Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada

He authored De rebus Hispaniae, a history of the Iberian Peninsula.

Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada studied at University of Bologna and University of Paris. The recorded working language is medieval Latin, Old Spanish and Basque. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are chronicle. Positions recorded include archbishop of Toledo and Bishop of Osma. Works named in the authority record are De rebus Hispaniae and Historia Arabum.

• Type — Archbishop • Name — Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada • Title — Archbishop of Toledo • Archdiocese — Toledo • Appointed — Pope Innocent III • Term — 1209–1247 • Predecessor — Martín II López de Pisuerga • Successor — Juan III Medina de Pomar • Born — c. 1170 • Birthplace — Puente la Reina, Kingdom of Navarre • Died — 10 June 1247 • Place of death — close to Lyon • Buried — Verdun Cathedral • Alma Mater — University of Bologna, University of Paris • Illustration — Fuero Viejo extendido de Alcalá de Henares (Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada, 1235).

Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada was born in c. 1170 in Puente la Reina, Kingdom of Navarre. He was born from a Navarrese noble family and was educated by his uncle, Martín de la Finojosa, abbot of Saint Mary of Huerta and bishop of Sigüenza. He studied Law and Theology in the Universities of Bologna and Paris. When he returned to Navarre he mediated between that kingdom and Castile and he became friend of King Alfonso VIII of Castile, who nominated him as bishop of Osma and later put pressure on the chapter of Toledo to elect him as archbishop of Toledo. His election as archbishop of Toledo was confirmed by Pope Innocent III on 12 February 1209. In addition, Alfonso VIII appointed him as major chancellor of Castile. He played a key role in the war against the Almohads and at the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212). He was the moral leader of that war, which was considered in Europe as a crusade in which many European knights took part. He sent afterwards missionaries to Morocco. His archbishopric gained a lot of possessions throughout the Guadalquivir valley, especially around Quesada and received further generous donations from kings and lords. As archbishop of Toledo, he promoted the building of the cathedral and placed the first stone in 1226 (it was not completed until 1493), restored the dioceses of Baeza and Córdoba after the Christian conquest of those cities and defended the primacy of his see in Spain against the pretensions of Braga and Santiago. He promoted the cultural life of Toledo, a city that was the cultural entrepôt of Christian and Muslim civilizations during the Middle Ages. He ordered the translation of the Koran to Latin. He also composed a wide historiographic work. His De rebus Hispaniae, a general history of Spain, was very soon translated into Spanish and was very influential on the General History of Alfonso X. He died near Lyon while returning from a visit to the pope, and is interred in the monastery of Saint Mary of Huerta.