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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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Links to Ms T display individual pages; links to Ms F open the document viewer which displays double page spreads (users have the option to select single pages in the viewer).
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.
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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 : 365 | |||
| Short name: | The Doubting Monk | Alternative: | Monk questions soul's fate (Fontfroide) |
| Incipit: | Ben tira Santa Maria/ pela sa gran piedade | ||
| Refrain: | Ben tira Santa Maria/ pela sa gran piedade/ ao pecador de dulta/ e de maa torpidade. | ||
| Summary of narrative | |||
| Setting: | : the monastery of Fontfroide in the archbishopric of Narbonne [a Cistercian monastery] | Protagonist(s): | a doubting monk |
|
A novice monk at the monastery of Fontfroide in Narbonne was inspired by the devil to indulge in mad notions. He thought that the soul was nothing except air that quickly disappears, like smoke. He was obsessed by this thought and it plagued him night and day. He decided that if this were true, he would leave the monastery and make the best of his time, doing whatever he desired. One night, as he was lying in his bed, he decided to sneak out of the monastery. He got dressed and put on his shoes. The Virgin, however, appeared to him with a great band of angels. They were carrying to heaven the soul of a poor man and were surrounded by light and joy. The Virgin told the angels to stop and look at the crazy monk. She said that anyone who believed that man’s soul was nothing, although Christ had died to save it, was greatly mistaken. When the monk saw this vision, he acknowledged his guilt and returned to the dormitory. He was freed from doubt from that time forth and lived a good, humble life in his order. |
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| Metrical data | |||
| Stanza: | 15' 15' 15' 15' | Refrain: | 15' 15' |
| No. of Stanzas: | 8 | ||
| Rhyme scheme: | AA | bbba | Zejel: | Yes |
| MS locations: | |||
| E365 | |||
| Poncelet reference | |||
| None | |||
| Keywords | |||
| Cistercians, soul, angels, apostasy, apparition, cloister, devils, heaven, heron | |||
| Discography | |||
| Click HERE for a list of recordings of this poem | |||
| BITAGAP ID | |||
| 4117 | |||
| Bibliography | |||
| Doing lines: refrains and copyists in the Cantigas de Santa Maria Parkinson, Stephen | |||
| Text-music mismatches in the Cantigas de Santa Maria Parkinson, Stephen | |||