One of the greatest victories of Christianity on the Arab invader, took place in July 1212 in a place in the province of Jaén, known as Las Navas de Tolosa. To the battle, also it is known it from then with the name of the place where it was developed, although in addition it has happened to swell the golden pages of the History, with the nickname of battle of the Three Kings.

One such king was Sancho VII of Navarre, who by his imposing physical constitution and stature -measured about two meters, a very unusual detail for the time- was known by the nickname of Sancho el Fuerte.

The battle, of course, was a real carnage, in which both sides left thousands of corpses on the battlefield. Corpses that, in view of the impossibility of being adequately buried, were exposed most of the places where they had died, giving rise to numerous epidemics, whose effects were felt in the area for years.

The result, then, although decanted on the Christian side, was not so fortunate, except for one important question: it ended with a dangerous threat, which was none other, than the formidable Almohad power in the region.

Although the three kings - Alfonso VIII of Castile, Pedro II of Aragon and Sancho VII of Navarre - had an outstanding role in the contest, encouraged by a character of the stature of Rodrigo Ximénez de Rada, archbishop of Toledo, he has always called me the attention the preponderant role of the brave Navarrese king.

In fact, he was about to capture An-Nasir, the Almohad Miramamolín, who escaped by the hair of not ending up dead or a prisoner when the Navarrese giant, unstoppable on the back of his warhorse, ran over the position, cutting the chains that surrounded his store.

These chains, since then constitute the shield of Navarre and can be admired in the Chapel of San Agustín, which is where the mortal remains of such a valiant monarch rest.

It is not surprising, given what I have just said, that one of the desires that most pleased me if I ever had the opportunity to step on Roncesvalles, was to visit the tomb of Sancho el Fuerte de Navarra.

The chapel of San Agustín is accessed through an austere 17th century cloister, which replaces the original Romanesque cloister attached to the collegiate church of Santa María. Located in the center of the enclosure, the sepulcher itself constitutes an authentic work of art, showing the king a little less than he was in life; that is to say, a gigantón of almost two meters of height, as I have already said, that, as it seems - and thus the artist made it clear - had a defect in his left foot.

Apart from the magnificent rose window that dominates the internal façade of the chapel, and the no less magnificent stained glass windows that from the entrance porch, give a voluptuous luminosity to the place, one of them stands out, located on the right side, as it is accessed, which , monumental, spectacular and suggestive, it shows one of the most representative scenes of such an important battle.

And of course, in the first line, like a real jab, leading the charge of the Navarrese cavalry in the Navas de Tolosa, this singular king.

King, on the other hand, that well deserves a small tribute that, in the end, is the true intention of the present entry.

NOTICE: originally published on my blog MEMORIES OF A PILGRIM, although the photographs are unpublished in Steemit and Blogger. Both these, and the text, belong to my exclusive intellectual property. The original entry, where you can check the authorship of juancar347, can be found at the following address: https://jc347.blogspot.com/2011/05/roncesvalles-claustro-del-siglo-xvii.html

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Ars Oblivionis

ARS VTINAM MORE S/ANIMVM QVE EFFINGERE/POSSES PULCHRIOR IN TER/RIS NVLLA TABELLA FORET'
'ART, YOU MAY HAVE TO REPRESENT THE CHARACTER AND THE SPIRIT. THERE WOULD NOT BE ON THE EARTH MORE BEAUTIFUL IMAGE '
[Martial, latin poet]

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