Alfonso VIII, the Castilian Episcopate, and the Accession of Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada as the Archbishop of Toledo in 1210

At the beginning of the thirteenth century in Castille, the initiative in the selection of prelates in the Catholic Church remained the purview of the crown. The processes developed in the canon law of the Church over the preceding two centuries constrained the operation of royal control but could seldom entirely frustrate it. The difficulties of communication and travel in the premodern age gave a usually insuperable advantage to local power. Nevertheless, local political realities shaped the royal advantage, and papal approbation and cooperation often was useful to offset them.