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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.
For new critical texts of the poems, return to the listing page and click on the poem number, or go to the archive of texts .
For epigraphs and layout information click on the appropriate manuscript location.
For information on Latin and vernacular sources of miracle stories follow the links to Miracles and collections.
Follow the links to the appropriate pages of Todd McComb and Pierre Roberge's online discography, to the BITAGAP archive, and to linked entries in the Bibliography.
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CSM Number : 35 | |||
Short name: | The Clerics Saved from Pirates | Alternative: | De liberatione clericorum Sanctae Mariae in mari a piratis (Laon) |
Incipit: | O que a Santa Maria | der algo ou prometer | ||
Refrain: | O que a Santa Maria | der algo o prometer/ dereit’ é que s’ en mal ache | se llo pois quiser toller. | ||
Summary of narrative | |||
Setting: | On the way to England | Protagonist(s): | Priests of Laon and merchants |
A fire burned down the church at Lyon du Rhône. Everything was destroyed, except some relics of the Virgin’s milk and hair. The priests, needing money to rebuild the church, took the relics on tour. Master Bernaldo, the Dean, and other priests, carried the relics all over France and these performed many miracles. To take the relics to England, the priests boarded a ship owned by a man named Colistanus. Many wealthy merchants also boarded the ship and loaded it with goods. The weather was fine, but pirates pursued the ship. When the captain saw the pirates he ordered the relics to be held aloft. When Master Bernaldo took out the relics, the rich merchants made offerings of cloth, gold, and silver, asking the Virgin to save them. The six galleys continued to approach and surround the ship, but Master Bernaldo, holding the relics aloft, challenged the admiral stating that they would defend the ship. The admiral scoffed at him and ordered arrows to be fired, but a wind came up and overturned the pirate’s galleys. The galley of the admiral was split in two. The mast, which hit him, struck him so hard that his eyes popped out and he fell into the sea. The other galleys were blown far away by a southern wind. The people on the ship sighted Dover and knew they were saved. The merchants collected their belongings, including those they had just offered to the relics. They disregarded the miracle that the Virgin had performed for them. Master Bernardo protested and they agreed to return and give a portion of their profits after they had completed their business. The merchants, from Flanders and Paris, purchased wool and left Dover in a ship before dawn. Christ, wanting to avenge his mother, made a thunderbolt strike their ship and burn up all of the wool, although nothing else was harmed. Seeing this miracle, the merchants returned to the relics and gave donations to Master Bernardo. He chided them, but only accepted a third of what they offered. |
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Metrical data | |||
Stanza: | 15 [7’ 7] 15 [7’ 7] 15 [7’ 7] 15 [7’ 7] | Refrain: | 15 [7’ 7] 15 [7’ 7] |
No. of Stanzas: | 26 | ||
Rhyme scheme: | AA | bbba | Zejel: | Yes |
MS locations: | |||
T35, E35, To92 | |||
Poncelet reference | |||
None | |||
Keywords | |||
admiral, canons, dean, eye(s), fire, galley, gold, hair (of Virgin Mary), lightning, mast, merchant, milk (of Virgin Mary), pirates, priest , relics, reliquary, Saints (other), silver, storm, thunder, wool | |||
Discography | |||
Click HERE for a list of recordings of this poem | |||
BITAGAP ID | |||
3752 | |||
Bibliography | |||
La miniatura gótica española Camón Aznar, José | |||
Los clérigos, las ’cantigas’ y las ’Siete Partidas’ Cash, Annette Grant | |||
’La Arquitectura desde la Miniatura’, una aproximación desde la Baja Edad Media castellana Chico Picaza, María Victoria | |||
L'intento intertestuale della "translatio" melodica nelle Cantigas de Santa Maria Colantuono, Maria Incoronata | |||
Another Aspect of the Virgin Mary in the Cantigas de Santa Maria Davis, Jr, William Richard | |||
Sources of the Cantigas of Alfonso el Sabio [AC] Dexter, Elise Forsythe | |||
Alfonso X, compositor Ferreira, Manuel pedro | |||
A corte poética de Afonso III o Bolonhês e a materia de Bretaña Gutiérrez García, Santiago | |||
A Literatura Artúrica en Galicia e Portugal na Idade Media Gutiérrez García, Santiago and Pilar Lorenzo Gradín | |||
Seeing is Believing: The Miniatures in the Cantigas de Santa Maria and Medieval Devotional Practices Kennedy, Kirstin | |||
El culto de las reliquias en las Cantigas de Santa María de Alfonso X el Sabio Martín Ansón, Maria Luisa | |||
Osservazioni sulle Cantigas di Alfonso X e sui Miracles di Gautier de Coincy Marullo, Teresa | |||
Cantigas de Alfonso X, el Sabio Moreno Galván, José M. | |||
Alfonso X, miracle collector Parkinson, Stephen | |||
Collection, Composition, and Compilation in the Cantigas de Santa Maria Parkinson, Stephen, & Deirdre Jackson | |||
La materia de Bretaña en la poesía gallego-portuguesa Sharrer, Harvey L. | |||
A Selected and Annotated Discography of Recordings of Music from the Middle Ages in Spain Tinnell, Roger D. | |||
Canticles 35 and 362: Keys to the Poetic Style of the Cantigas de Santa Maria Vandrey, Philip Lee |