Henry T. Drummond is a postdoctoral researcher at the KU Leuven and a participant in the cross-institutional "Sound of Music" FWO-funded project, which analyses and valorizes large bodies of liturgical chant repertory through digital technology. He completed his DPhil in Music in 2018 at the University of Oxford. His research interests include vernacular song of the later Middle Ages, musical mobility across medieval Europe, music and liturgy, and digital humanities.

• List of Figures


• List of Tables


• List of Abbreviations


• A Note to the Reader


• Preface


• Chapter 1 Songs of Persuasion


• Chapter 2 Sung Rhetoric


• Chapter 3 The Place of Rhyme


• Chapter 4 Three Jewish Conversion Songs


• Chapter 5 Cantigas and Image-Building


• Chapter 6 Crusades and Kingship


• Epilogue


• Bibliography


• Index

Alfonso X (1221-84) ruled over the Crown of Castile from 1252 until his death. Known as "the Wise," he oversaw the production of a wealth of literature, one of the most impressive of which is the collection of songs known as the Cantigas de Santa Maria. This book offers a new perspective to the song collection, probing how the Cantigas use their music and text, together with rhetorical devices, to communicate with their desired audience.