History of Toledo

The history of Toledo is a cultural stew. It has been held in turn by Iberians, Romans, Visigoths, Moors, and Christians. Toledo was also the capital of Spain for hundreds of years under both the Visigoths and the Christians. Designed for defense, it has accordingly been a valued prize. Rich in culture and art, all these pasts intermingle to make Toledo the cultural melange it is today.

Roman Toledo: 192 B.C.-570 A.D.

The early history of Toledo is an unrecorded story of Iberians and Celtiberians. The first mention of Toledo in any historical manual comes in 192 BC with its capture by the Roman army under Marcus Fulvius. It appears in the annals of the Roman historian Titus Livius: 'Toletum, ibi parva urbis erat, sed loco munito', meaning 'Toledo is a small city, although strong due to its location'. One could hardly argue otherwise about this walled hill-city, protected on three sides by a deep gorge and river and on the fourth by a veritable desert.

The Romans, as was their wont, built bridges, aqueducts, forts, and public buildings. Notable are an impressively large Roman circus from the 1st century AD, once capable of entertaining 13,000 people, whose remains can still be seen outside city walls, and an equally immense ampitheatre whose ruins now lie under the Covacheulas quarter. The mystery is why the Roman empire would squander such building funds on a place scarcely mentioned in Roman histories, without tombstones, statues, column capitals, or anything else to explain the matter.

Visigothic Toledo: 570-711 A.D.

With the fall of the Roman empire, after a brief spell in which Spain was tussled over by lesser Goths, the Visigoths, or 'Noble Goths', a Roman-Spanish cultural blend, swept in and took control of the peninsula.

From the reign of Atanalgildo onwards, Toledo served as their capital. While their art might lead one to believe them little more than savages, they nonetheless civilized Spain with codified law, a sensible tax system, centralized government, and they are also perhaps responsible for a certain wildcard element of strength in the Spanish character. They left few monuments but the memories of a few of their holy men and scholars, Saint Eugene, Saint Julian, and Toledo's patron Saint Idelfonso. On May 8th 589 King Reccared pledged allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church, thus baptizing Spain into its most fiercely held possession. All that remains of them is a few stones in the Santa Cruz Museum and a list of names of kings as un-Spanish as sound can be: Reccared, Witeric, Wamba, Witiza, Quindasvinto.

Perhaps the most interesting legend concerning the Visigoths is that of their last king and the entry of the Moors into Spain. King Roderick developed a passion for Florinda, daughter of his friend and counselor Count Julian, who ruled Ceuta in Africa. Perhaps lacking in honor, the king used to hide behind a bush on the far side of the Tagus River each day to watch the innocent Florinda bathe. One day he lost control of his passions, leapt out, and raped the girl. Her father, Count Julian, understandably furious, seeking revenge and restitution, was ridiculed by his king. Plotting revenge, Julian fled Toledo to return to Ceuta, and invited the Muslims there north with him to help teach the arrogant king Roderick a lesson. He led the Moors into Spain, where they defeated Roderick, and then brought them to Toledo and taught them how best to overcome the defenses of the city. All that was ever found of Roderick, after the battle, was a scarf and glove: his fate was never known.

The Moors held what they had conquered and ruled Toledo for the next three hundred years. The cave near where Roderick used to hide is still there, near the Puente San Mart’n, and is a regular tourist attraction.

Moorish Toledo: 711-1085 A.D.

Arab chronicles state that a rich booty was taken from Toledo when it was sacked: gold crowns, holy books pebbled with precious stones, fabulously decorated swords, and a rich ark they describe as 'Solomon's Table.' Yet governmental records for a city so far from the Moorish cultural and intellectual center are sparse.

Because of this distance and because of the rich and cultured Mozarab(Christians living under the Moors) minority community, Toledo was a city constantly in rebellion, attempting to break away from the C—rdoba government. This did not go unpunished. In 807 occurred the infamous 'Day of the Pit'. Al-Hakan I, upset about Toledan rebelliousness, made the vicious Amru ben-Yussuf the governor of the city. ben-Yussuf caused an enormous pit to be dug inside the Alcazar royal palace and then invited the population of Toledo to a celebration inside. As the invited guests arrived, executioners decapitated them and threw the bodies into the pit. More than 5,000 Toledans died that night. Al-Hakan's young son, who had been a witness, suffered from a nervous reaction for the rest of his life.

This still did not curb Toledo's rebelliousness, however, and it was not until 932 when the city, forced into surrender by Abd al-Rahman, was conceded guarantees and a degree of self-government. A period of peace and cooperation began. In this time the walls, the Alc‡ntara bridge, and the Alcazar palace were all repaired and restored.

When the caliphate in C—rdoba broke up at the turn of the millennium, many intellectuals fled to Toledo. The principality of Toledo, the Taifa, was governed at this time by a Prince Ismael who welcomed all scientists and poets and even began to reform Al-Hakan II's library. His successor, the renowned Al Mamśn, went even farther to make Toledo an outstanding cultural and intellectual center. Through paying tribute to Castile and remaining on friendly terms with King Alfonso, he maintained peace in his kingdom. Notable men of this time are Ibn Wafid, doctor and botanist, and Arzequiel, the mathematician, scientist, and astronomer who invented an improved astrolabe.

However, Al Mamśn's grandson and successor, Yahia Al-Kadir, was an unpopular, despotic leader, and the strains he was put under by the taxes owed to Castile could not have helped. It would not have come as a surprise to anybody when, on the 25th of May, 1085, Christian troops took the city.

Christian Toledo: 1085-Present

In 1085, Alfonso VI of Castile and his troops, among them the Spanish hero El Cid, retook Toledo. After the Christian victory at the battle of Navas de Tolosa in 1212, Toledo was no longer a border city vulnerable to Almoravid attack. For the next few hundred years Toledo was a haven of cultural tolerance. Arabs and Jews were not only permitted to remain but often held respected positions. It was Arabic craftsmen who were responsible for decoration on many of the finest buildings, and Jews held positions of great respect, such as Samuel Lev’'s position as court treasurer under King Pedro the Cruel.

Toledo's influence and importance was assured as the seat of the head of the Catholic Church, and the Archbishop of Toledo, as a vocal proponent of the Reconquista and the monarchs' right-hand man, assured Toledo's pre-eminence as a power base.

Yet after the fall of Granada in 1492, the cultural tolerance came to an abrupt end. Moslems and Jews were forced to either flee or convert to Catholicism: giving rise to what were known as Conversos. Carlos I was about to make Toledo the permanent capital in the 16th century, but then arose a revolt against him: the Guerra de las Comunidades. Then his successor, Felipe II, definitively moved the capital to Madrid.

Toledo's pre-eminence faded over the next few hundred years, only spotlighted by the 17th century brilliance of El Greco. It would not play a large part in Spanish history until the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, when the siege of the Alcazar became a symbol of endurance to the Fascists.

In 1986 UNESCO declared the entire city 'a monument of world interest to humanity'. Toledo, bereft of its former power, has become like Venice, redolent with past glories and overflowing with tourists.

Created by Ellen Campbell and Casey Logan 2004.