Daily Life Depicted in the Cantigas de Santa Maria
ISBN: 9780813159096
Platform/Publisher: Project MUSE / The University Press of Kentucky
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Chapters; Download: Chapters



The hundreds of illuminated miniatures found in the Cantigas de Santa Maria , sponsored by King Alfonso X (1252-84), reveal many vistas of daily life in thirteenth century Spain.

No other source provides such an encyclopedic view of all classes of medieval European society, from kings and popes to the lowest peasants. Men and women are seen farming, hunting, on pilgrimage, watching bullfights, in gambling dens, making love, tending silkworms, eating, cooking, and writing poetry, to name only a few of the human activities represented here.

Combining keen observation of detail with years of experience in the field, John Keller and Annette Grant Cash bring to life a world previously little explored.


John E. Keller , professor emeritus of Spanish at the University of Kentucky, is coauthor of Iconography in Medieval Spanish Literature . Annette Grant Cash , visiting assistant professor of Spanish at Georgia State University, is the co-translator of Miracles of Our Lady by Gonzalo de Berceo .

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