Inscription
QUAM DEUS A PENA DEFENDAT, DICTA SEMENA
ALPHONSI VIDUI REGIS AMICA FUI;
COPIA, FORMA, GENUS, DOS FORUM, CULTUS AMENUS,
ME REGNATORIS PROSTITUERE THORIS,
ME SIMUL ET REGEM MORTIS PERSOLVERE LEGEM.
FATA COEGERUNT, QUE FERA QUEQUE TERUNT
TERDENIS DEMPTIS SUPER HEC DE MILLE DUCENTIS,
QUATOR ERIPIES, QUE FUIT ERA, SCIES.
ChatGPT offers this by way of translation:
The text you've provided is a Latin inscription that seems to combine a personal epitaph with numerical riddles, typical of medieval or Renaissance tomb inscriptions. Here's a rough translation:
"Whom God defends from sin, having spoken these words,
I was the friend of Alfonso, the widowed king;
Abundance, beauty, birth, dowry, public appearance, pleasant manners,
made me subject to the bed of a ruler,
both me and the king to pay the law of death.
Fate compelled, which both wild and tame have worn down
With thirty subtracted from these out of twelve hundred,
Take away four, you will know what era it was."
This translation attempts to capture the essence of the text, though some of the lines, especially the latter part, seem to be part of a numerical riddle related to dates or ages, which is a common feature in epitaphs to encode dates or significant numbers associated with the deceased. The reference to "Alfonso, the widowed king" might be historical, pointing to a specific figure, possibly Alfonso X of Castile, known as "the Wise," or another Alfonso depending on the context. The numerical riddle ("TERDENIS DEMPTIS SUPER HEC DE MILLE DUCENTIS, QUATOR ERIPIES, QUE FUIT ERA, SCIES") suggests a calculation to find out a specific year or number relevant to the inscription, which would be "with thirty removed from these out of twelve hundred, take away four, you will know what era it was."
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