XIMENES DE RADA, RODRIGO. – Cistercian, archbishop of Toledo, b. at Puente la Reina (Navarra) in 1170, d. at Toledo on 10 June 1247.
After studying in Paris, he returned to Castile, where he enjoyed great authority at the court of Alfonso VIII. In 1209 he was appointed archbishop of Toledo and confirmed the following year by Innocent III. He took part in preparing the Crusade against the Almohads, which ended with the decisive victory at Las Navas de Tolosa. Chief Chancellor of Castile and León and tutor of the sons of Ferdinand III the Saint, he promoted the construction of Toledo Cathedral. He was a munificent protector of monasteries, especially that of S. Maria de Huerta, where he was buried and to which he bequeathed his library.
He composed a Historia gothica and a Historia Arabum. The former, written in elegant literary Latin, is important above all for its last two books, which recount events in which X. took part; noteworthy is the attempt at a critique of the sources and the care taken to establish an exact chronology of events. In the Historia Arabum X. demonstrated a sound knowledge of Arabic sources.