Sponsus

Sponsus or The Bridegroom is a medieval Latin and Occitan dramatic treatment of Jesus' parable of the ten virgins. A liturgical play designed for Easter Vigil, it was composed probably in Gascony or western Languedoc in the mid-eleventh century. Its scriptural basis is found in the Gospel of Matthew (25:1–13), but it also draws on the Song of Songs and the Patristics, perhaps Jerome's Adversus Jovinianum. In certain respects—the portrayal of the merchants, the spilling of the oil, the implicit questioning of accepted theodicy—it is original and dramatically powerful.

"Sponsus" is the Latin word for groom/husband and is a cognate of the English "spouse". The feminine form is "sponsa" (bride/wife).

The play opens with an unnamed narrative voice explaining the allegory of the parable, the identity of the bridegroom with Jesus, and the Gospel. This unnamed voice has been identified with both Gabriel and the Church (Ecclesia) personified. The next speaker of the play, who uses Occitan, is probably Gabriel, though this rubric is fragmentary and identifies only those whom he addresses: the prudentes, prudent ones. The angel tells the five wise virgins—the five foolish ones have presumably fallen asleep after Ecclesia's more general caution—to attend a groom, Jesus Christ, who came to save them from their sins. He gives them the ominous warning Gaire no.i / dormet: "Don't fall asleep!", which is repeated several times.

After Gabriel's message, the foolish virgins (recognised from the rubric fatue) enter and announce that they have spilled the oil for their lamps. The spilling of the oil was probably acted out for dramatic effect, though the bible knows nothing of it. The foolish then plead with the wise to share their oil, capping each strophe with the lamenting refrain Dolentas, chaitivas, trop i avem dormit: "We, wretched in our grief, have slept too long!" The wise virgins turn them away without pity, inviting them to buy oil from the merchants nearby. The foolish (who now seem wise) only blame themselves, but the merchants, who are presented sympathetically, tell them that they cannot help them and advise them to beseech their sisters in God's name. The merchants' eight lines, which are significant to the dramatic movement, are given in Occitan without any comparable Latin. The dramatist builds tension between the foolish, who are repentant, the wise, who are condescending, and the merchants, who are sympathetic to the foolish and trusting of the charity of the wise. The text's English translator, Peter Dronke, praises the dramatist's clever portrayal and insights into human nature.

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