Jean Michel

Who was Jean Michel?

Jean Michel was a French dramatic poet of the fifteenth century known for revising and enlarging the passion play "the Mystery of the Passion" by Arnoul Gréban. There are three Michels mentioned in connection with this work. There is Bishop Jean Michel of Angers, a "Maistre Jehan Michel" who was first physician of King Charles VIII, and the physician to the dauphin, son of Charles VIII. The bishop is considered the least likely candididate for being the poet, having died too early, while the physician to the dauphin is the most likely, due to the latter also being associated with Angers, and the work being produced for the first time in its new shape at Angers in 1486.

Besides his contributions to Gréban's Passion, Jean Michel composed another mystery, a Resurrection, which was played at Angers on the occasion of King René's visit to that city. Jean Michel has not the dryness of his predecessor; on the other hand he lacks his accuracy. He incorporates into his mysteries the most extravagant legends and the fantastic information found in the apocryphal writers. He delights in pictures of low city life in the fifteenth century, and his language is often realistic in the extreme.