Alfonso de Cartagena was the second son of Rabbi
Paul of Burgos, who converted from Judaism to Christianity in 1390. At the same time, Alfonso and his four brothers, one sister and two uncles were baptized. His mother, however, was not. Cartagena studied law in Salamanca, and "was a great lawyer in canon and civil law", according to
Claros varones de Castilla (1486). He served as dean of
Santiago de Compostela and
Segovia, later becoming
apostolic nuncio and canon of Burgos (1421). He was equally distinguished as statesman and as priest. In 1434 he was named by King
John II de Trastámara (1405–54) as the representative of
Castile at the
Council of Basel, succeeding Cardinal
Alonso de Carrillo. There he composed a famous discourse in Latin and Castilian (
Propositio... super altercatione praeminentia, 1434), calling on the council to recognize the superior right of the King of Castile over the King of England. The humanist Enea Silvio Piccolomini, who became
Pope Pius II, in his memoirs called Cartagena "an ornament to the prelacy".
Pope Eugenius IV thanked him for his services by making him
bishop of Burgos when his father died (1435). Eugenius, learning that the bishop of Burgos was about to visit Rome, declared in full conclave that "in the presence of such a man he felt ashamed to be seated in St. Peter's chair". After living in Rome for some time, dedicated to study, Cartagena returned to Burgos, where he founded a public school "of all doctrine", in which the most advanced Latinists of the Spain of the
Catholic Monarchs studied. These included
Rodrigo Sánchez de Arévalo,
Alfonso de Palencia,
Diego Rodríguez Almela and perhaps
Fernán Díaz de Toledo. Cartagena was a friend of fellow writer and humanist
Fernán Pérez de Guzmán (1378–1460), nephew of
Pero López de Ayala and señor de Batres, who included an affectionate biographical outline in his
Generaciones y semblanzas (1450). Cartagena dedicated his
Oracional (1454), a treatise on prayer, to him. Cartagena went to
Portugal as an emissary of King John II, where he negotiated peace. He was also emissary to the kings of Germany and Poland and intervened in the conflicts of Castile with Aragon and Granada. He helped with a large sum to build the monastery of
San Pablo of Burgos and rebuilt other churches and monasteries of his see, among them the Cathedral of Burgos, whose construction had been interrupted a considerable time before. In 1422 he undertook the translation of some works of
Cicero (
De officiis,
De senectute), ordered by the secretary of King John II,
Juan Alfonso de Zamora. He also translated Cicero's
De inventione, for use by then Prince
Duarte of Portugal. His translations into the vernacular followed a clear humanistic intent, that of teaching the wisdom of the classics to gentlemen interested in the works, but not scholars themselves. For the same reason, but also for another reason (his inclination to
Stoicism), he translated the
Treatises and
Tragedies of
Seneca the Younger. He disputed with the humanist
Leonardo Bruni of Arezzo or Aretino (1370–1444) over a new translation by Bruni of the
Ethics of
Aristotle. The conflict became extended in scope when
Pietro Candido Decembrio (1399–1477) came to the defense of Bruni, and Cardinal Pizolpasso (1370–1443) also became involved. At least six texts and 19 letters related to the dispute passed between Cartagena and Decembrio, including Cartagena's
Declinations.
Heinrich Graetz ascribes to the influence exercised by Carthagena over Eugenius IV the latter's sudden change of attitude toward the Jews. Carthagena alone, says Graetz, could have been the author of the complaints against the pride and arrogance of the Castilian Jews, which induced the pope to issue the bull of 1442, withdrawing the privileges granted to them by former popes. He wrote besides some treatises on moral philosophy and theology. At the age of 60 he went on pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, but died on the return to his diocese. ==Works==