Trial by Combat and Fire: The Strangest Way to Settle a Medieval Religious Dispute - Medievalists.net

"The Mozarabic rite (also called Toledan), rooted in Visigothic Christianity and preserved by Christians living under Muslim rule in al-Andalus, differed from the Roman rite in its prayers, chants, and liturgical calendar. Its eucharistic prayers were often longer and more elaborate, with distinctive wording and ritual gestures not found in the Roman Mass. Music also played a role: Mozarabic chant had its own melodic tradition, separate from the Gregorian chant promoted by Rome."

"The transition from the ancient Mozarabic liturgy to the Roman rite in eleventh-century Iberia was not simply an ecclesiastical reform. In later tradition, it became a dramatic story involving King Alfonso VI of León-Castile (r. 1065-1109). He convened the Council of Burgos in 1077 under the papal legate Richard of Marseille to standardise the liturgy in his realm. Yet in Toledo and other former Visigothic centres, the Mozarabic rite still held sway. Resistance to its suppression was fierce."

Medieval Iberian Christianity included competing liturgical traditions, notably the Mozarabic rite, preserved under Muslim rule in al-Andalus, and the Roman rite associated with papal authority. The Mozarabic liturgy featured longer, more elaborate eucharistic prayers, distinctive ritual gestures, and its own melodic chant tradition, differing in prayers, chants, and calendar from the Roman Mass. Reformers sought liturgical uniformity across Latin Christendom, and King Alfonso VI convened the Council of Burgos in 1077 under papal legate Richard of Marseille to standardize worship. Strong local resistance persisted in Toledo and other former Visigothic centers, where the Mozarabic rite remained influential.

Read at Medievalists.net