“[Alain de la Roche’s] symbolic speculations are very highly elaborated and somewhat factitious. In order to obtain a system in which the numbers fifteen and ten enter, representing the cycles of 150 Aves and 15 Paters…. he adds the eleven celestial spheres and then multiplies by the ten categories (substance, quality, etc.) As the product he obtained 150 natural habits. In the same way the multiplication of the ten commandments by fifteen virtues gives 150 moral habits.

To arrive at the figure of fifteen virtues, he counts, besides the three theological virtues and the four cardinal virtues, seven capital virtues, which makes fourteen; there remain two other virtues: religion and penitence; that makes sixteen, which is one too many; but as temperance of the cardinal series is identical with abstinence of the capital series, we finally obtain the number fifteen.

Each of these fifteen virtues is a queen having her nuptial bed in one of the divisions of the Pater Noster. Each of the words of the Ave signifies once of the fifteen perfections of the Virgin, and at the same time a precious stone, and is able to drive away a sin, or the animal which represents that sin. They represent other things as well: the branches of a tree which carries all the blessed ones; the steps of a staircase. To quote but two examples: the word Ave signifies the innocence of the Virgin and the diamond; it drives away pride, or the lion, which represents pride. The word Maria denotes her wisdom, and the carbuncle; it drives away envy, symolised by a black dog.

Sometimes Alain gets a little entangled in his very complicated system of symbolisms.”

- Huizinga, The Waning of the Middle Ages

This kind of thing will be very familiar to anyone who has business or marketing blogs on their RSS feeder.

(Further episodes of the CPMMS appear on my LJ, and will appear on FT)