In the thirteenth century, chess had been played in Europe for almost two hundred years, having been introduced into Europe by Arabs around the year 1000. The Arabs had become familiar with the game as early as the eighth century when the Islamic empire conquered Persia,William L. Tronzo, "Moral Hieroglyphs: Chess and Dice at San Savino in Piacenza," in Gesta 16, no. 2 (1977): 15–26, 18. where the game of chess was alleged to have been originated. It is said that a royal advisor had invented the game in order to teach his king prudence without having to overtly correct him.Ricardo Calvo, "El libro de los juegos de Alfonso X el Sabio," in Libros del ajedrex, dados y tablas, edited by Vicent García Editores, Valencia, and Ediciones Poniente (Madrid, Spain: Patrimonio Nacional, 1987): 125–386, 138. As Arab contact with the West expanded, so too did the game and its various permutations, and by the twelfth century, chess was becoming an entertaining diversion among a growing population of Europeans, including some scholars, clergy, the aristocracy, and the merchant classes;Tronzo, "Moral Hieroglyphs: Chess and Dice at San Savino in Piacenza," 15. thus, by the thirteenth century, the iconography and symbolism associated with chess would have been accessible and familiar to Alfonso and his literate court culture, who may have had access to the private library, and manuscripts, of Alfonso, including the .
In the thirteenth century, chess had been played in Europe for almost two hundred years, having been introduced into Europe by Arabs around the year 1000. The Arabs had become familiar with the game as early as the eighth century when the Islamic empire conquered Persia,William L. Tronzo, "Moral Hieroglyphs: Chess and Dice at San Savino in, Piacenza," in Gesta 16, no. 2 (1977): 15–26, 18. where the game of chess was alleged to have been originated. It is said that a royal advisor had invented the game in order to teach his king prudence without having to overtly correct him.Ricardo Calvo, "El libro de los juegos de Alfonso X el Sabio," in Libros del ajedrex, dados y tablas, edited by Vicent García Editores, Valencia, and Ediciones Poniente (Madrid, Spain: Patrimonio Nacional, 1987): 125–386, 138 As Arab contact with the West expanded so too did the game and its various permutations, and by the twelfth century, chess was becoming an entertaining diversion among a growing pop.ulation of Europeans, including some scholars, clergy, the aristocracy, and the merchant classes;Tronzo, "Moral Hieroglyphs: Chess and Dice at San Savino in Piacenza," 15. thus, by the thirteenth century, the iconography and symbolism associated with chess would have been accessible and familiar to Alfonso and his literate court culture, who may have had access to the private library, and manuscripts, of Alfonso, including the .