The ''Cancioneiro da Vaticana'' (, ; ''Vatican Songbook'') is a compilation of

troubadour A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a '' trobair ...

lyrics in

Galician-Portuguese Galician-Portuguese ( gl, galego-portugués or ', pt, galego-português or ), also known as Old Portuguese or as Medieval Galician when referring to the history of each modern language, was a West Iberian Romance language spoken in the Middle ...

. It was discovered c. 1840 in the holdings of the

Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library ( la, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, it, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. Formally es ...

and was first transcribed by D. Caetano Lopes de Moura in 1847, sponsored by Viscount of Carreira, and again by Ernesto Monaci in 1875. The songbook contains 228

folio The term "folio" (), has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for a book ma ...

s with a total of 1205 lyrics that date from the 13th and 14th centuries. Nearly all the poems belong to the three principal genres of secular

cantigas A ''cantiga'' (''cantica'', ''cantar'') is a medieval monophonic song, characteristic of the Galician-Portuguese lyric. Over 400 extant ''cantigas'' come from the ''Cantigas de Santa Maria'', narrative songs about miracles or hymns in praise of th ...

: the '' cantigas de amigo'', '' cantigas de amor'' and '' cantigas de escárnio e maldizer''. Even though the texts were meant to be sung, there is no musical notation—nor space left for it (see Cancioneiro da Ajuda). The ''Cancioneiro da Vaticana'', together with the '' Cancioneiro da Biblioteca Nacional'' (kept in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

), were copied from an earlier manuscript (or manuscripts) around 1525, in Rome

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

at the behest of the Italian

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...

Angelo Colocci. The two songbooks are either sister manuscripts or cousins.

References

* Cintra, Luís F. Lindley. 1973. (Introdução) ''Cancioneiro português da Biblioteca Vaticana (Cód. 4803). Reprodução facsimilada''. Lisboa: Centro de Estudos Filológicos & Instituto de Alta Cultura. * Ferrari, Anna. 1991. “Le Chansonnier et son double”, in ''Lyrique romane médiévale: la tradition des chansonniers. Actes du Colloque de Liège'', 1989, ed. Madeleine Tyssens, Bibliothèque de la Faculté de Philosophie et Lettres de l’Université de Liège – Fascicule CCLVIII. 303-327 * Ferrari, Ana. 1993. “Cancioneiro da Vaticana”, in Lanciani & Tavani 1993: 123–126. * Gonçalves, Elsa. 1993. “Tradição manuscrita da poesia lírica”, in Lanciani & Tavani 1993: 627–632. * Lanciani, Giulia & Tavani, Giuseppe (org.). 1993. ''Dicionário da Literatura Medieval Galega e Portuguesa''. Lisboa: Caminho. * Monaci, Ernesto. 1875. ''Il canzoniere portoghese della Biblioteca Vaticana'', messo a stampa. Halle a.S.: Max Niemeyer Editore. *(Gal) Pena, Xosé Ramón. 2002. "Historia da literatura medieval galego-portuguesa", Santiago de Compostela, Sotelo Blanco: 107; 112-121 Portuguese music history Galician-Portuguese Portuguese literature Chansonniers (books) {{VaticanCity-stub

See also

References