‘Faith Then Cometh by Hearing’: Latin Orality and the Typological Framework of the Milagros de Nuestra Señora

Abstract

This study examines Latin phrases that are inserted throughout the Milagros de Nuestra Senora, and work in conjunction with vernacular formulations that critics have often identified as examples of orality. My investigation draws on recent approaches to medieval culture like that of John Miles Foley and Peter Ramey who understand orality and literacy as categories that are simultaneous rather than contrary. In some cases, I find that Berceo’s Latin interjections are elliptical, insofar as missing words and phrases from inserted fragments appear to be meaningful in new vernacularized contexts. In other cases, however, these insertions are more completely recontextualized, and can take on very distinct, even paradoxical senses in their new settings. In this way, this essay not only sheds light on the Latin orality that Berceo expected his audience to possess or be familiar with, but also considers how this evidence might relate to the efforts of ecclesiastical reformers as well as the experiences of pilgrims on the road to Santiago.