Ordinalia

The Ordinalia are three medieval mystery plays dating to the late fourteenth century, written primarily in Middle Cornish, with stage directions in Latin. The three plays are Origo Mundi (The Origin of the World, aka Ordinale de Origine Mundi, 2,846 lines), Passio Christi (The Passion of Christ, aka Passio Domini Nostri Jhesu Christi, 3,242 lines) and Resurrexio Domini (The Resurrection of Our Lord aka Ordinale de Ressurexione Domini, 2,646 lines). The metres of these plays are various arrangements of seven- and four-syllabled lines. Ordinalia means "prompt" or "service book".

First play

The first play, called Origo Mundi, begins with the Creation of the World, the Fall of Man, and Cain and Abel, followed by the building of the Ark and the Flood; the story of the temptation of Abraham closes the first act. The second act gives us the history of Moses, and the third represents the story of David and of the building of Solomon's Temple, curiously ending with a description of the martyrdom of St Maximilla as a Christian by the bishop placed in charge of the temple by Solomon.