Chester Mystery Plays

The Chester Mystery Plays is a cycle of mystery plays originating in the city of Chester, England and dating back to at least the early part of the 15th century. They were banned during the reign of Elizabeth I for "Popery" by the Church of England.

Origin and history

Biblical dramas were being performed in Latin across continental Europe as early as the 10th century dramatizing the events surrounding the birth of Christ.

By the late 12th century, biblical plays were performed outside of churches and were written in vernacular languages. They still emphasized incidents of the Old and New Testaments but were more dramatic and less strict about following biblical accounts. The 1150 AD performance titled The Play of Adam from Norman France dramatized the fall of Adam in the garden of Eden.

The inclusion of drama was extremely popular among the French population and found similar popularity in England. In the 14th century, vernacular Bible dramas were performed across England for three main reasons: the introduction of the Feast of Corpus Christi, the growing population of towns and municipal governments independent of feudal lords, and the development of trade guilds.

Pope Urban IV created the Feast of Corpus Christi in 1264 to celebrate the literal presence of Christ within the bread and wine of the Catholic Eucharist. The feast occurred on Trinity Sunday between May and June, and priests processed through the streets displaying the “Host” of Jesus which was a consecrated wafer encased within a casket.