Toletum, Tulaytula, Toldoth, Tolétho, the imperial city… Like everything that is very old and mysterious, the ancient city has received many names throughout its history and there are at least as many Toledos in it as there are centuries. The historian Daniel Gomez Aragones (Madrid, 1983) collects all these legacies in his new book ‘Toledo: biography of the sacred city’ (The Sphere of books), where he defends with arguments and data that the old city of the Tagus is the closest thing to Jerusalem and Rome that Spain has
«Toledo has never experienced a clean slate, so all the layers of the past are still there underneath. The city has pending accounts with the Toledos of the past”,
explains Gómez Aragonés, a man who also combines very particular styles. If anyone imagined him as a bow-tie, sweater-and-elbow-patterned historian, he’s sure to drop his monocle when he comes into view in all his black splendor. To a meeting with the press in Toledo, a city where he carries out guided tours with his company Walks through the Magical Toledoa tall guy emerges, bearded like a hooligan, long hair, aviator sunglasses and clad in a velvety tuxedo jacket, with thick rings on each hand, metal chain on his pants, maroon ankle boots… Such a guy. unclassifiable and wise as the city of which he writes.
The city founded by Hercules
The book emulates the well-known biography that Simon Sebag Montefiore dedicated to the city of Jerusalem going beyond cold data. It is not about writing a chronological and descriptive history of Toledo, but about capturing its essence, its legends, its great deeds through its biggest characters and also its smallest ones. “It is a city that is in the center of the Peninsula, well connected and supplied, with a great willingness of its aristocrats to adapt to Romanization,” says the historian about the reasons for its importance over the centuries.
Gómez Aragonés, author of several books on Visigoths and barbarian peoples, places great emphasis in his work on myths and their ability to mark the personality of a place. According to the most popular legends, Toledo was founded by Hercules during his journey through the Iberian Peninsula, it was a refuge for sorcerers and magicians in its labyrinthine underground network and even hid the king’s table Solomon. Each chapter of the book ends with a section that confronts the official history with the myths, since they are “two inseparable things” They never stop interacting with each other.
From being a Carpetana village with an evident defensive vocation, Toledo was transformed into a full-fledged Roman city and then, in Visigothic times, into the political and spiritual heart of Spain. The Muslim conquest spread among Christians the idea that lost Spain had to be restored starting with Toledo, while the city continued to show its rebellious and proud character. «This is a city where the rebellious concept is very present. Not only because of the communal issue or because of the revolts against the Umayyad power, but in the war of succession or Independence. Toledo reacts as a city and never lowers its head in front of those who come to impose, “says the writer.
Muslims, Jews and Christians coexisted in medieval Toledo mixing their cultures and traditions, although it is very distorted, in the opinion of Gomez Aragonese, talk about a symmetrical relationship between the different religions or give it the nickname of ‘The city of three cultures’ without counting the fine print. «The problem is that it has been presented from a presentist vision and from what is politically correct. And that is an absurd mistake. You cannot imagine a Christian, a Jew and a Muslim holding hands while having a drink in a tavern, because it is false. It is a stage with its lights and shadows”, explains the researcher, who recalls that the city was the place from which the campaign that ended in the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212), the most memorable confrontation of the Christians, was launched. against the Muslims in the Peninsula.
The Toledo of the Trastámara and then of the Austrians lived boom years with the great pens of its time, from Garcilaso de la Vega to Cervantes, drawing inspiration within its walls. It remade itself to be the beginning and the end of The Revolt of the Communities«the last medieval and the first modern revolt», and even to lose the seat of the court in the time of Philip II, so that at the end of this reign more than 50,000 people lived in the old town. The powerful advance of Toledo during that period was, in large part, motivated by the push of the famous swords of the city, one of the most demanded in the whole world. «It seems that the water from the Tagus was very important for the process of smelting and making the well-known Toledo steel, whose swords are still a reference today in countless movies the middle ages», considers the author.
A very long losing streak
At the end of the 17th century, Toledo began a long decline, increased by the War of Independence and the subsequent confiscations of Mendizábal, which hit the city very hard when it tried to rise. «The French knew that the best way to harm a people is to attack its symbols, and Toledo was for Spain». At the beginning of the 20th century, its population was reduced to 23,000 souls throughout the region and it was thought that if it had lost its status as a religious capital, of Catholic primacy, it would have meant a total checkmate for Toledo.
The economy and the administration turned their backs on the city, but not the great artists, such as the becquer brothers, or the European travelers who saw there a center full of magic and medieval remnants. “It is a sacred city for Christians, Jews and Muslims, but not for tolerance reasons, but because it is a city to live and die for, to rejoice with its successes, whatever religion you are”, adds Gómez Aragones.
The city prevailed over all the political changes and the Francoist attempt to modulate its history, it advanced into the future thanks to being the regional capital and a more professional tourism sector, but it currently faces the same threats as other monumental cities that see how their old towns have become lifeless theme parks. «Toledo’s best marketing plan is its history. There are cities that would pay to have this history and this heritage, but we must live from something more than anniversaries or being a beautiful city near Madrid… We must project that consideration of Jerusalem, of Rome, of spiritual capital of Spain, advancing but without forgetting what lies behind. The Toledo backpack is large, heavy and valuable”, points out the author of ‘Toledo: biography of the sacred city’.