The
Tretise of Miraclis Pleyingeis a crucial document for those interested in medieval drama, as it is one of the prime examples of English medieval anti-theatricality. It survives in an early fifteenth century manuscript (BL: MS Add 24,202), which contains a collection of Lollard writings. It was composed between 1380 and 1414 AD and is usually described as Wycliffite or Lollard because of similarities in doctrine to the writings and ideas of John Wyclif and his followers.
The most important aspect of the Tretise is that it is a compound document, written in two parts at different times by two separate authors with slightly differing beliefs. Linguistic evidence makes it reasonably certain that both of the authors are from the Midlands, with recent dialect studies localising the parts to
1476 words
Citation: Cummings, James. "Tretise of Miraclis Pleyinge". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 April 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=9328, accessed 09 December 2024.]