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Capitular Archive and Library

The Capitular Archive and Library is a cultural and pastoral institution under the Primate Chapter, established with its restoration at the end of the 11th century. It is responsible for preserving, cataloguing, and disseminating the cathedral’s documentary and bibliographic heritage, as well as making it accessible for public consultation.

Capitular Archive of Toledo

The Capitular Archive of Toledo began its activity at the end of the 11th century, closely linked to the birth and development of the Cathedral Chapter. For administrative purposes, the Chapter gradually accumulated a documentary collection, consisting especially of royal privileges, papal bulls, archbishops’ constitutions, statutes, pious foundations, and private donations, as well as all documented acts relating to the society around it.

During the 12th and 13th centuries, many documents were systematically copied into the so-called Libri Privilegiorum to prevent deterioration and ensure their preservation. In 1226, Archbishop Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada and King Ferdinand III officially began the construction of the new Gothic cathedral, replacing the already greatly deteriorated former mosque-shaped church. This event led to the gradual creation of an administrative unit within the Chapter called the Obra y Fábrica, which generated a significant amount of documentation related to the construction and decoration of the building, its financing, revenues, possessions, and the artists and craftsmen who worked there.

The abundant Mozarabic Christian community living in Toledo, who spoke and wrote Arabic as their mother tongue, also produced more than seven hundred documents in Arabic in their interactions with the Cathedral, recording their activities and properties. Most of these documents are now preserved in the National Historical Archive.

From the 14th century onwards, the Capitular Archive began to classify its holdings systematically, using an alphabetical arrangement by subject. The immense growth of the collection led to a new organization in the 18th century, carried out by Benedictine monks Diego Mecolaeta and Martín Sarmiento. In 1727, they created a Universal Index of the Archive, which followed the alphabetical arrangement by subject and introduced an alphanumeric system that, with some modifications, remains in use today.

With the incorporation of other collections from various dependencies of the Primate Cathedral, such as its important Chapels and the Obra y Fábrica, the archive has grown both in size and scope, offering a comprehensive perspective on the cathedral institution from multiple angles.

Also noteworthy is the Modern Musical Collection, which brings together manuscripts and printed music composed by Toledo’s chapel masters, as well as scores by Spanish and foreign musicians acquired by the Cathedral over time, between 1600 and 1930. Since 2023, the collection has a catalogue that includes 1,150 compositions. In the 18th century, under the influence of the Enlightenment, the Cathedral of Toledo assumed the concept of a Historical Archive and began to open its collections to scholars and researchers.

Documentary Collections

Capitular Archive or “Parchment Archive”
Chapter Acts
Proofs of “Cleanliness of Blood” (Limpieza de Sangre Records)
Obra y Fábrica (Construction and Maintenance Records)
Modern Musical Archive (1600–1850)
Chapels: San Pedro, San Blas, Mozarabic, Reyes Nuevos
Accounting Office
Chapter Secretariat
Brotherhood of Racioneros
Designs: architectural, artistic, topographic, and textile

Basic Reference Works for Consultation

ARELLANO GARCÍA, Mario. La Capilla Mozárabe del Corpus Christi. Toledo: Instituto de Estudios Visigóticos-Mozárabes de San Eugenio, 1980.

FERNÁNDEZ COLLADO, Ángel. Guía del Archivo y Biblioteca Capitulares de la Catedral de Toledo. Toledo: Instituto Teológico San Ildefonso; Diputación Provincial de Toledo, 2007; reedition 2012.

FERNÁNDEZ COLLADO, Ángel. La Catedral de Toledo en el siglo XVI. Vida, arte y personas. Toledo: Diputación Provincial, 1999.

GARCÍA LUJÁN, José Antonio. Privilegios Reales de la Catedral de Toledo (1086–1462). Toledo: Caja de Ahorro Provincial de Toledo, 1982, 2 vols.

GONZÁLEZ PALENCIA, Ángel. Los mozárabes toledanos de los siglos XII y XIII. Madrid: Instituto de Valencia de Don Juan, 1926–1930, 4 vols.

GONZÁLVEZ RUIZ, Ramón. Hombres y libros de Toledo. Madrid: Fundación Ramón Areces, 1997.

HERNÁNDEZ, Francisco Javier. Los Cartularios de Toledo. Catálogo documental. Madrid: Fundación Ramón Areces, 1985 and 1997.

HIDALGO LUCERO, Lucio. La Real Capilla de Reyes Nuevos de Toledo. Apuntes históricos y artísticos. Toledo: Boletín Oficial del Arzobispado, 1975.

LOP OTÍN, María José. El Cabildo Catedralicio de Toledo en el siglo XV. Aspectos institucionales y sociológicos. Madrid: Fundación Ramón Areces, 2003.

MARTÍNEZ GIL, Carlos. La Capilla de Música de la Catedral de Toledo (1700–1764): Evolución de un concepto sonoro. Toledo: Servicio de Publicaciones de la Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha, 2003.

MARTÍNEZ GIL, Carlos, y Miguel Ángel RÍOS. Catálogo de música del Archivo de la Catedral de Toledo. Fondo Moderno (1600–1930). Cuenca: Ediciones de la Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 2022, 2 vols.

MECOLAETA, Diego, y SARMIENTO, Martín. Repertorio alfabético de todas las Bvllas, Privilegios, Donaciones y Escriptvras del Archibo de la Santa Iglesia Primada de las Españas, dispuesto de orden de los Illustrísimos Señores Deán y Cavildo. Año 1727 = Índice Universal del Archivo. [Toledo], 1727. Manuscript.

PÉREZ SEDANO, Francisco. Datos documentales inéditos para la historia del arte español. I, Notas del Archivo de la Catedral de Toledo. Madrid: Centro de Estudios Históricos, Junta para Ampliación de Estudios e Investigaciones Científicas, 1914.

RAMÓN PARRO, Sixto. Toledo en la mano. Toledo: Instituto Provincial de Investigaciones y Estudios Toledanos, 1978, 2 vols.; facsimile edition of the 1857 edition of Toledo.

TORROJA MENÉNDEZ, Carmen. Catálogo del Archivo de Obra y Fábrica de la Catedral de Toledo, I: siglos XIV–XVI. Toledo: Diputación Provincial, 1977.

VILLALUENGA DE GRACIA, Susana. La Catedral de Toledo en la primera mitad del siglo XVI: organización administrativa, rentas y contabilidad. Toledo: Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 2003. Unpublished doctoral thesis.

ZARCO DEL VALLE, Manuel R. Datos documentales para la historia del arte español. V. II, Documentos de la catedral de Toledo; colección formada en los años 1869–74 y donada al centro en 1914 por D. Manuel R. Zarco del Valle. Madrid: Centro de Estudios Históricos, Junta para Ampliación de Estudios e Investigaciones Científicas, 1916, 2 vols.

The Chapter Library

Like the Archive, the origin and development of the Chapter Library are closely tied to the life and evolution of the Toledo Cathedral Chapter, which began its journey with the reconquest of Toledo by Alfonso VI (1085), the arrival in the city of the new Archbishop of Toledo, Don Bernardo de Sédirac, and the almost immediate restoration of Christian worship in the Cathedral, led by his cohort of Frankish clergy.

In this sense, the origins of the library must be sought in the adoption of the Roman liturgical rite in Castile (c. 1080), an event that, following the restoration of the see, created the need for a permanent bibliographic repository to support the new liturgy. The liturgical and musical manuscripts brought by the ultramontane clergy—agents of the rite change for the development of their monastic and liturgical life—occupied the first shelves of the nascent library. The collection was expanded and structured over the following centuries through purchases and various donations from canons, archbishops, and cardinals.

The Chapter Library is composed of three major sections: the Old Toledo Collection, the Zelada Collection, and the Lorenzana Collection, comprising around 2,500 manuscripts and 900 printed volumes. In addition to these three main collections that form the core of the historical library, there is a series of 19th- and 20th-century printed works, incorporated later, which form part of the Library’s Auxiliary Collection.

A notable milestone in the history of the Chapter Library occurred in 1798, when the manuscripts from the wealthy private library of Cardinal Don Francisco Javier Zelada were incorporated into its holdings. Zelada’s codices were acquired in Rome by Cardinal Lorenzana, and to them were added 27 liturgical manuscripts, mostly from the time of Urban VIII, which Lorenzana also purchased and donated to the Toledo Cathedral Chapter Library. This contribution, highly significant due to its quality, represents the most important group of manuscripts received in recent centuries and today constitutes the bulk of the Historical Library’s holdings.

In 1869, during the First Spanish Republic, the bibliographic holdings of the Chapter Library were completely confiscated, being returned at the beginning of the Restoration—except for about 50 items that lacked call numbers, some of which were lost during the transfer, and 234 codices that were temporarily deposited in the National Library of Madrid for study and classification, where they remain part of its collection to this day.

Bibliographic Collections

MANUSCRIPTS AND PRINTED WORKS: Old Toledo Collection, Zelada, Lorenzana
RESTRICTED MANUSCRIPTS
POLYPHONIC CHANT BOOKS
PLAINCHANT BOOKS
INVENTORIES
AUXILIARY REFERENCE LIBRARY

Basic Reference Tools

FERNÁNDEZ COLLADO, Ángel; Alfredo RODRÍGUEZ GONZÁLEZ; and Isidoro CASTAÑEDA TORDERA, Catalogue of Printed Works of the Chapter Library. Toledo Cathedral, Toledo: San Ildefonso Theological Institute, Provincial Council of Toledo, 2009.

FERNÁNDEZ COLLADO, Ángel; Alfredo RODRÍGUEZ GONZÁLEZ; and Isidoro CASTAÑEDA TORDERA, The Designs of Toledo Cathedral. Catalogue of Architectural, Artistic, Topographic, and Textile Designs, Toledo: San Ildefonso Theological Institute, Provincial Council of Toledo, 2009.

FERNÁNDEZ COLLADO, Ángel; Alfredo RODRÍGUEZ GONZÁLEZ; and Isidoro CASTAÑEDA TORDERA, Catalogue of the Archive of the Chapel of Saint Peter in Toledo Cathedral, Toledo: San Ildefonso Theological Institute, Provincial Council of Toledo, 2007.

FERNÁNDEZ COLLADO, Ángel; Alfredo RODRÍGUEZ GONZÁLEZ; and Isidoro CASTAÑEDA TORDERA, Catalogue of Printed Works of the Chapter Library. Toledo Cathedral, Toledo: Chapter of the Cathedral, San Ildefonso Theological Institute, Provincial Council of Toledo, 2009.

FERNÁNDEZ COLLADO, Ángel; Alfredo RODRÍGUEZ GONZÁLEZ; and Isidoro CASTAÑEDA TORDERA, The Incunabula of the Chapter Library of Toledo, Toledo: Chapter of Toledo Cathedral, San Ildefonso Theological Institute, Provincial Council of Toledo, 2012.

FERNÁNDEZ COLLADO, Ángel, et al., The Visigothic Liturgical Codices of the Chapter Library of Toledo, Toledo: Primate Chapter of Toledo Cathedral, San Ildefonso Theological Institute of Toledo, 2018.

FRÍAS, Lorenzo, Manuscripts of the Library of the Holy Church of Toledo, Primate of Spain, I-II (Manuscripts), III (Printed Works), Toledo, 1808. Ms.

GARCÍA Y GARCÍA, Antonio and Ramón GONZÁLVEZ, The Medieval Legal Manuscripts of Toledo Cathedral, Madrid: Spanish National Research Council (CSIC); Rome: CSIC Rome Delegation, 1970.

JANINI, José; Ramón GONZÁLVEZ; and Anscari M. MUNDÓ, Catalogue of the Liturgical Manuscripts of Toledo Cathedral, Toledo: Provincial Council, 1977.

OCTAVIO DE TOLEDO, José María, Catalogue of the Library of the Toledo Cathedral Chapter, I (Manuscripts), II (Printed Works), Madrid: Revista de Archivos, Bibliotecas y Museos, 1903–1906, 2 vols.

REINHARDT, Klaus and Ramón GONZÁLVEZ, Catalogue of Biblical Codices of Toledo Cathedral, Madrid: Ramón Areces Foundation, 1984.

Information and Opening Hours

Address: Chapter Archive and Library. Toledo Cathedral.
C/ Hombre de Palo, 2. 45001. TOLEDO

Telephone: +34 925 21 24 23

Email addresses:
Director: archivocapitular@catedralprimada.es
Enquiries and reprography services: archivocatedral@catedralprimada.es

Director: D. Juan Pedro Sánchez Gamero, Canon Archivist and Librarian.
Deputy Director: D. Francisco María Fernández Jiménez, Canon Assistant to the Archivist and Librarian.
Technical staff: Alfredo Rodríguez González. Isidoro Castañeda Tordera.