Diego López II de Haro
Encyclopedia
Diego López II de Haro called the Good or the Bad (b.1162 - 16 October 1214). Son of Lope Diaz I de Haro
, count of Nájera (b.1126-1170) and of countess Aldonza. He was a first rank magnate in the kingdom of Castile under King Alfonso VIII (1158–1214). He played a decisive role in the rise of the Haro dynasty, as well as in the construction of the nobiliary identity of his group, who was to dominate the Castilian political society during the whole 13th century. A publicity strife around this key figure between his successors and the monarchy, in a moment of deep political troubles, led to the elaboration of his dark image and his golden legend at the end of the 13th century, and the invention of his opposite nicknames.
. Thus he left Castile, but the good fortune of his family in León did not survive the king's death, the following year. He retained sufficient credit in Castile to negotiate his return with favorable conditions: he was given back the office of alférez and all his governments. In charge of the rearguard, he took part in 1195 in the battle of Alarcos
against the Almohads, and the defense of the territory after the Castilian rout. The king put him apart from 1199 on, depriving him of the office of alférez for the benefit of count Alvaro Núñez de Lara. He went into exile a third time between 1201 and 1206, offering his services to Navarra and León. He had nevertheless made himself indispensable for the Castilian sovereign. In his first will, in 1206, Alfonso VIII recognized having wronged the magnate, and tried to repair the damages. When Diego López decided to come back in Castile in 1206, Alfonso VIII gave him back his full confidence as his alférez, before handing over the office to Alvaro Núñez de Lara again in 1208. That very year, Alfonso VIII named Diego López one of his five executors. In 1212, the king entrusted to him one of his three armies in the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa
, that allowed the Christian kingdoms to get rid of the power of the Almohads in al-Andalus
. The chronicler Juan de Osma asserted that the king had made him the future regent of the child-king Henry I
. But Diego López II died a few weeks before Alfonso VIII.
. He took a decisive step towards the patrimonialization of many of those governments, sharing them with his elder son, Lope Díaz II de Haro. Lope thus received the governments of Old Castile in 1210, Asturias de Santillana in 1211, and Álava en 1213.
, Toledo's archbishop, who had known him personally, was already very ambiguous. He criticized his exile strategy that lead him to face his king on the battlefield. The tombs of Diego López and of his wife Toda Pérez, in the cloister of knights of the abbey of Santa María de Nájera, were both realized during the second half of the 13th century. They bear testimony of the specific interest of the Haros for this founder ancestor. During years 1270-1280, when Lope Díaz III was brought against King Alfonso X of Castile-León, in nobiliary rebellions ever more open, intellectuals from the court denigrated the reputation of Diego López "said the Good", to whom the responsibility of the defeat of Alarcos was for the first time attributed. Writers supporting the Haros invented in this period a equivalent myth to justify Diego López II's attitude and to charge the monarchy. Indeed, the story of the Jewish girl from Toledo, which explains the rout at Alarcos with the sins of Alfonso VIII, appeared towards the end of the 13th century. During the years 1340, the books of the Portuguese count Pedro de Barcelos, the Crónica Geral de 1344 and the Livros de linhagens definitely turned the biography of Diego López II into a myth. This authors relates episodes allegedly historical, but similar to well known literary themes from Brittany (Arthurian romances) and French epic. He converted him into an ambiguous character, in a pseudo-historical attempt to synthesize his dark image and his golden legend. In the middle of the 15th century, Lope García de Salázar, in his Crónica de Vizcaya, finally imagined the nickname "the Bad" to explain the contradictions in his biography. His memory suffered later other deformations, according to the interests of the 16th century-genealogists working for the nobility, and, from the 17th century on, of Basque historians. This time, it was the myth of the "independent seigneury" of Biscaya that was at stake between Basque fuerists and later nationalists, and their contradictors, until the first half of the 20th century.
, and had several children :
Lope Díaz I de Haro
Lope Díaz I de Haro was the fourth Lord of Biscay . He was an important magnate in Castile during the reign of the Emperor Alfonso VII and in the kingdom of his son and grandson. Between 1147 and 1168 he is recorded as governing Old Castile on behalf of the crown.-Political career:Lope was the...
, count of Nájera (b.1126-1170) and of countess Aldonza. He was a first rank magnate in the kingdom of Castile under King Alfonso VIII (1158–1214). He played a decisive role in the rise of the Haro dynasty, as well as in the construction of the nobiliary identity of his group, who was to dominate the Castilian political society during the whole 13th century. A publicity strife around this key figure between his successors and the monarchy, in a moment of deep political troubles, led to the elaboration of his dark image and his golden legend at the end of the 13th century, and the invention of his opposite nicknames.
Role at Alfonso VIII's court and exile strategy
He did not attend the royal court with any regularity before 1178, maybe because of the influence exerted by the magnates of the Lara family. Between 1179 and 1183, he went into exile in Navarra. He went back to the Castilian court in a strong position, obtaining the office of alférez, standard bearer, one of the two most prestigious with that of great major-domo. The rise of his parents in the neighboring kingdom of León let him catch sight of better opportunities in 1187, when his sister Urraca López married King Fernando IIFerdinand II of Leon
Ferdinand II was King of León and Galicia from 1157 to his death.-Life:Born in Toledo, Castile, he was the son of King Alfonso VII of León and Castile and of Berenguela, of the House of Barcelona. At his father's death, he received León and Galicia, while his brother Sancho received Castile and...
. Thus he left Castile, but the good fortune of his family in León did not survive the king's death, the following year. He retained sufficient credit in Castile to negotiate his return with favorable conditions: he was given back the office of alférez and all his governments. In charge of the rearguard, he took part in 1195 in the battle of Alarcos
Battle of Alarcos
Battle of Alarcos , was a battle between the Almohads led by Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur and King Alfonso VIII of Castile. It resulted in the defeat of the Castilian forces and their subsequent retreat to Toledo whereas the Almohads conquered back Trujillo, Montánchez and Talavera.-Background:In...
against the Almohads, and the defense of the territory after the Castilian rout. The king put him apart from 1199 on, depriving him of the office of alférez for the benefit of count Alvaro Núñez de Lara. He went into exile a third time between 1201 and 1206, offering his services to Navarra and León. He had nevertheless made himself indispensable for the Castilian sovereign. In his first will, in 1206, Alfonso VIII recognized having wronged the magnate, and tried to repair the damages. When Diego López decided to come back in Castile in 1206, Alfonso VIII gave him back his full confidence as his alférez, before handing over the office to Alvaro Núñez de Lara again in 1208. That very year, Alfonso VIII named Diego López one of his five executors. In 1212, the king entrusted to him one of his three armies in the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa
Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa
The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, known in Arab history as the Battle of Al-Uqab , took place on 16 July 1212 and was an important turning point in the Reconquista and in the medieval history of Spain...
, that allowed the Christian kingdoms to get rid of the power of the Almohads in al-Andalus
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
. The chronicler Juan de Osma asserted that the king had made him the future regent of the child-king Henry I
Henry I of Castile
Henry I of Castile was king of Castile. He was the son of Alfonso VIII of Castile and his wife Eleanor Plantagenet, ....
. But Diego López II died a few weeks before Alfonso VIII.
Governments
His first exile of 1179-1183 allowed his to recover the territories his father had ruled, La Rioja, Old Castile and Trasmiera. He also obtained Asturias (of Santillana) and the Bureba. After his second exile, he extended even more his area of influence in Northeastern Castile, to the point of ruling "from Almazán to the sea" (1196). In 1204, in order to urge him to come back in Castile, Alfonso VIII acknowledged his ownership of the whole of Bizcaya, a Basque territory his ancestors had ruled back in the 11th century. This instrument may have meant the definitive conversion of this government into an inalienable fief, that would be the territorial basis of the Haro during the whole 13th century. He added Durando in 1212, a gift of the king no long after the battle of Las Navas de TolosaBattle of Las Navas de Tolosa
The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, known in Arab history as the Battle of Al-Uqab , took place on 16 July 1212 and was an important turning point in the Reconquista and in the medieval history of Spain...
. He took a decisive step towards the patrimonialization of many of those governments, sharing them with his elder son, Lope Díaz II de Haro. Lope thus received the governments of Old Castile in 1210, Asturias de Santillana in 1211, and Álava en 1213.
Construction of dynastic identity
Diego López II strengthened the part of the head of family among his clan, permitting the shift from the "horizontal" conception of kinship to the "vertical" system of dynasty. He was the first of his family to use an apellido or family name : he "invented" the name "Haro", that notaries start to attribute to him in documents from 1184 on. He was also the first to use a heraldic symbol, the wolf with a lamb in his mouth, attested on his seal in 1198.A mythified character
Diego López II's memory quickly underwent attacks. As soon as 1216, during the regency of the Lara brothers, when Lope Díaz II was trying to play a political role, the royal chancellery issued a charter judging him a bad lord. Diego López's image constructed around 1240-1241 by the chronicler Rodrigo Jiménez de RadaRodrigo Jiménez de Rada
Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada was a Navarrese-born Castilian Roman Catholic bishop and historian....
, Toledo's archbishop, who had known him personally, was already very ambiguous. He criticized his exile strategy that lead him to face his king on the battlefield. The tombs of Diego López and of his wife Toda Pérez, in the cloister of knights of the abbey of Santa María de Nájera, were both realized during the second half of the 13th century. They bear testimony of the specific interest of the Haros for this founder ancestor. During years 1270-1280, when Lope Díaz III was brought against King Alfonso X of Castile-León, in nobiliary rebellions ever more open, intellectuals from the court denigrated the reputation of Diego López "said the Good", to whom the responsibility of the defeat of Alarcos was for the first time attributed. Writers supporting the Haros invented in this period a equivalent myth to justify Diego López II's attitude and to charge the monarchy. Indeed, the story of the Jewish girl from Toledo, which explains the rout at Alarcos with the sins of Alfonso VIII, appeared towards the end of the 13th century. During the years 1340, the books of the Portuguese count Pedro de Barcelos, the Crónica Geral de 1344 and the Livros de linhagens definitely turned the biography of Diego López II into a myth. This authors relates episodes allegedly historical, but similar to well known literary themes from Brittany (Arthurian romances) and French epic. He converted him into an ambiguous character, in a pseudo-historical attempt to synthesize his dark image and his golden legend. In the middle of the 15th century, Lope García de Salázar, in his Crónica de Vizcaya, finally imagined the nickname "the Bad" to explain the contradictions in his biography. His memory suffered later other deformations, according to the interests of the 16th century-genealogists working for the nobility, and, from the 17th century on, of Basque historians. This time, it was the myth of the "independent seigneury" of Biscaya that was at stake between Basque fuerists and later nationalists, and their contradictors, until the first half of the 20th century.
Marriage and children
He married Toda Pérez de Azagra, daughter of Pedro Rodriguez de AzagraPedro Ruiz de Azagra
Pedro Ruiz de Azagra was a Navarrese nobleman and soldier who established the independent Lordship of Albarracín, which lasted until 1284. He was the second son of Rodrigo Pérez de Azagra...
, and had several children :
- Lope Díaz II de Haro.
- Pedro Díaz : lord of CárcarCárcarCárcar is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain.-External links:*...
thanks to his mother and his maternal grand-parents. - Urraca Díaz : married count Alvaro Núñez de Lara.
- Aldonza Díaz : married Ruy Díaz de los Cameros.
- María Díaz : married count Gonzalo Núñez de Lara.
- Teresa Díaz : married her cousin, Infant Sancho of LeónKingdom of LeónThe Kingdom of León was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in AD 910 when the Christian princes of Asturias along the northern coast of the peninsula shifted their capital from Oviedo to the city of León...
, son of King Fernando IIFerdinand II of LeonFerdinand II was King of León and Galicia from 1157 to his death.-Life:Born in Toledo, Castile, he was the son of King Alfonso VII of León and Castile and of Berenguela, of the House of Barcelona. At his father's death, he received León and Galicia, while his brother Sancho received Castile and...
and Urraca López - Mencía Díaz : married Alvaro Díaz de los Cameros.