A. La corte de Alfonso VIII - Gonzalo de Berceo

the king’s willing agents, to the dismay of their correligionists and the despair of the
pope, but with the full knowledge of Archbishop Cerebruno. (Linehan 287)
Parece ser que el reciente asedio de Cuenca había sido financiado con el tesoro de
Toledo, con los ha poco nombrados líderes de la comunidad mozárabe actuando como
aquiescentes agentes del rey, para el horror de sus correligionistas y la desesperación del
papa, pero con la plena connivencia del arzobispo Cerebruno.
Además, aparentemente, el desembolso de la diócesis toledana no sólo no le fue debidamente
compensado o
recompensado, sino que le creó una nueva rival. Se trataba de la ciudad
conquistada, Cuenca,
que pasó inmediatamente a ser una de las ciudades preferidas del rey:
For him Cuenca was “Alphonsopolis,” his favourite city, we are informed. [. . .]
Recovered with the aid of Toledo’s gold, it further distracted the king from Toledo’s
affairs, vying for his affection with Burgos to the north. (Linehan 290)
Para él Cuenca era “Alphonsopolis”, su ciudad favorita, se nos dice. Recuperada con la
ayuda del oro toledano, distrajo aún más al rey de los negocios de Toledo, compitiendo
por su favor con Burgos, al norte.
Porque, en efecto,
Burgos gozaba como pocas ciudades del aprecio de Alfonso VIII. El rey
castellano se hizo construir allí un palacio, y,
privando a Toledo de la perspectiva de poseer su tumba:
lo que era aún más grave, un panteón real,
Within twelfth-century Castile, Toledo and Burgos were poles apart, Gómez-Moreno
once remarked; one an Andalusi colony, the other a European city. At the end of the
1170s Toledo's destiny seemed to be to remain just another Christian centre of the
hinterland, stylish if a bit faded, full of interesting stories about the old days with which
to regale visitors, distinguished in its way but otherwise indistinguishable from many
others, while Burgos took the lead in national affairs: elegance and culture yielding to
ideas and spirit. A Toledan observer of those years might have been forgiven for
wondering whether the calamities prophesied by the translator
Johannes Hispalensis for
the years 1179-86 might not strike closer to home than the Holy Land. In 1187 Alfonso
VIII richly endowed his wife's new foundation of Las Huelgas at Burgos, and in 1204
confirmed his decision to be buried there rather than with his father and grandfather at
Toledo. For building a palace hard by Las Huelgas Lucas of Tuy would describe Alfonso
as “a new Solomon”. Not so D. Rodrigo. In his eyes Alfonso's palace was a monument to