Frank Callcott

“ When he ascended the throne the war with the Moors had been reduced to operations of minor importance and they recognized the Castillian monarch as their master. But here as elsewhere history repeats itself. Each Christian king on the peninsula was dominated by the desire to extend his territories; and, since there was no longer the necessity of standing together against the common foe, a series of petty quarrels soon arose followed by attempted conquests. As time went on, not only Alfonso’s own nobles, but his brothers and even his own son became involved against their king. ”

“ It is a demonstrated fact that when a man faces a supreme crisis—when face to face with death—not only will he turn instinctively to the supernatural powers in that moment but all that is extraneous to his real self will disappear and the true man will stand forth revealed. ”

“ The effect of this realistic spirit on the religion of the people, the other dominating element of their national life, must also be noted. The unreal ghost has given place to the more naturalistic saint or angel, for their religion permitted no denial of the existence of these two orders of beings. Moreover, soothsayers, diviners, and other similar characters were recognized by the Church as a real force, as is evidenced by the Church’s constant warfare against them. And the Devil! What good medieval Christian,—above all, what Spaniard,—could refuse to believe in him? ”

“ The rôle of a saint who admonishes and warns is quite common for the Blessed Mother. She is indeed in many respects like a mother who carefully watches over her children, ready to offer a word of comfort here or one of criticism there. Just like a school boy who tires of his{71} task and is ready to flee before its completion was a friar of Burgos who began a garment of prayers for the Virgin, but was persuaded by the Devil to leave the monastic life with his task half finished. ”

“ But even so, we can say this for Alfonso el Sabio; whenever he does include such accounts in his collection he handles them with his accustomed brevity and never dwells upon the immoral act nor enlarges upon it. With a few strokes he paints the picture and then comes to what, for him, is the all important part, the miracle. One such, very popular thruout all Europe in the Middle Ages, is the legend of an abbess, accused by those under her of being with child, who was called to account before the authorities. ”

“ It is to be regretted that there is no definition of either “dream” or “vision” in Las Siete Partidas. The only reference to dreams is one to the effect that in themselves they are not sufficient authority for the establishment of a church or an altar [90] .
Visions and significant dreams [91] may conveniently be divided into three classes: (a) those which deal with what is to us the unknown fate of persons in whom we are interested; (b) those concerned with contemporary events at which we ourselves are not present ”

“ Enchantment and wizardry were strictly forbidden, and for the practice of such criminality a father was given the right to disinherit his son [105] . In thus combatting the Devil the sacred oil, or crisma, was one of the most powerful instruments. In setting forth its power and significance, the law reads:
“et por ende la crisma es asi como posadero de Ieso Cristo, que toma aquella posada para él, poniendo hi la su señal de la cruz et la entrega de quanto hi falla, echando de hi al diablo et todo lo que hi tiene.” ”

“ The Blessed Mother, however, knew mankind and did not use the same method with every one. With some, more persuasion was necessary than with others, and so when dealing with one hardened Jew, who had been robbed and beaten by Christians and was still being kept on a diet of bread and water in the hope of extorting even more from him, it was not enough that she should merely appear to him and bid him forsake his religion ”

“ In Spain the beliefs and superstitions we have been passing in review, having as their starting point the actual observation of objective nature and of human nature, were{130} amazingly multifarious. The study in particular of omens and of auguries, based on the real experiences of life, made a peculiar appeal to the Spaniards, as is witnessed by the abundance of material concerning such found at every turn in the early literature. Contrasted with this is the notable lack of the fantastic and purely imaginary, so popular among the nations of the north, as well as among the Mohammedans. ”

“ Thinking someone has been wounded, each hastily examines himself. When each is found whole the true significance dawns on them and they become terrified indeed. So great is the effect that the blasphemer repents and enters an austere order—and, it is said, gained heaven.
In No. 196 a gentile [50] priest who hated everything connected with Christianity prepared a mold for an image which he expected would answer all his questions. ”

“ Las Siete Partidas has furnished much pertinent information because of the laws concerning practices involving the supernatural which were forbidden, or which, as in the case of conjuring, were permitted only under certain circumstances. But from such sources we can get only a very small proportion of the great mass of popular conceptions and traditions which must have existed, as is forcibly illustrated by the fact that in all the other works excepting Las Cantigas only nine miracles are narrated. ”

“ The human mind is always interested in those things that it can not understand; as soon, however, as the problem has been solved it is no longer an absorbing subject of attention. When a sleight-of-hand feat has been explained we turn with renewed zest to something else and revive our former interest only to mystify or amuse some friend. ”

“ First we shall examine those in which Saint Mary aids her devotees in acts of worship or in restraining evil passions which prevent their undivided service.
A person sincerely trying to do his religious duty could always count upon aid from heaven when his temptations were becoming too great for him or when worldly cares caused him temporarily to neglect his regular worship. A very devout woman (No. 246) used to pray every Saturday evening at the shrine of Santa María de Mártires. ”

“ Just as Santa María, when answering prayer, is not limited in her power to curing bodily ills but may also protect from harm, so in bestowing rewards she does not confine her mercies to those who are suffering. In fact she much more frequently protects them from such harm. ”

“ The final net result was that Alfonso succeeded in adding to his crown the cities of Jerez de la Frontera, Medina-Sidonia, Lebrija, Niebla, Cádiz, and a few other towns of little importance.
From the foregoing it is easy to see that Alfonso was not a mere theorizing star-gazer. It is surprising that a man with his hands so full of terrestrial affairs could ever have found time to turn his eyes heavenward or could ever find the leisure and the quiet necessary for the careful editing of the lengthy works produced at his command. ”

“ The greatest of all miracles, the restoration of life, is performed in all over 30 times in answer to prayer and for a great variety of reasons. In one instance (No. 182) a certain robber who had the redeeming quality of always giving to those in need when asked in the name of Santa María, died suddenly. In answer to a mother’s prayer and to afford an opportunity for repentance his soul was restored and from that moment he observed faithfully all the commandments “da Uírgen.” ”

“ More portentous still were the phenomena which appeared during the consulship of Sextus Julius Caesar and Lucius Marcus, when many signs, fire and noises occurred in the sky, blood flowed from bread as if it were meat when it was cut, real stones and earth were hailed upon the land, the earth opened and flames shot to the sky, a mountain of the color of gold descended from heaven and ascended again until it covered the sun, tame animals became wild, etc. ”

“ The Devil tormented him for two nights and on the third the Virgin appeared to him and told him if he wished to be free from the Devil he would have to forsake the “dog” Mohammed. He told this vision to his master, was baptised, and from that time on was a faithful believer (No. 192) .
In another (No. 205) we again find both human and divine persons interested in the unbeliever, but this time it is physical safety they are concerned about. The miracle was witnessed by two nobles mentioned by name, Don Alfonso Tellez and Don Gonzalo Eanes, Maestre de Cala, and their followers. ”

“ On one occasion (No. 24) we are told that a very wicked man, a robber and a gambler, died and was refused a Christian burial, but during his life he had been devoted to the Virgin, so she appeared to the priest and demanded that his body be taken up and buried in sacred ground. When they opened the grave they found a rose in the mouth of the corpse [45] . No. 11 is the story of a licentious monk who was drowned one night while crossing a river on the way to visit his amour. The Devil appeared for his soul but two angels contested his claim. ”

“ What is true of the individual in this respect applies also to the race. It is in recognition of this universal truth that the following study has been undertaken, in the hope that a careful examination of the supernatural aspect of the beliefs and practices of Spain as reflected in the literature of a given period will contribute to a better understanding of the questions involved.
Naturally there is a wide difference between the method of thinking of the average person in the Middle Ages and that of the average person of to-day. ”

“ Relics, which played an exceedingly important part in the life of the medieval Church, might consist of anything which formerly belonged to a saint or to Jesus, or anything which might serve as evidence in establishing a miracle. Every altar, upon being consecrated, should have some relics placed within it, [125] and these usually were of miracle-working power themselves. ”

“ Another picture, so very human and so child-like, is that of a doctor who became a friar, but, not liking the poor food, complained considerably. To cure him of this the Virgin appeared with a dish of delicious food and, treating the whole community as so many children, gave some to each one except the complaining clerk. He acknowledged and accepted the lesson (No. 88) .
Various methods besides that of the vision are employed to warn the delinquent. These can be best illustrated by giving a brief résumé of three miracles which need no comment. ”

“ The Virgin’s mercy was also great enough to restore life to the child of a Moorish woman who, because she had heard of the miraculous power of Santa María de Salas, took the dead body of her little one to the shrine. After the mother had remained there all night in prayer the child was brought back to life altho it had been dead three days (No. 167) .
There is another small group of miracles recorded in{50} which the response is not to prayers but to threats—cases in which the believer loses control of himself and defies both God and man. ”

“ Another interesting fact in connection with this collection is that, altho according to the Church authorities, the Virgin could perform miracles only when especially empowered to do so, she is represented here as performing them of her own accord. Only seldom does she go to her Son or to God the Father for aid or permission.
Such a procedure can not be attributed to ignorance on the part of one so well versed in ecclesiastical law and customs as Alfonso. It is probably a conscious reflection of the general belief of the common people who knew little of Theology. ”

“ The knight refuses to accompany him, saying it is forbidden him to do so. With that the image of the Virgin beckons to him, and upon being thus reassured he enters and confesses all. This act has such an effect on the king that{95} he adds a fortune to the visible protection of Santa María (No. 281) . Another illustration is that of the man who barters his wife to the Devil, but the Blessed Mother does not allow the bargain to be carried out. [70]
Aside from the above-mentioned traits, that are to be found almost wherever the Devil himself is present, we notice a few others that are rare. ”

“ Two miracles (Nos. 194 and 254) are attributed to the power of the mere sound of the name; and once (No. 195) a girl is saved because her name is María. In No. 194 a villainous host sends in pursuit of his departing guests some thugs to rob them, but the bandits, on hearing their intended victims call on the name of Santa María for help, become powerless and speechless. In No. 254, the image of the Virgin saves some monks who, while recuperating on the banks of a river from the rigors of convent life, transgress the bounds of what is proper for men of their order. ”

“ The naïve elements become almost startling at times in their childishness. For instance in No. 8 a singer, after singing a “lais” to Santa María, asked that one of the{43} candles of her shrine light him while he ate. The candle was miraculously placed on his instrument, but a monk seeing it out of place became angry, thinking it bewitched, and put it back where it belonged. This was repeated three times until the people witnessing this repetition intervened, while the monk, convinced he had witnessed a miracle, repented. ”

“ While thus taking on other forms he is at times distinctly{94} mischievous, and we can see almost the sparkle of his eyes when, finding that the Virgin has made a certain innocent man invisible in order that he may escape his foes who accuse him falsely, Satan himself takes the form of this man and plays practical jokes with his pursuers (No. 213) .
The familiar “Devil Pact” is to be found in its simplicity when a Jew sells his soul to the Devil, and later on repenting and praying most earnestly to the Virgin, finds that she hears his prayer and impels the Devil to return the contract. ”

“ When it is considered that in Las Cantigas alone there are narrated 353 separate miracles, it is obvious that it will be impossible to give here even a brief résumé of all the instances in which the supernatural appears. What I have attempted to do is to give a synopsis of the most representative legends and stories, hoping in this way to present a correct, if succinct, idea of the beliefs, superstitions and religious practices of medieval Spain. ”