Xohán de Cangas

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Xohán de Cangas was a troubadour during the Middle Ages. He was born on Cangas de Morrazo, a little town on Pontevedra, Galicia (Spain).

There is not much data on his life, although it is believed that it took place near Galician pazos.

We know that, during Xohán's times, there were both noblemen and commoners who worked as troubadours. De Cangas was clearly a commoner, as he replaced his surname with his birthplace.

He is considered a "sailor troubadour," as his works talk about coast hermitages, where he would try to "commune with the sea". He uses the female lover as a narrator and the hermitage of San Mamade do Mar (near Cangas) as a background, though he would then "travel" throughout Morrazo and the rías of Vigo and Pontevedra.

Throughout history, de Cangas' first name has been modified to cover Spanish, Galician and Portuguese versions of itself, being the most extended Xohán de Cangas, but also including Joán, Johán, Xoán and the versions without the accent mark (a). He is sometimes called Joham de Cangas.