Cantiga, a medieval monophonic song, originated in the Iberian Peninsula around the middle of the fi fteenth century. Almost the only example of cantigas that have survived not only as a poetic text but as a complete musical unit are the Cantigas de Santa Maria from the court of Alfonso X. This vast complex of more than four hundred songs about the Virgin Mary was composed roughly between 1270 and 1290 under the supervision of the king himself.
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