Cantigas de Santa Maria

The Cantigas de Santa Maria (Galician: [kanˈtiɣɐz ðɪ ˈsantɐ maˈɾi.ɐ], Portuguese: [kɐ̃ˈtiɣɐʒ ðɨ ˈsɐ̃tɐ mɐˈɾi.ɐ]; "Canticles of Holy Mary") are 420 poems with musical notation, written in the medieval Galician-Portuguese language during the reign of Alfonso X of Castile El Sabio (1221–1284).

The Cantigas have survived in four manuscript codices: two at El Escorial, one at Madrid's National Library, and one in Florence, Italy.

The E codex from El Escorial is illuminated with colored miniatures showing pairs of musicians playing a wide variety of instruments.

The Códice Rico (T) from El Escorial and the one in the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale of Florence (F) are richly illuminated with narrative vignettes.

The Cantigas are written in the early Medieval Galician variety[2][3] of Galician-Portuguese, using Galician spelling; this was because of Galician-Portuguese being fashionable as a lyrical language in Castile at the time, as well as Alfonso X having passed part of his early years in Galicia and so probably being a fluent speaker since his childhood.

Also, many sources credit Alfonso owing to his influence on other works within the poetic tradition, including his introduction on religious song.

Mensuration is a particular problem in the Cantigas, and most attempts at determining meaningful rhythmic schemes have tended, with some exceptions, to be unsatisfactory.