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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 3 page essay that discusses this thirteenth century poetry. Gonzalo de Berceo, thirteenth century Spanish poet, focused on the subject of the Virgin Mary and her importance to Christian worship in his text Milagros de Nuestra Senora (Miracles of Our Lady). Berceo begins with an elaborate allegory that pictures him as a pilgrim finding a field that he describes in a manner that immediately equates it with Paradise and the Garden of Eden. In this new "Eden," it is Mary who is the new "Eve." This allegorical beginning is the principal theme of Berceo's work, as he describes Mary as the central symbol of the new age brought about by Christianity. Just as Eve caused the downfall of humanity, the Virgin is instrumental in its redemption. No additional sources cited.
Page Count:
3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khbersym.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
Nuestra Senora (Miracles of Our Lady). Berceo begins with an elaborate allegory that pictures him as a pilgrim finding a field that he describes in a manner that immediately equates
it with Paradise and the Garden of Eden. In this new "Eden," it is Mary who is the new "Eve." This allegorical beginning is the principal theme of Berceos work,
as he describes Mary as the central symbol of the new age brought about by Christianity. Just as Eve caused the downfall of humanity, the Virgin is instrumental in its
redemption. Berceo wants to ensure that his readers do not miss the point of his opening allegory so he explains the symbolic meaning of each part of his allegory.
As long as we live on earth, we live in a "foreign land" (quatrain 18), but travel toward our true home, "a good meadow" (quatrain 19)(Berceo 23). The greenness of
the meadow represents the Virgins purity; its four streams represents the four Gospels; the trees represents the miracles that she performs; the bird song are the testimony of Church Fathers,
such as Augustine, etc. In the account of the Virgin Marys various miracles, which follows, Berceo further delineates the generosity and power of Mary, the Holy Mother. For example,
in miracle I, "The Chausuble of Saint Ildephonsus," Berceo, first of all, describes the piety, humility and service of the venerable saint and how his work pleased the Virgin so
much that she appears before him and presented him with a chasuble "sewn without a needle...an angelic work" (quatrain 60)(Berceo 30). The Virgin Mary makes it clear that this vestment
is for his use alone, as the throne on which he sits and then vanishes. After Ildephonsus death, he is succeeded to the post of archbishop by a
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