João de Cangas
Jogral medieval

Biographical Note:

Native of Cangas de Morrazo, in the Ria de Vigo peninsula, as his name seems to attest, he should have been a minstrel, judging by the placement of his three songs in the manuscripts, integrated in the group of compositions authored by Galician minstrels. We know nothing more about his biography. The reference he makes in those songs to the sanctuary of Sam Momede do Mar, in the same peninsula, and in the region of Aldán, has led, however, the group of researchers of the Lirica Profana1 to suggest that he may have had connections with the lineage of the Lords of Aldán, to which belonged namely Dona Marinha Giraldes, the wife of the troubadour Paio Gomes Charinho. The troubadourean activity of João de Cangas, being uncertain, should therefore be situated around the decades of seventy to ninety of the 13th century.

References

1 Brea, Mercedes (coord.) (1996), Lírica Profana Galego-Portuguesa, Santiago de Compostela, Centro Ramón Piñeiro, Xunta de Galicia. Base de dados disponível online.
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