ABSTRACT
In 1216, however, the date of Cardinal Gil's elevation, Zamora had a pastor whose origins were Galician, namely Martin Arias, Bishop Martin I. Moreover, Zamora lies on the road from Coimbra, from whose Augustinian church of Santa Cruz Melendus seems to have emerged, towards Osma, where he ended his days. Matthew Paris described the Zamoran cardinal as incorruptible and as a unique pillar of truth and justice at the Roman court: 'columna veritatis et justitiae', and that was a judgement confirmed by Innocent IV himself. When refusing to countenance his election to Toledo seven years earlier, Innocent had described him the 'columpna firmissima' on which the stability of both the Roman Church and the Church at large depended. Don Gil Torres emerges in stark contrast to Innocent III, the pope who had stipulated that a cleric who had petitioned him for provision at Zamora be subjected to rigorous examination, the pope who had not promoted him cardinal.
