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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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CSM Number : 88
Short name: The Virgin’s Electuary Alternative: The Virgin's Syrup
Incipit: Quen servir a Madre do gran Rey
Refrain: Quen servir a Madre do gran Rey/ ben sei/ que será  de mal guardado/ com’ ora vos contarey.
Summary of narrative
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Setting: the monastery of Clairvaux Protagonist(s): a doctor turned monk

A man, learned in medicine, became a monk at Clairvaux. He was used to eating meat and fish and to drinking good wine. He hated fasting and eating the monk’s fare of wild greens, sour wine and bad bread.

He complained that the fasting made the monks too weak to rise for prayers, and he threatened to leave. His remarks incited the monks to demand forbidden food.

After a meal, on the feast of the Annunciation, the monks said their prayers, including the Miserere mei. The learned monk was still hungry and refused to assist them.

He saw the Virgin standing near the door of the church, holding a vessel filled with a precious liquid. She gave a mouthful to every monk except for him.

Kneeling to pray before her, he asked what he should do. She told him to recant his mistaken notions.

The man confessed and the Virgin gave him some of the liquid. He never complained about the food again.

Metrical data
Stanza: 7' 7 7' 7 7' 7 7 Refrain: 9 2 7' 7
No. of Stanzas: 12
Rhyme scheme: AABA | bcbcbca Zejel:
MS locations:
T88, E88, ToAppendix 11
Poncelet reference
Apud Claramvallem quidam, cum factus esset monachus, subito (101)
Keywords
Annunciation (feast of), Cistercians, electuary, fasting, Hippocrates, Miserere mei (praying of), doctor (medical)
Discography
Click HERE for a list of recordings of this poem
Miracle Collection
The Virgin's Syrup Vincent de Beauvais
The Virgin's Syrup Miraculorum B. Mariae. libri III
(Reims 1400)
The Virgin's Syrup BL Mariale 5
(London, BL, Additional MS 15723, Collection 2, ff. 70-92)
The Virgin's Syrup Bartholomew of Trent
(University of Bologna, Codice 1794)
The Virgin's Syrup Li Miracoli de Senta Maria
BITAGAP ID
3805
Bibliography
Sources of the Cantigas of Alfonso el Sabio [AC]
Dexter, Elise Forsythe
Arquitectura civil española de los siglos I al XIII
Lampérez y Romea, Vicente
Aberturas e finais: rubricas, refrães, estrofes iniciais e estrofes terminais nas Cantigas de Santa Maria
Parkinson, Stephen
Art of Estrangement: Redefining Jews in Reconquest Spain
Patton, Pamela A.