’s tomb and, after Mary Magdalen meets Jesus, announce Christ’s Resurrection. Such “dramatic liturgical ceremonies”--terminology Blanc uses to convey their fluid and dual nature--were a relatively common feature of medieval monastic life: Elevatio, Visitatio and other similar ceremonies survive from male and female monasteries across Europe.Blanc’s monograph seeks to understand how the performance of these two dramatic liturgical ceremonies affected the performers and audience at Barking Abbey. She does this by analyzing the Barking ceremonies in their historical context and by staging a modern performance of them.[...]Blanc offers a fascinating case study of Barking’s dramatic liturgical ceremonies and an example of how modern staging can elucidate scholarly questions about performance and liturgy. I would especially recommend watching the recording of the performance (the URL is provided on p. 133) while referring to the production script (Appendix 2). There, one can see the solemnity of the performance in action, as well as the inseparability of the dramatic and the liturgical elements