Spinning Silk - 2

Before running off into Narnia, I wanted to take a closer look at the beginning of the title of the play. It says - The Mercers Play: The Last Judgement.

(Note: I know that is not how you spell judgment, but it's how the people of old did apparently).

What is a mercer? Who were the mercers? Oxford Reference Online cites a mercer as a "a dealer in textile fabrics, especially silks, velvets, and other fine materials." I crossed this knowledge with what more I found out.

Through the peer-reviewed article, "The Challenges of Social Unity: The Last Judgment Pageant and Guild Relations in York," I found that the mercers - who always put on this particular play - were well-able to use those fine silks and velvets and other fabrics. Kate Crassons explains from her research that the Mercers were the wealthiest guild year after year, going in the place of honor at the end of the line.

This will be helpful to the show. Knowing their trade and how much wealth the mercers possessed, I think the costumers will be able to make this the most glamorous show they possibly can. The mercers were traders of the finest fabrics available, so that may be what we would use too.

Works Cited

"Mercer" The Oxford Dictionary of English (revised edition). Ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson. Oxford University Press, 2005. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Central Washington University. 4 December 2010

Crassons, Kate. "The Challenges of Social Unity: The Last Judgment Pageant and Guild Relations in York." Journal of Medieval & Early Modern Studies. 2007. Vol. 37: Issue 2. p305-334