Burgos:

9:45–10:30 Castillo de Burgos

 Location is to some extent similar to that of Bilbao: a river allowing for the
movement of goods; raw materials to export, north-south commercial axis; as well
as on the road to Santiago
 Existence of the city: efforts of Alfonso III of Asturias (reg. 866–910)—Burgos as a
protection
 Don Diego Porcelos ‘established’ the city in 884 with aim of creating a protective
stronghold
 This did not mean new construction but rather joining together of pre-existing areas: 6
small centres or ‘burgos’  name of the city; later custom of calling the first 6
councilors ‘majors (megior)’
 928 the monks of the nearby monastery of Cardeña decided it was worthwhile to
acquire lands from the count. It is recorded that they wanted: ‘two shops in the middle
of the town, one to the left and the other to the right of the public highway which
leads everywhere, from the east to the west and from the south to the north.’
 Muhammad al-Idrisi, an Arab geographer born in 1100 and living at the court of
Roger II in Sicily, wrote in his book of geography titled A diversion for the man
longing to travel to far off places that: ‘Burgos is a large city, divided in two parts,
each with its own walls, one of which is the ghetto; it is strong, rich, with palaces,
markets, merchant warehouses. It is well frequented by foreigners travelling
elsewhere or directed here… There are many vineyards in its district, as well as well-
inhabited villages.’
 Original city organized around the castle rather than on the slope.
 The castle had its own church, Santa Maria la Blanca, which was located nearby and
was destroyed by French troops during the war of Independence as they retired from
the city in 1813.
 When the idea of constructing the cathedral came about from 1074 onwards, the site
donated by Alfonso VI to the construction was at the very limit of the urbanized
space.
 In-between the city centre and the main part of the city was the road to Santiago, a
feature which as we shall see determined the urban plan of the cathedral.
 Monasteries which we will visit such as Las Hulegas (1187) and Miraflores (1442)
were outside of the city.
 Burgos has a unique importance in the medieval period: from at least 1259 it was
known as ‘cabeza de Castilla’ for its role as the capital of the region—although this
was conceptual rather than practice because the court was itinerant. However, it
had the right to speak first at the Cortes or parliament.
 Burgos was not only the ‘head of Castile’ but also at the core of its self-promotion as
the leading region of Spain. A very clear example of this is given by the poem of
Fernan Gonzalez, a poem composed in the mid-13th century by an unknown monk
of the monastery of San Pedro de Arlanza (50 km south of here). The poem
celebrated Fernán Gonzalez, semi-legendary count of Castile who promoted the
independence of the region from the Leonese monarchs in the late 10th century.
‘But of the whole of Spain Castile is the best / because it was the original beginning
of all the other [kingdoms] / as it always honoured and respected its lord / the Lord
decided to increase its power / The Old Castile, according to me / is even better than
 the other part, as it was its foundation / and they conquered much without losing it /
and this you can see in how it has ended.’ Like all historical text, this is to some
extent a rewriting of history, the use of a 10th century count as the mouthpiece for a
12th century reality. Rewriting in action in the Arco de Santa Maria
 The 15th and first half of the 16th century were perhaps its periods of greater
splendour as the city capitalised on its advantageous position in relation to the
export of raw wool—it was promoted by the Catholic monarchs who passed the
1494 Charter of the Consulado de Burgos. Construction of Miraflores, completion of
the Cathedral, commissions of great family of the nobility, such as the all-powerful
Velasco family, and merchants such as the Polanco.

10:30–11:30 Walking tour of the city

Arco de Santa Maria
 Covering a pre-existing city gate
 Scenography on the outside
 The decision to construct the arch was taken in 1531 after the revolt of the
Comunidades, where Burgos had sided with the comuneros against Charles I
 Way to promote the continuing importance of the city at a time when its decline was
about to start, and in a period when Valladolid was claiming to be the capital of
Spain (especially in 1522 à 1524, de 1527 à 1536, surtout de 1543 à 1559 (although
in 1561) Philip II established the capital in Madrid)
 Also interest in history connected to humanism: the elements are called
‘antiguallas’; a triumphal arch inspired by classical architecture
 By this time, Burgos had long stopped being a frontier outpost. While not being a
protective gate, the structure suggests an impression of strength through its
crenellations etc. Rather than practical this is part of an iconography of power.
 7 March 1531 Felipe Vigarny is commissioned the design of the arch; but a mistake
in the positioning of the base causes the project to have to be stopped and
reconsidered almost immediately.
 Cristobál de Andino and Felipe Vigarny are therefore asked to improve on a project
realised by an unknown architect
 Francisco de Colonia is in charge of building but soon accused of not following the
project—Juan de Vallejo becomes his co-worker (in charge of construction of
cimborrio collapsed in 1539)
 By 1553 the sculptures by Ochoa de Arteaga are in place; in 1570 an ephemeral
decoration and plastering are added for the triumphal entrance of Anna de Austria
 1600 Pedro Ruiz de Camaro realises the paintings still partially visible under the arch
 Scale fortress, military appearance; secular retable
 Builds on the design constructed for Charles V for an entry of 1520: Charles V is the
figure at the top
 Links to the mythical foundations of the city

-Diego Porcelos (To Diego Porcelos, outstanding citizen, second Quirine—founder hero and
God)
-Nuño Rasura and Laín Calvo: 9th century legendary judges: A Nuño Rasura, varón
sapientissimo, shield of the city; A Laín Calvo, man of integrity, sword and shield of the city
-Fernan Gonzalez, very strong citizen, thunder and lightning of war
-Charles V, great emperor of the romans, 1537 conquest of tunis
-To the Cid Rodrigo Diaz, extremely strong man, fear and terror of the moors (mid 1040s,
first known as El Cid in a poem to celebrate the conquest of Almeria by Alfonso VII in 1147)
-Saint Mary, maceros, 2 busts of warriors,

-Him who governs everything has established you as the guardian of the city
-protect your people and the councillors who trust in you

Paseo del Espolón

 Riverside walk designed at the end of the 18th century, configured in the 19th
century as part of a redevelopment of the city centre where the Casas Consistoriales
are also reconstructed (1791 by Fernando Gónzalez de Lara)
 Four kings statues: Fernand Gonzalez, Ferdinand I (1029 king of Castile, 1037 king of
leon), Alfonso X crowned in Las Huelgas, Henry III—commissioned by the Count of
Floridablanca
 Park around the tomb of the cid, moved here from the Monastery of San Pedro de
Cardeña
 Museum of Human Evolution: opened 2010, Juan Navarro Baldeweg, Homo
antecessor of 800.000 years ago
Statue of El Cid
 24 de julio de 1955 redefinition of the square and surrounding area as a monument for the cid
 Juan Cristóbal
 Modern statue: the cid as the symbol of the francoist regime vs the cold war
 The moment of the representation is the expulsion of the Cid from the court of Alfonso VI in
1081 — for the next 5 years in Zaragoza as mercenary soldier for Al Mamun

Palacio de los Condestables

 Sancho Sanchez de Velasco (d. 1315) is the first important figure in the family. Starts
association with the Franciscan order by est the monastery of Santa Clara in medina
del Pomar
 1360 Pedro I Fernandez de Velasco supports Enrique II vs Pedro: obtains villa of
Medina del Pomar
 Pedro II Fernandez de Velasco (d. 1470), and his wife Beatriz de Manrique: found a
mayorazgo with the rule of being buried in the monastery; she has a personal
connection with Lope de Salazar y Salinas), one of the supporters of the Franciscan
reform of Fray Pedro de Villacreces —Lope is accused in 1457 that his friars are more
friars of the count of Haro than franciscans
 Pedro III Fernandez de Velasco and his wife Mencia de Mendoza: becomes the
condestable de castilla in 1473
 Burgos is a ciudad de realengo but they gain a unique position in the city, building a
very significant palace and funerary chapel
 Begun 1476
 Façade: sun of San Bernardino; Velasco and Mendoza coats of arms

12:00–14:15 Burgos Cathedral and Museum

Burgos as a ‘model’ cathedral
9th century first information about Burgos as a city, when it was founded by Diego Porcelos;
until the 10th century it is a frontier enclave
11th century the court settles here; in 1075 it becomes the head of the diocese, born from the
joining of the dioceses of Oca and Valpuesta first in Gamonal and then in Burgos
Alfonso VI played a key role in this process by donating his palace for the construction of the
new cathedral
The foundation of the diocese happens 10 years before the conquest of Toledo
The cathedral is independent from the episcopal point of view, it does not depend from the
archepiscopates of Santiago and Tarragona; moreover, it is very rich because of the taxes
from its extensive diocese
The setting of the cathedral was quite complex due to its position on a slope, and this is a key
difference between Burgos cathedral and the cathedrals of France to which it is inspired
Shift between the regular and the lay chapter around 1200, giving new importance to spaces
such as the choir where the now more dispersed canons could meet
1219 embassy in Germany to get Beatriz of Suabia, the princess promised to Fernando III of
Castile, and later wedding in the cathedral officiated by Bishop Mauricio, who then starts the
Gothic renovation of the cathedral; works begin in 1221 and in 1230 the chapter is already
taking possession of the new choir: the cathedral cannot have been completed by this time but
this is a symbolic gesture which proves that its heart was ready
The romanesque cathedral was supported by Alfonso VI, the gothic building by Fernando III
and then Alfonso X—according to Eduardo Carrero, scenes in the cloister show the
collocation of the first stone of the new cathedral with King Fernand and bishop Mauricio;
and in the same cloister there is also a representation of the royal wedding
Galeria de Reyes on top of the cathedral (which is the door through which the kings entered
the cathedral according to alfonso X) and above the Puerta de los Apostoles/Coroneria;
together with the one in Ciudad Real, these are the only ones which exist in Spanish
cathedrals, the only comparisons to the famous galleries in French cathedrals such as Paris,
Chartres, Reims and Amiens
Not many royal ceremonies took place in Burgos— with the exception of the wedding of the
son of the catholic monarchs, Don Juan, with Margarita de Austria in 1497, for which the
high number of royal emblems in the cathedral is perhaps connected to the continuing royal
patronage
While Ávila and Cuenca were the first cathedrals to incorporate gothic elements, Burgos was
the first one to be constructed as a whole on an ambitious gothic plan
The first documented master of the cathedral is the French Enrique, which was also master of
León cathedral
structure of the site on which the cathedral is based: two storeys, an original situation
The cathedral had an in-between position which made access from both sides very important:
on the north there was the road to santiago and on the south the new city quarters
triforium as ‘andamio permanente’
role of Burgos cathedral as an architecture school where people trained and whose style was
copied in other cities around Spain, for example in the basque country and e,g, Castro
Urdialés and Sasamón
1431 council of basel: Alonso de Cartagena— and arrival of Juan de Colonia; his first work
is the chapel of the Visitation
1442 completion of the facade towers with flechas
1481 Juan de Colonia dies while working on the capilla de la concepción, known in particular
for the altarpiece by Gil de Siloé
Chapels increasingly important for the economy of the cathedral, especially in Burgos, when
chapels are mostly funerary in nature, for example to bury bourgeoisie enriched by the
commerce with flanders

Pedro Fernández de Velasco, married to Mencia de Mendoza: head of the royal troops and
most important authority in the kingdom after the monarch; the first lay person to obtain a
chapel in burgos cathedral
Simón de Colonia: casa del cordón, used many times by the kings as it was the best palace in
the city

Capilla del condestable: reja by Cristóbal de andino

Mencia de Mendoza was the daughter of the marques de santillana, who introduced the
sonnet in Spain
the chapel is almost intact: the architecture plus retablos, silleria, floor, sepulchres and
windows by arnao de flandes are all still there; the sepulchre was carved by felipe vigarny
Chapel started+designed by simon de colonia and completed by francisco; instead the
renaissance is manifested by Gil de Siloé who designed one of the side retables, carried on by
Diego and then completed by Feliper Bigarny
the sons left the uncarved stone block for their sepulchre in the chapel but then decided to
create their own in Santa Clara in Medina del Pomar; and Gonzalo Diez de Lerma attempted
to emulate the cathedral in the capilla de la presentación
both chapels also have paintings brought over from Italy: in the condestable the magalene
and in the presentation chapel a madonna by sebastiano del piombo

1498 closing of the trascoro arches: Camino del Calvario sculpted on the exterior of the
transaltar by felipe Vigarny

High altarpiece: Rodrigo and Martín de la Haya with the collaboration of Juan de Anchieta—
‘romanista’ style, but not as good as eg Damian Froment in Santo Domingo de la Calzada

Cimborrio also fell at Santo Domingo de la Calzada —after collapse in 1539. Design by Juan
de Langres

The collapse of the cimborrio may perhaps be due to the fact that initially the structure was
not conceived to have one: in the 13th century it was more likely that the architects would
have thought about a lower structure on the model of santa maria la real de las huelgas

Construction of the cimborrio by Juan de Vallejo corresponds to the elevation of the

cathedral to the rank of archbishopric (1571). IN MEDIO TEMPLI TUI LAUDABO TE ET
GLORIAM TRIBUAM NOMINI TUO QUI FACIS MIRABILIA,
En medio de tu templo te alabaré y daré gloria a tu nombre porque haces
maravillas” Plan to move the altar to the centre? 1555/1568

Praise for the cimborrio of Burgos: Felipe II considered it more appropriate to angels than
men; Théophile Gautier (19th century Romantic writer) considered it ‘leafy as a cabbage,
diaphanous like a fish flipper’ ‘something as gigantic as a pyramid and as delicate as
feminine jewel’ and after being there he considered useless his literary work, since that of
men in the past was so much better and also they had no interest in preserving their names for
posterity

Construction of new squares around the cathedral

1600 elimination of the parteluz in the portada le coroneria

very controversial restoration of the main facade in the last decade of the 18th century; but
the side doorways had already been transformed in the mid 17th century in a bad baroque
style

end of the 19th century: Vicente Lamperez y Romea : new inventions in the neo gothic style
for example the reja neogotica of the pellejería doorway; he also destroyed the archbishop’s
palace–this is perhaps linked to the new technique of photography which required larger
spaces for vision

1994: large scale restoration criticised for having left the cathedral excessively white, and
unified older and newer elements by eliminating the patina of both

problem of marshy ground and proximity to the riverbed

Papmoscas — 16th century clock with ‘el martinillos’

Morito in the Main Theatre of Burgos

• The seat of the diocese of Burgos was established in 1074, with the
reorganisation of the dioceses of Oca and Valpuesta. New geographical
definition of the peninsula, following the weakening of unified islamic
power with the fall of Umayyad Cordoba and the beginning of the
taifas. Christian Spain is defined around the axis of the road to Santiago,
and Burgos enjoys the position on the calzada, just to the north of the
cathedral. This is a brief period of splendour, however, since in 1085 the
conquest of Toledo gives a new centre to the peninsula.
• The restructuring of the episcopal seat was promoted by Alfonso VI, establishing a
precedent for the royal support of the cathedral which will continue throughout its
history. Spain does not have a clearly-defined royal church for burial/coronations
such as Westminster in England or Reims/Saint-Denis in France. Burgos cathedral did
not fulfil this function; indeed, the nearby monastery of Las Huelgas was a royal
pantheon of sorts in the period up to ……However, Burgos was a royal cathedral in
its architectural aspiration and in the continuing royal support it received.
• Apart from Alfonso VI’s certain support, little is known of Burgos’ Romanesque cathedral.
Construction must have progressed rapidly in the 1080s, and indeed the high altar,
dedicated to Saint Mary, was functioning by 1085. Churches were traditionally
constructed from east to west and intense effort was put into making the space
liturgically functional as quickly as possible, so this does not mean that the church
was ready by this date. In 1092 there were two further altars, one dedicated to Saint
James and the other to Saint Nicolás of Bari. Saint James is of course Santiago, the
 saint whose remains were rediscovered in 813 near Finisterre and were by this time
already at the centre of the most popular pilgrimage of Christendom. Saint Nicolás of
Bari, archbishop of Myria in the early 4th century, is the patron saint of travellers and
especially seafarers. This shows the depth of the connection between Burgos
cathedral and the pilgrimage to Santiago. This emphasis on travel was important in a
wider perspective for as will become more important in later moments of its history,
Burgos was not only located near to the road to Santiago, but also in a privileged
position between the ports of the Northern coast, the east and the plains of the centre
of Iberia.
• The architecture of the Romanesque cathedral was informed by the shift from the
Mozarabic to the Latin rite imposed by Alfonso X in 1080.
• When imagining the Romanesque cathedral of Burgos as a stop on the road to Santiago,
focused on the flux of pilgrims and on travel, we should remember that the city
around it was conceived differently than it is today. Until the conquest of Tudela in
1119 (by Alfonso I of Aragón, also known as Alfonso the Battler), Burgos was under
threat of Umayyad incursions. The city founded Count Diego Rodríguez Porcelos in
884 was a protective castle on the top of the hill, not the modern city on the riverside.
Indeed, the cathedral was outside the city walls until they were expanded by Alfonso
X in 1276. This does not mean that the cathedral was unprotected. Indeed, the Arab
geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi (1100–1165) described the city as divided in two
parts, each with its walls, suggesting perhaps that the cathedral was fortified. In-
between the castle and the river, the cathedral was located on a steep slope which
defined many aspects of its architecture. For example, both of its transept doors are
reached through long staircases: the one leading up to the Sarmental doorway on the
south side and the one leading up to the road level through the famous Golden
Staircases on the North side.
• Although I have said that little is known of the appearance of the Romanesque cathedral,
we may be standing just in front of a remaining part of it. These arches may be the at
the end of the 13th century documents mention the presence of a claustra vieja as
opposed to the claustra nueva, the first level of the cloister which exists today which
was constructed between 1265 and 1270. This would make a lot of sense because in
this area there was also the episcopal palace, destroyed in the 19th century. The
palace, which may have been erected on the lands donated by Alfonso VI at the very
beginning of the cathedral’s history, may have been the place where the chapter of the
cathedral would have lived a community life similar to that of a monastic community
at the very beginning of its history. Had the cloister been located where the ticket
office is now, the canons could have easily entered their church from their common
quarters, without allowing the laity to intermingle with the religious or to break their
quiet—especially because this old cloister would have been located much closer to
the east end of the Romanesque cathedral, which must have been much smaller than
the gothic structure, and therefore very close to the choir where the canons sat for
their services.
• This area is where we can both seen the traces of the Romanesque cathedral and
understand one of the reasons for its demise. In Burgos as elsewhere cathedral
chapters were originally ordered as monastic communities with a shared life, but later
became composed of lay ecclesiastics which did not have to reside together all the
time. This change took place in Burgos around the year 1200 and therefore informed
the architecture of the gothic cathedral, which had different functions from those of
the old Romanesque building.
• The iconography of the Sarmental doorway which you see in front of you was strongly
influenced by the new context and importance of 13th century Burgos, and offer an
introduction to the setting in which the gothic cathedral developed.
• BASIC DATES OF GOTHIC CATHEDRAL
Sarmental Portal
• Due to its location, this portal was that of the archbishop and chapter; the front portal,
which has unfortunately been over-restored quite radically in the 19th century, was
described by Alfonso X as the portal of the kings; the two on the north side were
those used by the population and by the pilgrims. Private doorway.
• Like the main portal, this doorway was also altered quite significantly in the 19th century,
especially in the lower section, where new saints were added to replace missing
sculptures in the jambs. For this reason I will only focus on the upper part.
• This portal is interesting because it challenges a long-standing prejudice against Spanish
architecture: the idea that it simply copies foreign models in an archaising manner
which is not creative. This prejudice is particularly embedded in British scholarship
since very few architectural historians visited Britain in the 19th and early 20th
century. Bernard Bevan and Georges Edmund Street are exceptions, but they had
very biased visions. […] The structure of the portal is indeed inspired by French
examples which provide a dating for it. More that that, the similarities are so close
that architectural historians such as F. B. Deknatel in 1935 suggested that it had
been sculpted by the very same master who sculpted the Beau Dieu sculpture in the
middle of the tympanum of Amiens cathedral (? CHECK). This may well have been
the case, for example due to the pull of Santiago as a ’trade road’ on which master
masons and travelling workshops could find employment. However, the idea that
their production would become more repetitive and old fashioned the further away
they went from France is proven wrong by this doorway. On the basis of similarities
with Amiens and Reims, Henrik Karge has established that the lower parts of the
portal must have been completed around 1230, the upper parts 1240. And we know
for sure from a royal privilege that the doorway was completed by 1257.
• The iconography is initially apparently simple and old-fashioned. The tympanum has an
apocalyptic theme, which was rare in France at the time. Around it there are angels
and cherubims intermingled with the elders of the apocalypse and with allegories of
the arts. The allegories do not follow the model of Trivium and Quadrivium which
had been developed in French universities (CHECK). In this model, the liberal arts
are Grammar, Logic and Rhetoric. The Quadrivium which followed it in university
learning was composed by arithmetic, music, geometry and astronomy. However in
the doorway we have: Medicine, and Practical Music added to the scheme (what is
missing? CHECK). Following new the Lateran Council of 1215, which established
that all cathedral needed to have elementary schools for the education of the
choirboys and clergy, in 1228 Jean d’Abbeville visited the Castilian cathedrals to
check that they conformed to the new decrees. He was impressed by the school at
Burgos cathedral, whose functioning was further improved by Archbishop Mauritius
after his visit. From constitutions of 1250 we know that this was a basic school from
which choirboys were chosen and where the clergy and chaplains learned the basic
of reading and arithmetic. it was different from university education, and this aspect
influenced the iconography of the doorway. Music was a particular concern in the
education of the school, as shown by the fact that the cathedral of Burgos already
 had an organ master is 1222. Organ music was the basis for education in polyphonic
singing, a type of singing which had spread from France to Spain and become a
separate discipline from the 12th century. The importance of teaching the new type
of singing to young children justifies the repetition of music in two different guises.
The doorway is also full of scenes of teaching, especially with representation of
young children, and this also makes sense in the context of Burgos’ cathedral
school. Even the scene on the tympanum can be seen in terms of teaching. Indeed,
we have the four evangelists scribbling away next to their symbols, and the fact that
the top of Christ’s head is lost into the clouds evokes classical depictions of
Philosophy, for example its description by Boetius as a statue so tall that it was
impossible to measure for its head disappeared into the clouds. This is Christ-
Knowledge.

Escalera Dorada:
Diego de Siloé, completed 1523; Maestro Hilario; Michelangelo and Bramante

Main doorway: Alfonso X. Menendez Pidal. Gallery of Kings

Trascoro
Papamoscas, Francisco Alvarez, 1743; Van der Hamen

Santa Tecla:
Alberto Churriguera
Santo Domingo
Alejandro Carnicero
First half of the 18th century