ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on an account of a miracle performed by the Virgin Mary through which Abbot Ambrose Autpert of San Vincenzo al Volturno (central Italy) acquired fluency of speech. In Byzantium Mariology was established earlier, but in the West – after the celebration of Mary’s virginity by Ambrose of Milan and the promotion of Marian devotion by Bishop Ildefonsus of Toledo – specific theological reasoning about the Mother of God only took shape with Autpert. Early medieval thinking about Mary came to share many fundamental traits with Byzantine Mariology. The tale of the miracle performed by Mary for Autpert is a narrative intended to recall his pre-existing devotion to her, a devotion which was only intensified by this extraordinary event. Enfolded in this brief account are various features which deserve closer attention; they all revolve around the abbot’s intimate spiritual relation with Mary.
