The Guitarra morisca or Mandora medieval is a

plucked string instrument Plucked string instruments are a subcategory of string instruments that are played by plucking the string (music), strings. Plucking is a way of pulling and releasing the string in such a way as to give it an impulse that causes the string to ...

. It is a

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lu ...

that has a bulging belly and a sickle-shaped headstock. Part of that characterization comes from a c. 1330 poem, ''Libro de buen amor'' by

Juan Ruiz Juan Ruiz (), known as the Archpriest of Hita (''Arcipreste de Hita''), was a medieval Castilian poet. He is best known for his ribald, earthy poem, ''El'' ''Libro de buen amor'' ('' The Book of Good Love''). Biography Origins He was born ...

, arcipestre de Hita, which described the "Moorish gittern" as "corpulent". The use of the adjective ''morisca'' tacked to guitarra may have been to differentiate it from the commonly seen ''Latin'' European variety, when the morisca was seen on a limited basis during the 14th century. Appeared in the early 9th century, it is an instrument mentioned in the ''

Cantigas de Santa Maria The ''Cantigas de Santa Maria'' (, ; "Canticles of Holy Mary") are 420 poems with musical notation, written in the medieval Galician-Portuguese language during the reign of Alfonso X of Castile, Alfonso X of Castile ''El Sabio'' (1221–1284). T ...

'', and by Johannes de Grocheio (towards 1300) who called it ''quitarra sarracénica''. In the 14th century it is known by the term "guitarra morisca", coined by Arcipreste de Hita in '' Libro de buen amor''. It has similarities to both the

guitarra latina The guitarra latina is a plucked string instrument of the medieval period in Europe. It has single string courses, and it is normally played with a pick. This gittern or citole with curved sides is illustrated in the medieval musical text the Can ...

and medieval

, usually played by fingers or

plectrum A plectrum is a small flat tool used for plucking or strumming of a stringed instrument. For hand-held instruments such as guitars and mandolins, the plectrum is often called a pick and is held as a separate tool in the player's hand. In harpsic ...

. It has roots in the four-string Arabic oud, brought to Iberia by the

Moors The term Moor is an Endonym and exonym, exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslims, Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a s ...

in the 8th century. The guitarra morisca is a direct ancestor of the modern guitar. By the 14th century, the guitarra morisca was simply referred to as a guitar.Tom and Mary Anne Evans. ''Guitars: From the Renaissance to Rock.'' Paddington Press Ltd 1977 p.16 The guitarra morisca is an obscure instrument, known mainly from pictures. Early instrument expert Francis William Galpin mentioned the instrument in his book, ''Old English Instruments of Music'' (pages 21-22), calling it the "Guitare Moresca" or "Chittara Saraacenica", with its "long neck, oval shaped body and round back." He also felt it related to the

Colascione The colascione (or calascione, , , also sometimes known as liuto della giraffa meaning giraffe-lute, a reference to its long neck) is a plucked string instrument from the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods,Anthony Baines: Lexikon der Mu ...

References

External links

Page in Spanish about the Mandora or Moorish GuitarPage in Spanish cataloging instruments including Guitarra Morisca.

Book, ''The British Museum Citole: New Perspectives'' has useful info about this instrument pages 93-103
{{Lute Guitars Arab inventions Spanish inventions Medieval musical instruments