Pope Urban II had recognized Toldeo’s main church, a converted mosque, in 1088 as the primate cathedral over the rest of the kingdom.

The mosque-cathedral has remained intact until the thirteenth century, when in the year 1222 a Papal bull issued by the Pope had authorized the construction of a new cathedral which was begun in 1224 (or 1225).

The official ceremony of the laying of the foundation stone takes place in 1226 (other sources say 1227), with the presence of King Ferdinand.

The plan of the cathedral is directly modeled, like that at Burgos, on the scheme of the French Gothic Cathedral of Bourges.