News and Events
2019. February 8th. Iberian Medieval Poetry Seminar.
“Como eu vexo e eu vi” Alfonso X in the Cantigas de Santa María is the title of the Seminar that will be offered by Manuel Magán Abollo, researcher by the University of Santiago de Compostela next 8th of February at ORB 1.24 (4pm).
Alfonso X (1221-1284) was the king of Castile, Leon and Galicia, and one of the greatest art
and science promoters of his time. He is known as "the Wise", because of his interest on music,
astrology, history, magic, poetry or other disciplines. As a poet, he wrote several compositions in
Spanish and also in Galician, which was the common and most prestigious language to write poetry.
Among the works produced by Alfonso X, there is one which stands out, the Cantigas de
Santa Maria, a collection of 400 poems dedicated to Virgin Mary, which also have their own music
and images.
Despite the Cantigas de Santa Maria were created to pray Virgin Mary, behind their texts and
images we find a lot of information about medieval life and habits, wars and weapons, and also
about its creator, Alfonso X, who appears many times as a character of his own stories. This seminar
will examine the life and the main works produced by "the Wise king" and the track he left in the
Cantigas de Santa Maria.