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CSM Number : 215
Short name: The Moors who Failed to Destroy a Statue of the Virgin Alternative: Moors cannot destroy statue of Virgin
Incipit: Con gran razon é que seja/ de Jesucrist’ amparada
Refrain: Con gran razon é que seja/ de Jesucrist’ amparada/ a omage da sa madre / Virgen santa corõada.
Summary of narrative
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Setting: a village near Martos in the Campiña de Córdoba Protagonist(s): some Moorish warriors; mention of Alfonso X , the King of Granada and Aboyuçaf

This miracle occurred the second time that Aboyuçaf crossed the frontier with his army. Because the Christians were caught off guard, he inflicted a lot of damage, sacking cities and churches.rnOne day, when the Moors were raiding the Campiña de Córdoba, they ravaged a village near Martos. They broke into a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary and seized her image.

They took it to their camp and decided to destroy it. They drew their swords, and one of them struck it on the arm and hacked a large piece from it. God, however, avenged the abuse of that image; he dealt the Moor such a wound that he lost his arm and the sword slipped from his hand. When the Moors saw this, they determined to stone the image. Nevertheless, even thought they fired stones from close range, they could not damage it.

Next, they decided to burn it and they laid it in a fire for two days. But He who protected Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah in the Babylonian furnace, also saved the statue. They finally agreed to throw the thing in the river, and for fun, they tied a stone around its neck. Although they threw the image into a deep pool, the Virgin did not permit it to sink.

Seeing this, the Moor’s acknowledged the image’s power. They took it to the King of Granada and he recognised the miracle and rewarded the man who had brought him the image.

He ordered some Christians to take it too the King of Castile and León, and tell him what had happened to the image, without disclosing who had sent it. The Christians took it to the King in Segovia.

He dressed the statue in fine garments. He ordered it to be placed in his chapel and displayed to everyone to evoke their pity and inspire them to avenge it and defeat the Moors.

Metrical data
Stanza: 15' 15' 15' 15' Refrain: 15' 15'
No. of Stanzas: 14
Rhyme scheme: AA | bbba Zejel: Yes
MS locations:
F61, E215
Poncelet reference
None
Keywords
booty, burning, chapel (in castle), iconoclasts, image (of Virgin Mary), king, Muslims/Moors, river, warfare
Discography
Click HERE for a list of recordings of this poem
BITAGAP ID
3966
Bibliography
Some Characterizations of the Moor in Alfonso X’s Cantigas
Bagby, Albert
Alfonso X el Sabio
Ballesteros y Beretta, Antonio
Shields of faith: apotropaic images of the Virgin in Alfonso X\'s Cantigas de Santa María
Jackson, Deirdre Elizabeth
Itinéraire espagnol du conte médiéval (VIIIs-XVs)
Marsan, Rameline E.
Alfonso X of Castile: Patron of Literature and Learning
Procter, Evelyn S.
Las Cantigas del Rey Sabio
Valera, Juan