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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 : 293
Short name: The Mimicking Minstrel Alternative: Mimicking minstrel punished
Incipit: Par Deus, muit’ é gran dereito
Refrain: Par Deus, muit’ é gran dereito/ de prender grand’ ocajon/ o que contrafazer cuida/ aquel de que á faiçon.
Summary of narrative
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Setting: Lombardy Protagonist(s): a minstrel

A minstrel was very good at mimicry. Everyone was amused by his antics and rewarded him with gifts.

He devoted himself entirely to impersonations.

One day, on the advice of the devil, he began to mimic a statue of the Virgin. It showed her holding her child and was placed above the gates of the city.

The minstrel examined it carefully and took up its pose.

This was displeasing to God, however, and he twisted the minstrel’s mouth and caused his neck and arms to writhe so violently that he fell to the ground.

The people picked up the minstrel and carried him into the church and held a vigil. They prayed for him to be healed. The minstrel also prayed and acknowledged his sins. The next day, at the beginning of mass, the Virgin cured him. Everyone praised her, and the bishop, hearing of the miracle, came and gave a sermon about it.

Metrical data
Stanza: 15 15 15 15 Refrain: 15 15
No. of Stanzas: 9
Rhyme scheme: AA | bbba Zejel: Yes
MS locations:
F37, E293
Poncelet reference
None
Keywords
bishop, blasphemy, image (of Virgin Mary), mass, mimic, minstrel, mouth, repentance (see also confession), sermon, vigil
Discography
Click HERE for a list of recordings of this poem
BITAGAP ID
4044
Bibliography
L'intento intertestuale della "translatio" melodica nelle Cantigas de Santa Maria
Colantuono, Maria Incoronata
Un cantar que cantassen os jograres (CSM 172, 33): Las formas de la ’performance’ en las Cantigas de Santa Maria
Disalvo, Santiago and Germán Rossi
Afinidades musicais: as cantigas de loor e a lírica profana galego-portuguesa
Ferreira, Manuel Pedro
Alfonso X, compositor
Ferreira, Manuel pedro
'Internal and External Rhymes in Galician-Portuguese Cantigas: Musical Strategies'
Ferreira, Manuel Pedro
Los alejandrinos de Alfonso X
Hanssen, Friedrich
Alfonso X el Sabio, un rey ’cantigueiro’
Llorens Cistero, José María
A sátira na literatura medieval portuguesa (séculos XIII e XIV)
Martins, Mário
Viaje a Italia a través de las Cantigas Historiadas de Alfonso X el Sabio
Molina López, Laura
Text-music mismatches in the Cantigas de Santa Maria
Parkinson, Stephen
A Pretty Paella: The Alfonsine Cantigas de Santa Maria and the Connections with Other Repertories
Wulstan, David