Abstract In 1453, the Archbishop of York issued an indulgence for attendance at the York Corpus Christi procession. Drawing upon the indulgences granted for spectators at German Corpus Christi plays in Künzelsau and Zerbst, this essay proposes that audience members at performances of the York cycle play, which took place in connection with the procession, similarly expected to receive an apportionment of redemptive grace for their devout engagement with the various pageants before them. The cycle play’s devotional reception likely also included additional prayers of pardon, found in primers created for York use and recited during spectators’ daily devotions. A broad cross-section of spectators presumably recited such prayers before, after, or possibly even during the cycle play’s performance.
Glenn Ehrstine (Wed,) studied this question.