It was before the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem that the greatest of the early passion plays were given by marionettes, plays so simple and religious that they were greatly loved by the devout pilgrims who came to that sacred shrine. It was here that puppets were probably seen by the first crusaders who, no doubt, had much to tell of them when they returned to their far-distant homes. Puppets lived in the churches, just as they once had lived in the temples. The plays they gave were called Mysteries. These puppet mystery plays were to be seen in both the churches and the monasteries of all medieval Europe. They were solemn festivals of sacred commemoration. Into the naves and chapels of these early churches, large wooden stages were built, carpets were spread on the floors, tapestries were hung on the walls. At the back of these stages, evergreen trees were placed and in front of the trees there were stones. These were covered with plants and moss in imitation of the hills and valleys and pathways of the Holy Land. Everything was so arranged that these marionettes could give the most dramatic scenes in the life of Christ. The little figures were carved from wood, colored to life, richly clothed, adapted by mechanisms so that their limbs could be made to move by the action of springs and levers. As time went on the people seemed to lose much of their strong religious fervor. Marionettes did the same. Finally almost ceasing to be religious they became interested only in entertaining people. At last Savonarola banished them from the churches of Florence, and in the year 1550 the Council of Trent tried to banish all marionettes from the churches. The Council did this because it felt that marionettes were very irreligious. Then the puppets rebelled and forsook the church for the theater. Thereupon they were accused of witchcraft and magic, were tortured, burned, beheaded, and even buried alive. All this was done in the XVIth Century. But all these indignities did not drive the marionettes far from the churches. They established themselves just outside the church grounds. Here they were sure to be on the days when crowds of people were coming to the great church celebrations. The plays they gave were episodes taken from the Holy Scriptures. These episodes taken from the miracles came to be known as Miracle Plays, and these plays became even more popular than the Mystery Plays that had been given inside the churches.