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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.
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.
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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 | |||
| 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. |
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| 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 |
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| The Virgin's Syrup | Miraculorum B. Mariae. libri III (Reims 1400) |
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| The Virgin's Syrup | BL Mariale 5 (London, BL, Additional MS 15723, Collection 2, ff. 70-92) |
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| The Virgin's Syrup | Bartholomew of Trent (University of Bologna, Codice 1794) |
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| The Virgin's Syrup | Li Miracoli de Senta Maria |
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| 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. | |||