The Sacre Rappresentazioni Leaving D'Ancona, Vasari and the others in their confusion of dates, we find ourselves provided with a satisfactory point of departure and with some facts well defined.

The drift of Provencal ideas over the borders into Lombardy may or may not have given some impetus to the growth of certain forms in Tuscany and Umbria, but at any rate it is clear that the Italian form of "Sacre Rappresentazioni" grew chiefly out of the poetic form called "Laud." This itself was one of the products of a religious emotion.

To observe it in its cradle we must go back to the beginnings of Italian literature.

The seemingly endless battle between Emperor and Pope, which scarred the soul of Italy through so many years, was at that time raging between Frederick II and Innocent III and Gregory IX.

The land reeked with carnage, rapine, murder, fire and famine.