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Martin Codax orCodaz,Martín Codax (Galician:[maɾˈtiŋkoˈðaʃ]) orMartim Codax was aGalicianmedievaljoglar (non-noble composer and performer, as opposed to atrobador), possibly fromVigo,Galicia in present-day Spain. He may have been active during the middle of the thirteenth century, judging from scriptological analysis.[1] He is one of only two out of a total of 88 authors ofcantigas d'amigo who usedonly the archaic strophic form aaB (a rhymeddistich followed by a refrain). He employed an archaicrhyme scheme wherebyi~o / a~o were used in alternating strophes. In addition Martin Codax consistently utilised a strict parallelistic technique known asleixa-pren (see the example below; the order of the third and fourth strophes is inverted in the Pergaminho Vindel but the correct order appears in theCancioneiro da Biblioteca Nacional in Portugal,[2] and theCancioneiro da Vaticana). There is no documentary biographical information concerning the poet, dating the work at present remains based on theoretical analysis of the text.
The body of work attributed to him consists of sevencantigas d'amigo which appear in theGalician-Portuguese songbooks and in thePergaminho Vindel (Vindel parchment). In all three manuscripts he is listed as the author of the compositions, in all three the number and order of the songs is the same. This provides what may be important evidence to support the view that the order of other poets' songs in thecancioneiros (songbooks) should not automatically be dismissed as random or attributed to later compilers. The identification of authorship of the poems (and their order) may contribute to a viewpoint that the seven songs of Codax reflect an original performance set. Consequently, the sets of poems by other poets might also have been organized for performance.
The parchment was originally discovered by the Madrid-based antiquarian bookseller and bibliophile Pedro Vindel among his possessions in 1913; it had been used as the cover of a copy ofCicero'sDe Officiis.
Martim Codax's poems that appeared in the parchment are the following (originally untitled, they are listed by the first line):[3]
In thePergaminho Vindel, musical notation (although with lacunae) survives along with the texts, except for the sixth one. They are the onlycantigas d'amigo for which the music is known. ThePergaminho Sharrer contains seven melodies forcantigas d'amor ofDenis of Portugal, also in fragmentary form.
Here is the third of his songs:[4][page needed]
Mia irmana fremosa, treides comigo
a la igreja de Vigo u é o mar salido
e miraremos las ondas.
Mia irmana fremosa, treides de grado
a la igreja de Vigo u é o mar levado
e miraremos las ondas.
A la igreja de Vigo u é o mar salido
e verrá i mia madre e o meu amigo
e miraremos las ondas.
A la igreja de Vigo u é o mar levado
e verrá i mia madre e o meu amado
e miraremos las ondas.
Lovely sister, come with me
To the church in Vigo where the sea is rough,
And we will gaze at the waves.
Lovely sister, come willingly
To the church in Vigo, where the sea is up,
And we will gaze at the waves.
To the church in Vigo where the sea is rough,
And my mother and my friend will come,
And we will gaze at the waves.
To the church in Vigo, where the sea is up,
And my mother and my beloved will come,
And we will gaze at the waves.
