Eremitismo y cenobitismo en la obra de Alfonso X

Abstract

Cantigas de Santa María, by Alphonse X of Castile, are a social testimony of medieval life and its religious behaviour. Among several poems, the author describes monk’s way of life, mixing periods and places. Besides rivalry between monastic orders, Cantigas refer to the economical importance and the cultural work carried out by monasteries. Different functions are therefore depicted, with the abbot playing the major role, as a community’s guide or judge. Monks are the moral and spiritual models for those who are searching God. In this quest, an exceptional personage stands out, who drifts apart form possessions or temporal recognition to live in the desert and fight the devil: the hermit.