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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 : 94
Short name: The Nun who Ran Away with a Knight Alternative: Beatrix custos seu sacrista
Incipit: De vergonna nos guardar/ punna todavia
Refrain: De vergonna nos guardar/ punna todavia/ e de falir e d’ errar/ a Virgen Maria.
Summary of narrative
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Setting: unspecified Protagonist(s): a nun, the treasurer of a convent

A nun, the treasurer of a convent, fell in love with a knight and decided to leave.

Before she departed, she prayed to the Virgin. She commended herself to her and left her keys on the altar.

She lived with the knight for years and they had several children. The Virgin diligently performed the nun’s duties in her absence.

Eventually, the nun repented, left the knight, and went back to the convent.

She found her former clothes and her keys where she had left them.

She told the nuns what had transpired and to prove it, had the knight summoned. The nuns were impressed and began to sing.

Metrical data
Stanza: 7 7 7' 7 7 7' 7 5' 7 5' Refrain: 7 5' 7 5'
No. of Stanzas: 11
Rhyme scheme: ABAB | ccdccdabab Zejel: Yes
MS locations:
T94, E94, To31
Poncelet reference
Clericus quidam monialem sacristanam de peccato diu (194)
Keywords
convent, elope, impersonation, key, knight, nun, Saint John, treasurer
Discography
Click HERE for a list of recordings of this poem
Miracle Collection
The Nun Who Saw the World [Beatrice; B.V. takes nun's place] Gautier de Coinci
The Nun Who Saw the World [Beatrice; B.V. takes nun's place] Adgar
(London, BL, Egerton 612)
The Nun Who Saw the World [Beatrice; B.V. takes nun's place] Vendôme Collection
(Vendôme, Bibliothèque Publique MS 185)
The Nun Who Saw the World [Beatrice; B.V. takes nun's place] Johannes Herolt
Beatrice the Sacristan Caesarius of Heisterbach
The Nun Who Saw the World [Beatrice; B.V. takes nun's place] Anglo-Norman Miracles of the Virgin
(London, BL, Royal 20 B XIV, fols 102v-169)
BITAGAP ID
3811
Bibliography
Antología de prosa y verso. Versión moderna, introducción, notas y vocabulario de Alfredo Eduardo Fraschini
Alfonso el Sabio
Antología
Alfonso X
Obras de Alfonso X (Selección)
Alfonso X
Cantigas de Santa Maria — El Cantar de los cantares — Sonetos — Coplas que hizo por la muerte de su padre D. Rodrigo
Alfonso X el Sabio and others
The Oxford Book of Portuguese Verse
Bell, Aubrey F. G.
Alfonso X, el Sabio, y la Cantiga XCIV
Blume Sánchez, Jaime
De la monia que sse foi de moesteiro
Blume, Jaime
The Early Seguidilla
Clarke, Dorothy Clotelle
Una cantiga célebre del Rey Sabio. Fuentes y desarrollo de la leyenda de Sor Beatriz, principalmente en la literatura española
Cotarelo y Valledor, Armando
Sources of the Cantigas of Alfonso el Sabio [AC]
Dexter, Elise Forsythe
The Medieval Lyric
Dronke, Peter
Afonso X e Galicia, e unha escolma de cantigas
Filgueira Valverde, José
Nosa Señora das Chaves
Filgueira Valverde, José
Los poetas del Guadiana a Alfonso el Sabio
Gonzalez Lara, José, director de publicación
La Légende de la Sacristine. Étude de littérature comparée.
Guiette, Robert
Hymns to Saint Mary
Keller, John Esten
La Poésie lyrique espagnole et portugaise à la fin du Moyen Âge
Le Gentil, Pierre
A Preliminary Bibliography of Medieval Galician-Portuguese Poetry in English Translation
Longland, Jean R.
Cantigas de Santa Maria de Alfonso X el Sabio, rey de Castilla
López Serrano, Matilde
Itinéraire espagnol du conte médiéval (VIIIs-XVs)
Marsan, Rameline E.
Afonso X e as Cantigas de Santa Maria localizadas en Galicia
Negri, Manuel
Antología de Alfonso el Sabio
Peña, Margarita
Textos de literatura portuguesa. I: Afonso X, o Sábio
Rodrigues Lapa, Manuel
La pecadora penitente en el teatro español: Sus fuentes y evolución
Sánchez Castañer y Mena, Francisco
Alfonso X, el Sabio. Antología
Solalinde, Antonio G.
Historia de la literatura gallega.
Varela Jácome, Benito
Alfonso the Wise, King of Castille
Ward, Mary