Comic Mysteries

In the Middle Ages mystery plays were how illiterate people across Europe experienced bible stories. Members of the clergy would 'perform' scenes from the bible in churches and church owned property, however, there was no performance to these plays, generally it was just the clergy reading aloud the written words, each as a single character. 

Around the 13th century these plays began to be performed off church sites and in more public places by guilds, who without the presence of the church where freed to do risky stuff that the church might frown upon. Due to this freedom plays began to hold less truth and contain irrelevant elements. This freedom also allowed them to parody significant figures from society such as physicians, soldiers, judges, and even monks and priests. These plays came to an end in the 16th century as they burnt their bridges with the Catholic Church, no longer preaching good Catholic values.