Language:
English
Year of publication:
2008
Titel der Quelle:
Beyond the Yellow Badge
Angaben zur Quelle:
(2008) 233-256
Keywords:
Alfonso
;
Mary Poetry Apparitions and miracles
;
Songs, Spanish
;
Christian legends
;
Jewish magic History
;
Jews in literature
;
Jews in art
Abstract:
Examines the appearance of the legend of Theophilus in the "Cantigas de Santa Maria" (the text and the illustrations), particularly the visual image of the Jewish magician. The legend relates that Theophilus was a wealthy secular clerk working for the bishop of Cilicia in the 6th-century kingdom of Armenia. Embittered about losing his possessions, he sought the assistance of a well-known Jewish sorcerer and, with the sorcerer’s help, he entered into a legal contract with the Devil. In the contract, he denied Christ and His Mother in order to regain his position and wealth, but he later regretted his actions. He begged Mary to grant him mercy, and she retrieved the contract and returned it to Theophilus, who, in front of the congregation, burned it, took communion, and, three days later, died peacefully.
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