The Eleanor Cross |
| English and Spanish music for Edward I of England and Eleanor of Castile |
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| Beautiful music to surround the marriage of Edward and Eleanor of 1254. Their wedding took place at Las Huelgas - location of the Codex Las Huelgas which contains some of the most beautiful 13th century polyphony. Eleanor's brother was the highly musical king Alfonso el Sabio, responsible for the collection of colourful songs Las Cantigas de Santa Maria. Joglaresa combine songs of Eleanor’s Spain with those of Edward’s medieval England.
When Eleanor died Edward was devastated saying "my harp is turned to mourning, in life I loved her dearly, nor can I cease to love her in death," and he constructed the twelve great Eleanor Crosses to mark the places by which Eleanor's funeral cortège passed, ending with the most famous, Charing Cross - current site of the London train station. |