[17] Almansor burned great numbers of philosophical works so as to win the favor of the Mohammedan priesthood.
[18] Rueda continued independent,—an unimportant exception.
[19] Less famous than the Cid, but quite as representative of his time, was the figure of Bishop Diego Gelmírez of Santiago de Compostela, who played an important part in the events of Urraca’s reign. He was a vigorous, ambitious, restless, not overscrupulous man, breaking pledges and changing from one side to another with the usual facility of men of that age. He was not only ambitious for himself but was also an ardent votary of the extension of church authority. He was a fighting bishop, who engaged in military campaigns himself and encountered many vicissitudes both in the civil wars of the kingdom and in the local uprisings of his own subjects. On one occasion the citizens of Santiago besieged him in his church, and set fire to a tower in which he took refuge. Nevertheless, the bishop escaped in the guise of a beggar. In the end he was usually successful. He procured the erection of Santiago de Compostela into an archbishopric, and enjoyed the distinction, equally with the church of Rome, of having seven cardinals as canons. He also gained the influential post of chaplain to Alfonso VII.
[20] The word “merino” is an untranslatable term for an official in Spanish administration whose powers varied greatly from century to century. While the merinos were at times “judges of sheep-walks,” as the word is often translated, they usually had much broader power as officials of the king. The merinos mayores, or greater merinos, were appointed by the king, with functions largely judicial in character and with authority extending over the greater provinces, such as Castile, León, or Galicia. Merinos menores, or lesser merinos, might be the appointees and subordinates of merinos mayores, or, similarly, of the corregidores, or rulers of districts.
[21] The term “adelantado” comes from the fact that the officials so-called were “advanced,” or “put forward,” in the place of the king, to act in his name. There is some authority to the effect that the title was in existence as early as the tenth century, but it was certainly employed by the latter part of the twelfth century. In origin the adelantados mayores, or greater adelantados, were judicial officials, hearing appeals that had formerly gone to the king. The adelantado menor, or lesser adelantado, came into existence early in the thirteenth century, at which time he was a judicial officer of higher rank than the merinos, but also possessed extensive administrative powers. Many of the adelantados menores were stationed in frontier districts, and indeed they were often called adelantados fronterizos (frontier adelantados). It was natural, therefore, that they should acquire military functions. It was the adelantado fronterizo of Spain who figured so prominently in the conquest of the Americas. Most of the conquerors of the sixteenth century were adelantados. After that the title died out. Hill, Roscoe R., The office of adelantado, in Political science quarterly, v. XXVIII, no. 4; Dec., 1913.
[22] Taxes at that time were many and varied in kind, but may be reduced to three types: regular contributions, but depending on the happening of some event; indemnities to escape rendering certain due services; and fines. As examples of the first type may be mentioned the goyosa (rejoicing) payable by a married man at the birth of a child; the movicio (removal) payable whenever one changed his residence; the yantar, or food supplies, for the king and his retinue whenever he visited a town; the servicios (services), or subsidies, granted by the Cortes; the diezmos de mar (tithes of the sea), or customs duties collected at the ports. The most notable tax of the second class was the fonsado (foss), payable by those who wished to escape the obligation of going on a military campaign. One of the third group was the caloña (fine), due from the inhabitants of a region where a crime had been committed and the guilty person had not been found. Gradually it became the practice to commute these taxes for a single payment, except for the fonsado and the yantar, which were not dispensed with.
[23] At the present time the word alférez is equivalent to “sub-lieutenant.”
[24] It is still allowed to exist in a chapel of the cathedral of Toledo, and in another of Salamanca.
[25] To Saint Dominic is due the institution of the rosary.
[26] A curious law of Jaime I recommended that ladies of noble rank should not offer food or lodging to jugglers, or even give them kisses.