Kaiser, Reich und Antichrist: Die politische Dimension der deutschsprachigen vorreformatorischen Antichristspiele

The medieval Antichrist plays are considered as politically disinterested. But this opinion is a result of an ahistorical retrospective, which classifies the medieval plays against the backdrop of the reformatory Antichrist plays, where the political dimension is blatantly obvious with the identification of the pope with the Antichrist. Indeed, the medieval Antichrist plays eschew this bold and simple way of articulating a political opinion - but they are not at all politically neutral. The German Antichrist plays, in particular, focus on the relationship between Antichrist, emperor and empire. They follow the ambivalent picture of the empire which is drawn by the apocalyptic books and passages of the Bible and show us a differentiated political awareness rather than the bold antipapal statements of the reformatory Antichrist plays.