The Songs of St Mary and the legacy of Alfonso X

Alfonso X was born in Toledo in 1221. He ascended the throne in 1252 after the death of his father, Ferdinand III, and endeavoured to follow the same policy as his predecessors. However, his interest in study and knowledge and his commitment to scientific and cultural works became the main legacy of his reign. Alfonso X brought together at his court scholars from different cultures and religions, Jews, Arabs and Christians, who together, for years, studied and translated all the works they could acquire on law, history, astronomy, magic, poetry and rhetoric, among others. The rich books produced in the wise king's scriptorium are real jewels, precious works of art, written in beautiful calligraphy and magnificently illuminated, worthy of being part of the royal treasury. Among the important works produced in the Afonsino scriptorium, we highlight the collection of Marian miracles entitled Cantigas de Santa Maria. Following the king's universalist tendency, the Afonsino collection constitutes the richest Marian songbook of the Middle Ages.