Сота Х. Белее и ярче, чем снег или хрусталь. Цветовая символика белых рыцарей «Кантиг о святой Марии» [Электронный ресурс] // Vox medii aevi. 2021. Vol. 2(9). С. 192-212. URL: https://voxmediiaevi.com/2021-2-sota/
DOI: 10.24412/2587-6619-2021-2-192-212
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Juan Sota
Post-Graduate Student, National Research University “Higher School of Economics” (Moscow)
Both Whiter and Brighter than Crystal and Snow. The Color Symbolism of the White Knights in the ‘Cantigas de Santa Maria’
In three tales of Alfonso X’s ‘Cantigas de Santa María’ we find heavenly knights who were sent by God or the Virgin to protect faithful Christians. In two of the songs (Cantiga NºXV and CLXV), as well as in the miniatures of the manuscripts, these knights are clad in white. The article studies the use of the white color in the tales, putting them in the wide context of color symbolism of the Middle Ages. Finally, several possible sources are proposed for the symbolism of the white knights in the Cantigas.
Keywords: Book of Revelation; Cantigas de Santa María; chivalric literature; color symbolism; heavenly knights; iconography; liturgy; St. James the Moor-slayer; white color