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Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 June 2026

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Summary

When the readers at the Colegio Jesuita de Zaragoza (Jesuit College of Zaragoza) highlighted the most striking passages in their reading of Jaume Roig's misogynist Catalan work, the Espill (The Mirror, ca. 1460), the miracle of the profaned Host was sure to figure among them (vv. 3502–3816, pp. 171–175). Set in the city of Zaragoza itself, the story recounts the prodigious transformation of the sacred Host (the bread or wafer consecrated in the Eucharist) into a human baby and the baby's return to their original form. In the Espill, the episode's entire chain of events begins when a domestically abused Christian woman seeks the help of a Muslim sage to increase her abusive husband's love. The sage agrees to help, but on the condition that the woman pay him and bring him the sacred Host. The woman complies but, upon delivering the Host to the sage, they find that the Host had miraculously transformed into a baby. The woman tries to kill the child by immolation, thus confirming her evil nature for nonmodern audiences. After a series of subsequent events, the woman dies in the end, miraculously struck and killed by a bolt of lightning, although nothing is said about the fate of the Muslim sage.

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  • Introduction
  • Jean Dangler
  • Book: Reading Jaume Roig’s Espill
  • Online publication: 25 June 2026
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781805437253.001
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  • Introduction
  • Jean Dangler
  • Book: Reading Jaume Roig’s Espill
  • Online publication: 25 June 2026
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781805437253.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction
  • Jean Dangler
  • Book: Reading Jaume Roig’s Espill
  • Online publication: 25 June 2026
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781805437253.001
Available formats
×