Form of entertainment during the late middle ages, Renaissance through the Reformation, which combined poetry, music, scenery and elaborate costumes. Like mystery plays and pageants, masques constitute a connection between classical theatre and modern theatre. Masques grew out of folk ritual in which guests would visit a nobleman or king and deliver gifts on some special occasion or holiday. In masques during the 17th Century, it was not unusual for royalty to participate in masques an oft-cited example being Louis XIV's portrayal of the Sun-King in the Ballet Nuit.