Curesfrom the Lapidario 157
the world’s four elements: fire, earth, water and air. Once these
CURES FROM THE LAPIDARIO
Grace Mitchell
University ofKentucky
Alfonso el Sabio had good reason to be interested in bodily ailments
and their treatments. Beset with many illnesses throughout his life, he
struggled chiefly against the squamos cell carcinoma to which he
tinally succumbed.^ So his Cantigas de Santa Maria are filled not
only with Mary’s miraculous healings of other folks, but also with
expressions of Alfonso’s gratitude for Mary’s intervention in his
own illnesses.^
The science of healing in medieval times, however, was not limited
to the miracles of the saints. Cures for bodily ills were pursued along
many avenues. The famous medical school of Salerno, which
emerged around 900 A.D., for a long time taught simple methods of
treating disease which were surprisingly close to modem practices.
A doctor looked at a patient’s diet and life style, and through his
observation, formulated common sense theories for his cure. The
Arabs, the first modem apothecaries, combed their empire for herbs,
roots, seeds and resins with which to treat the sick. Some of their
medications included alcohol, senna, cassia, arsenic, manna,
and camphor.3
The dextrine of the balance of the bodily “humours,” taken from the
writings of Hippocrates and Galen, which prevailed until mid-
ninteenth century, has not fared as well in modem times. According
to this theory, man was a macrocosm of the world, and his four
humours; blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile, corresponded to
1 See recent research of Maricel Presilla, Department of History. Ruteers
University.
2 Candga 23S is a prime examine.
3 E. Ktemers and G. Urdan, History ofPharmacy (Philadelphia. 1940). as cited in
A Pictorial History of Medicine by Otto L. Bettman (&>tingfield: Charles C. Thomas.
1962), p. 62.
humours were out of balance, the body was in trouble.^
Uroscopy was used to observe the humours, and the urine glass was
the basic symbol of disease diagnosis.* Supposedly, any change in the
humours could be observed in the urine. The Salernitan doctors
detected 18 different colors in the urine. The Breslau Codex of
Salemital medicine has forty pages of instruction on appraising the
odor and weight of the urine.® Followers of Isaac Judaeus
divided the unne glass into four even parts, each corresponding to part
of the body. If the top layer of liquid was turbid, there was head
trouble; a similar method of analysis was followed for the other three
parts of the tube and their corresponding body parts.
Bloodletting became the standard method of reUeving the body of its
excess humours. Astrology was used to determine the time for the
blo^etting as well as which part of the body was to be used. The
position of the moon, the season and the time of day were all taken
into account along with the patient’s temperament. The human breast
was governed by the constellation Cancer, and bleeding in this region
could take place only when Cancer was in the ascendancy. Astral
charts were prepared which showed all governing factors and
indicated about thirty points of incision.®
Perhaps the best picture of medieval medicine comes from the
Prelude to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.
There was here also a Doctor of Phisik.
In all this wide worlde was ther non him like
To discuss phisik and surgerye;
For he well knew astronomye.
He kepte his pacient wondrously well
In all houres by provn magik natural.
He could guess well the ascending of the star.
Wherein his pacients fortunes were.
He knew the cause of each maladye.
Were it cold, or hot or moist or drye,
and where engendered, and of what humour.
He was a perfect practisoin.
The cause knowen and of its right misiere.
4 urine glass was a dear, round bottle with a nanow neck.
ComeuSve
Filian^^Sof?S4~“p^
dmdiSttSSrnS;/'^ “ *** *’35) as
8 C. H. Talbot, Medicine in Medieval England (London: Oldboume, 1967), p. 35.
158 Grace Mitchell
Then he gaf the syke man a cure.
Always rede hadde he his apothecaries,
To malffi him drugges, and electuaries.
For each of them made the other for to wynne;
Their friendsheipe was not newe to him
He knew well the old Esculapeus,
And Descorides and Rufus too;
And Hippocrates and Haly and Galien;
Serapyon, Razis, and Auycen;
AvOTois, Damascen, and Constantyn;
Bernard, and Gatisden, and Gilberlus.
Of his diete mesurable was he.
For it had in it no superfluitee.
But of norishing gret and digestible.
Chaucer gives an engrossing portrait of a medieval doctor and his
healing arts. He doesn’t include in these arts, however, a method of
healing also employed in the Middle Ages. I refer to the attempt to
effect a cure for a variety of ailments through the use of stones. Tlw
therapeutic use of precious stones probably had its beginning in
Egypt, but as the belief spread, more and more superstitions were
associated with it. When the belief reached Assyria and Babylonia, it
became intermingled with the pervasive science of astrology, so that
the curative value of a particular stone was supposed to be greatly
enhanced if the sun was in a certain constellation, or if the moon or a
certain planet was in the ascendant at the time it was used.®
In the Middle Ages, a Lapidary or Book of Stones took its place in
the literature of a number of nations along along with a Bestiary and a
Book of Herbs. Medieval writers often quoted Aristotle as their
source, but it cannot be proven that Aristotle ever wrote about stones.
Theophrastus, Dioscorides, Pliny and Isidore all included material on
stones in their writing, as did Galen, whose medical practices were
followed by doctors throughout the Middle Ages.'® The work of
Damegeron, De Vertibus Lapidum appears from the sixth century
onwards. r j . 12 Donald T. Atkinson, Magic, Myth and Medicine. (New York: The World
It was not unusual for the wearing of a stone to be part of a doctor s
prescription during the Middle Ages. Avenzoar of Seville (1113-
1162), the medical leader of the western caliphate, prescribed the
wearing of the bezoar stone as an amulet for poison." As the legend
9 George Frederick Kunz, The Curious Lore of Precious Stones (New York:
Halcyon House, 1938), pp. 367-8. . ». _i. i
10 See Kunz, p. 385 and The Book of Secrets of Albertus Magnus, ed. by Michael
R. Best and Frank H. Biightman (Oxford: At the Oaiendon Press, 1973), p. xxxv.
11 D. I. Macht: Moses Maimonides , B. H. M. voL 3:585, 1935. As cited in
Bettman.
Curesfrom the Lapidario 159
grew, such stones became cure-alls. Bezoar amulets woe sold widely
during the plague and could even be rented by the day. Until mid­
eighteenth century they were listed as an official remedy in London’s
pharmacopoeia.
Other prescriptions were made from powdered stones. Dr. William
Pullyem, an eminent author during the reign of England’s Edward VI,
recorded a prescription which he called “Electuarium de Jemini.”
The ingredients consisted of various herbs, spices and seeds, but also
included two drachms of white perles; jacinth, comeline, emeiauldes,
gamettes” as well as “thin pieces of gold and silver, of each half a
scruple.” He assures his readers that this:
...healeth cold, diseases of ye brain, harte ande stomache. It is
a medicine proved against the tremblynge of the harte, faynting
and souning, the weakness of the stomacke, pensiveness and
solitannes. Kings and noble men have used this for their comfort.
It causeth them to be bold spirited, the body to smell wel, and
ingendreth to the face a good coloure.'^
The Lapidario of Alfonso X, produced around 1270, also prescribes
stones as a cure for many ailments. It promotes remedies for serious
bodily illnesses, love sickness and even selfish desires through the
curative powers of stones in their alliance with the heavenly bodies.'^
The Lapidario reflects the characteristic preoccupation with
astrology and enumerates both the beneficial and the damaging
qualities that selected stones acquire through the influence of the signs
of the Zodiac, the planets, the constellations, and the position of the
stars. The first Lapidario is divided into the twelve signs of the
Zodiac, with each sign further divided into its thirty phases. There are
some gaps, especially in the section on Leo where only one of the
phases is presented.
E. J. Kealey comments: “Bestiaries, lapidaries and herbals spoke more to the
fascination with strange marvels than to the details of medical practice." Miracles.
Marvels, and Monarchs, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1981), p. 11.
Publishing Co., 1956), p. 118.
13 Actually, the Lapidario is two separate works, the first, containing four parts
and the second, eleven parts. However, only the index of the second part remains
extant Three codices of the Lapidario ate known to exist today. Two of these, from
me thirteenth century, are in the library of the Monastery of San Lorenzo in the
Escottal. They are designated as h-I-15 and h-I-16 respectively. They were brought
mete by Felipe n and had been acquired from don Diego de Mendoza. The third codex,
fr^ me sixtecnm century, is a copy of Codex h-I-15. It is housed in me National
Library of Madrid and is designated as L-3 or Ms. 1197.
14 Leo is the fifih sign of me Zodiac in the Lapidario.
In my edition, Upidario de Alfonso X, ed. by Marfa Brey Marino (Espafia:
Editonal Castalia “Odres Nuevos,” 1970), Leo is on page 109. Li citing references to

160 Grace Mitchell
The first Lapidario is replete with the rich, minutely deuiled
miniature art representative of the Middle Ages. Tire mitral
each sign of the Zodiac carries its own Ulustration; so. too. dws die
initial letter of each stone, usually showing a mM digging for the
stone and another man pointing out to him where to dig.
constellations and the stars are iUustrated as they are referr^ to. Tte
margins contain miniatures of typical scenes of hunUng. of batUe. ot
dwarves, of strange animals, of castles, and of arms.
Both precious stones and metals, well known today, (cojaj.
diamond, tin. silver, lead. gold), as well as stones that couldn t
possibly be identified by today’s jewelers and indeed may never have
listed, are analyzed for their curative powers. Some stones are
identified only by where they are found or by then quality, such as
“ la piedra que atrae la sal” (293) or “...la piedra que aparece en a
cuando sube Saturno” (262). The latter stone is harder sull to
identify, for the description continues:
Hdllanla en fwma de pifla; espesa es mucho. fuerte y di^ de
quebrantar. y cuando la quebrantan. hallanla de dentro blanca.
mas este blancor aparece apenas en la saz6n cuando el planeta
estd sobre UOTa. que cuando estd debajo no la pueden ver.
The benefits of the stones are myriad: there is a stone that k^ps one
young (262): various stones that give one sweet dreams and sound
sleep, but if used the wrong way. the same stones keep one from
sleeping; there are stones that cure elephanutus (112). herpes (10),
leprosy (29, 158. 167. 251), etc. Comrnon ailments such ^ those
which affect the heart, lungs, liver, digestion, can be remedied by any
number of stones. There are stones also for the temperament —stones
that cure melancholy and that eliminate excessive bile.
The modem reader might be interested to see what cures can be
effected by those stones familiar to the twentieth century. For
example, the diamond is classified in the Lapidario as the stone which
falls under the first phase of Taurus. This stone, the reader is told, is
found in the river Barabicen which rises in the land of Horacim, where
there are six months of day and six of night. But no man can go to
where the river begins because of the wild beasts that live there,
especially the vipers that can kill a man just by looking at him.
So man must be content with the diamonds he can find that are earned
from place to place by the river’s flood waters. (31)
this edition, I have used the number of the entry on the stone, unless otherwise
indicated.
Curesfrom the Lapidario 161
Diamonds can be used for cutting other stones, the Lapidario
continues, but no stone can cut the diamond, nor can it be broken save
through one method. If the diamond is wnqrped in a certain grade of
tin, it will break, and once broken, it can be ground into powder
through using a tin wr^ped piece of diamond as a hammo'. If some
of this powder can be ingest^ by one suffering from kidney stones,
the stones will break up, and the person will be cured. On the other
hand, if a small piece of diamond can be attached to a thin iron rod
and injected into a person’s organs so that it touches the kidney stone,
the diamond will break up the stone, and the person will be cured.
The reader is warned, however, that this remedy is not to be tried
except as a last resort (p. 39)
The emerald likewise is said to have curative powers that
supplement its beauty. The emerald can be used to cure wounds, to
counteract poisons, and to cure the bites of poisonous beasts. To
effect such cures, a dram of emerald must be ground up and strained.
It should then be mixed with wine or with water and administered to
the patient who will get well without side efiects. His hair will not fall
out, nor will his skin be affected. (46)
Also, the Lapidario continues, the one who carries on his person an
emerald will be protected from demon’s disease. In lands where
emeralds are plentiful, small children carry them around their necks to
prevent the disease. And if they have the disease but tie an emerald to
a muscle of their leg or arm, they will be cured.
Gold, too, figures in the Lapidario's list of curative stones. The
author describes gold as the stone “que aman y aprecian mucho los
hombres;” he states that the best quality of gold can be found in
Western Spain, and that if it is properly shined, one can look in it and
can see himself reflected as in a mirror. (62)
A poticxi of gold filings, mixed with some other substance that can
be eaten or drunk, has many uses. It helps heart tremors, itch and
falling hair; it also strengthens those melancholic persons who are
always afraid. Made into a cream, it will clear up blisters.
Alchemists are given some instructions as to what happens to gold
when it is mixed with a number of other metals. They are warned that
they must know the qualities of gold before they experiment with it,
for it is their duty to niake things better, not worse.
...los que toman los metales nobles y los mezclan con los viles,
no enten^endo el saber ni la maestrla, hacen que no se mejore el
vil y dafianse el noble, y as! hacen gran yoro en dos maneras: la
una, que van contra el saber de Dios, y la otra, que hacoi dafio al
mundo. Op. 64)
162 Grace Mitchell
For today’s puiposes, the author of El Lapidario is more trustworthy
in what he warns his readm to avoid than in what he advises as cures.
Mercury, he warns, is more of a poison than a cure. It is good for
killing lice, and burned earth containing rnerc^, when mixed with
some food, will kill rats. A man must protect himself from the smoke
of this burning earth, however, for even the smoke can cause
paralysis, loss of hearing and many other illnesses. Wherevw this
smoke reaches, it will drive out snakes and other reptiles, but if they
remain, they will die. (77) The medical profession of today, now
worried about the harmful effects on the body of mercury used in
tooth fillings, might well have heeded the warnings of the Lapidario
before using this dangotius metal.**
Another warning with a modem ring is given in reference to copper.
Drinking or eating from copper vessels, the author states, can cause
many illnesses. Among these are elephantitis, cancer, and deseases of
the liver and spleen. The most toxic effects of copper can come from
eating baked fish kept in a copper container. The fish absorbs the
smell of the copper, and one who eats such fish receives a double dose
of the coRier’s poisonous effects. (214)
Today’s cooks who avoid using aluminum pots because of the high
degree of aluminum in the bodies of victims of Alzeimer’s disease,
would appreciate such warnings against copper vessels.
It is not known, of course, if Alfonso tri^ any of the remedies from
the Lapidario, but if he edited this book as he did other publications in
his reign, he must have been especially interested in the stones that
had a bearing on his own illnesses. He well may have taken note of
the warning against using copper vessels, but with the damage done to
his eyes by his progressive form of cancer (one eye hung out of its
socket for a period**), he may also have noted the healing effects of
powdered copper for the eyes. Powdered copper, the Lapidario says,
can heal the swelling in the eye sockets, can help sight, and can dry up
excessive watering of the eye. (p. 173)
Another stone that may have interested Alfonso is the marine stone.
This stone also has a dr^ng quality. It soaks up bodily fluids, takes
away the cloudiness of the eyes, is good for cancerous sores and for
other infections of the eyes. (178)
A third stone offered as a cure for cancer comes in the form of the
minerals which gather at the bottom of a bath tub after the water has
been heated several times. This stone, the author says, when ground
up and applied to the genitals of women with canc^ of that area, will
15 Recent newspaper articles have highlighted the concern for mercury exposure
associated with dental fillings.
16 Maticel Piesilla, Rutgers University
Curesfrom the Ltqndario 163
effect a ready cure. How fortunate for Alfonso that he did not have to
use that rem^y!
A remedy that Alfonso may have tried is the one related to the stone
called carbedic. This stone has several uses. If worn, it will warm up
the body of its wearer so that he cannot feel the cold winter. It also
gives him great power in the conquest of women. One of its uses
would have pertained e^iecially to Alfonso’s condition. If this stone
is ground into powder, mixed with wine and rubbed on cancerous
abcesses, the author says, it will quickly effect a cure. (272)
How many of the Lapidario's remedies that were tried in Alfonso’s
time is not known. The prologue assures the readers that Abolays,
who originally found the Chaldean manuscripts and translated them to
Arabic, had indeed tried the various uses of the stones recommended
by the Lapidario, and he had found the Lapidario's statements to be
true and useful.
Alfonso was intense in his desire to acquire knowledge from
whatever source was available, and he was determined to gather up
such knowledge, classify it and to put it in a form that would be
accessible to readers of his day as well as to those of generations to
come. The Lapidario is a small part of the great body of knowledge
that came to light in Alfonso’s reign, and for readers today it gives a
useful insight into medieval notions of science and medicine.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Atkinson, Donald T. Magic, Myth and Medicine. New York: The
World Publishing Company, 1956.
Best, Michael R. and Frank H. Brightman, eds. The Book of Secrets
ofAlbertus Magnus. Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1973.
Bettman, Otto L. A Pictorial History of Medicine. Springfield:
Charles C. Thomas, 1962.
Brey Manno, Maria, ed. Lapidario de Alfonso X. Espafia: Editwial
Castalia “Odres Nuevos,” 1970.
de Renzi, Salvatore. Collectio Salernitana. Vol. III. Napoli:
Tipografia del Filiantre-Sebezio, 1854.
Diman, Roderic C. and Lynn W. Winget, eds. Lapidario and Libro
de las formas & ymagenes. Madison, 1980.
Evans, Joan. “The 'Lapidary' of Alfonso the Learned.” The Modern
Language Review XIX, 1919:424-426,
Kealey, E. J. Miracles, Marvels, and Monarchs. Baltimore: The
Johns Hopkins University Press, 1981.
Kunz, Geoige Frederick. The Curious Lore of Precious Stones. New
York: Halcyon House, 1938.
164 Grace Mitchell
Nunemaker, J. Horace, “An Additional Chapter on Magic in Medieval
Spanish Litraature.” Specidum WU, 1, Jan., 1932: 556-564.
_____ . “The Chaldean Stones in the Lapidary of Alfonso X.
Publications of the Modern Language Association of
America, 45,1930:444-453. ^
_____. “In Pursuit of the Sources of the Alfonsine Lapidanes.
Speculum XIV, 1:483-489.
. “The Lapidary of Alfonso X.” Philological Quarterly VIII, THE TREATMENT OF THE MIRACLE
1929:248-254. OF THE DEVOUT THIEF
Talbot, C.H. Medicine in Medieval England. London: Oldboume, IN BERCEO AND ALFONSO EL SABIO
1967. . .
Temkin, Owsei. Galenism Rise and Decline of a Medictd Philosophy.
Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1973.
Richard Terry Mount
University ofNorth Carolina at Wilmington

An examination of Gonzalo de Berceo’s Milagros de Nuestra Sehora

and Alfonso X’s Cantigas de Santa Maria shows that some twenty
miracles are common to both collections. While in most cases the
story lines parallel very closely, there are some exceptions. In all they
differ enough in detail to make a comparative study of narrative
technique both a revealing and a useful undertaking as regards early
Iberian narrative, especially as the comparison highlights the
characteristics of each miracle collection.
An exhaustive comparative study of all twenty of the miracle pairs is
impossible within the limitations of the present format, but we are able
to make, with interesting results, a detailed presentation of one of t^
pairs. For this purpose I have chosen the miracle of the devout thief
{Cantiga 13; Milagro 6).* I have selected this pair for four reasons:
(1) both versions are short; (2) the story is among the better known
miracle tales of Marian lore, (3) a version is included in the Castilian
prosifications found in the Cddice Rico manuscript of the Cantigas,^
and (4) thwe are also versions in the Libro de los exenplos por A£.C.
(Nos. 48 and 270).^ And, while we will not make a four-way

1 For the texti of the miracle tale, I have used Biian Dutton's edition of the
Milagros in Obras complelas, II (Londtm: Timesis, 1971), 70-74, and Walter
Mettmann’s edition Cantigas de Santa Marta (Cantigas J a 100), I (Madrid: Castalia,
1986), 90-91.
2 Alfonso X el Sabio, Cantigas de Santa Marta: Edicidn facsbml del Cddue
TJ.i. de la Biblioteca de San Lorenzo el Real de El Escorial, Siglo XU! (Madrid: Edilin,
1979).
3 Qemente SInchez de Vercial, El libro de los exenplos por AB.C., ed. John E.
Keller (Madrid: Ccnsejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, 1961) S9,209.
w

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w o >
00
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H 00 H

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 Bernice E. Heller
Medieval Civilization Through General Education
at Juniata College

Nicolas Hernandez, Jr. i ins

INDICE DE CONTENIDO La teoria de los gene«)s litcranos en el ensayo de Lana luj

Cynthia Powell Jayne ..j.

The Virgin’s Cures fw Lust
Prologo
9 Clifford E. Landers r l d
Matthew Bailey Translation of the Treatise in which it is Proven through Reason
The Encyclopedic Function of the Poema del Cid yi that Holy Mary is Body and Soul in Paradise

Barbara Foley Buedel ENRIC MaDRIGUERA , J c # AAnrfn” 190

Confrmting Misogyny in Three Texts “Guitanas moriscas and latinas in the Cantigas de Santa Maria uy
of Medieval Spanish Literature
26 Edward M. Maunak .
Annette Grant Cash Torres Naharro's Innovative Dramaturgic Contnbuuons
140
La iglesia lobada to the Spanish Theater
34
Veronica P. Dean-Thacker Luis Martinez
The Devout Thief in Two ‘Exenplos por A.B.C.’ 40 Pagan Echoes of Cybele and Attis in the
Cdntigas de Santa Maria
Jos6 Escobar
Re^onal and Ludic Elements Grace Mitchell
^^^<^Librodelosenganoseasayamientos de las mugeres. 46 Cures from the Lapidario

Martin Alfred Favata Richard Terry Mount

The Treatment of the Miracle of the Devout Thief
Women’s Deceits in Medieval Spanish Exempla 53
in Berceo and Alfonso el Sabio
Emc M. Ftnw & Connie L. Scarborough
Reconciling the Secular and the Spiritual W. Michael Mudrovic
Medieval Models: Claudio Rodriguez
hi Juaii Manuel’s Exemplo 48:
and Early Spanish Literature '■'
atronio’s Ironic Application of the Half / Whole-Friend Tale 60

Barbara E. Gaddy Rafael Ocasio . . ^

Ethnic Underclass Representation in the Cantigas:
Myth in the Libra de Buen Amor The Black Moro as a Hated Character
70
I^^MERINE GYfiKfiNYESI GaTTO
Isidro J. Rivera
^ de Luna Duplicity and the Mediation of Desire
and the Familm Regis of Juan II of Castile jj in Petrus Alfonsi’s De canicula lacrimante
R. J. Gonzalez-Casanovas Donna M. Rogers
Cantigas de Santa Maria 2-25 and their
Castilian Prose Versions
87
Cecilia Ruiz
El huiiKM' en el Ubro del cauallem et del escudero,
el Libro de la caza y el Ubro de los estados
de don Juan Manuel 205

Lxxjise Sand-Fayh
A Modem Translation of The Tale of a Knight
Who Has Induced and Killed his Uege Lord and his Father 212
prologo
R. Roger Smith
Restatement: A Technique of Oral Composition
in the Poema de mio Cid 216 Nicolis Toscano
St. John’s University. New York
JosEl. Suarez
Para un estudio de los rasgos latinos en el
• 1- /lo 1000 se reuni6 en el recinto
Laberinto de Fortuna 226
E„„el n OT Ke^cky
Nicolas Toscano Sng»S'o°gr»PO de
La Triaca del alma de frey Marcelo de Lebrija 233 SIUV SSTe te de las flumes
Mary Louise Trivison. S. N. D. 1. ciuda aaivetsiW^
A Pilgrim Poem oS the Maiquds de Santillana:
Resumd of Medieval Marian Lyric 246

Diane M. Wrwht
Temas moriscos: Del Romancm) a la novela moiisca 254
^ iXvSttyrSem Iowa y en la actualidad en proceso
iNDICE Selecto de N(»ibres y Titulos 262 Jaslado a la University of Cmncmnau. ^ . eer
JOHN E. Keu^R noSrprestSado en el
Muchos acudimos a por una brillantlsuna
campo de la literatim mediev^^^ ^ medievales y a la
SSda a la edicidn e por su nombramiento de
Sanza de los mismos. y en los Estados Umdc^
piofesor emferito de la Espafla, don Juan Carlos de
L reconocimiento de sm p^iadas condecoraciones

^
BoSn. le ha conce^J®‘'S Jfifdent'Sonso X el S^J.

“'®S>Somdo en 'aU^'^^fimicfenJaUnSt^of Tennessee.

r
Cuenti en sa hatat vemUM iha, se encuenuM