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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Just another little medieval spider ditty... On his way to see the dying Innocent III, St. Francis (I think he was the one) dilly-dallied along, taking his own sweet time to talk to a muslim, feed a teaspoon of soup to a beggar, and help a spider. I can just see them in Innocent's death chamber...the cardinals standing around, tapping their feet in impatience, arms folded, checking their watches every few minutes..."Where the heck is he???" Okay so they didn't have watches then but it makes for an amusing scene in my little head. wendy reardon ----- Original Message ----- From: "Theresa Gross-Diaz" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2003 10:05 AM Subject: Re: [M-R] miracle motifs-spiders & steaks medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture >>> [log in to unmask] 03/13/03 08:21AM >>> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Perhaps these could be shared with the list? Best, John Dillon Sure thing, John! Both from Alfonso X "El Sabio", Cantigas de Santa Maria: Cantiga # 201 Tells the story of a girl who promises Mary that she will remain a virgin; she breaks that promise (and how!), has three babies whom she kills one after another, and then suffering remorse she tries to kill herself by eating a poisonous spider. When that doesn't work she eats a larger one... Not yet dead but in agony (obviously) she prays to Mary to forgive her; Mary "restores her innocence" and heals her. - - - This one is particularly interesting because of the restored [sexual] innocence motif which one finds elsewhere in Marian miracles (like the naughty abbess of Soissons), and the suicide (or here, attempted suicide) motif. Despite (or because of?) the horror in which suicide was held - (it is after all the worst of the deadly sins, that of Judas : despair) - suicides (prevented or restored to life) are not uncommon among miracle stories (there is a great one connected to pilgrimage to Santiago, in which James shares the stage with Mary). Another Cantiga from Alfonso's collection - sorry I've misplaced the number, but it begins "non sofre Santa Maria": It concerns pilgrims to Mary's shrine at Rocamadour; nine pilgrims check into their motel, order dinner, and go off to pray at the shrine before eating. When they return, someone has stolen one of their steaks! The bereft and hungry pilgrims ask Mary for aid, and they hear "something" thumping around inside a trunk... turns out to be their very rare steak. They don't eat it (well, would you!?) but rather return to the shrine and hang the steak up as an offering. The Cantigas are a great teaching resource! There are several wonderful performances available: I like the Martin Best Ensemble, "Cantigas de Santa Maria" (Nimbus Records, 1987). Cheers Theresa ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html