Alfonso Fernández de Madrigal is well known for the vastness of his interests and the volume of his work. He wrote on theology, philosophy, and the law but is best known for his biblical commentaries and for the fact that he is one of the first authors of Latin works to become aware of the need to translate some of his works into Castilian for a noble public that could not read Latin. He was born in the village of Madrigal de las Altas Torres (Province of Ávila) in the first decade of the fifteenth century, probably around 1405.

In Libro de los claros varones de Castilla (1480-1486), Fernando del Pulgar describes El Tostado: "Don Alfonso, bishop of Ávila, was a man of average height, thickly built, and well proportioned. He had a large head, dominant features and a rather short neck." Scholars have never...