morning. On Easter morning, after the third responsory of the Matins, one or two clerics clothed in albs, and carrying palms in their hands, went to the grave and seated themselves there. Thereupon three other priests vested in copes, and carrying censers representing the three holy women, joined them. Upon their arrival the "angel" asked them: "Whom seek ye?" The "women" answered; they hear from the "angel" the message of the Resurrection and were told to go forth and announce it. Then they intoned the antiphon: "Surrexit enim, sicut dixit dominus. Alleluia". The choir finished Matins with the Te Deum. This simplest form of liturgical Easter celebration was elaborated in many ways by the addition of Biblical sentences, hymns, and sequences, in particular the "Victimae paschali", which dates from the first half of the 11th century; also by the representation of St. Peter and St. John running to the grave, and by the appearance of Jesus, who thenceforth becomes the central figure. The union of these scenes in one concerted action (the dialogue), rendered in poetic form (hymns, sequences) or in prose (Bible texts), and the participation of a choir gave to the Nuremberg Easter celebration of the 13th century the character of a short chanted drama. Such celebrations, however, remained parts of the liturgy as late as the 18th century. They were inserted between Matins and Lauds, and served for the instruction of the people, whose hearts and minds were more deeply impressed by reproductions of the Resurrection of Jesus, which appealed to the senses, than by a sermon. The Latin text was no obstacle, since the separate parts of the plays were known or were previously explained. The wide diffusion of these liturgical plays, in which priests took the different parts, is proof of their popularity. At least 224 Latin Easter dramas are known to have existed, of which 159 were found in Germany, 52 in France, and the rest in Italy, Spain, Holland, and England. Development into drama The popular taste for dramatic productions was fed by these Easter celebrations. The clergy emphasized more and more the dramatic moments, often merely hinted at in the rude original celebrations, and added new subjects, among them some of a secular nature. They introduced the characters of Pontius Pilate, the Jews, and the soldiers guarding the sepulchre, added the figure of an ointment-vender bargaining with the holy women, and other