During this period great sequence writers appeared, some known and distinguished, the majority anonymous. To the latter group belongs the author of the Easter sequence, Victimae paschali laudes, “Christians, to the Paschal Victim,” which represents the transition between the Notkerian and Victorine styles. The growing relationship between Latin hymnology and the arts becomes obvious in this sequence which was of importance in building the liturgical drama for Easter. The dialogue embedded in the poem,
“Speak, Mary, declaring
What thou sawest wayfaring?”
and her reply, ending
“Yea, Christ my hope is arisen:
To Galilee he goes before you.”
contributed, with other sources, to the fully developed Easter Play.
The so-called Golden Sequence for Pentecost, Veni sancte spiritus, “Come, thou Holy Spirit, come,”[4] also of undetermined authorship, attained perhaps the greatest prestige, having now been heard in Christian worship for more than eight hundred years.
The activities of the French school are largely responsible for the popularity of sequences in the twelfth century and for their multiplication in every part of western Europe. Other factors played a part. Just as the Latin hymn can best be understood in the historical setting of the late Roman Empire or of the early Germanic kingdoms, so the development of the sequence must be interpreted in connection with the social and cultural environment of the age. The universities, notably that of Paris, were dominating intellectual life. Economic opportunity offered by the revival and expansion of craftsmanship, commerce, urban life and geographical knowledge resembled the achievement of Roman days. The European centralized states had emerged and were assuming the national features which mark them today. The modern languages of Europe were highly developed in their literary treasures and in everyday speech. Under reforming popes such as Innocent III, the church was entering an era of unity and spiritual renewal. Side by side with the reformed Benedictine Order, the Augustinian canons with their ancient prestige, the Franciscan, Dominican and other religious orders were taking their part in the work for the regeneration of society and the triumph of the Faith. Pilgrimages and crusades were in vogue for two hundred years from 1095. The hymnody of the church took on new vitality in an era of European awakening.