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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 : 59 | |||
| Short name: | The Nun who was Slapped by a Crucifix | Alternative: | Runaway Nun (Fontevrault) |
| Incipit: | Quen a Virgen ben servir | ||
| Refrain: | Quen a Virgen ben servir/ nunca poderá falir. | ||
| Summary of narrative | |||
| Setting: | Fontevrault (Cistercian convent) | Protagonist(s): | a nun |
|
A beautiful nun at Fontevrault determined to runaway with her lover, a gallant, handsome knight. The nun was the sacristan and very devoted to the Virgin. After saying her prayers she would kiss the feet of the Virgin’s statue and of a crucifix hanging in the church. Before running off with the knight, the nun went to the statue to bid it goodbye. The Virgin began to cry and the crucified Christ freed his hand from the cross and struck the nun. The nun fell down unconscious and was scarred by the nail. The other nuns found her lying on the floor and the sacristan told them what had happened. They all sang to God, thanking him for the miracle. |
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| Metrical data | |||
| Stanza: | 7’ 7 7’ 7 7 7 | Refrain: | 7 7 |
| No. of Stanzas: | 14 | ||
| Rhyme scheme: | AA | bcbcca | Zejel: | |
| MS locations: | |||
| T59, E59, To75 | |||
| Poncelet reference | |||
| Quaedam sanctimonialis virgo a quodam clerico verbis (1308) | |||
| Keywords | |||
| blow (struck), Cistercians, convent, crucifix, elope, image of Christ, kissing, nail(s), nun, sacristan, wound | |||
| Discography | |||
| Click HERE for a list of recordings of this poem | |||
| Miracle | Collection | ||
| Of a nun who was inflamed with love for a certain clerk | Caesarius of Heisterbach |
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| BITAGAP ID | |||
| 3776 | |||
| Bibliography | |||
| Una cantiga célebre del Rey Sabio. Fuentes y desarrollo de la leyenda de Sor Beatriz, principalmente en la literatura española Cotarelo y Valledor, Armando | |||
| Imágenes vivientes: idolatría y herejía en las Cantigas de Alfonso X García Avilés, Alejandro | |||
| El arte mayor de Juan de Mena Hanssen, Friedrich | |||
| Brautschaften: Anlässlich der Legendenpastourelle zum Kruzifixus vom Mont' Irás (Santarém) Koller, Erwin | |||
| Itinéraire espagnol du conte médiéval (VIIIs-XVs) Marsan, Rameline E. | |||
| Alfonso X the Learned. Cantigas de Santa Maria. An Anthology Parkinson, Stephen | |||
| Um problema de demonologia linguística: gal. proviso, port. proviço, cast. provizo ’diabo’ mais proviceiro, provicero, ’feiticeiro’ Piel, Joseph M. | |||
| Mother of God. A History of the Virgin Mary Rubin, MIri | |||
| 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 | |||
| Medieval Song Westrup, J. A. | |||