Johan de Cangas

Johan de Cangas (or Xohan de Cangas in an anachronically modernized Galician form) was a jograr or non-noble troubadour, probablly active during the thirteenth century. He seems to have been from Cangas de Morrazo, a small town on Pontevedra, Galicia (Spain).

As with most jograes nothing is known for certain about his life, although the very preservation of three of his cantigas suggest that he would have performed in the courts of local nobles. And the place of the poet in the manuscript traditon, the use of a patronymic, and the nature of his songs all seem to confirm that he was a jograr. Only three of his songs, all cantigas de amigo, survive. In two of them the girl speaker refers to the sea. In both manuscripts (Cancioneiro da Vaticana and Cancioneiro da Biblioteca Nacional) his name is spelled Johan (the modern Galician equivalent being Xoán, Portuguese João).

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A cantiga de amigo of Johan de Cangas (ed. R. Cohen; tr. M. Boaz)

Amigo, se mi gran ben queredes,
id’ a San Momed’ e veer m’ edes;
oje non mi mençades, amigo.

Pois mh aqui ren non podedes dizer,
id’ u ajades comigo lezer;
oje non mi mençades, amigo.

Serei vosc’ en San Momede do mar
na ermida, se mho Deus aguisar;
oje non mi mençades, amigo.


Friend, if you really love me a lot,
Go to San Momede and you can see me.
Friend, don’t break your word to me today.

Since you can’t say anything to me here,
Go where you can have pleasure with me.
Friend, don’t break your word to me today.

I’ll be with you in San Momede of the Sea
In the chapel, if God guides me there.
Friend, don’t break your word to me today.

Día das Letras Galegas

On 1998, the Galician Literature Day was dedicated to Johan de Cangas as well as two other "troubadours of the sea", Martín Códax and Mendinho.

References

• Boaz, Maurice. forthcoming. The Cantigas d'Amigo: An English Verse Translation.
• Cohen, Rip. 500 Cantigas d'amigo: A Critical Edition . Porto: Campo das Letras.
• Lanciani, Giulia and Giuseppe Tavani (edd.). 1993. Dicionário da Literatura Medieval Galega e Portuguesa. Lisbon: Caminho.
• Lorenzo, Ramon. "Johan de Cangas" in Lanciani & Tavani 1993: 343-345.
• Nunes, José Joaquim. 1926-28. Cantigas d’amigo dos trovadores galego-portugueses, edição crítica acompanhada de introdução, comentário, variantes, e glossário. 3 vols. Coimbra: Imprensa da Universidade (rpt. Lisbon: Centro do Livro Brasileiro, 1973).
• Oliveira, António Resende de. 1994. Depois do Espectáculo Trovadoresco, a estrutura dos cancioneiros peninsulares e as recolhas dos séculos XIII e XIV. Lisbon: Edições Colibri.
• Tavani, Giuseppe. 2002. Trovadores e Jograis: Introdução à poesia medieval galego-portuguesa. Lisbon: Caminho.

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