Poems MSS / layout Miracles Keywords Poncelet Bibliography Search

View poem data

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.
Links to the miniatures of the Códice Rico are now live on the Miniature section of this page, as well as on the MSS pages for that manuscript. Links to the miniatures of the Florence MS are currently being added.
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.
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.
Back to Home Page

Back to list
CSM Number : 85
Short name: The Jew who was Delivered from Thieves Alternative: Vision Seen by a Jew in England
Incipit: Pera toller gran perfia
Refrain: Pera toller gran perfia/ ben dos corações/ demostra Santa Maria/ sas grandes visiões.
Summary of narrative
View Options: (Narrative Miniature Narrative & Miniature Miniature & Caption Narrative, Miniature & Both Captions )
Setting: England Protagonist(s): a Jew

A Jewish man was captured and tortured by Christian thieves.rnTo extort money from him, they tied him up and held him hostage in a big, old house. They fed him only enough bread and water to keep him alive.

The man fell asleep and saw the Virgin in a dream. She freed him from his bonds and cured his wounds.rnWhen he woke up, he realised that the Virgin was, indeed, standing there. He asked her to identify herself and she told him that she was the one whom the Jews despise.

The Virgin led the Jew from the house and took him to a high mountain. She showed him a valley full of dragons and other devils. These devils were torturing the souls of Jews. When he saw this he was terrified.

Then the Virgin took him to another high mountain where Christ was seated, surrounded by singing angels. The Jew also saw a great host of saints.

The Virgin told him that he could join them, if he would believe in Christ, eat suckling pig, and stop cutting goats’ throats. Then she went away.

The Jew made his way to a monastery. He was given food and, after he had reported what had happened to him, was baptised by the abbot.rnThe miracle was proclaimed throughout the land.

Metrical data
Stanza: 13' 13' 13' 13' Refrain: 7' 5' 7' 5'
No. of Stanzas: 14
Rhyme scheme: ABAB | ccbb Zejel: Yes
MS locations:
T85, E85
Poncelet reference
Legitur in Mariali magno quod fuit quidam Iudaeus in Londonia, qui per viam incedens (982)
Keywords
abbot, angels, apparition, baptism, conversion, devils, dream, heaven, hell, imprisonment, Jews, kidnap, monastery, Saints (other), thief/ thieves, torture, vision
Discography
Click HERE for a list of recordings of this poem
Miracle Collection
Vision Seen by a Jew in England Vincent de Beauvais
Vision Seen by a Jew in England Miraculorum B. Mariae. libri III
(Reims 1400)
Vision Seen by a Jew in England BL Mariale 5
(London, BL, Additional MS 15723, Collection 2, ff. 70-92)
Vision Seen by a Jew in England Jean Gobi
Vision Seen by a Jew in England Li Miracoli de Senta Maria
BITAGAP ID
3802
Bibliography
The Jew in the Cántigas of Alfonso X, el Sabio
Bagby, Albert
’La Arquitectura desde la Miniatura’, una aproximación desde la Baja Edad Media castellana
Chico Picaza, María Victoria
Sources of the Cantigas of Alfonso el Sabio [AC]
Dexter, Elise Forsythe
Anti-Semitism in the Cantigas de Santa Maria
Hatton, Vikki, and Angus MacKay
Paralelismo discursivo de los delitos de hurto y robo en las Siete Partidas y Las Cantigas de Santa Maria’
Igkesias, Yolanda, and David Navarro
Art of Estrangement: Redefining Jews in Reconquest Spain
Patton, Pamela A.
La dialéctica texto-imagen. A propósito de la representación del judío en las Cantigas de Santa Maria de Alfonso X
Rodríguez Barral, Paulino
Alfonso X, el rey sabio ¿tolerante con la minoría judía? Una lectura emblemática de las Cantigas de Santa Maria
Roitman, Gisela
Os judeus na Espanha do século XIII, segundo as Cantigas de Santa Maria de Alfonso X o Sábio
Teensma, B. N.
Alfonso X, el Sabio
Valdeon Baruque, Julio