ays were performed, in them soldiers gathered, prepared for
battle, edicts were published, sovereigns were first proclaimed, and
allegiance was sworn; kings were christened, anointed, and buried. The
troubled murmurings of the lower classes were here first voiced. They
were the art galleries; here were displayed their finest paintings,
statues and tapestries; they were even museums of natural history, and
exhibited the finest examples of their wood-carving and glass-work, and
the iron and silversmith's arts. It is thus easy to see that the
political history of Toledo becomes vital in connection with its
Cathedral church.

The history of Toledo dates back to Roman days,--we find Pliny referring
to the city as the metropolis of Carpentania. She was among the first
cities of Spain to embrace Christianity. All the barbarians, with the
exception of the Franks, were Arians, but the last Gothic ruler in Spain
to withstand the Roman faith was Leovgild, who reigned in the last half
of the sixth century. He was also their first able administrator, the
first who consistently strove to bring order out of the chaos of warring
tribes and conflicting authorities. Contemporaries describe his palace
at Toledo, his throne and apparel, and his council chamber, as of truly
royal magnificence. It was reserved to his son Reccared to change the
history of Spain by publicly announcing his conversion to the Roman
faith before a council of Roman and Arian bishops held in Toledo in 587,
at the same time inviting them to exchange their views fearlessly and,
as many as would, to follow him. The Goths were never difficult to
convert, and many of the bishops and of the lords who were present
embraced the Catholic faith, to which a majority of the people already
belonged. Gregory the Great, hearing of the success of Reccared's gentle
and liberal proselytism, wrote to him: "What shall I do at the Last
Judgment when I arrive with empty hands, and your Excellency followed by
a flock of faithful souls, converted by persuasion?" He summoned a third
council at Toledo in 589, and in concert with nearly seventy bishops,
regulated the rites and discipline of the Church, at the same time
excluding the Jews from all employments. In royal Toledo Reccared was
anointed with holy oil, and he substituted the Latin for the Gothic
tongue in divine service, where Isidore was the first to use it. In
daily life Latin soon replaced Gothic. King Wamba built the great walls