Alfonso X and the Cantigas de Santa Maria: A Poetic Biography

In the Cantigas de Santa Maria , a collection of more than four hundred poems written in the language of medieval Galicia in praise of the Virgin Mary, Alfonso X, el Sabio, king of Castile-Leon, has left us a kind of poetic biography. Declaring himself Mary’s troubadour, he appeals to her as his advocate and consoler as he recounts specific events in his life and that of his kingdom. As he tells us about his family, his war against the Muslims of Granada and Morocco, the treachery of the nobility, his frequent illnesses, and his fear of hellfire and damnation, he reveals much about his personality and his spirituality. This volume explicates the historical circumstances surrounding the events described in the cantigas, providing a royal biography in the 13th-century.