Independence On The Periphery: Calahorra’s Autonomous Development, 1109–1146

The first uncontested documentary appearance of Rodrigo Cascante as Bishop of Calahorra occurs in the dating clause of a charter issued on May 18, 1147. His death on October 1, 1190 is recorded in his cathedral's necrology. The 43 years that elapsed between those two dates witnessed the longest episcopate in the entire history of the Bishopric of Calahorra. They also overlapped with the reigns of three successive Kings of Leon-Castile and Castile. Cascante's episcopate also coincided with the definitive consolidation of Tarragona's metropolitan authority under a series of forceful Archbishops between 1146 and 1193. Calahorra's cathedral chapter had burst onto the documentary record in spectacular fashion under Sancho de Funes, during whose episcopate it had developed at an astoundingly rapid pace. The episcopal energies of Cascante's predecessor, Sancho de Funes, had been primarily dedicated to the promotion of the Cathedral of Calahorra. Keywords:archbishops; bishop; Calahorra; cathedral; Leon-Castile; Rodrigo Cascante; Sancho de Funes