Pedro Manrique de Lara
Encyclopedia
Pedro Manrique de Lara commonly called Pedro de Molina and usually known in French sources as Pierre de Lara, was a Castilian
nobleman and military leader of the House of Lara
. Although he spent most of his career in the service of Alfonso VIII of Castile
, he also served briefly Ferdinand II of León
(1185–86) and was Viscount of Narbonne
by hereditary right after 1192. He was one of the most powerful Castilian magnates of his time, and defended the Kingdom of Toledo
and the Extremadura
against the Almohads. He also fought the Reconquista
in Cuenca
, and was a "second founder" of the monasteries of Huerta
and Arandilla
.
Pedro was married three times. By his first marriage, to a Navarrese
princess, he forged a connexion with the lineage of the folk hero El Cid
, and scholars have suggested that Lara patronage lies behind the epic
Poema de mio Cid. Pedro's second wife was a relative of Henry II of England
. Pedro's trans-Pyrenean connexions explain his adoption of seals
for authenticating documents; he is the first Spanish aristocrat from whom an examples survives. He also adopted the style "by the grace of God
" to indicate his independence in ruling the lordship of Molina
, which he inherited from his father.
and Ermessinde, daughter of Aimery II of Narbonne
. He regularly called himself "de Lara", a toponymic surname first employed by his grandfather and namesake Pedro González
. Pedro's descendants adopted his own patronymic
, Manrique, as part of their surname. Pedro's patrimony was extensive, but he is well known among historians for how much of it he mortgaged or sold for a small profit. This had led to the accusation that he was a poor administrator. He owned land at Cogolludo
.
Pedro first appears in a public document on 18 December 1157. Pedro's father died at the Battle of Huete
in the summer of 1164 and his semi-independent lordship of Molina
was inherited by his widow, who promptly invested half of it in her eldest son. By November 1164 Pedro was governing the eastern fief of Atienza
, which his father had held before his death. Dating to 1 March 1165 is the only document that cites Pedro as actually ruling Lara
, from which his family took its name.
, did not die until 1170. In May 1172, Pedro and his brother Manrique donated half of the saltworks (salinas) of Tercegüela to the abbey of Santa María de Huerta and Abbot Martín de Finojosa. In February 1173 Manrique along with Sancha donated the remaining half in exchange for a horse. This charter reads was "made in the month of February in the era 1211 in the year when King Sancho of Navarre
gave his sister to count Pedro son of Manrique" (facta ... mense febrero in era M.CC.XI in anno quando rex Sancius Navarre dedit sororem suam comiti Petro filio comitis Almarica). This indicates that the marriage must have occurred sometime after February 1172, and as Sancha does not appear with her husband in the donation of May 1172, probably after that date as well.
Sancha and Pedro had three sons: García, Aimerico, and Nuño. Nuño, known as Nuño Pérez II to distinguish him from his great uncle, Nuño Pérez I
, was still alive in 1228. He had received the tenencia of Bertabillo. Nuño Pérez I and Pedro Manrique shared the guardianship of the young Alfonso VIII before he attained his majority in 1169.
Sancha was a great-granddaughter of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, called the Cid. It has been argued that the author of the Poema de mio Cid, perhaps Per Abbat, was patronised by the Lara clan and that the Poema can be read as a work of escarnho e mal dizer ("shaming and cursing") against the Laras' enemies, the Castros (represented in the epic by the Infantes de Carrión). The town of San Esteban de Gormaz
, nearby where the daughters of the Cid were beaten and abandoned, was also the site where the Laras, led by Pedro's father, hid the young Alfonso VIII in 1163; and the favourable light shone on Avengalvón, the last Muslim ruler of Molina
(which fell to the Christians shortly before 1138), may reflect his relationship with the later Lara rulers of the same.
(comes in Latin), the highest dignity to which a Castilian nobleman of his time could be appointed by the king. He regularly titled himself Dei gratia, "by the grace of God
", a rare usage for a nobleman in twelfth-century Spain, perhaps borrowed from his Occitan
or Catalan
cousins. There is also an example of his use of the phrase munere divino ("by divine mercy"). In 1168 he was sent to govern the tenencias of Osma and San Esteban de Gormaz in eastern Castile. On 4 October that year he made a donation to the parish church
of Molina.
Pedro was a regular patron of the military order
of the Knights of Calatrava
. He made his first donatio to them on 8 May 1169. In 1169 Pedro intervened to arbitrate a dispute between the settlers of Molina and the Abbey of Huerta concerning the boundaries of the village of Arandilla
.
In June 1170 Pedro was the governor (or tenant, tenens) of the militarily important frontier zone of Extremadura
. On 5 November 1172 he was cited as governing Cabezón
. By 3 April 1173 Pedro was governing the Kingdom of Toledo
, the region centred on the populous city of Toledo
and bordering al-Andalus
to the south. That year, when Alfonso VIII invaded Navarre as far as Pamplona
, Pedro acted as a mediator between his sovereign and the king of Navarre, Sancho VI
, his brother-in-law. The war ended in a treaty in October.
In 1177, Pedro took part in the Siege of Cuenca. On 19 August, during the siege, Cerebruno, Archbishop of Toledo, purchased Pedro's lands at Añover
and Barcilés for 100 maravedíes. The size and sophistication of Pedro Manrique's own court and mesnada (private army) is indicated by his employment of a majordomo (maiordomus) of his own, Pedro Vidas, in 1177.
, probably in 1177. The couple first appears as married on 30 December that year, when they made a donation to the Order of Calatrava and she was cited as "countess (comitissa) Margaret". They were still married on 17 November 1189. She gave him no known children.
A charter redacted at Angers
on 23 January 1183 and preserved in the cartulary of Llanthony Secunda
records the gift of bridewealth to a certain Margaret, relative of Henry II of England
, by her husband, Petrus Dei gratia comes de Lara. The properties granted were Molmera (perhaps Molina), Andaluz, Agusino, Eles
, and Polvoranca. This charter is the only piece of evidence to suggest that Pedro's wife was a Scottish princess. Margaret of Huntingdon, the daughter of Henry, Earl of Northumbria, was, however, married to Humphrey III de Bohun
from about 1174 until his death in 1181, and was recorded as a widow in the Rotuli dominabus (1185/6). The primary argument for the identification of Pedro's wife and Margaret of Huntingdon is that Llanthony Secunda was founded in 1136 by Miles of Gloucester, who was the grandfather of Humphrey III de Bohun, thus providing a link between Pedro's wife and the monastery. Henry of Northumbria, Margaret's father, was a relative of the king of England. Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany
, who confirmed the charter, was a son-in-law of Margaret by her first husband (Humphrey was her second), Conan IV of Brittany.
from Spain is found hanging from a document of Pedro's dated 22 January 1179. Since this practice was already current in France
, it is probable that it entered Spain through the Laras' connexions with Narbonne and was certainly influenced by Occitan and Catalan designs. It may have been made from a matrix cast as early as 1164, when Pedro succeeded his father in Molina. This is the only surviving example of Pedro's seal and, although heavily worn, its image is describable:
The seal is double-sided, both sides bearing equestrian depictions of Pedro. The obverse bears the barely discernable legend "seal of count Pedro", and the reverse and indiscernible legend that appears to be a sentence or motto. This would be the earliest of only three examples of personal seals from medieval Spain bearing mottoes. The charter to which it was attached put the village of Torralba de Ribota
, which belonged to the mother church at Calatayud
of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre
in Spain, under the protection of Pedro Dei gratia comes, "by the grace of God count". It was confirmed in the city of Calatayud on Saint Vincent's Day in the year 1217 of the Spanish era
. The identification with Pedro Manrique is secure, since there was neither another count named Pedro in Castile at the time nor any other count using the style Dei gratia. Pedro was at Torralba in March 1179. On 20 March Pedro assisted Alfonso VIII in laying the foundation stone of the Abbey of Huerta.
of Beteta
from Cathedral of Santa María in Sigüenza
in exchange for the monastery of Santa María de Molina. On 2 May Pedro made a donation to the Cistercian monastery at Sacramenia
. On 17 May he made another donation to a Cistercian house, this time the Abbey of Huerta. Although he made donations to the Praemonstratensians and the Benedictines (the monastery of Arlanza
on an unknown date), the Cistercians were his preferred monastic order. The Cistercian historian Ángel Manrique in his Annales Cistercienses (II, 429) considers Pedro and his descendents, the Manriques de Lara, as the "second founders" of Huerta because of their numerous benefactions.
On 26 June 1176 Pedro made a donation to the regular clergy
of Alcalech. In October 1176 he made an apparently pious donation to the cathedral of Sigüenza, for this time he received nothing in return. On 16 January 1178 he made his second donation to the parish of Molina.
On 1 January 1181 Pedro and his sister María granted the vill of Carabanchel
, on the outskirts of Madrid
, to a certain Gonzalo Díaz and his wife Melisenda. The vill had been mortgaged for 100 maravedíes by Ermessinde of Narbonne. Later that year (28 June) Pedro pledged 2,000 maravedíes for the construction of a monastery at Arandilla, which had lain in his jurisdiction since at least 1169. Besides the money, not only did Pedro offer land for the building of an abbey, he also granted the monks of Huerta (who were to build it) some four hundred sheep, forty cows, and ten mares. Pedro also instructed that he was to be buried at Arandilla if work on the monstery had not been finished by the time of his death, and that his successor was to donate a further 3,000 maravedíes. As early as 14 March 1167 Pedro's mother had attempted to establish a monastery there. She gave the usufruct
of her estates at Arandilla to the monks of Huerta for two years on that date, and also promised them some properties at Molina. Ermessinde further pledged 200 gold pieces per annum for the erection of a monastery at Arandilla, offering even to pay the salary of the master builder who would supervise its construction. No monastery was every built at Arandilla, nor was Pedro buried there. It is not clear why the project failed.
On 11 March 1183, Pedro and his eldest son, García, made a donation to the Order of Calatrava for the good of the soul of his first wife, the latter's mother, the infanta Sancha. Pedro, with his sister María, made another donation to Calatrava that same month, letting go the castle of Alcozar. On 23 April he made a further pious donation (of two houses) to the Cathedral of Santa María
in Burgos
. Some time in 1183 Pedro and María mortgaged their joint property of the vill and castle of Los Ausines
to the monastery of La Vid for 1,000 maravedíes.
On 27 January 1185 Pedro witnessed his first charter as a member of the court of Ferdinand II of León. By 11 February he had been appointed majordomo, the highest-ranking official at court. This appointment could not have lasted much more than a week, for Ferdinand had returned the former official, Rodrigo López, to the office by 16 February. By that time, however, Pedro had been appointed to a post away from court: the large and important, if quiet, tenencia of Asturias de Oviedo
. His tenencias steadily increased throughout the year. By 22 February he was governing the "towers of León", that is, the royal citadel that controlled the capital city; by 6 July he held Salamanca
and Toro, the latter only briefly; and by 26 September he was holding Ciudad Rodrigo
, an important city in the south of the kingdom. In 4 March 1186 Pedro was styled a "vassal
of king Ferdinand" (uassallo regis Fernandi). There is an isolated reference to his governing Babia on 16 March and Luna on 31 March–1 April. He continued to govern Asturias de Oviedo, Ciudad Rodrigo, and Salamanca until at least 5 May that year. He held onto León a short while longer, for he was still in charge of the fortress there on 21 May.
On 29 January 1187 Pedro made a second donation to Alcalech (his first had been in 1176). From 1188 until 1200 Pedro was ruling the region of Cuenca
. After 1190 Pedro no longer held Atienza. Beginning in that year he ruled Huete
, where his father had been killed in battle. His rule there lasted until at least 21 March 1198. On 13 June 1195 Pedro made a second donation to the cathedral of Sigüenza.
was invited to co-rule with Ermengarde, but on his death in 1177 the viscountess again ruled without a male consort, at least until 1184. In that year the abbot of Fontfroide, the abbey where Aimerico was buried, donated the hamlet of Terrail to the Archbishop of Narbonne, Bernard Gaucelin. The archbishop solicited a confirmation of this acquisition of territory within the viscounty from "Ermengarde, viscountess of Narbonne, and from you, Count Pedro, and from your successors," which suggests the presence of Pedro Manrique north of the Pyrenees and that his aunt had recognised him as her heir. The confirmation was duly received from Ermengarde, "by the grace of God, viscountess of Narbonne, and my relative Pedro, by the same grace count." This demonstrates that on the other side of the Pyrenees Pedro continued to style himself and be styled as a count, as in "Count Pedro, Viscount of Narbonne".
In 1192 on the abdication of his aunt (died 1197), Pedro succeeded in the viscounty of Narbonne. On 28 April 1194 he, "in consideration of the good", named his second son, Aimerico
, as his heir there, and may have invested him with the viscounty. Aimerico remained behind in it, for he did not return to Castile until after Pedro's death in 1202. Besides the viscounty, Pedro also inherited suzerainty
over the viscounts of Béziers, which he included in his cession to his son of 1194. Excepted was the castle of Montpesat, which Pedro retained under his control.
when Peter II of Aragon
received the local castle from his mother, Sancha.
Pedro's last appearance at court was on 11 December 1201. He died early in 1202 and was buried in the abbey of Huerta, next to his first wife under the first stone archway of the cloister, on 14 January, according to the Anales toledanos primeros. On 29 July 1203 the Cistercian monastery at Piedra received properties promised it in Pedro's will.
Although there is no further mention of Pedro's second wife, Margaret, after their joint donation to Calatrava on 17 November 1189, his third and final wife (and widow), Mafalda, is not mentioned until after his death, on 3 February 1202, when she and her eldest son by Pedro, Gonzalo, sold their estate at Tragacete
to the city council of Cuenca
for 4,000 maravedíes. She also had by Pedro a son named Rodrigo or Ruy, who in the 1190s joined his father at the royal court and became merino mayor
. He also became the lord of Amusco
and Mont-Pesat.
British historian Richard A. Fletcher
believed that Manrique, the Bishop of León from 1181 to 1205, was a son of Pedro and Sancha, although it is more likely that he was his brother.
Kingdom of Castile
Kingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. It emerged as a political autonomous entity in the 9th century. It was called County of Castile and was held in vassalage from the Kingdom of León. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region...
nobleman and military leader of the House of Lara
House of Lara
The House of Lara or Casa de Lara are a noble family, known from the medieval Kingdom of Castile.Two of its branches, those from the Duke of Nájera and from the Marquis of Aguilar de Campoo were considered Grandees of Spain...
. Although he spent most of his career in the service of Alfonso VIII of Castile
Alfonso VIII of Castile
Alfonso VIII , called the Noble or el de las Navas, was the King of Castile from 1158 to his death and King of Toledo. He is most remembered for his part in the Reconquista and the downfall of the Almohad Caliphate...
, he also served briefly Ferdinand II of León
Ferdinand 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...
(1185–86) and was Viscount of Narbonne
Viscount of Narbonne
The Viscount of Narbonne was the secular ruler of Narbonne in the Middle Ages. Narbonne had been the capital of the Visigoth province of Septimania, until the eighth century, after which it became the Carolingian Viscounty of Narbonne. Narbonne was nominally subject to the Carolingian Counts of...
by hereditary right after 1192. He was one of the most powerful Castilian magnates of his time, and defended the Kingdom of Toledo
Kingdom of Toledo
The Kingdom of Toledo was the juridical definition of a Christian medieval kingdom in what is now central Spain, created after Alfonso VI of León's capture of Toledo in 1085.-Background:...
and the Extremadura
Extremadura
Extremadura is an autonomous community of western Spain whose capital city is Mérida. Its component provinces are Cáceres and Badajoz. It is bordered by Portugal to the west...
against the Almohads. He also fought the Reconquista
Reconquista
The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...
in Cuenca
Cuenca (province)
Cuenca is a province of central Spain, in the eastern part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha.-Guide to the area:Located in a natural setting of beauty, the Old Town of Cuenca occupies a superb site between two river gorges. Famous are its 15th Century "hanging houses" , that appear...
, and was a "second founder" of the monasteries of Huerta
Huerta
A huerta or horta , from Latin hortis, "garden", is a fertile area, or a field in a fertile area, common in Spain and Portugal, in which a variety of common vegetables and fruit trees, are cultivated for family consumption and sale...
and Arandilla
Arandilla
Arandilla is a municipality located in the province of Burgos, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 191 inhabitants....
.
Pedro was married three times. By his first marriage, to a Navarrese
Kingdom of Navarre
The Kingdom of Navarre , originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, was a European kingdom which occupied lands on either side of the Pyrenees alongside the Atlantic Ocean....
princess, he forged a connexion with the lineage of the folk hero El Cid
El Cid
Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar , known as El Cid Campeador , was a Castilian nobleman, military leader, and diplomat...
, and scholars have suggested that Lara patronage lies behind the epic
Epic poetry
An epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have argued that classical epics were fundamentally an oral poetic form...
Poema de mio Cid. Pedro's second wife was a relative of Henry II of England
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
. Pedro's trans-Pyrenean connexions explain his adoption of seals
Seal (device)
A seal can be a figure impressed in wax, clay, or some other medium, or embossed on paper, with the purpose of authenticating a document ; but the term can also mean the device for making such impressions, being essentially a mould with the mirror image of the design carved in sunken- relief or...
for authenticating documents; he is the first Spanish aristocrat from whom an examples survives. He also adopted the style "by the grace of God
By the Grace of God
By the Grace of God is an introductory part of the full styles of a monarch taken to be ruling by divine right, not a title in its own right....
" to indicate his independence in ruling the lordship of Molina
Molina de Aragón
Molina de Aragón is a municipality located in the province of Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2009 census , the municipality has a population of 3,671 inhabitants...
, which he inherited from his father.
Inheritance
Pedro was the eldest son and heir of Manrique Pérez de LaraManrique Pérez de Lara
Manrique Pérez de Lara was a magnate of the Kingdom of Castile and its regent from 1158 until his death. He was one of the most important counsellors and generals of three successive Castilian monarchs: Alfonso VII , Sancho III and Alfonso VIII...
and Ermessinde, daughter of Aimery II of Narbonne
Aimery II of Narbonne
Aimery II was the Viscount of Narbonne from around 1106 until his death.He was the eldest son of Aimery I of Narbonne and Mahalt , daughter of Robert Guiscard and Sichelgaita and widow of Raymond Berengar II of Barcelona. This made him a half-brother of Raymond Berengar III...
. He regularly called himself "de Lara", a toponymic surname first employed by his grandfather and namesake Pedro González
Pedro González de Lara
Pedro González de Lara was a Castilian magnate. He served Alfonso VI as a young man, and later became the lover of Alfonso's heiress, Queen Urraca. He may have joined the First Crusade in the following of Raymond IV of Toulouse, earning the nickname el Romero...
. Pedro's descendants adopted his own patronymic
Patronymic
A patronym, or patronymic, is a component of a personal name based on the name of one's father, grandfather or an even earlier male ancestor. A component of a name based on the name of one's mother or a female ancestor is a matronymic. Each is a means of conveying lineage.In many areas patronyms...
, Manrique, as part of their surname. Pedro's patrimony was extensive, but he is well known among historians for how much of it he mortgaged or sold for a small profit. This had led to the accusation that he was a poor administrator. He owned land at Cogolludo
Cogolludo
Cogolludo is a municipality located in the province of Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 623 inhabitants....
.
Pedro first appears in a public document on 18 December 1157. Pedro's father died at the Battle of Huete
Battle of Huete
The Battle of Huete took place in 1164 between the Lara family and its allies, and the Castro family and its supporters. It was part of the civil war which engulfed the Kingdom of Castile following the death of Sancho III , wherein competing factions sought control of his minor son and successor,...
in the summer of 1164 and his semi-independent lordship of Molina
Molina de Aragón
Molina de Aragón is a municipality located in the province of Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2009 census , the municipality has a population of 3,671 inhabitants...
was inherited by his widow, who promptly invested half of it in her eldest son. By November 1164 Pedro was governing the eastern fief of Atienza
Atienza
Atienza is a municipality located in the province of Guadalajara, Spain. According to the 2006 census , the municipality has a population of 437 inhabitants.There were ancient Celtiberian settlements in the Cerro del Padrastro.- Geology :...
, which his father had held before his death. Dating to 1 March 1165 is the only document that cites Pedro as actually ruling Lara
Lara de los Infantes
Lara de los Infantes is a location with 26 inhabitants in the province of Burgos in the autonomous region of Castille y León in Spain.It is the headquarters of the municipio of Jurisdicción de Lara, which includes a few more inhabitants as it includes other localities like Paúles de Lara , and La...
, from which his family took its name.
First marriage
Pedro's first wife was the infanta Sancha Garcés, a daughter of García Ramírez of Navarre and his second wife, Urraca, illegitimate daughter of Alfonso VII of León and Castile and his mistress Guntroda Pérez. She was thus descended from royalty on both sides and a highly auspicious match for the young nobleman. She first appears as his wife in a donation to the Praemonstratensian foundation at La Vid dated to 1165. This presents problems, however, as her first husband, Gaston V of BéarnGaston V of Béarn
Gaston V was the Viscount of Béarn, Gabardan, and Brulhois from 1153 to his death.He was the son of Peter II and a Catalan princess. When his father died in 1153, he inherited his title under the regency of his grandmother Guiscarda...
, did not die until 1170. In May 1172, Pedro and his brother Manrique donated half of the saltworks (salinas) of Tercegüela to the abbey of Santa María de Huerta and Abbot Martín de Finojosa. In February 1173 Manrique along with Sancha donated the remaining half in exchange for a horse. This charter reads was "made in the month of February in the era 1211 in the year when King Sancho of Navarre
Sancho VI of Navarre
Sancho VI Garcés , called the Wise , was the king of Navarre from 1150 until his death in 1194....
gave his sister to count Pedro son of Manrique" (facta ... mense febrero in era M.CC.XI in anno quando rex Sancius Navarre dedit sororem suam comiti Petro filio comitis Almarica). This indicates that the marriage must have occurred sometime after February 1172, and as Sancha does not appear with her husband in the donation of May 1172, probably after that date as well.
Sancha and Pedro had three sons: García, Aimerico, and Nuño. Nuño, known as Nuño Pérez II to distinguish him from his great uncle, Nuño Pérez I
Nuño Pérez de Lara
Nuño Pérez de Lara was a Castilian nobleman, politician and military leader. He began his career at the court of the Emperor Alfonso VII, during whose reign he took part in the repoblación of the Extremadura and the defence of the Almohad frontier...
, was still alive in 1228. He had received the tenencia of Bertabillo. Nuño Pérez I and Pedro Manrique shared the guardianship of the young Alfonso VIII before he attained his majority in 1169.
Sancha was a great-granddaughter of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, called the Cid. It has been argued that the author of the Poema de mio Cid, perhaps Per Abbat, was patronised by the Lara clan and that the Poema can be read as a work of escarnho e mal dizer ("shaming and cursing") against the Laras' enemies, the Castros (represented in the epic by the Infantes de Carrión). The town of San Esteban de Gormaz
San Esteban de Gormaz
San Esteban de Gormaz is a municipality in the province of Soria in the autonomous community of Castile-Leon, Spain. Its population is approximately 3,500...
, nearby where the daughters of the Cid were beaten and abandoned, was also the site where the Laras, led by Pedro's father, hid the young Alfonso VIII in 1163; and the favourable light shone on Avengalvón, the last Muslim ruler of Molina
Molina de Aragón
Molina de Aragón is a municipality located in the province of Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2009 census , the municipality has a population of 3,671 inhabitants...
(which fell to the Christians shortly before 1138), may reflect his relationship with the later Lara rulers of the same.
Military governor of the southern frontier
By 1 September 1166 Pedro was a countCount
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
(comes in Latin), the highest dignity to which a Castilian nobleman of his time could be appointed by the king. He regularly titled himself Dei gratia, "by the grace of God
By the Grace of God
By the Grace of God is an introductory part of the full styles of a monarch taken to be ruling by divine right, not a title in its own right....
", a rare usage for a nobleman in twelfth-century Spain, perhaps borrowed from his Occitan
Occitania
Occitania , also sometimes lo País d'Òc, "the Oc Country"), is the region in southern Europe where Occitan was historically the main language spoken, and where it is sometimes still used, for the most part as a second language...
or Catalan
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
cousins. There is also an example of his use of the phrase munere divino ("by divine mercy"). In 1168 he was sent to govern the tenencias of Osma and San Esteban de Gormaz in eastern Castile. On 4 October that year he made a donation to the parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
of Molina.
Pedro was a regular patron of the military order
Military order
A military order is a Christian society of knights that was founded for crusading, i.e. propagating or defending the faith , either in the Holy Land or against Islam or pagans in Europe...
of the Knights of Calatrava
Order of Calatrava
The Order of Calatrava was the first military order founded in Castile, but the second to receive papal approval. The papal bull confirming the Order of Calatrava as a Militia was given by Pope Alexander III on September 26, 1164.-Origins and Foundation:...
. He made his first donatio to them on 8 May 1169. In 1169 Pedro intervened to arbitrate a dispute between the settlers of Molina and the Abbey of Huerta concerning the boundaries of the village of Arandilla
Arandilla
Arandilla is a municipality located in the province of Burgos, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 191 inhabitants....
.
In June 1170 Pedro was the governor (or tenant, tenens) of the militarily important frontier zone of Extremadura
Extremadura
Extremadura is an autonomous community of western Spain whose capital city is Mérida. Its component provinces are Cáceres and Badajoz. It is bordered by Portugal to the west...
. On 5 November 1172 he was cited as governing Cabezón
Cabezon
Cabezón is the Spanish word for "stubborn" or "big-headed". Cabezon or cabezón may refer to:In Chile, cabezon means intelligent.-Fish species:* Cabezone , a species of fish in the Cottidae family...
. By 3 April 1173 Pedro was governing the Kingdom of Toledo
Kingdom of Toledo
The Kingdom of Toledo was the juridical definition of a Christian medieval kingdom in what is now central Spain, created after Alfonso VI of León's capture of Toledo in 1085.-Background:...
, the region centred on the populous city of Toledo
Toledo, Spain
Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...
and bordering 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...
to the south. That year, when Alfonso VIII invaded Navarre as far as Pamplona
Pamplona
Pamplona is the historial capital city of Navarre, in Spain, and of the former kingdom of Navarre.The city is famous worldwide for the San Fermín festival, from July 6 to 14, in which the running of the bulls is one of the main attractions...
, Pedro acted as a mediator between his sovereign and the king of Navarre, Sancho VI
Sancho VI of Navarre
Sancho VI Garcés , called the Wise , was the king of Navarre from 1150 until his death in 1194....
, his brother-in-law. The war ended in a treaty in October.
In 1177, Pedro took part in the Siege of Cuenca. On 19 August, during the siege, Cerebruno, Archbishop of Toledo, purchased Pedro's lands at Añover
Añover de Tajo
Añover de Tajo is a municipality located in the province of Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2006 census , the municipality has a population of 5095 inhabitants....
and Barcilés for 100 maravedíes. The size and sophistication of Pedro Manrique's own court and mesnada (private army) is indicated by his employment of a majordomo (maiordomus) of his own, Pedro Vidas, in 1177.
Second marriage
Pedro took as his second wife Margaret (Margarita, Mergerina), possibly Margaret of Huntingdon, a member of the royal house of ScotlandKingdom of Scotland
The Kingdom of Scotland was a Sovereign state in North-West Europe that existed from 843 until 1707. It occupied the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shared a land border to the south with the Kingdom of England...
, probably in 1177. The couple first appears as married on 30 December that year, when they made a donation to the Order of Calatrava and she was cited as "countess (comitissa) Margaret". They were still married on 17 November 1189. She gave him no known children.
A charter redacted at Angers
Angers
Angers is the main city in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France about south-west of Paris. Angers is located in the French region known by its pre-revolutionary, provincial name, Anjou, and its inhabitants are called Angevins....
on 23 January 1183 and preserved in the cartulary of Llanthony Secunda
Llanthony Secunda
Llanthony Secunda Priory is a ruined former Augustinian priory in Hempsted, Gloucester, England. Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford, founded the priory for the monks of Llanthony Priory, Vale of Ewyas, in what is now Monmouthshire, Wales, in 1136....
records the gift of bridewealth to a certain Margaret, relative of Henry II of England
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
, by her husband, Petrus Dei gratia comes de Lara. The properties granted were Molmera (perhaps Molina), Andaluz, Agusino, Eles
Yeles
Yeles is a municipality located in the province of Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2006 census , the municipality has a population of 3,113 inhabitants.- History :...
, and Polvoranca. This charter is the only piece of evidence to suggest that Pedro's wife was a Scottish princess. Margaret of Huntingdon, the daughter of Henry, Earl of Northumbria, was, however, married to Humphrey III de Bohun
Humphrey III de Bohun
Humphrey III de Bohun was an Anglo-Norman nobleman and general who served Henry II as Constable. He was the son of Humphrey II de Bohun and Margaret of Hereford, the eldest daughter of the erstwhile constable Miles of Gloucester. He had succeeded to his father's fiefs, centred on Trowbridge, by 29...
from about 1174 until his death in 1181, and was recorded as a widow in the Rotuli dominabus (1185/6). The primary argument for the identification of Pedro's wife and Margaret of Huntingdon is that Llanthony Secunda was founded in 1136 by Miles of Gloucester, who was the grandfather of Humphrey III de Bohun, thus providing a link between Pedro's wife and the monastery. Henry of Northumbria, Margaret's father, was a relative of the king of England. Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany
Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany
Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany and Earl of Richmond was Duke of Brittany between 1181 and 1186, through his marriage with the heiress Constance. Geoffrey was the fourth son of King Henry II of England and Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine.-Family:He was a younger maternal half-brother of Marie de...
, who confirmed the charter, was a son-in-law of Margaret by her first husband (Humphrey was her second), Conan IV of Brittany.
Use of seals
The earliest surviving aristocratic wax sealSeal (device)
A seal can be a figure impressed in wax, clay, or some other medium, or embossed on paper, with the purpose of authenticating a document ; but the term can also mean the device for making such impressions, being essentially a mould with the mirror image of the design carved in sunken- relief or...
from Spain is found hanging from a document of Pedro's dated 22 January 1179. Since this practice was already current in France
Kingdom of France
The Kingdom of France was one of the most powerful states to exist in Europe during the second millennium.It originated from the Western portion of the Frankish empire, and consolidated significant power and influence over the next thousand years. Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King, developed a...
, it is probable that it entered Spain through the Laras' connexions with Narbonne and was certainly influenced by Occitan and Catalan designs. It may have been made from a matrix cast as early as 1164, when Pedro succeeded his father in Molina. This is the only surviving example of Pedro's seal and, although heavily worn, its image is describable:
It depicts a knight, protected by a conical helmet and a long kite-shaped shield, mounted upon a galloping charger and brandishing a lance. This, without any shadow of a doubt, was how Count Pedro wished to present himself to the world: warlike, puissant, unstoppable; a warrior aristocrat indeed.
The seal is double-sided, both sides bearing equestrian depictions of Pedro. The obverse bears the barely discernable legend "seal of count Pedro", and the reverse and indiscernible legend that appears to be a sentence or motto. This would be the earliest of only three examples of personal seals from medieval Spain bearing mottoes. The charter to which it was attached put the village of Torralba de Ribota
Torralba de Ribota
Torralba de Ribota is a municipality located in the province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 189 inhabitants.-External links:*...
, which belonged to the mother church at Calatayud
Calatayud
Calatayud is a city and municipality in the province of Zaragoza in Aragón, Spain lying on the river Jalón, in the midst of the Sistema Ibérico mountain range. It is the second-largest city in the province after the capital, Zaragoza, and the largest town in Aragón other than the three provincial...
of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre
Order of the Holy Sepulchre
The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem is a Roman Catholic order of knighthood under the protection of the pope. It traces its roots to Duke Godfrey of Bouillon, principal leader of the First Crusade...
in Spain, under the protection of Pedro Dei gratia comes, "by the grace of God count". It was confirmed in the city of Calatayud on Saint Vincent's Day in the year 1217 of the Spanish era
Spanish era
The Spanish era, Hispanic era or Caesar era refers to the dating system used in Hispania until the 14th century, when the Anno Domini system was adopted. It began with year one in what is 38 BC, probably the date of a new tax imposed by the Roman Republic on the subdued population of Iberia....
. The identification with Pedro Manrique is secure, since there was neither another count named Pedro in Castile at the time nor any other count using the style Dei gratia. Pedro was at Torralba in March 1179. On 20 March Pedro assisted Alfonso VIII in laying the foundation stone of the Abbey of Huerta.
Relations with religious houses
On 11 February 1172 Pedro received half the villVill
Vill is a term used in English history to describe a land unit which might otherwise be described as a parish, manor or tithing.The term is used in the period immediately after the Norman conquest and into the late medieval. Land units in Domesday are frequently referred to as vills, although the...
of Beteta
Beteta
Beteta is a municipality in Cuenca, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It has a population of 444....
from Cathedral of Santa María in Sigüenza
Sigüenza
Sigüenza is a city in the province of Guadalajara in Spain.-History:The site of the ancient Segontia of the Celtiberian Arevaci, now called Villavieja , is half a league distant from the present Sigüenza...
in exchange for the monastery of Santa María de Molina. On 2 May Pedro made a donation to the Cistercian monastery at Sacramenia
Sacramenia
Sacramenia is a municipality located in the province of Segovia, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 540 inhabitants....
. On 17 May he made another donation to a Cistercian house, this time the Abbey of Huerta. Although he made donations to the Praemonstratensians and the Benedictines (the monastery of Arlanza
Arlanza
The River Arlanza rises in the Sierra de la Demanda, near Quintanar de la Sierra in an area known as Fuente Sanza. As it flows through the province of Burgos, Spain, it passes through the municipalities of Castrovido, Salas de los Infantes, Covarrubias and Lerma...
on an unknown date), the Cistercians were his preferred monastic order. The Cistercian historian Ángel Manrique in his Annales Cistercienses (II, 429) considers Pedro and his descendents, the Manriques de Lara, as the "second founders" of Huerta because of their numerous benefactions.
On 26 June 1176 Pedro made a donation to the regular clergy
Regular clergy
Regular clergy, or just regulars, is applied in the Roman Catholic Church to clerics who follow a "rule" in their life. Strictly, it means those members of religious orders who have made solemn profession. It contrasts with secular clergy.-Terminology and history:The observance of the Rule of St...
of Alcalech. In October 1176 he made an apparently pious donation to the cathedral of Sigüenza, for this time he received nothing in return. On 16 January 1178 he made his second donation to the parish of Molina.
On 1 January 1181 Pedro and his sister María granted the vill of Carabanchel
Carabanchel
Carabanchel is a district in the south western suburbs of Madrid, Spain.-Overview:The area was the scene of fierce fighting during the Spanish Civil War -especially in November 1936, during the Battle of Madrid, when Nationalist troops tried to fight their way into the area. Unacustomed to street...
, on the outskirts of Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, to a certain Gonzalo Díaz and his wife Melisenda. The vill had been mortgaged for 100 maravedíes by Ermessinde of Narbonne. Later that year (28 June) Pedro pledged 2,000 maravedíes for the construction of a monastery at Arandilla, which had lain in his jurisdiction since at least 1169. Besides the money, not only did Pedro offer land for the building of an abbey, he also granted the monks of Huerta (who were to build it) some four hundred sheep, forty cows, and ten mares. Pedro also instructed that he was to be buried at Arandilla if work on the monstery had not been finished by the time of his death, and that his successor was to donate a further 3,000 maravedíes. As early as 14 March 1167 Pedro's mother had attempted to establish a monastery there. She gave the usufruct
Usufruct
Usufruct is the legal right to use and derive profit or benefit from property that either belongs to another person or which is under common ownership, as long as the property is not damaged or destroyed...
of her estates at Arandilla to the monks of Huerta for two years on that date, and also promised them some properties at Molina. Ermessinde further pledged 200 gold pieces per annum for the erection of a monastery at Arandilla, offering even to pay the salary of the master builder who would supervise its construction. No monastery was every built at Arandilla, nor was Pedro buried there. It is not clear why the project failed.
On 11 March 1183, Pedro and his eldest son, García, made a donation to the Order of Calatrava for the good of the soul of his first wife, the latter's mother, the infanta Sancha. Pedro, with his sister María, made another donation to Calatrava that same month, letting go the castle of Alcozar. On 23 April he made a further pious donation (of two houses) to the Cathedral of Santa María
Burgos Cathedral
The Burgos Cathedral is a Gothic-style Roman Catholic cathedral in Burgos, Spain. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and is famous for its vast size and unique architecture. Its construction began in 1221, and was in use nine years later, although work continued on and off for two hundred years...
in Burgos
Burgos
Burgos is a city of northern Spain, historic capital of Castile. It is situated at the edge of the central plateau, with about 178,966 inhabitants in the city proper and another 20,000 in its suburbs. It is the capital of the province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León...
. Some time in 1183 Pedro and María mortgaged their joint property of the vill and castle of Los Ausines
Los Ausines
Los Ausines is a municipality located in the province of Burgos, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 136 inhabitants....
to the monastery of La Vid for 1,000 maravedíes.
Member of the Leonese court
Pedro is last seen ruling Toledo in May 1179. On 8 May 1181 Pedro was governing Hita. On 28 June that year he made a donation to Huerta, his third. Also in June 1179 Pedro rewarded one of his loyal followers, García de Alberit, and the latter's daughter Toda and brother Pascasio with land at Valtablado.On 27 January 1185 Pedro witnessed his first charter as a member of the court of Ferdinand II of León. By 11 February he had been appointed majordomo, the highest-ranking official at court. This appointment could not have lasted much more than a week, for Ferdinand had returned the former official, Rodrigo López, to the office by 16 February. By that time, however, Pedro had been appointed to a post away from court: the large and important, if quiet, tenencia of Asturias de Oviedo
Asturias de Oviedo
Asturias de Oviedo is one of the historical comarcas in the Kingdom of Asturias. It extended from the Eo River in the west to the Deva River in the east, and from the Bay of Biscay in the north to the Cordillera Cantábrica in the south...
. His tenencias steadily increased throughout the year. By 22 February he was governing the "towers of León", that is, the royal citadel that controlled the capital city; by 6 July he held Salamanca
Salamanca
Salamanca is a city in western Spain, in the community of Castile and León. Because it is known for its beautiful buildings and urban environment, the Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is the most important university city in Spain and is known for its contributions to...
and Toro, the latter only briefly; and by 26 September he was holding Ciudad Rodrigo
Ciudad Rodrigo
Ciudad Rodrigo is a small cathedral city in the province of Salamanca, in western Spain, with a population of about 14,000. It is the seat of a judicial district as well....
, an important city in the south of the kingdom. In 4 March 1186 Pedro was styled a "vassal
Vassal
A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...
of king Ferdinand" (uassallo regis Fernandi). There is an isolated reference to his governing Babia on 16 March and Luna on 31 March–1 April. He continued to govern Asturias de Oviedo, Ciudad Rodrigo, and Salamanca until at least 5 May that year. He held onto León a short while longer, for he was still in charge of the fortress there on 21 May.
On 29 January 1187 Pedro made a second donation to Alcalech (his first had been in 1176). From 1188 until 1200 Pedro was ruling the region of Cuenca
Cuenca (province)
Cuenca is a province of central Spain, in the eastern part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha.-Guide to the area:Located in a natural setting of beauty, the Old Town of Cuenca occupies a superb site between two river gorges. Famous are its 15th Century "hanging houses" , that appear...
. After 1190 Pedro no longer held Atienza. Beginning in that year he ruled Huete
Huete
Huete is a municipality in Cuenca, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It has a population of 2,097....
, where his father had been killed in battle. His rule there lasted until at least 21 March 1198. On 13 June 1195 Pedro made a second donation to the cathedral of Sigüenza.
Viscount of Narbonne
Pedro seems to have been second in line to the viscounty of Narbonne, since his aunt, the viscountess Ermengarde, was childless. Pedro's brother Aimerico Manrique de LaraAimerico Manrique de Lara
Aimerico Manrique de Lara was the co-Viscount of Narbonne from 1167 and Duke of Narbonne from 1172. His name can be spelled Aimeric or Aymeric, and is sometimes Gallicised as Aimery, but he is not usually numbered among the others of his name who ruled Narbonne.-Origins:Aimeric is first mentioned...
was invited to co-rule with Ermengarde, but on his death in 1177 the viscountess again ruled without a male consort, at least until 1184. In that year the abbot of Fontfroide, the abbey where Aimerico was buried, donated the hamlet of Terrail to the Archbishop of Narbonne, Bernard Gaucelin. The archbishop solicited a confirmation of this acquisition of territory within the viscounty from "Ermengarde, viscountess of Narbonne, and from you, Count Pedro, and from your successors," which suggests the presence of Pedro Manrique north of the Pyrenees and that his aunt had recognised him as her heir. The confirmation was duly received from Ermengarde, "by the grace of God, viscountess of Narbonne, and my relative Pedro, by the same grace count." This demonstrates that on the other side of the Pyrenees Pedro continued to style himself and be styled as a count, as in "Count Pedro, Viscount of Narbonne".
In 1192 on the abdication of his aunt (died 1197), Pedro succeeded in the viscounty of Narbonne. On 28 April 1194 he, "in consideration of the good", named his second son, Aimerico
Aimery III of Narbonne
Aimery III , known in Spanish as Aimerico Pérez de Lara, was the Viscount of Narbonne from 1194 until his own death. He was a member of the House of Lara. Throughout his reign he had to navigate competing claims of suzerainty over him and until 1223 his reign was dominated by the Occitan War...
, as his heir there, and may have invested him with the viscounty. Aimerico remained behind in it, for he did not return to Castile until after Pedro's death in 1202. Besides the viscounty, Pedro also inherited suzerainty
Suzerainty
Suzerainty occurs where a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which controls its foreign affairs while allowing the tributary vassal state some limited domestic autonomy. The dominant entity in the suzerainty relationship, or the more powerful entity itself, is called a...
over the viscounts of Béziers, which he included in his cession to his son of 1194. Excepted was the castle of Montpesat, which Pedro retained under his control.
Death and legacy
In April 1199 Pedro was present at Huerta when it was visited by Alfonso VIII, the occasion for which the Poem de mio Cid may have first been publicly recited. On 30 October 1199 he made his second donation to La Vid. In September 1200 he may have been present at ArizaAriza
Ariza is a municipality in the province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain. It is located in the Almazán basin, near the western boundary of Aragon, 142 km from Zaragoza....
when Peter II of Aragon
Peter II of Aragon
Peter II the Catholic was the King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona from 1196 to 1213.He was the son of Alfonso II of Aragon and Sancha of Castile...
received the local castle from his mother, Sancha.
Pedro's last appearance at court was on 11 December 1201. He died early in 1202 and was buried in the abbey of Huerta, next to his first wife under the first stone archway of the cloister, on 14 January, according to the Anales toledanos primeros. On 29 July 1203 the Cistercian monastery at Piedra received properties promised it in Pedro's will.
Although there is no further mention of Pedro's second wife, Margaret, after their joint donation to Calatrava on 17 November 1189, his third and final wife (and widow), Mafalda, is not mentioned until after his death, on 3 February 1202, when she and her eldest son by Pedro, Gonzalo, sold their estate at Tragacete
Tragacete
Tragacete is a municipality located in the province of Cuenca, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 356 inhabitants....
to the city council of Cuenca
Cuenca, Spain
-History:When the Iberian peninsula was part of the Roman Empire there were several important settlements in the province, such as Segóbriga, Ercávica and Gran Valeria...
for 4,000 maravedíes. She also had by Pedro a son named Rodrigo or Ruy, who in the 1190s joined his father at the royal court and became merino mayor
Merindad
Merindad is a Mediaeval Spanish administrative term that refers to a country subdivision smaller than a province but larger than a municipality. It was roughly approximate to the English count or bailiff...
. He also became the lord of Amusco
Amusco
Amusco is a municipality located in the province of Palencia, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 507 inhabitants....
and Mont-Pesat.
British historian Richard A. Fletcher
Richard A. Fletcher
Richard A. Fletcher was a historian who specialized in the medieval period. He was Professor of History at the University of York and one of the outstanding talents in English and Spanish medieval scholarship....
believed that Manrique, the Bishop of León from 1181 to 1205, was a son of Pedro and Sancha, although it is more likely that he was his brother.