ture.

While the scholars of the German Renaissance, who became so largely the
agents of the Reformation, eagerly dramatized scriptural subjects in the
Latin, and sometimes (as in the case of Luther's protege P. Rebhun[274])
in the native tongue, the same influence made itself felt in another
sphere of dramatic activity. Towards the close of the middle ages, as
has been seen, dramatic performances had in Germany, as in England,
largely fallen into the hands of the civic gilds, and the composition of
plays was more especially cultivated by the master-singers of Nuremberg
and other towns. It was thus that, under the influence of the
Reformation, and of the impulse given by Luther and others to the use of
High German as the popular literary tongue, Hans Sachs, the immortal
shoemaker of Nuremberg, seemed destined to become the father of the
popular German drama. In his plays, "spiritual," "secular," and
_Fastnachtsspiele_ alike, the interest indeed lies in the dialogue
rather than in the action, nor do they display any attempt at
development of character. In their subjects, whether derived from
Scripture or from popular legend and fiction,[275] there is no novelty,
and in their treatment no originality. But the healthy vigour and fresh
humour of this marvellously fertile author, and his innate sympathy with
the views and sentiments of the burgher class to which he belonged, were
elements of genuine promise--a promise which the event was signally to
disappoint. Though the manner of Hans Sachs found a few followers, and
is recognizable in the German popular drama even of the beginning of the
17th century, the literature of the Reformation, of which his works may
claim to form part, was soon absorbed in labours of a very different
kind. The stage, after admitting novelties introduced from Italy or
(under Jesuit supervision) from Spain, was subjected to another and
enduring influence. Among the foreign actors of various nations who
flitted through the innumerable courts of the empire, or found a
temporary home there, special prominence was acquired, towards the close
of the 16th and in the early years of the 17th century, by the "English
comedians," who appeared at Cassel, Wolfenbuttel, Berlin, Dresden,
Cologne, &c. Through these players a number of early English dramas
found their way into Germany, where they were performed in more or less
imperfect versions, and called forth imitations by native authors. Duke
Henry Julius of