Construction
cathedral in Toledo. Spain
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The Primatial Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption (Spanish: Catedral Primada Metropolitana de Santa María de la Asunción), is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Toledo, Spain. It is the seat of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Toledo. Since 1088, it holds the honorific title of Primatial, granted by Urban II, establishing a higher rank over the rest in the Iberian Peninsula.
The cathedral of Toledo is one of the three 13th-century High Gothic cathedrals in Spain and is considered, in the opinion of some authorities, to be the magnum opus of the Gothic style in Spain. It was begun in 1226 under the rule of Ferdinand III, and the last Gothic contributions were made in the 15th century when, in 1493, the vaults of the central nave were finished during the time of the Catholic Monarchs. It was modeled after the Bourges Cathedral, although its five naves plan is a consequence of the constructors' intention to cover all of the sacred space of the former city mosque with the cathedral, and of the former sahn with the cloister. It also combines some characteristics of the Mudéjar style, mainly in the cloister, with the presence of multifoiled arches in the triforium. The spectacular incorporation of light and the structural achievements of the ambulatory vaults are some of its more remarkable aspects. It is built with white limestone from the quarries of Olihuelas, near Toledo.
It is popularly known as Dives Toletana (meaning The Rich Toledan in Latin). The Mozarabic Chapel in the Cathedral of Toledo still uses the Hispano-Mozarabic Rite and music.
For many years, an unwritten popular tradition has held that there was originally a church from the era of the first Archbishop Eugene (Saint Eugene of Toledo) located in the same place as the present cathedral. This church was consecrated for a second time in the year 587, after having undergone some alterations, as testified by a 16th-century inscription preserved on a pillar in the rear of the nave of the church which states:
In the name of the Lord the Church of Saint Mary was consecrated as Catholic, the first day of the ides of April, in the joyful first year of the reign of our most glorious king Flavius Reccared, Era 625 [13 of April of 587].
The city had been the episcopal seat of Visigothic Spain. The numerous Councils of Toledo attest to its important ecclesiastical past. Also, the abjuration of Arianism on the part of Reccared occurred there. The Muslim invasion did not immediately eliminate the Christian presence and the bishopric remained established in the church of Saint Mary of Alfizén.
The Visigothic church was torn down and the main mosque of the city of Toledo was erected in its place. Some investigators point out that the prayer hall of the mosque corresponds with the layout of the five naves of the current cathedral; the sahn would coincide with part of the current cloister and the chapel of Saint Peter and the minaret with the belltower. Using certain archeological data it is possible to discern an Islamic column mounted inside the chapel of Saint Lucy; the marble shafts that decorate the exterior of the choir are an improvement of an old Muslim construction, and the intertwined arches of caliphate style in the triforium of the main chapel and of the ambulatory coincide with the Muslim construction tradition of Cordova.
The city of Toledo was reconquered by Alfonso VI, King of León and Castile, in 1085. One of the points of the Muslim capitulation that made possible the transfer of the city without bloodshed was the king's promise to conserve and respect their institutions of higher learning, as well as the customs and religion of the Muslim population which had coexisted with the larger Mozarabic population. Naturally, the preservation of the main mosque was integral to this compromise. Shortly thereafter, the king had to depart on matters of state, leaving the city in charge of his wife Constance and the abbot of the monastery of Sahagún, Bernard of Sedirac (or Bernard of Cluny), who had been elevated to the rank of archbishop of Toledo. These two, in mutual accord and taking advantage of the absence of the king, undertook an unfortunate action which, as told by the priest Mariana in his General History of Spain, almost provoked a Muslim uprising and consequent ruin of the recently conquered city.
On 25 October 1087, the archbishop in cooperation with Queen Constance sent an armed contingent to seize the mosque by force. They proceeded to install a provisional altar and hung a bell in the minaret, following Christian custom to 'cast out the filthiness of the law of Mohammed'. The priest Mariana writes that king Alfonso VI was so irritated by these events that neither the archbishop nor the queen were able to prevent him from ordering the execution of all the active participants. Legend tells that the local Muslim populace itself helped restore peace, with its chief negotiator, faqih Abu Walid, requesting the king to show mercy, and imploring his fellow townsmen to accept the Christian usurpation as legitimate. In gratitude for this gesture, the Cathedral Chapter dedicated a homage to Walid and ordered his effigy to be placed on one of the pillars in the main chapel, in this way perpetuating his memory. Thus the conversion of the Toledan mosque was upheld and it remained consecrated as a Christian cathedral.
The building plans of the former mosque have not been preserved nor is the appearance of the structure known, but taking into account the preserved vestiges of mosques in other Spanish cities (in Seville, Jaén, Granada, Málaga, and the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba), it may be supposed that it was a columnary building, with horseshoe arcades on top of columns in revision of earlier Roman and Visigothic construction. It is possible that it appeared very much like the Church of the Savior of Toledo, previously a mosque.
King Alfonso VI made important donations to the new church. On 18 December 1086, the cathedral was placed under the advocacy of María and it was granted villas, hamlets, mills and one third of the revenues of all the rest of the churches of the city. The first royal privilege that is preserved is a prayer in Latin, beginning:
Ego Disponente Deo Adefonsus, Esperie imperator, condeco sedi metropolitane, scilicet, Sancte Marie urbis Toletane honorem integrum ut decent abere pontificalem sedem secundum quod preteritis fuit constitutum a sanctis patribus...
In English:
I, Alfonsus, Emperor of Hesperia by the disposition of God, grant to the metropolitan See, that is, the church of Saint Mary in the city of Toledo, the complete honour that she should have the pontifical see according to what before was constituted by the holy fathers…
Pope Urban II recognised this church in 1088 as the primatial cathedral over the rest of the kingdom. The mosque-cathedral remained intact until the 13th century, when in the year 1222 a Papal bull issued by the Pope authorised the construction of a new cathedral which was begun in 1224 (or 1225). The official ceremony of the laying of the foundation stone took place in 1226 (other sources say 1227), with the presence of King Ferdinand the Saint. Throughout the 13th century the cathedral's income tax was raised through the previous incorporation of Alcalá de Henares into its archiepiscopal territories in 1129.
The layout of the cathedral as now seen was set in the 13th century, while Rodrigo Ximénez de Rada was archbishop of Toledo and during the reign of a young Ferdinand III of Castile. Commencement of the work was delayed until the king could be present at the official ceremonial cornerstone-laying (1227). Ximénez de Rada was elected bishop of Toledo in 1209, and thenceforth he defended the primacy of the Toledan See before the Papal authority. He aimed to build a grand cathedral, worthy of the city he governed. When he came to office, the mosque-cathedral had ample space, but with a low roof, making the interior noisy. The cathedral was aged; some sections had been demolished by his predecessor, and the structure lacked the slenderness and height of other religious edifices of similar importance. Ximénez de Rada became the enthusiastic promoter for a new cathedral, to be built in contemporary Gothic style. He was so enthusiastic about the project and involved himself so much in it that it was later falsely rumoured that he was the designer-architect of the cathedral. The archbishop spent a few years maintaining and reinforcing the old structure in hopes that his dream would be realised.
The structure of the building is greatly influenced by the French Gothic style of the 13th century, but adapted to Spanish taste. It measures 120 metres (390 ft) in length by 59 metres (194 ft) in width and 44.5 metres (146 ft) high. It consists of five naves with transept and double ambulatory. The outer naves present an odd anomaly in being a little wider than the other two. The oldest part of the building is the sanctuary, which maintains in its architecture the original triforia that extended along the length of the naves and were removed in one of the many alterations that the cathedral underwent. Still in the Gothic period, these triforia were replaced with large stained-glass windows. Those triforia that survive in the sanctuary are of Mudéjar influence. The lowest section is made of cusped arches that rest on paired columns and the upper section presents interlaced arches typical of Mudéjar. It is not known if these Mudéjar themes existed in the previous mosque and were copied as a reminder or if they were added in one of the improvements of the stonework, as something original and tasteful.
In the sanctuary, one encounters the double ambulatory, which is doubled as would correspond to a ground plan of five naves. This double ambulatory is of grand proportions and is enriched with architectural elements and an original vaulting. The new sections of the chapels were resolved with alternate plans of rectangles and triangles, which allowed for each chapel to be of a different size, rectangular plans being larger and triangular plans smaller. This method of distributing the sanctuary can be seen in the French cathedrals of Paris, Bourges and Le Mans, the last cathedral being the most similar in appearance, although the three are more slender in aspect than the Spanish cathedral. The various reforms that were made over time altered the arrangement of some of the chapels; for example, in one case just one chapel was reconstructed in the former space of three.
The vaults of the naves are quadripartite except for those of the transept and the chancel which are reinforced with tiercerons.
For centuries it was held with complete certainty that the first master architect of the cathedral of Toledo was Petrus Petri (Spanish: Pedro Pérez). Such certainty was based on the only existing testimony regarding the authorship, a legend inscribed in vulgar Latin still visible on a tombstone:
English translation: Petrus Petri, deceased in 1291, master of the church of Saint Mary of Toledo, whose fame was propagated by his good examples and customs, who constructed this temple and rests here, for what an admirable building he made, he will not feel the wrath of God.
Towards the middle of the 20th century, the bishop of Ciudad Real thoroughly investigated this claim and brought to light a series of documents which demonstrated the existence of a first master prior to Petrus Petri called Master Martín, married to María Gómez and certainly of French origin, who had been summoned by Ximénez de Rada. One of the documents is dated to 1227 and names "a master Martín of the work of Saint Mary of Toledo". Another document lists income collected by the cathedral in 1234 and records again the name of "Master Martín of the work", of whom it is also written that he was a tenant of a house associated with the cathedral. In later writings there appear the names of Martín (stonemason) and Juan Martín (master of stonemasons), who are believed to be relatives of each other. No new documents have appeared, so at present this master Martín is accredited as the first architect. To this argument it must be added that the date of the beginning of construction does not correlate with the age of Petrus Petri who during those years must have been too young to be an architect.
Studies released after this discovery indicate that the master Martín would be the designer of the chapels of the ambulatory and upon his departure by death or by absence the supervision of the work was taken up by master Petrus who finished the ambulatories and constructed the triforia in Toledan style. Towards the end of the 20th century, the sanctuary and two sections of the naves of the south side were completed.
Near the end of the 14th century the existence of a master Rodrigo Alfonso is apparently documented; he laid the first stone of the cloister in 1389, under the patronage of Archbishop Pedro Tenorio, who died ten years later. The archbishop occupied himself with many works of the cathedral, such as the chapel of Saint Blaise in the cloister which is famous for the artistic richness of its frescos from the school of Siena.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Toledo Cathedral”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.