CHAPTER VII.
The Sacred Dances of Europe.
In Europe sacred dances were a prominent feature in the worship of the people both in Roman times, in the early Christian period, and in the Middle Ages; they continue in Spain down to our own times. In all ages they were probably adapted to many purposes—thanksgiving, praise, supplication, and humiliation. At Rome there was an ancient order of priests called Salii,[1] "priests of Mars, whereof there were twelve, instituted by Numa. (They wore) painted parti-coloured garments, high bonnets, and a steel cuirass on the breast. They were called Salii, from saltare, to dance, because, after assisting at sacrifices, they went dancing about the streets with a buckler in their left hand and a rod in their right, striking musically with their rods on one another's bucklers and singing hymns in honour of the gods."
After the introduction of Christianity two courses were open to the Church, either entirely to forbid the continuance of heathen forms and ceremonies, or to sanctify and alter them so as both to teach and interest the people. In many instances the latter course has been pursued: observances which were in themselves harmless have been retained, and a different meaning has been put upon them. Thus the solemn religious dances which the Hebrews and Pagan Romans executed on their great festivals were allowed in the primitive Christian Church. Scaliger, who astonished the Emperor Charles V. by his dancing powers, states that the bishops and clergy were the performers on such occasions, and remarks that the first churches which were erected after Christianity was firmly established by Constantino were built so that the sacred dances could be carried out. He adds "that the first bishops were styled presales, because they led the dance on feast days."[2] Père Ménestrier,[3] in his Traite des Ballets (1682), says "that he had seen the canons and choristers on Whit
- ↑ Ency. Perthensis.
- ↑ Ency. Brit.
- ↑ John Baptist Ménestrier, a learned French antiquary, died 1664, aged 70.
