Alonso de Cartagena and the Defense of the Exemptions of the Bishopric of Burgos with respect to the Primacy of Toledo

Abstract

The bishop of Burgos Alonso de Cartagena’s defence of the privilege of exemption and the direct dependence upon the Holy See that his diocese of Burgos enjoyed with respect to the Archbishop of Toledo Alonso Carrillo de Acuña’s attempt to extend his rights of primacy to the diocese of Burgos and displace himself within his territory, carrying the lifted cross before him as a symbol of his authority. A study of the conf ict that developed from 1448 through 1453, with an exchange of spiritual sanctions between both prelates and royal and pontifical mediation in the dispute, which finalized with an agreement in June 1453, determining that the archbishop of Toledo, in the condition of “first in Hispania” and not as metropolitan, could have the lifted cross carried before him in the city and bishopric of Burgos, although the Toledan prelate had to recognize that the diocese of Burgos was exempt and depended directly on the Holy See.