Toledo: an historical and descriptive account of the "City of generations"

By Albert Frederick Calvert

"Toledo: an historical and descriptive account of the "City of generations" by Albert Frederick Calvert is an early 20th century text meant to describe the city of Toledo. Considered a travel book, this book aimed to guide those who wished to visit the city as well as give those who would never get the chance a description that would make it feel as if they'd already been there.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Good Press
• Release date: Nov 5, 2021
• ISBN: 4066338059741

Book preview

Albert Frederick Calvert

Toledo: an historical and descriptive account of the City of generations

Published by Good Press, 2022

[e-mail]

EAN 4066338059741

Table of Contents

PREFACE

THE CHILDHOOD OF THE CITY

THE CITY UNDER THE VISIGOTH

TOLEDO UNDER THE MOOR

TOLEDO THE CAPITAL OF CASTILE

BUILDINGS OF THE CASTILIAN PERIOD

THE CATHEDRAL

THE DECLINE OF THE CITY

EL GRECO

PREFACE

Table of Contents

The

author would, in the ordinary way, be hard put to it to frame a reasonable apology for compiling a new volume on the subject of the ancient and royal city of Toledo. Artists have reproduced its wonder of imposing and picturesque detail; archæologists have explored its many monuments; historians have discovered in its archives a record which, for many centuries, represents the log-book of Spain. There is no secret, apart from the impenetrable mystery of its origin, which has not been revealed; its chronicle is a well-thumbed volume. The beginnings of Spanish history go no further back than the earliest references we have to the natural stronghold founded on the seven rocks on the banks of the Tagus, and Spanish tradition claims for the citadel an antiquity coeval with the sun and stars. Both the history and the legends have been transcribed in many languages, yet, in a series which is intended to embrace all Spain in its compendious design, the inclusion of the twice-told tale of the city of generations carries with it an unquestionable justification.

The ambition of the author has not been to throw fresh light on a well-worn subject, nor to supplement the work of earlier and more erudite writers with new facts or theories, but simply, as in the case of the earlier volumes in this series, to equip the illustrations with a brief, explanatory text. It would be futile to attempt to even outline the story of Toledo in some hundred and fifty pages of letterpress, but I hope it may be found that in this limited space sufficient detail has been given to convey to the reader a general idea of the changing fortunes and unchanging character of the city, which Padilla has described as the crown of Spain, the light of the world, free from the time of the mighty Goths.

The impression of grandeur and melancholy, of strength and silence, which the traveller receives from a visit to the one-time capital of the Peninsula, cannot be suggested by the written word, but it may be that the illustrations will recall, if they do not suggest, the feeling which the city inspires. Toledo is mediæval in its architecture and its atmosphere. The Moorish occupation has left no more than a scratch upon its Gothic character; the spirit of modernity has been defied by its virile antiquity. But the Moslem remains have been made a feature of the illustrations, and, as in the volumes devoted to Seville, Cordova, and Granada in this series, the intricacies of Arabian decoration have been extensively reproduced.

Many of the plates are included here by the courtesy of Messrs. Alguacil, Rafael Garzon, Hauser and Menet, and Moreno, and to these gentlemen I tender my sincere thanks for the permission accorded me to reproduce them. I have also to acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr. E. B. d’Auvergne for the assistance rendered by him in the compilation, and to Messrs. Martin and Gamoneda for their kindness in allowing me to make use of the matter and illustrations contained in the volume on Toledo which they have published in the new series of the Monumentos Arquitectónicos de España.

I venture to hope that no apology is needed for including the chapter on El Greco, and the selection of his pictures, which appear in this volume. A separate book, devoted entirely to this subject, which will be issued in this series, cannot be ready for some time, and as so little has been written about Domeniko Theotokopouli, and so few of his pictures have been reproduced, I have decided to incorporate these brief notes concerning the Cretan painter, whose association with Toledo extended over a period of nearly forty years.

A. F. C.

"

Royston

,"

Swiss Cottage

,

N.W.