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 BURGOS

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BURGOS

that Alfonso VI, in the presence of the famous Cid Campeador (Rodrigo Diaz del Vivar), swore that he had taken no part in the death of his brother the king, Don Sancho, assassinated in the Cerco de Zamora. Without this oath he never would have been allowed to Bucceed to the royal crown of Castile. In this church also the Augustinian friar, St. Juan de Saha- giin, was wont to preach, hear confessions, and give missions, after he had renounced the canonry and other ecclesiastical benefices which he held in that diocese. Among the other notable churches are: San Esteban, San Gil (Sancti .Egidii), San Pedro, San Cosnie y San Damian, Santiago (Sancti Jacobi), San Lorenzo, and San Lesmes (Adelelmi). The Con- vento de la Merced, occupied by the Jesuits, and the Hospital del Rey are also worthy of mention. In the walls of the city are the famous gateway of Santa Maria, erected for the first entrance of the Emperor Charles V, and the arch of Fernan Gonzalez. The diocese has two fine ecclesiastical seminaries. There are also many institutions for secular education. Schools are maintained in every diocese, the Insti- tute Provincial, and many colleges are conducted by private individuals, religious orders, and nuns both cloistered and uncloistered.

History of Burgos. — When the Romans took pos- session of what is now the province of Burgos it was inhabited by the Morgobos, Turmodigos, Berones, and perhaps also the Pelendones, the last inhabitants of the northern part of the Celtiberian province. The principal cities, according to Ptolemy, were: Brabum, Sisara, Deobrigula, Ambisna Segisamon, Verovesca (Briviesca), and others. In the time of the Romans it belonged to Hither Spain (Hispania Citerior) and afterwards to the Tarragonese province. The Arabs occupied all of Castile, though only for a brief period, and left no trace of their occupation. Alfonso (III) the Great reconquered it about the middle of the ninth century, and built many castles for the defence of the Christians, then extending their dominion and reconquering the lost territory. In this way the region came to be known as Cast ilia (Lat. casteUa), i. e. "land of castles". Don Diego, Count of Porcelos, was entrusted with the govern- ment of this territory, and commanded to promote the increase of the Christian population. With this end in view he gathered the inhabitants of the sur- rounding country into one village, which took the name of Burgos, or Burgi. The city thus bounded began to be called Caput Castella?. The territory (corulado), subject to the Kings of Leon, continued to be governed by counts anil was gradually extended by victories over the Moors, until the time of Fernan Gonzalez, the greatest of these rulers, when it became independent; it later on took the name of the King- dom of Castile, being sometimes united with Navarre and sometimes with Leon. In the reign of St. Fer- dinand 111 (e. 1200-52), Leon and Castile were defi- nitely united, hut they continued to be called re- spectively the Kingdom of Leon and the Kingdom of Castile until (he nineteenth century. This district

has 1 n tin' scene of many and varied events: the

wars with the Arabs, the struggles between Leon and Navarre, and between Castile and Aragon, the War

of Independence against France, and the civil wars

of the Spanish succession.

Councils Some important councils have been held in Burgos. A national council look place there in 1078, although opinions differ as to .late (the " Boll tin <le la Vadctnia de la Ilistoria de Madrid", 1906, XLIX, 337, says 1080). This was presided

over by the papal delegate, Cardinal Roberto and

attended by Alfonso VI, and was convoked for the purpose of introducing into Spain the Roman Brev- iary and Missal instead of the Gothic, or Mozarabic, then in use. Another national council, presided over by Cardinal Boso (d. 1181), also papal delegate,

settled questions of discipline and established dio- cesan rights and limits. The proceedings of this council remained unpublished until quite recently, when they were made known in the Boletfn already mentioned (XLVIII, 395). In 1898 a provincial council was called by Archbishop (now Cardinal) Don Fr. Gregorio Aguirre, in which the obligations of the clergy and the faithful were most minutely set forth.

Saints of Burgos. — St. Julian, Bishop of Cuenca, called the Almoner, because of his great charity to the poor, was born in Burgos; also St. Amaro the Pilgrim, who has always had a special cult paid to him in Burgos, though not found in the Roman Martyrology. St. Inigo (Enecus or Ignatius), abbot of Ona, while not born in Burgos, laboured there for many years; also St. Domingo de Silos, abbot and reformer of the famous convent of Silos, and St. Juan de Sahagiin, a native of that town in the prov- ince of Leon. Among its saints may also be men- tioned the martyrs of Cardena, religious of the con- vent of the same name, who in the tenth century were put to death for the Faith by the Arab soldiers of the Emir of Cordova in one of their numerous in- vasions of Castile; and St. Casilda, daughter of one of the Moorish kings of Toledo. She was converted near Burgos whither she had gone with her father's consent to drink the water of some medicinal springs. She built a hermitage and died a saintly death.

Famous Bishops and Citizens. — In the long line of bishops and archbishops the following deserve special mention: Pablo de Santa Maria (1396-1456), a converted rabbi, preceptor and counsellor of John II; his son and successor (1435-50) Alfonso (de Cartagena) , one of the most learned members of the Council of Basle and to whom is owing the erection of the Chapel del Condestable by Juan de Colonia, a German archi- tect who accompanied him to Spain; Cardinal Inigo Lopez de Mendoza y Zuniga, brother of the Count of Peiiaranda, Duke of Miranda, who in 1535 convoked a synod; the Cardinal Archbishop de Pacheco, in whose time Burgos was raised to the dignity of an archiepiscopal see; and Archbishop Don Fr. Gregorio Aguirre, also administrator of the See of Calahorra.

Among the famous laymen, the name of Rodrigo Dfaz del Vivar (d. 1099), the Cid Campeador, nat- urally stands pre-eminent. He was the hero of his time, and the man most feared by the Mohammedans, whom he defeated in innumerable encounters. He is buried in Burgos, in the monastery of San Pedro de Cardena. Don Ramon Bonifaz was according to some authorities a native of Burgos, but in any event he lived there. St. Ferdinand entrusted to him the task of forming the Spanish squadron with which he established and maintained communication with the troops who were besieging Seville, and prevented the Moors from communicating with the city. One of his fleets destroyed the bridge by which the Moors had access to the outside world and received pro- visions; this brought about the surrender (1248) of the city of Seville to the Christians, led by St. Ferdi- nand himself.

Burgos has produced many men of letters. The bibliography, published (1889) by Don Manuel Mar- tinez Afilbarro under t he title "Diccionario Biografico y Bibliografico de Burgos ", forms a small folio volume of 570 pages. Among the most distinguished writers arc Archbishop Pablo de Santa Maria who wrote "Scrutinium Script urarum" (Mantua, 1171) against the Jews; the aforesaid Don Alonso de Cartagena, his son, author of various works; the learned Augustinian friar Enrique Florcz, author of the famous works, "La Espafia Sagrada" (1743-75, 29 vols., continued by others to 1886, 51 vols), "Memorias de las Rey- nas" (1762), "Medallas Antiguas" (1757-73), and many others. His statue was erected in his native town of Villadiego by popular subscription.

Among the several newspapers published at Burgos,