The Auto de los Reyes Magos is the oldest piece of religious theater that we have in Spanish, although probably not the first to be written. It follows the tradition of the Ordo Stellae, a theatrical cycle that was inserted in the liturgy of the Epiphany and that commemorated the Adoration of the Magi (Wise Men). Spread throughout Europe from the 11th century onwards, first in Latin and then in various languages, the cycle derived from an episode of the Gospel of Matthew, as well as from certain prophecies of the Old Testament and from various apocryphal traditions that arose mainly in the East. What are the reasons that helped this work to be written and, above all, to be preserved? Quite possibly the place where it was composed, its intended purpose and the audience for whom it was written.

This paper aims to answer these questions by relating the historical-social situation of the city of Toledo in the late 12th and early 13th centuries with the intentions that led Matthew to narrate this episode by establishing an analogy with the ancient prophecies. We will also analyze the evolution of the legend of the Magi/Wise Men (both in the texts and in their artistic representations) throughout the Middle Ages and we will see how their figure, practically forgotten for many centuries, was reinforced with the arrival of their alleged relics in Cologne in the mid-twelfth century, and the expansion of the Cluniac monastic movement.