The "Cantiga de amigo" or "Cantiga d'amigo"
(Old Galician-Portuguese spelling), literally means a "song of friend"
that means obviously a boyfriend or a lover, is a genre of medieval
erotic lyric poetry, apparently rooted in a song tradition native to the
northwest quadrant of the Iberian Peninsula, been this way not just a
particular Portuguese thing but common to Portugal and Galicia, and this
study in high school all over the country.
What mainly distinguishes the "cantiga de amigo" is its focus on a world of female-voiced communication. The earliest examples that survive are dated from roughly the 1220s, and nearly all survived 500 were composed before 1300. "Cantigas d'amigo" are found mainly in the Cancioneiro Colocci-Brancuti, now in Lisbon's Biblioteca Nacional (National Library), and in the "Cancioneiro da Vaticana", both copied in Italy at the beginning of the 16th century (possibly around 1525) at the behest of the Italian humanist Angelo Colocci.
What mainly distinguishes the "cantiga de amigo" is its focus on a world of female-voiced communication. The earliest examples that survive are dated from roughly the 1220s, and nearly all survived 500 were composed before 1300. "Cantigas d'amigo" are found mainly in the Cancioneiro Colocci-Brancuti, now in Lisbon's Biblioteca Nacional (National Library), and in the "Cancioneiro da Vaticana", both copied in Italy at the beginning of the 16th century (possibly around 1525) at the behest of the Italian humanist Angelo Colocci.
The main authors known of this genre are: Martin Codax, Johan Airas de Santiago, Johan Garcia de Guilhade, Juião Bolseiro, Johan Baveca , Pedr' Amigo de Sevilha, Johan Zorro, Pero Meogo, Bernal de Bonaval, Meendinho and the Portuguese King Dom Dinis, know as the best medieval Portuguese poet and one of the best troubadour of is time.
The characters involved in the songs are:
- A girl friend, who is often a poetic voice. It is sometimes naive, other narcissistic, other behaves so elusive or is vindictive.
- The mother, who is usually the prohibitive social code.
- Confidants: the mother, a girl friend, sister, other brides, nature (flowers, ocean waves), etc..
- The "friend" (meaning the lover), often absent.
The cantiga de amigo have been said to have characteristics in common with the Mozarabic kharajat, but these may be merely coincidences of female speaker and erotic themes.
Example of one of this songs in English:
I was sitting at the shrine of San Simeon
And the waves surrounded me, how high they were,
Me waiting for my friend.
Sitting at the shrine, before the altar,
The high waves of the sea surrounded me,
Me waiting for my friend.
And the waves surrounded me, how high they were:
I have no boatman, nor any one to row,
Me waiting for my friend.
And the waves of the high sea surrounded me:
I have no boatman and don’t know how to row,
Me waiting for my friend.
I have no boatman, nor anyone to row:
And I’ll die, beautiful me, in the vast sea,
Me waiting for my friend.
I have no boatman and don’t know how to row,
And I’ll die, beautiful me, in the sea so vast,
Me waiting for my friend.
Galician-Portuguese:
Sedia-m'eu na ermida de San Simion
e cercaron-mi as ondas, que grandes son,
eu atendendo meu amigo.
Estando na ermida ant'o altar,
cercaron-mi as ondas grandes do mar,
eu atendendo meu amigo.
E cercaron-mi as ondas, que grandes son:
non ei i barqueiro, nen remador,
eu atendendo meu amigo.
E cercaron-mi as ondas do alto mar:
non ei i barqueiro, nen sei remar,
eu atendendo meu amigo.
Non ei i barqueiro, nen remador:
e morrerei fremosa no mar maior,
eu atendendo meu amigo.
Non ei i barqueiro, nen sei remar:
e morrerei eu fremosa no alto mar,
eu atendendo meu amigo.
(Meendinho)
Here is a clip of a song sang in the old Portuguese-Galician language, enjoy!
