The Cantigas de Santa Maria ("Canticles of Holy Mary"; kɐ̃ˈtiɣɐʒ ðɨ ˈsɐ̃tɐ mɐˈɾi.ɐ, kaŋˈtiɣaz ðe ˈsaŋta maˈɾi.a) are 420 poems with musical notation, written in Galician-Portuguese

Galician-Portuguese

Galician-Portuguese or Old Portuguese was a West Iberian Romance language spoken in the Middle Ages, in the northwest area of the Iberian Peninsula. It was first spoken in the area bounded in the north and west by the Atlantic Ocean and the Douro River in the south but it was later extended south...

 during the reign of Alfonso X El Sabio

Alfonso X of Castile

Alfonso X was a Castilian monarch who ruled as the King of Castile, León and Galicia from 1252 until his death...

 (1221–1284) and often attributed to him.

It is one of the largest collections of monophonic (solo) songs from the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

 and is characterized by the mention of the Virgin Mary in every song, while every tenth song is a religious hymn.

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