At the beginning of the sixteenth century the Archbishop of Toledo, Francisco Jimenez de Cisneros, established a chapel in his cathedral for the celebration of the Mozarabic rite, a Latin liturgy that had nearly died out. Largely through the editions Cisneros commissioned of the Mozarabic Missal (1500) and Breviary (1502), a renewed version of the ancient liturgy, enduringly associated with his persona and with the chapel in Toledo Cathedral, came to be known throughout Europe. Copies of the printed rite were rare and valuable; they entered the collections of diplomats, aristocrats, and scholars (including erudite Benedictines and a nonconformist Protestant theologian) and generated commentary that in turn shaped perceptions of the medieval Mozarabs and their liturgy. The reception of the Mozarabic rite through these books contributed to the image of Christian Spain that emerged both inside and outside the Iberian peninsula during the early modern period.
Organised by Dr Tom Nickson (The Courtauld)