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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 : 297
Short name: The Friar who Mocked a Statue of the Virgin Alternative: Friar scorns the King
Incipit: Com’ é mui bõ’ a creença/ do que non vee om’ e cree
Refrain: Com’ é mui bõ' a creença/ do que non vee om’ e cree/ ben assi é mal creente/ de non creer o que vee.
Summary of narrative
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Setting: unspecified Protagonist(s): a friar and a king [Alfonso X]

A king carried with him an image of the Virgin that performed many miracles every day.

A friar, who did not believe in God, mocked the image and said that anyone who believed in it was lacking in good sense.

He argued that there could be no power in sculpted wood since it could neither speak nor move. Furthermore, the friar accused the king of believing in idols.

The friar said these things standing in the presence of the king, who heard all of these insults.

The king grew angry and denounced the friar. He predicted that his affairs would go badly.

This came true; the friar always handled things very badly and was mad from that time forth.

Metrical data
Stanza: 15' 15' 15' 15' Refrain: 15' 15'
No. of Stanzas: 10
Rhyme scheme: AA | bbba Zejel: Yes
MS locations:
F41, E297
Poncelet reference
None
Keywords
blasphemy, blindness, heretic, iconoclasts, idol, image (of Virgin Mary), insult, king, madness
Discography
Click HERE for a list of recordings of this poem
BITAGAP ID
4048
Bibliography
Heretics and Infidels: the Cantigas de Santa María as Ideological Instrument of Cultural Codfication
Bollo Panadero, María Dolores
Los clérigos, las ’cantigas’ y las ’Siete Partidas’
Cash, Annette Grant
L'intento intertestuale della "translatio" melodica nelle Cantigas de Santa Maria
Colantuono, Maria Incoronata
Alfonso X, compositor
Ferreira, Manuel pedro
Imágenes vivientes: idolatría y herejía en las Cantigas de Alfonso X
García Avilés, Alejandro
Aberturas e finais: rubricas, refrães, estrofes iniciais e estrofes terminais nas Cantigas de Santa Maria
Parkinson, Stephen
A Pretty Paella: The Alfonsine Cantigas de Santa Maria and the Connections with Other Repertories
Wulstan, David