Performative Exegesis in the Fleury Interfectio Puerorum

" Performative Exegesis in the Fleury Interfectio Puerorum." A music drama in the twelfth-century "Fleury Playbook" representing the Massacre of the Innocents shows the influence of the exegetical and liturgical traditions associated with the story in the gospel of Matthew and with the feast of the Innocents. In the central Middle Ages, Innocents' Day was characterized by a juxtaposition of mourning and joy: liturgical commentaries emphasize the commemoration of Rachel's grief, while the feast was the occasion for one of the clerical celebrations of the Christmas octave. The play embodies this contrast, particularly in the lengthy dialogue between the lamenting Rachel and her consolers. Rachel's lament, which is based on a sequence by Notker Balbulus, also extends the exegetical tradition by reinforcing the Marian typology inherent in the sequence. Throughout the play, the intersection of liturgical chants with newly composed material creates a complex temporality that effectively dramatizes the multiple levels of meaning in the commentary traditions.