York Corpus Christi Cycle plays: Examined in light of the Protestant Reformation

Coinciding with the Reformation and the schism within the church, the newly birthed Protestant movement abandoned the European theatrical tradition of Bible based performance. English Corpus Christi cycle plays portraying Bible stories from creation through the life of Christ are one example of plays included in this genre that did not survive the transition into Protestantism.;Recent scholarship has not paint a clear or definite picture of the cycles' end. Their death has been attributed primarily to the changing religious beliefs brought to England by the Reformation and to a new age of theatre. In an effort to provide further examination of these plays, the research presented provides a historical and textual examination of the York Corpus Christi Cycle in light of the Protestant Reformation.