The Clerks of the Revels

The Clerks of the Revels were an incorporated society in Paris, whose duty it was to regulate the public festivities. As the "Fraternity of the Passion" had obtained a royal license to represent the Mysteries, they were compelled to invent a new set of plays, which they called the Moralities. These were taken from the parables or the historical parts of the Bible.

To the Clerks of the Revels we owe the invention of modern comedy.

They mingled with the Moralities a number of farces, the sole object of which was to excite laughter, and in which the gayety and vivacity of the French character were well displayed. Some of these plays still retain their places upon the French stage.