A Jewish Moneylender, Miscommunication, and a Lie: Gonzalo de Berceo’s Milagro no. 23
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Connie L. Scarborough
Abstract
Gonzalo de Berceo’s thirteenth-century Milagros de Nuestra Señora includes a version of a popular tale found in many collections of Marian miracles composed in Latin and the various European vernaculars. The tale, known as “The Trusting Merchant” or “A Debt Repaid,” is no. 23 in Berceo’s collection and is an adaptation, rather than a direct translation, of the author’s Latin source text. In this miracle narrative, a Jewish moneylender and his Christian borrower enter into a financial arrangement based on miscommunication. The Christian proposes Christ and the Virgin Mary as sureties on a loan and the Jew accepts them. The Christian has faith that his guarantors will indeed pay the Jew if he is unable to do so. The Jew, however, accepts Jesus and His mother thinking them incapable of acting on the Christian’s behalf. When the heavenly pair intervenes to repay the Jew, it is revealed that he had lied about receiving payment.When his lie is publically exposed before both the Jewish and Christian communities, the Christian’s steadfast faith contrasts with the disbelief of the Jew. The latter is shamed and willingly converts to Christianity when confronted with the truth.
Abstract
Gonzalo de Berceo’s thirteenth-century Milagros de Nuestra Señora includes a version of a popular tale found in many collections of Marian miracles composed in Latin and the various European vernaculars. The tale, known as “The Trusting Merchant” or “A Debt Repaid,” is no. 23 in Berceo’s collection and is an adaptation, rather than a direct translation, of the author’s Latin source text. In this miracle narrative, a Jewish moneylender and his Christian borrower enter into a financial arrangement based on miscommunication. The Christian proposes Christ and the Virgin Mary as sureties on a loan and the Jew accepts them. The Christian has faith that his guarantors will indeed pay the Jew if he is unable to do so. The Jew, however, accepts Jesus and His mother thinking them incapable of acting on the Christian’s behalf. When the heavenly pair intervenes to repay the Jew, it is revealed that he had lied about receiving payment.When his lie is publically exposed before both the Jewish and Christian communities, the Christian’s steadfast faith contrasts with the disbelief of the Jew. The latter is shamed and willingly converts to Christianity when confronted with the truth.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Table of Contents V
- List of Illustrations IX
- Introduction: An Essay on Language, Culture, and Identity: Medieval and Early Modern Perspectives on and Approaches to Communication, Translation, and Community 1
- Ways of Communication and Mis/communication in Abū Tammām’s “Ode on the Conquest of Amorium” (838 C.E.) 95
- Proscribed Communication: The Obscene Language of the Troubadour William IX, Duke of Aquitaine and VII Count of Poitiers 109
- (Non)-Imaginary Ideal Communities in the Pre-Modern World: A Reading in the Utopian Works of al-Fārābi’, Ibn Khaldūn, Christine de Pizan, and Thomas More 159
- A Jewish Moneylender, Miscommunication, and a Lie: Gonzalo de Berceo’s Milagro no. 23 191
- Words, Signs, Meanings: William Langland’s Piers Plowman as a Window on Linguistic Chaos 209
- The Chaucerian Translator 233
- Entertainment, Laughter, and Reflections as a Training Ground for Communication in Public and Private: The Case of Heinrich Kaufringer, ca. 1400 255
- …written in my own Jewish hand 291
- Demonic Operators: Forbidden Relations in Medieval Communication 327
- Paroemiac Expressions: A Touch of Color in the Ambassadors’ Diplomatic Correspondence in the Fifteenth Century 351
- Communication and Translation in Early Modern Basque Society. The Role Played by the Public Notaries 379
- Preventing Miscommunication: Early Modern German Surgeons as Specialized Translators 393
- Reputation and Authority in the Physicians’ Communication with Patients as Reflected in the Czech-Language Sources of the Early Modern Period 415
- The Physicians’ Community in Pre-Thirty Years’ War Bohemia 439
- A Bond of True Love: Performing Courtship and Betrothal in Gower’s Cinkante balades and Spenser’s Amoretti, in Light of Christine de Pizan’s Cent balades 461
- Noble Friendship in Relation to the Community: Hamlet and The Merchant of Venice 491
- Deconstructing the (Mis)Interpretation of Paratextual Elements in Ross’s English Translation of the Qur’ān, The Alcoran of Mahomet (1649) 519
- Community and the Others: Unveiling Boundaries in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice 551
- Biographies of the Contributors 617
- Index 627
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Table of Contents V
- List of Illustrations IX
- Introduction: An Essay on Language, Culture, and Identity: Medieval and Early Modern Perspectives on and Approaches to Communication, Translation, and Community 1
- Ways of Communication and Mis/communication in Abū Tammām’s “Ode on the Conquest of Amorium” (838 C.E.) 95
- Proscribed Communication: The Obscene Language of the Troubadour William IX, Duke of Aquitaine and VII Count of Poitiers 109
- (Non)-Imaginary Ideal Communities in the Pre-Modern World: A Reading in the Utopian Works of al-Fārābi’, Ibn Khaldūn, Christine de Pizan, and Thomas More 159
- A Jewish Moneylender, Miscommunication, and a Lie: Gonzalo de Berceo’s Milagro no. 23 191
- Words, Signs, Meanings: William Langland’s Piers Plowman as a Window on Linguistic Chaos 209
- The Chaucerian Translator 233
- Entertainment, Laughter, and Reflections as a Training Ground for Communication in Public and Private: The Case of Heinrich Kaufringer, ca. 1400 255
- …written in my own Jewish hand 291
- Demonic Operators: Forbidden Relations in Medieval Communication 327
- Paroemiac Expressions: A Touch of Color in the Ambassadors’ Diplomatic Correspondence in the Fifteenth Century 351
- Communication and Translation in Early Modern Basque Society. The Role Played by the Public Notaries 379
- Preventing Miscommunication: Early Modern German Surgeons as Specialized Translators 393
- Reputation and Authority in the Physicians’ Communication with Patients as Reflected in the Czech-Language Sources of the Early Modern Period 415
- The Physicians’ Community in Pre-Thirty Years’ War Bohemia 439
- A Bond of True Love: Performing Courtship and Betrothal in Gower’s Cinkante balades and Spenser’s Amoretti, in Light of Christine de Pizan’s Cent balades 461
- Noble Friendship in Relation to the Community: Hamlet and The Merchant of Venice 491
- Deconstructing the (Mis)Interpretation of Paratextual Elements in Ross’s English Translation of the Qur’ān, The Alcoran of Mahomet (1649) 519
- Community and the Others: Unveiling Boundaries in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice 551
- Biographies of the Contributors 617
- Index 627
