It first appeared in a 1495 edition of the Italian poems of Jacopone da Todi, along with "Stabat Mater dolorosa", but "Stabat Mater speciosa" was almost forgotten until it was re-transcribed in 1852 in the in Paris. It has since been viewed as one of the tenderest Marian hymns and one of the seven greatest Latin hymns.Sabatier, Paul Life of St. Francis Assisi Charles Scribner Press, NY, 1919, page 286The seven great hymns of the Mediaeval Church by Charles Cooper Nott 1868 ASIN: B003KCW2LA page 96 It has become part of standard oratorios (e.g. Franz Liszt's ChristusThe Standard Oratorios by George P. Upton (1893 ed.) page 187), and has given rise to various Christmas carols.
