Until 1085, Toledo was controlled by the Arabs. On May 25, 1085, Alfonso VI of Castile took Toledo and established direct personal control over the Moorish city from which he had been exacting tribute, ending the medieval Taifa's Kingdom of Toledo.

Toledo continued to be a major cultural centre; its Arab libraries were not pillaged, and a tag-team translation centre was established in which books in Arabic, Arameic or Hebrew were translated into Castilian by Muslim and Jewish scholars, and from Castilian into Latin by Castilian scholars.

Toledo served as the capital city of Castile and the city flourished.

The Toledo School of Translators is the group of scholars who worked together in the city of Toledo during the 12th and 13th centuries, to translate many of the philosophical and scientific works from Classical Arabic.

The School went through two distinct periods separated by a transitional phase. The first was led by Archbishop Raymond of Toledo in the 12th century, who promoted the translation of philosophical and religious works, mainly from classical Arabic into Latin. Under King Alfonso X of Castile during the 13th century, the translators no longer worked with Latin as the final language, but translated into a revised version of Castilian. This resulted in establishing the foundations of the modern Spanish language.

Toledo today

Photo by Diego Martin Garcia (you can contact the author of the photo in the following email: diego_mg5@hotmail.com)

If you are travelling to Toledo (Spain) you can download a map of the city here.