In the twelfth through fourteenth centuries, at the height of the cult of the Virgin Mary, a rare and rich conflux of past and present events, both authentic and legendary, catapulted Orvieto into the spotlight as a religious, political, and intellectual center. First heresy and political conflict, then popes, prelates, and the occasional king – including Edward I of England in the 1270s and Charles I of France in 1281 – graced the city’s halls and streets. Ritual and ceremony became a way of life. Concurrently, the illustrious churchmen of Orvieto campaigned for a grand new cathedral, begun in 1290, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary to honor the devotion of both the city and the founding pope and adorned with magnificent sculpture, mosaics, alabaster and stained-glass windows, and frescoes.