round the city, and King Roderick held his glorious tournament inside
them.

Greater than any fame of Gothic monarch was that of the Church Councils
which met here to determine the course of early dogma and shape the
destinies of the larger part of Christendom.

The most salient figure during the rule of the Gothic kings was Saint
Ildefonso, who quite overshadows his royal contemporaries. In 711 the
Moors conquered the city, which then became a dependency of the Caliphs
of Damascus and Bagdad until a Moorish prince shook off the foreign
yoke. Independent Arab princes ruled, with Toledo as capital of their
empire, until Alfonso VI, King of Castile and Leon, in 1085, finally
conquered it for himself and his successors.

During the reigns of the early Castilian kings, we find names connected
with the city's history which became famous all over Spain. The Cid was
the city's first Alcaide. Alfonso el Batallador and Pedro el Cruel stand
out in sombre relief, and Toledo was the cradle of the dramatic
Comunidades' rising, and the scene of the noble death of their patriotic
leader Padella. The streets ran with blood, and the walls spoke of
glorious resistance before the Flemish emperor had crushed the liberties
of the people.

We have a description of the brilliant pageant of Ferdinand and
Isabella's entry after defeating the king of Portugal. "The Prince of
Aragon was in full armour on his war horse and Isabella riding a
beautiful mule, splendidly caparisoned, the bridle being held by two
noble pages. Followed by their gorgeous retinue they rode slowly towards
the Cathedral, while the highest dignitaries of the Church, the
archbishop, himself a mitred king, the canons, and the clergy, in their
pontifical garments, preceded by the Cross, came forth from the Puerta
del Perdon to receive them. On each side of the arch above the doorway
were two angels, and in the centre a young maiden richly clothed, with a
golden crown on her head, to represent the image of 'La Bendita Madre de
Dios, nuestra Senora.' When Ferdinand and Isabella and all the company
had gathered around, the angels began to sing. The following day the
trophies of war were presented to the Cathedral."

During the period immediately following the reign of the Catholic Kings,
Toledo reached her highest prosperity. She numbered as many as 200,000
inhabitants;--to-day she has only 20,000. Glorious processions swept
through her streets, the proud knights of the milit