TOLEDO
758
TOLEDO
ia the Arabic style adopted after the reconquest of
the city by Alfonso VI. Mention must also be made
of other notable buildings although not of Christian
origin — the ancient mosque del Crista de la Luz
(reconstructed in the tenth century) and the syna-
gogues of Santa Maria la Blanca (thirteenth century?)
and del Transito (fourteenth century). Many
e.xcellent architects, sculptors, and painters worked
in Toledo in the numberless monastic and parochial
churches of the city, but especially in the construc-
tion and embellisliment of the cathedral. Among
the painters the most important was Dominico Theo-
tocopuHs, caOed "El Greco", native of Crete, who
established himself at Toledo and produced numerous
works (chiefly of religious character) which are highly
prized and studied at the present time, and which
represent one of the most curious phases of Spanish
art, marking the point of departure of the modern
national art. Many important
religious buildings are also to be
found in various parts of the
diocese, among which may be
mentioned : the ancient collegiate
church (at present a parish
church of Talavera de la Reina) ,
a three-naved Ogival building
started by Archbishop Jimenez
de Rada in 1211 and finished be-
tween the thirteenth and fif-
teenth centuries; the ancient
collegiate church of Torrijos
(also used at the present time
as a parochial church), a three-
naved edifice founded and en-
dowed bv Dona Teresa Enriquez
(built between 1.509 and 1518),
an interesting example of the
florid Ogival style and the Gothic
Plateresque of the transition
period; the parochial church of
Tembleque, also of the early
sixteenth century, an example of
the transition period from the
Gothic to the Renaissance; and
the parochial church of Tepes, a
magnificent temple of three naves, designed liy the
celebrated architect Alonzo Covarrubias and built
between the years 1533 and 1552 in the style of the
transition period Gothic Plateresque and Grecian
Romanesque.
Famous in the history of Toledo are its councils, held in greatest veneration by the sovereign pontiffs, and the source of the purest religious and moral doctrines. They were national and provincial; those held in the years 396 and 400, first of those whose acts have been preserved, opposed the heresy of the Priscillianists and legislated for the reform of the clergy. In 440 or the beginning of 448 a national council seems to have been convoked which once more condemned the doctrines of Priscillian. The second provincial council (527) promulgated five canons in which various points of discipline were estabhshed. In the national council held in 540 decisions concerning the reformation of certain disciplinary usages and practices were adopted. The most famous of ail the councils of Toledo was the third national council (held in .589), in which King Reccared, the prelates, and grandees, proclaimed their abjuration of the Arian heresy and made a profession of faith according to the doctrine of the Council of Nicsea. In addition, the bishops issued religious decrees against the remaining vestiges of ancient idolatry, restricted the rights of the .lews, commanded that the statutes of previous ooimcils and the decrees of the sovereign pontiffs be observed, and promulgated other canons of great importance for the reformation of accepted usages and the resto-
ration of ecclesiastical discipline. Another national
council (597) promulgated two canons relative to
the episcopal and priestly state. In the provincial
council commonly called the Council of Gundemar
(tilO) the metropoUtan jurisdiction of the bishops of
Toledo over the entire Province of Cartagena was
expHcitly stated. In the fourth national council
(6.33), one of the most important held in Spain, pre-
sided over by St. Isidore of Seville, very important
measures in both canonical and political matters
were adopted. The fifth national council (636) was
also political in its prescriptions, which were directed
towards the defence of the king. The sixth (638)
approved constitutions relating to discipline, morals,
and political matters. The seventh (646) estabhshed
certain canons which had been promulgated in
previous councils. In the national council which is
said to have been held in 650 the heresy of the Mo-
nothelites, who denied that
Christ had two wills, was con-
demned. In the reign of the
Visigothic king, Recesvindo,
besides the councils which are
classed as doubtful, were held:
the eighth provincial council
(653), in which some interesting
points relating to discipline and
civil law were decided; the
ninth provincial (655), in which
matters of discipline were dis-
cussed; and the tenth national
(656) in which certain canons
referring to the monastic life
were sanctioned. The eleventh
provincial council (675), held
during the reign of Wamba, for-
mulated certain prescriptions in
regard to discipline and the re-
form of certain usages, concern-
ing the clergv in particular. The
tuclfth (6S1) and the thirteenth
'l^oi national, and the four-
■ I'lith (6S4i provincial, councils
were held (luring the reign of
"- loLEDo Ervigius. The twelfth and
thirteenth councils approved certain canons relating to discipline and other usages commonly in practice; and the fathers assembled at the fourteenth pro- fessed their adherence to the Sixth fficumenical Council. The fifteenth national council (688) con- firmed the doctrine contained in an apologetic treatise written by St. Julian, Archbishop of Toledo, who presided at the council. The sixteenth and seventeenth (694) councils were also national; the first imposed penance and declared an anathema against Archbishop Sisebert (who had plotted against King Egica), and the second discus-sed various dis-. ciplinary measures. It is believed that still another national council was held during the Visigothic period between 700-712, the acts of which have been lost, but it is said that canons relative to the preserva- tion of the integrity of faith and to the regulation of certain usages were promulgated.
After the reconque.st of Toledo by the Christians (1085) at least ten provincial councils were held in the city of Toledo, some of them being of great interest for the canonical history of Spain. .Arch- bishop Raimundo convened that held in 1138, in which certain difficulties existing between the arch- bishop and the canons with regard to the distribution of the revenues of the Church were adjusted and the number of canonries definitely fixed. The archbishop. Infante Don Juan de Arag6n, presided over the coun- cil of i;i23 which prescribed a fornuda with regard to articles of faith, the commandments, and the sacraments, and formulated canons relative to points of discipline. The provincial councils of 1324 and
