Chapter VIII: Various Manifestations

We now come to a group of miscellaneous elements which, altho some of them were doubtless quite common in the daily life of the people, have for one reason or another received comparatively slight attention at the hands of Alfonso. Some of these, as conjuring for instance, are usually now considered as a part of black magic, but it will be noted in the following paragraphs that it was freely practiced by the Church and in fact formed a part of the most sacred religious rites. In the discussion that follows, these various subjects are taken up in alphabetical order.

I.--CONJURING

Conjuring, says Alfonso in effect, is the art of using potent words in the right manner. Then he illustrates the point with naïve quaintness--as he does so often: “These words, just like a carpenter’s tool, may serve for many different purposes, but it is necessary, if they are to have the effect desired, that they be said by a person who knows how. The fact that they do have effect is seen from the results of everyday life.”[103] The fourth rank of the clergy was held by the Exorcist, and this title

“quier tanto decir en griego como conjurador, ca estos han poder a
conjurar en el nombre de Dios á los demonios que salgan de los
homes et que non tornen á ellos jamas: et por ende deben saber
estas conjuraciones de cuer porque las sepan decir quando menester
fuere: et esta órden fizo primeramente el rey Soloman.”[104]

How much this short passage taken from a law book tells us of the current beliefs, and of the place held by conjuring! Note, however, that conjuring was limited, according to law, to dispossessing the Devil. This practice, like baptism, was in the hands of the clergy and could only be resorted to by the layman in cases of dire necessity. 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.”[106]

The method by which the oil was to be prepared is expounded as follows:

“ ... halo él (obispo) de tomar, et exôrcizarlo et bendecirlo desta
guisa, deciendo que conjura á Satanás, et á todos sus malos
espíritus, et a toda manera de fantasma en el nombre del Padre, et
del Fijo et del Espíritu santo que si está en aquel olio que se
parta dél ... etc.”

After having been thus carefully prepared,

“Grande es la virtud que ha en este olio ... Esta virtud es en tres
maneras: La primera en la natura del olio, la segunda en las
palabras que se dicen sobre él, la tercera en las obras que se
facen con él.”[107]

Not only the _crisma_, but certain words (among them the following) possessed special virtue: “Avemaría”, because from the contents of that prayer one comes to understand the mystery of Jesus, moreover it contains the words of salutation used by the angel to María and these words still greatly please her; “Paternoster”, because it reveals the Father and contains the seven petitions which Jesus taught His disciples; and “Credo in Deum”, because it reveals the Holy Spirit and contains all the faith and science of Christianity.[108]

From these and similar regulations pertaining to the various sacraments, especially baptism, perhaps we might not err seriously in supposing that the practitioners of black magic received not a little of their inspiration from the Church itself, altho much against the will of the latter. With such a number of laws, regulations, etc., it might at first seem a little surprising to find so few legends in which conjuring plays an important part, but probably this can be accounted for by the fact that it was so common a practice that it was scarcely esteemed worthy of mention. The most interesting story for our present purpose--and one which is illustrative of the group in general--is that of the great debate conducted in Rome in the year 320 between the Christians and the Jews. The latter, to prove the superiority of their God, whispered His name in the ear of an angry bull, which promptly fell dead. The Christians went even further; they whispered the name of their God in the ear of the _dead_ animal, which immediately returned to life and, quite gentle and meek, was led from the assembly.[109]

In _Las Cantigas_ conjuring is mentioned only in passing references, and almost always it is the Devil who is conjured to leave a person (No. 67). But in one instance we have the well known story of a man, this time a monk, who has at his command the services of the Devil and when Satan cannot procure for him what he desires, because the person concerned is under the special protection of Santa María, the monk threatens him and his host of imps in these words:

“Ide fazer
Com’ eu a donzela aia
log’ esta noit’ en meu poder;
se non, _eu hüa redoma_
todos uos ensserraría.” (No. 125.)

II.--GHOSTS

There is not a genuine clean-cut ghost in the entire period. In fact, such apparitions as we know them seem never to have flourished very vigorously in Spain. There are _fantasmas_, and _sombras_, etc., in abundance in a later period, but the ghost that appeals to present day observers was entirely lacking. In the time of Alfonso X, the function of the ghost, which is usually that of issuing warnings from the other world, was generally exercised by the saints or angels. In one case, it is true, a friar returns after his decease to explain to his two brethren why his corpse turned black at death and was restored to its natural color when a candle from the altar of the Virgin was placed in its hand (No. 123). But this is a very poor example; there is no element of fear recorded. The shade does not pass thru closed doors, weapons do not pierce its body without effect, etc. Emperor Julian has a rather ghostly experience when he is killed by the phantom knight,[110] but this is in reality a returned saint and not a ghost, and besides he kills with a weapon--a most unorthodox piece of behavior for a ghost.

There is only one good ghost story in the entire lot, and this claims to be no more than a narrative from Roman history, apparently told solely because it is in the old records. Emperor Caius Caligula was assassinated and his enemies half burned his body, then in haste partially buried it. Because of this his spirit could not rest in peace but tormented the keepers of the garden where the body lay, and the guardians of the place where he had been killed, until the cremation was properly performed and the ashes suitably buried. This has indeed the necessary elements of a ghost story, but as indicated above, it seems to have found its way into the literature purely by chance and makes no literary impression on the period.[111]

III.--THE HOST

The sacrament of communion was intended especially to remove the tendency to do evil rather than good. This sacrament being the most frequently observed of all and in many ways closely associated with Extreme Unction which may be described as the most potent, there grew up around the Host a number of legends. The Host, on account of its extreme sacredness, became one of the favorite points of attack for the practitioners of black magic, who seemed to have considered it as a most powerful charm. Four of the miracles[112] in _Las Cantigas_ were performed to protect it from such an unholy use, altho in only one of these, which is briefly as follows, does the black magician appear in person:[113] a countryman wished to secure a large yield of honey with little effort, so he consulted a _sorteira_, who told him that next time he went to communion he should not swallow the Host nor touch it with his teeth but should take it and put it in one of the hives. Having done so, he found later upon opening the hive, an image of the Virgin and Child. Frightened, he hastened to the priest, who ordered the marvel taken in procession to the church. There, when it was blessed, it turned back again into the simple Host.

The Host is again transformed in No. 149. Here it is a devout priest who cannot bring himself to believe in transubstantiation. One day at Mass the Host disappeared and the priest saw before him the Virgin and Child. He asked the Virgin if she had the Host. “Yes, it is here,” she said showing him her Son. With that, upon explaining why it took the form of bread and wine, she disappeared. As she vanished the priest again saw the bread and wine as it was previously, but he no longer doubted.

Aside from this type of story, illustrating the sacredness and inviolability of the Host, there are a number of cures of various kinds purporting to have been wrought in persons waiting before the altar at the time of Mass.[114] The hours themselves at which Mass was celebrated were symbolic. These were ordinarily the third hour, the hour in which the Jews demanded the death of Jesus and in which He was scourged; the sixth hour, that of the crucifixion and the ascension; or the ninth hour. In cases of conflict with an hour of regular occupation, or other reason of necessity, private Mass might be said earlier or later up to the ninth hour.[115] At Christmas a clergyman might recite three Masses (usually he was allowed to recite only one a day), and they were to be at the following hours: (1) at cock-crowing before dawn, signifying the time when the people were still in darkness, (2) at dawn, signifying the semi-light of the prophets, and (3) at the third hour, representing the full light of the present dispensation.[116]

The ceremony of the Mass was one which the Devil could not venture to look upon. In order to test whether a questionable peculiarity was of the devil, the person affected by it was sometimes taken to Mass, as in the case of a young girl who had been placed in a convent and consecrated to the Church, but who developed a mania for fondling the Child of the Virgin Mary, without opposition on the part of the Holy Mother. At last the community discovered the situation, and, duly shocked, appealed to the Pope. He did not know what to say, so he decided to test the case at Mass. During the ceremony, at the girl’s request, he had the image of the Virgin’s Child placed in the girl’s arms. Upon receiving it she exclaimed, “This is my child and I want to go with him.” Saying which, she took the Host and expired, going to be with Him in paradise (No. 251).[117]

IV.--MYSTIC NUMBERS

The Spanish--as before intimated--are a highly imaginative race and incline to look for a mystical meaning or a symbol in everything. It was probably due to this that the Catholic faith, with its elaborate ceremonial, crowded with symbolism, was so fervently embraced by the nation as a whole. For them every event was fraught with an hidden meaning. The enigma of the future, for example, had been written by the mysterious finger of God in the stars. There was a special mystery, again, shrouding certain numbers, particularly three, seven, and nine. Since there were three clases of sins, venial, criminal, and mortal, the priest, in the ceremony of baptism, was to breathe three times in the face of the candidate, conjuring the Devil to leave the body; three times was he to conjure salt and put it in the mouth of the person; and three times must he immerse the infant who was the recipient of the rite. Again there were nine orders of angels, nine also of the clergy--nine being the square of three.[118] But the greatest and most significant of all numbers was seven. There were seven things needed before a church was complete (_Partidas_, 1-10-14); seven privileges of the prelates over the clergy (1-5-65); seven punishments for crime (7-31-4); seven virtues a king should possess (2-5-7 and 8). Each official must swear to seven things; there are twice seven, or fourteen, joints in the hand, and therefore twice seven articles of faith, as the articles of faith have the same function in the divine hand as the joints in the human (1-3-3). There are seven notes in the musical scale.[119] But to give a just idea of the true significance of this number I can do no better than to quote from the Prólogo of _Las Siete Partidas_, pages six and seven.

POR QUALES RAZONES ESTE LIBRO ES DEPARTIDO EN SIETE PARTES

Septenario es un cuento muy noble que loaron mucho los sabios
antiguos, porque se fallan en él muy muchas cosas et muy señaladas
que se departen por cuento de siete, asi como todas las criaturas
que son departidas en siete maneras. Ca segunt dixo Aristotiles et
los otros sabios, ó es criatura que non ha cuerpo ninguno, mas es
espiritual como angel et alma; ó es cuerpo simple que non se
engendra nin se corrompe por natura, et es celestial, asi como los
cielos et las estrellas; ó ha cuerpo simple que se corrompe et se
engendra por natura, como los elementos; ó ha cuerpo compuesto et
alma de crecer, et de sentir et de razonar como home; ó ha cuerpo
compuesto et alma de crecer et de sentir et non de razonar, asi
como las otras animalias que no son homes; ó ha cuerpo compuesto de
crecer, mas non de sentimiento nin de razon, asi como los árboles
et todas las otras plantas; ó ha cuerpo compuesto et non alma nin
sentimiento, asi como los metales, et las piedras et las cosas
minerales que se crian en la tierra. Otrosi todas las cosas
naturales ban movimiento que se departe en siete maneras; ca o es
asuso ó ayuso, ó delante ó atras, ó á diestro ó á siniestro, ó en
derredor. Et en este mesmo cuento fallaron los sabios antiguos las
siete estrellas mas nombradas, á que llaman planetas, et de que
tomaron cuento por los siete cielos en que estan por los sus
nombres; et ordenaron por ellos los siete dias de la semana. Et los
sabios departieron por este cuento de siete las partes de toda la
tierra á que llaman climas. Et por este mesmo cuento departieron
los metales; et otrosi algunos hi hobo que por este cuento de siete
partieron los saberes á que llaman artes: eso mesme fecieron de la
edad del home. Et aun por ese mesmo cuento demostró Dios á los que
eran sus amigos muchas de sus poridades por fecho et por semejanza,
asi como á Noe, á quien mandó facer el area en que se salvase del
deluvio, et que le mandó que de todas las cosas que fuesen buenas
et limpias metiese en ella siete. Otrosi Jacob, que fue patriarca
servió a su suegro siete años por Rachêl, et porque le dió a Lia
servió otros siete por ella mesma, et esto fué por muy grant
significanza. Et Josep, su fijo, que fue poderoso sobre toda la
tierra de Egipto por el sueño que soltó al rey Faraon de los siete
años de mengua et de los siete de abondo, segunt el sueño que el
Rey soñara de las siete espigas et de las siete vacas: esto fue
fecho de grant devocion. Otrosi á Moysen quando le mandó facer el
tabernáculo en que feciesen oracion los fijos de Israel, le mandó
que entre todas las otras cosas que señaladamente posiese dentro de
él un candelero de oro fecho en manera de árbol, en que habiese
siete ramos, que fuese fecho por grant significanza. Et David, que
fue otrosi rey de Israel, por gracia que le veno de nuestro señor
Ieso Cristo, fizo por Espíritu Santo el salterio, que es una de las
mejores escripturas de santa Eglesia, et mostró en él siete cosas,
asi como profecía, et oracion, et loor, et bendicion, et
reprehendimiento, et consejo et penitencia. Et despues de todo esto
quando nuestro Señor quiso facer tan grant mercer al mundo que
deñó prender came de la virgen santa María por nos salvar, et que
le podiésemos veer vesiblemente, et conoscer que era Dios et home,
por este cuento, segun dixo el profeta, hobo él en si siete dones
de Espiritu Santo. Et otrosi por este cuento, segunt dixieron los
santos, hobo santa María siete placeres muy grandes del su fijo,
que se cantan en santa eglesia. Et en este cuento mesmo nos dió
nuestro señor Ieso Cristo siete sacramentos, porque nos podiésemos
salvar. Et otrosi en este mesmo cuento nos mostró él mesmo la
oracion del pater noster en que ha siete cosas en que le debemos
pedir merced. Otrosi san Iohan evangelista, que fue pariente et
amigo de nuestro señor Iesu Cristo, fizo un libro, á que llaman
Apocalipse, de muy grandes poridades que le él demostró, et las
mayores cosas que en él escribió son todas partidas por este cuento
de siete. Onde por todas estas razones que muestran muchos bienes
que en este cuento son, partimos este nuestro libro en siete
partes, et mostramos en la primera dellas de todas las cosas que
pertenescen a la santa fe católica.

While one of the greatest of all mysteries was that connected with certain numbers the idea did not stop here. Jerusalem was destroyed in the same month Jesus was crucified.[120] The well known biblical mystery traditions connected with the earthly life of Jesus are all faithfully narrated.[121] Attila is supplied with a sword from Vulcan in a mysterious way.[122] Alejandro el Magno and his host, after traveling for seven days in darkness in the Orient come to a river

“que habia las aguas caldas, et fallaron alli allend ese rio
mugieres que moraban y muy fermosas, et vestian unas vestiduras muy
espantosas, et andaban en caballos et traien en las manos armas
doro, por que non habien fierro nin cobre de que las facer, nin
habie varon maslo entre todas ellas.

“E Alexandre quisiera pasar el rio a ellas, mas non pudo por
ninguna guisa por que era ancho et lleno de dragones et de otras
bestias fieras muy grandes.”[123]

After leaving this place and journeying a little farther amid various adventures they again come upon another land of

“mugieres muy grandes de cuerpos et las barbas tan luenguas que les
alcanzaban fasta en las tetas, et las cabezas planas; et vistien
pielles, et eran muy buenas cazadoras et corredoras de mont, et
pora correr mont en logares de canes, traien bestias fieras
enseñadas pora ello, et ensañaban se las ellas. E cuando entraron
Alexandre et su huest en aquellas selvas o estas mugieres eran, et
vieron ellos a ellas et ellas a ellos fuxieron ellas; et caballeros
de Macedonia cuando las vieron foir cogieron empos ellas en sus
caballos et alcanzaron den ya cuantas, et prisieron dellas et
aduxieron las a Alexandre.

“Alexandre cuando las vió mandó las preguntar por el lenguaje de
India que dixiesen como vinien a morar a aquellas selvas o morada
de homne del mondo non habie. Fablaron ellas et dixieron que
vivieron de caza que facien con bestias fieras et non dal, et que
moraban por ende siempre en las selvas. Et salieron daquellas
selvas Alexandre et su huest a los campos grandes et anchos, et
fallaron alli de cabo otros varones et mugieres; et las mugieres
desnuyas todas; et habien todos los cuerpos vellosos de pelos como
bestias. Et era costumbre daquellos homes et daquellas mugieres de
morar en aquel rio et en la tierra et asi como fue viniendo la
huest et llegando les aquellas mugieres somurguieron se ellas luego
en el rio; et estudieron alli una pieza Alexandre et su huest por
veer si saldrien et probar ellos ende mas. Et movieron dalli et
fueron yendo adelant, et fallaron otras mugieres que habien dientes
como de puercos monteses et los cabellos de las cabezas tan luengos
que les daban por los tobiellos, et el otro cuerpo que lo habien
todo velloso de pelos como el estrucio et el camello, et en los
lomiellos que habien como vaca que las colgaban alli ayuso; et el
estado dellas de luengo era de doce pies.”[124]

V.--RELICS

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. At Chartres there was a certain dress that had belonged to the Virgin, on which it was the custom to place cloth which was made up into garments for warriors, because it was believed that after being thus treated garments made from it would be invulnerable. In fact a knight wearing one of these was attacked while unarmed, and altho his enemies thought they had pierced him thru and thru he was in reality unharmed (No. 148). The bones of St. Thomas, together with a letter purporting to have been written by Jesus, were so powerful that when placed over the gate of Edessa no enemy could enter without first making peace with the city.[126] Very interesting is the case of the humble woman who went to confession and after doing penance asked for a written certificate of pardon, which after some hesitation was given. Misfortune overtook her and she was forced to beg. In one city she came upon a moneychanger and asked the loan of a small sum but he would not let her have it without security. The only security she could offer was this certificate of pardon. The moneychanger laughed at the idea, but finally promised to let her have the equivalent of its weight in gold, and putting it on his scales was astonished to find that all his gold would not balance it. This convinced him, and becoming converted he told the woman to take whatever amount she needed. (No. 305).

Such relics not only had the power to work miracles but were themselves divinely protected. One man, a peasant, laughed at the idea that a certain shoe on the altar in the church had ever belonged to the Virgin, because, he said, a shoe as old as that would not be in so good a state of preservation. To cure him of such flagrant unbelief she afflicted him in the mouth in such a manner that he could be cured only upon the application of the shoe in question (No. 61). At another time some priests, by the exhibition of relics, were collecting money to rebuild a church. In the course of their travels they entered a ship with some merchantmen. After a short while they were attacked by pirates, and in the face of danger the merchants, to secure immunity, offered gifts of money for the building of the church. When the danger was safely passed they repented of their extravagance and took back their donations, buying wool for their own use with the money. Shortly afterward a stroke of lightning set fire to their purchases, thus avenging both God and the Virgin (No. 35).

Naturally, some relics were more powerful and more sacred than others, and they varied in these respects according to the importance of the saint to whom they belonged; and seemingly were protected in a like measure. When Alfonso el Sabio left Seville for Castile he ordered the relics of the Virgin, along with those of the other saints, to be carefully put away, but when he returned ten years later he found only those of the Virgin in perfect condition; those of the other saints had decayed (No. 257).