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CSM Number : 67
Short name: The Man who had the Devil as his Servant Alternative: Devil in Service
Incipit: A Reinna groriosa/ tant’ é de gran santidade
Refrain: A Reinna groriosa/ tant’ é de gran santidade/ que con esto nos defende/ do dem’ e da sa maldade.
Summary of narrative
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Setting: unspecified Protagonist(s): ): a nobleman

A generous nobleman devoted much of his money to charity. He established a hospital where the poor could eat and sleep. He hired young men to serve the needy.

The devil entered the body of a handsome young man and offered his services to the nobleman. He was hired as a squire and fulfilled all of his duties.

The devil in the guise of a squire sought to harm his master. He encouraged him to go hunting and fishing so that he might be killed.

Every morning, the nobleman prayed to the Virgin; consequently, the devil was unable to kill him.

One day a bishop visited the nobleman. The devil in the guise of a squire was afraid to meet him and feigned illness. The bishop insisted on seeing the squire and demanded that he relate what he had done.

The devil said that he had entered a dead man’s body in order to deceive his master. He explained that he would have killed his master, if the Virgin had not protected him. Then the devil shed the dead man’s body and disappeared.

Metrical data
Stanza: 15' 15' 15' 15' Refrain: 15' 15'
No. of Stanzas: 20
Rhyme scheme: AA | bbba Zejel: Yes
MS locations:
T67, E67, To65
Poncelet reference
Fuit vir quidam, qui in mandatis Dñi sollicite incedens, licet (666)
Keywords
alms, bishop, devils, emperor, fishing, hospital (construction of), hunting, impersonation, knight, servant (devil as)
Discography
Click HERE for a list of recordings of this poem
Miracle Collection
Devil in Service Vincent de Beauvais
Devil in Service Gautier de Coinci
Devil in Service Miraculorum B. Mariae. libri III
(Reims 1400)
Devil in Service BL Mariale 5
(London, BL, Additional MS 15723, Collection 2, ff. 70-92)
Devil in Service Jean Gobi
Devil in Service Vendôme Collection
(Vendôme, Bibliothèque Publique MS 185)
BITAGAP ID
3784
Bibliography
Música Española
Anon
Composición, estilo y texto en la miniatura del Códice Rico de las CSM,
Chico Picaza, Maria Victoria
La chasse dans la miniature gothique castillane du XIIIeme siècle
Cómez Ramos, Rafael
Sources of the Cantigas of Alfonso el Sabio [AC]
Dexter, Elise Forsythe
Cincuenta leyendas por Gil de Zamora, combinadas con las Cantigas de Alfonso el Sabio
Fita, Fidel
A retórica visual no Códice Rico das Cantigas de Santa María
Iacob, Mihai
The Living Corpse: Miracle 67 of the Cantigas de Santa Maria of Alfonso X
Keller, John Esten
El cadáver viviente: Milagro 67 de las Cantigas de Santa María de Alfonso el Sabio
Keller, John Esten
Osservazioni sulle Cantigas di Alfonso X e sui Miracles di Gautier de Coincy
Marullo, Teresa
De música y métrica gallegas
Ribera y Tarragó, Julián
Birds of Prey and the Dry Textbook: King Alfonso’s Laws, Science, and Cantigas of the Hunt
Seniff, Dennis P.
Las Cantigas del Rey Sabio
Valera, Juan