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For the purposes of the new edition, every poem has been assigned a unique short title. The original short titles, taken eclectically from a number of sources, are retained as alternative short titles.
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| CSM Number : 237 | |||
| Short name: | The Murdered Prostitute | Alternative: | Murdered prostitute is revived to make confession |
| Incipit: | Se ben ena Virgen fiar | ||
| Refrain: | Se ben ena Virgen fiar/ o pecador sabudo/ querrá-o na morte guardar/ que non seja perdudo. | ||
| Summary of narrative | |||
| Setting: | Santarém | Protagonist(s): | a prostitute |
|
There was a prostitute in Santarém who trusted in the Virgin and fasted on the five feast days of Our Lady. She also heard mass every Saturday and refrained from sinning on that day. She decided to travel to her own land, and, one Saturday, after mass, set off on her way. One of her former clients, angry at her departure, pursued her with a gang of rogues. The woman cried out to the Virgin to protect her. They seized her as she was going to Leiria. Before she had time to confess her sins, the man raped her, robbed her, and cut her throat. He left her for dead by the wayside, but the Virgin came to comfort her. She took her by the hand and led her to the road, promising the woman that she would be able to make her confession after all. A knight came riding down the road and saw the mutilated woman. She told him what had happened and how the Virgin had saved her so that she could confess her sins. She asked the knight to help her. The knight rode straight to Santarém and fetched the clergy. After taking communion and making her confession, the woman died. |
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| Metrical data | |||
| Stanza: | 14' 14' 14' 14' | Refrain: | 8 6' 8 6' |
| No. of Stanzas: | 24 | ||
| Rhyme scheme: | ABAB | cccb | Zejel: | Yes |
| MS locations: | |||
| F90, E237 | |||
| Poncelet reference | |||
| None | |||
| Keywords | |||
| apparition, confession (see also repentance), cross (sign of) , Eucharist, extreme unction, fasting, feast day, fornication, knight, mass, murder, rape, Saturday (devoted to Virgin Mary), throat (cut) | |||
| Discography | |||
| Click HERE for a list of recordings of this poem | |||
| BITAGAP ID | |||
| 3987 | |||
| Bibliography | |||
| El trovador y la rosa: huellas de las ’chansons’ marianas. Gautier de Coincy en las Cantigas de Santa Maria de Alfonso X Disalvo, Santiago and Germán Rossi | |||
| Entre Ave y Eva: las mujeres de las Cantigas de Santa María. II. Las trabajadoras. III. Las Evas Fidalgo, Elvira | |||
| Milagres e romarias portuguesas nas Cantigas de Santa Maria Martins, Mário | |||
| Lendas portuguesas de apariçoes de Nossa Senhora nas Cantigas de Santa Maria Martins, Mário | |||
| La pecadora penitente en el teatro español: Sus fuentes y evolución Sánchez Castañer y Mena, Francisco | |||
| A Psalmic Theme in the ’Cantigas de Santa Maria’: ’Averte faciem tuam a peccatis meis’ as ’Non cates aos meus pecados’ Schaffer, Martha | |||