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CSM Number : 125
Short name: The Priest who Used Magic to Seduce a Maiden Alternative: Love Gained by Black Arts
Incipit: Muit’ é mayor o ben-fazer
Refrain: Muit’ é mayor o ben-fazer/ da Virgen Santa Maria/ que é do demo o poder/ nen d’ ome mao perfia.
Summary of narrative
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Setting: Auvergne Protagonist(s): a priest, a bishop named don Felix, and a young woman

A priest praised the Virgin and always said her hours. He was the steward of the bishop of Auvergne. A beautiful young woman also lived there. She too served and praised the Virgin. She prayed to Holy Mary, asking her how she could protect herself from the devil. The Virgin counselled her to say the Ave Maria.rn

The priest fell in love with the young woman and determined to win her.rnHe tried to seduce her, but she wouldn’t listen to him.rn

Through sorcery, he summoned some devils and ordered them to put the young woman in his power that night. They harassed her, but accomplished nothing because the Virgin protected her.rn

When they returned to the priest, he chided them and despatched them again. This time, they succeeded because they caused the woman to forget her prayer to the Virgin. On account of the devil, the woman fell ill. She went crazy and asked for the priest to be summoned. She was mad with love and insisted on marrying him. The next day the couple were married.rn

Then the Virgin caused the priest to go to the church to say the hours, as he had been accustomed. While he was doing this, she appeared to him and berated him for consorting with devils. She commanded him to return at once to the priesthood.rnSimilarly, she appeared to the woman as she lay sleeping. She chided her also and told her to leave her husband and to enter a convent.rn

When the maiden woke up she told her parents what had happened and asked them to put her in a convent. The priest told the bishop, a man named don Felix, that the devil had deceived him and that he wished to become a monk. The bishop placed them both in religious orders, according to the Virgin’s wishes.rn

Metrical data
Stanza: 16 16 16 15\' Refrain: 8 7\' 8 7\'
No. of Stanzas: 24
Rhyme scheme: ABAB | cccb Zejel:
MS locations:
T125, E125, To97
Poncelet reference
Antistes iuvenem nutrivit amore paterno; Praesulis (94)
Keywords
apparition, Ave Maria (saying of), bishop, conjuration, convent, devils, illness, incantation, lovesickness, magic spell, marriage, monastery, priest , wax
Discography
Click HERE for a list of recordings of this poem
Miracle Collection
Love Gained by Black Arts Pez
Love Gained by Black Arts Thott
(Copenhagen, Royal Library, MS Thott 128)
Love Gained by Black Arts Gil de Zamora
(Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional, MS 9503)
Love Gained by Black Arts BL Mariale 3
(London, BL, Additional MS 35112, ff. 21-80; 90-94)
Love Gained by Black Arts Lisbon Mariale
(Lisbon, B.N., MS Alcobacense 149)
Love Gained by Black Arts William of Malmesbury
Love Gained by Black Arts Adgar
(London, BL, Egerton 612)
Love Gained by Black Arts BL Mariale 2
(London, BL, Arundel 346, ff. 60-73)
Love Gained by Black Arts Nigel of Canterbury
(London, BL, MS Cotton Vespasian D.xix)
Love Gained by Black Arts Bartholomew of Trent
(University of Bologna, Codice 1794)
Love Gained by Black Arts Jean Mielot, Miracles de Nostre Dame
(Oxford, Bodleian, Douce MS 374)
Love Gained by Black Arts Anglo-Norman Miracles of the Virgin
(London, BL, Royal 20 B XIV, fols 102v-169)
BITAGAP ID
3842
Bibliography
La vida conventual feminina en la Edad Media castellana: poder, misticismo y prácticas devocionales en las Cantigas de Santa María
Álvarez Díaz, Cristina
Los clérigos, las ’cantigas’ y las ’Siete Partidas’
Cash, Annette Grant
Sources of the Cantigas of Alfonso el Sabio [AC]
Dexter, Elise Forsythe
Il patto col diavolo nelle letterature medievali. Elementi per un’analisi narrativa
D’Agostino, Alfonso
The Practice of Necromancy as Depicted in CSM 125
Escobar, José
Viejos, viejas y alcahuetas. Consideraciones acerca de la vejez en las Cantigas de Santa María
Fidalgo, Elvira
Las Cantigas de Santa Maria
Filgueira Valverde, José
Cincuenta leyendas por Gil de Zamora, combinadas con las Cantigas de Alfonso el Sabio
Fita, Fidel
Variantes de tres leyendas por Gil de Zamora
Fita, Fidel
O Livro dos Milagres da Bem-aventurada Virgem Maria
Martins, Mário
La literatura caballeresca en la obra de Alfonso X
Montoya Martínez, Jesús
Milagres Medievais numa colectânea mariana alcobacense. Edição crítica, tradução e estudo
Nascimento, Aries Augusto, ed.
Las Cantigas de Santa Maria del Rey Alfonso X, el Sabio y su notación musical
Perales, Ramón
The Virgin’s Cures for Lust
Powell Jayne, Cnynthia
De morte anime: Solomonic Magic in Alfonso X's Cantiga 125
Riva, Fernando
Os afazeres do demónio nas Cantigas de Santa Maria de Afonso X
Rodrigues, Maria Idalina Resina
La pecadora penitente en el teatro español: Sus fuentes y evolución
Sánchez Castañer y Mena, Francisco
Recordings of Las [sic] Cantigas de Santa Maria Contained in the Facsimile Edition Published by Edilán (Madrid 1979)
Tinnell, Roger D.