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Eduardo Paniagua Cantigas of Andalucia - Alfonso X The Wise 1221-1284 PN1580 3 CD
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Format3 Audio CD
Ordering NumberPN1580
Barcode8428353515804
labelPneuma
Release date2/5/2019
salesrank6643

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      CANTIGAS OF ANDALUCÍA

      Alfonso X, justly known as the Wise, was an eminent poet, historian and musician. A scientific intellectual, he was learned and curious and created a body of knowledge that was unequalled in his time. He considered his work to be a tribute to humanity in close communication with God. As a protector of the wise and active publisher, he revised and corrected books himself, improving their language and style, and illustrating them with beautiful miniatures. He chose the Romance vernaculars (Castilian and Galician) instead of Latin for literary and artistic expression.

      The Cantigas de Santa Maria form a collection of 427 hymns on the subject of miracles through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, and are Alfonso’s great poetic work. They are based on the extensive European repertoire of miracles of the Virgin, which were prepared to be sung to melodies created with beautiful musical notation in parchment codices featuring excellent miniature paintings.

      The Cantigas are a "spiritual autobiography" of Alfonso X (Snow), expressing his hope that the Virgin, as his advocate, would intercede for his success as King and for his salvation after death. The Cantigas provide a valuable historical source and testimony to facts written in the first person, with contemporary events and details of how Alfonso suffered in body and soul as an indication of his illnesses (cantigas 209, 235, 279, 354, 366 and 367).

      This selection of Cantigas of Andalusia is from the last of the codices. They reflect Alfonso’s wish to expel the Moors from Spain and the wars against Granada and Morocco (Cantigas 169, 181, 215, 323, 345, 360, 401 and 406). Some of the 24 cantigas of the sanctuary of El Puerto de Santa Maria that had not yet been recorded have also been included.

      His poetry is "realistic, devotional, theological, humorous and satirical" (O'Callaghan), written in the language of the troubadour who declares his love for Holy Mary, creating an "unparalleled artistic treasure" in Western civilization.

      These cantigas in Andalusian territory complete the cantigas recorded and published earlier by Pneuma: Cantigas de Sevilla PN2-590, Cantigas de Jérez PN-570, Puerto de Santa Maria 1 PN-220, Cantigas de Murcia PN-1560 and others contained in the CDs Remedios Curativos PN-240, Bestiario PN-340 and Cantigas de Extremadura PN-420. In general, the themes of these cantigas are closely related to the biographical events of the King and his court in Seville.

      THE SPANISH CRUSADE FOR AFRICA AND THE REVOLT OF THE MUDÉJARS The presence of many Mudejars (Andalusian Muslims) living in the interior of the newly conquered kingdom of Andalusia, was one of Alfonso X’s greatest problems. In the Lower Guadalquivir and the region of El Guadalete and Cadiz, the Mudejars retained their civil order and religious practices, in exchange for a tribute paid to the Crown of Castile. The new borders were not safe. There were uprisings in La Tablada in 1252, and in Jerez in 1255-61. Three unstable Muslim vassal states remained: one ruled by the King of Niebla; one by Ibn Hud, the King of Murcia; and the new Nasrid Kingdom of Granada created after the Treaty of Jaén in 1246.

      With the support of Don Lope, bishop of Morocco, Alfonso X appealed to Pope Innocent IV in 1252 and to Pope Alexander IV in 1255, to convert the Castilian project to attack the north of Morocco and stop new invasions from Africa, into a Pontifical crusade, with plenary indulgence in the same category as the Crusade in the Holy Land. The crusade was preached in the Courts of Toledo of 1254, in the south of France, Italy and England. Ten galleys were obtained from Pisa and Marseille in 1256, and Alcanate (al-Qanatir), with the new name of Puerto de Santa Maria, was chosen as a naval base on the Atlantic, although not without the protests of the Moors of the kingdom of Jérez. After Jerez, the Kingdom of Niebla and the city of Cadiz were suppressed, only the Kingdom of Granada, a vassal state of Castile, remained as the border with peninsular Islam. The African crusade began in 1260 with the expedition to plunder Salé (cantiga 324), near Rabat, recently taken from the Almohads by Abu Yusuf Yaqub ben Abd al Haqq and his Marinids.

      However, in March 1264, the crusade project was suddenly interrupted when the Mudejars of Andalusia and Murcia revolted, with the support of the King of Granada. In three weeks, Alfonso X, who was on his way to lay claim to the crown of the Holy Roman Empire, lost his eldest son and heir, Prince Fernando, and 300 towns, castles and fortresses. In the autumn, his second son Sancho intervened and crushed the revolt in lower Andalusia. Alfonso X, with the help of his father-in-law Jaime I of Aragón, and of his son-in-law Alfonso III of Portugal, won back Murcia, and then Cordoba and La Vega of Granada. Later, he reconquered Calatrava, Villa Real and Osuna.

      In 1265, Clement IV extended the Bull of the Crusade to Andalusia, diverting support in the Holy Land in favour of the struggle against the Mudejars of Castile, contributing ecclesiastical tithes for the battles. The King of Granada requested help from Abu Yusuf and his Marinids of Morocco, but Alfonso X managed to weaken Granada, as Málaga and Guadix asked Alfonso X to create an alliance to defend them against the invasion of the Moroccans. Finally Granada signed new truces declaring vassalage to Castile in 1267.

      When the wars were over, the King encouraged the repopulation of Andalusia, in particular Murcia, El Puerto de Santa María and Cádiz. This can be appreciated in Cantigas 169 of Arreixaca in Murcia and the 24 dedicated to the Miracles of Holy Mary in the church of El Puerto de Santa Maria, which were intended to attract people to the town. Pope Urban IV raised Cádiz to episcopal rank in 1263, by transferring the seat of the Bishopric from Medina Sidonia in 1267. But new Marinid invasions devastated the area in 1277, and the city of Cádiz and the entire region (cantiga 345) were not safe until 1281.

      King Alfonso X’s illnesses became worse in Seville (cantigas 348, 366, 367 and 386). The balance of the borders was again in danger, as the great nobles of Castile and León (Lara, Haro, Castro, Roa, Cameros, etc.), discontent after the loss of privileges and increased taxes for war, conspired with Abu Yusuf and the King of Granada against their King. Alfonso X once again attacked Granada and after the defeat of the Castilians in Algeciras, when Granada and Abu Yusuf were at war, the people of Granada called for an alliance with Alfonso X.

      In the later years of his life, when his son and heir, Sancho, and the rest of the royal family, nobles and bishops revolted, Alfonso X sought help from his eternal enemy Abu Yusuf with the sole support of Seville and Murcia, in exchange for allowing looting in Cordoba, Toledo and Madrid. Reconciled with his son, Alfonso X died in Seville in 1284 aged 62. He had enjoyed a dense 32-year reign, consolidating the conquests of his father Fernando III and repelling new attempts by the Moroccans to invade. All this, together with his extraordinary cultural achievement, makes him one of the greatest kings of medieval Spain. His cantigas, and in particular these of Andalusia, confirm this.

      Eduardo Paniagua

      Tracklist hide




      CD 1
      • 1.CSM 257 LAS RELIQUIAS (VERSIÓN)03:35
      • 2.CSM 185 EL CASTILLO DE CHINCOYA Y EL REY DE GRANADA12:07
      • 3.CSM 323 EL NIÑO DE CORIA (VERSIÓN CANTADA)08:41
      • 4.CSM 348 EL TESORO (VERSIÓN)04:47
      • 5.CSM 215 LA IMAGEN DE MARTOS05:30
      • 6.CSM 161 EL VIENTO Y EL PEDRISCO (INSTRUMENTAL)04:57
      • 7.CSM 366 EL AZOR DE DON MANUEL14:46
      • 8.CSM 181 ABU YUSUF DESBARATADO EN MARRAKECH09:38
      • Total:01:04:01
      CD 2
      • 1.CSM 385 LA PEDRADA (INSTRUMENTAL)01:30
      • 2.CSM 353 EL NIÑO Y EL ABAD10:46
      • 3.CSM 273 LOS MANTELES DEL ALTAR DE AYAMONTE09:06
      • 4.CSM 359 EL HIJO CAUTIVO (INSTRUMENTAL)01:54
      • 5.CSM 321 SANTA MARÍA DE CÓRDOBA09:36
      • 6.CSM 381 EL NIÑO DE SAN MARCOS (INSTRUMENTAL01:54
      • 7.CSM 119 EL JUEZ DE ESPAÑA07:16
      • 8.CSM 358 CANTOS LABRADOS (INSTRUMENTAL)02:02
      • 9.CSM 347 EL NIÑO DE TUDÍA09:15
      • 10.CSM 124 ENTRE AMBOS MARES (INSTRUMENTAL)01:14
      • 11.CSM 83 DE LUCENA A SOPETRAN, CAUTIVO EN TIERRA DE MOROS06:30
      • Total:01:01:03
      CD 3
      • 1.CSM 357 HUERTO DE DELICIAS (DOÑA SANCHA11:02
      • 2.CSM 367 GRAN ENFERMEDAD DE DON ALFONSO11:27
      • 3.CSM 372 LA MUJER DE NIEBLA08:02
      • 4.CSM 368 MARÍA DE CÓRDOBA Y SANTA CRUZ DE CÁDIZ06:39
      • 5.CSM 389 MAESTRE PEDRO DE MARSELLA08:18
      • 6.CSM 378 SAN SALVADOR DE SEVILLA (INSTRUMENTAL)02:43
      • 7.CSM 384 FROR DAS FRORES, PINTOR DE TRES COLORES08:57
      • 8.CSM 392 LADRÓN PERJURO EN EL PUERTO DE SANTA MARÍA06:25
      • Total:01:03:33