Alfonso VIII and the Papacy

This chapter explores the relationship between the Castilian monarchy and the papacy, looking at two letters from the quite extensive papal-Castilian correspondence concerning the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa. The letters were to be used in what was to be a long, drawn-out and ultimately fruitless cause for the canonization of Alfonso VIII of Castile. One of the letters was the Supplicatio generalis, which was Pope Innocent III's call for a general procession of the clergy and people of Rome, as well as processions elsewhere, prior to the great battle, which the pope was expecting to take place in mid-May 1212 around the time of Pentecost. The second was the famous letter of Alfonso VIII himself to Innocent III after the Christian victory, in which the battle of Las Navas was described. The Supplicatio generalis would have left no doubt concerning the importance of Alfonso VIII to the papacy, Rome, and Christian history. The letter describing the victory of Las Navas appears equally well chosen because it surely demonstrated the devotion of the king of Castile to the apostolic see.