A study of the Feast of the Ass in thirteenth century France.
Item
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Title
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A study of the Feast of the Ass in thirteenth century France.
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Identifier
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AAI9224866
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identifier
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9224866
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Creator
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Witte, Anne Elizabeth.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Francesca Sautman
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Date
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1992
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Literature, Medieval | Music | History, Medieval | Theater
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Abstract
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The Feast of the Ass is known to us only by two thirteenth century manuscripts from the north of France. The first is from Beauvais (Egerton 2615) and the second is from Sens (Sens 200). Both contain the standard liturgy of the period for January 1st and both are embellished with music. Until now, scholarship on the Feast of the Ass has focused on its appurtenance to the group of end of the year feasts known as the Feast of Fools. This study argues that the Feast of the Ass, incorporated within the liturgy for January 1st, and included within a polyphonic musical celebration exceptional for its time, must be carefully distinguished from the Feast of Fools and be regarded as a separate entity of northern France's early liturgy and theatre.;A second group of manuscripts from Rouen has also come to be known as the Feast of the Ass, but belongs, in fact, to a more comprehensive theatrical piece known as the "Prophet Play." This second group of manuscripts contains valuable data for ascertaining the liturgical and symbolic role of the ass in thirteenth an fourteenth century France.;A preliminary glance at early symbolism of the ass in Egypt, Greece, and Rome comprises the first one hundred pages of the thesis. A discussion of pertinent Old Testament and New Testament episodes leads this historical and symbolic analysis down its natural path to the Middle Ages. A description of the Feast of the Ass manuscripts and an analysis of "Orientis partibus" also known as the "Song of the Ass," follows. The dissertation then undertakes to show the differences between the theatrical and liturgical nature of the Feast of the Ass with the Feast of Fools. In the final part, the ass' appearance in the medieval calendar and in medieval symbolism is used to demonstrate this animal's distinctive role as a figure of time and time reckoning, as a musical symbol, and finally as a final vestige of ancient pagan and Christian religion.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy Restricted.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.