Rodrigo Gómez
Encyclopedia
Rodrigo Gómez was a Castilian
nobleman and military leader under Alfonso VII. He governed large parts of Asturias
and northern Castile, was involved in the politics with neighbouring Navarre
, to whose royal family he was related by marriage, and took part in the Reconquista
. Although he was rewarded for loyalty by his sovereign on more than one occasion, he did take part in one brief rebellion, led by a relative. His was a branch of the Lara family.
Rodrigo was a son of Gómez González
and Urraca Muñoz. He married Elvira, a daughter of the Navarrese infante Ramiro Sánchez, sometime before 1137, when they made a joint donation of their villa (palacio in contemporary records) at Villaverde
to the monastery of San Salvador de Oña
. In this donation Rodrigo expressed the wish that his gift would purchase eternal life for his lord, Alfonso VII. Elvira outlived her husband by several years, making another donation to Oña on 18 February 1161 just before her departure on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The couple produced three sons, each of whom became counts: Álvaro, Gómez, and Gonzalo
.
According to one historian, Rodrigo first appears in royal documents in 1119, eight years after his father's death at the Battle of Candespina
(1111). Another historian cites a document of 13 February 1121 in the archives of the monastery of Sahagún
, a favoured royal residence, as his first public appearance. After the death of Queen Urraca on 8 March 1126, Rodrigo and his brother Diego were among the first to do homage to her successor, Alfonso VII. In this connexion, they are the first Castilians listed by the Chronica Adefonsi imperatoris, which says of Rodrigo postea ab eo factus est consul ("later made count by him [the king]").
On 17 June 1126 Rodrigo made a donation to the Benedictine
monastery of San Pedro de las Dueñas. He made many other donations to the Benedictine monastery at Oña, both before and after his marriage (e.g. 1142).
Early in Alfonso's reign Rodrigo began to accrue positions in Castile. On 13 September 1129 he was holding Cervera
and Mudá
from the king. On 16 November 1129 he was recorded as holding Briviesca
. After the rebellion of Rodrigo González de Lara
in 1130, Rodrigo Gómez was his replacement as governor of Asturias de Santillana, although the first charter that records him as such dates to 2 December 1131. He continued to govern that region for the rest of his life. He was also the recipient of royal largesse in October 1130.
By 1 June 1131 Rodrigo had been given the title count
(comes or consul), the highest dignity in the realm. At the same time he is first mentioned ruling Bureba, which he held onto until at least 25 February 1144. His son Gonzalo would also rule Bureba for most of his career.
In 1132 Rodrigo supported his kinsman, Gonzalo Peláez
, then in revolt in western Asturias, and rapidly fell from favour. The king was assembling an army at Atienza
for a war with Alfonso I of Aragon and Navarre
when he learned of the insurrection. He changed plans and led his army into Asturias, where he "seized [Rodrigo Gómez], and he stripped him of his honor and sent him away," according to the Chronica Adefonsi (I, §30). There is some dispute whether the Rodrigo of the rebellion was the same as the count, but if he was the latter he was soon restored. He was still at court on 28 May 1132 and had already returned to favour by January 1133.
On 19 December 1135 Rodrigo and his sisters, Sancha and Estefanía, made a donation to Oña for the sake of their late brother Diego's soul. On 21 November 1137 Alfonso VII granted Rodrigo a series of estates in gratitude for his loyal service, the events of 1132 apparently notwithstanding. By 14 September 1138 Rodrigo had been appointed governor of Belorado
, a post which he held until 1144, at which time he also appeared briefly ruling Cerezo. In 1139 he participated in the Siege of Oreja
throughout the summer and into the autumn.
On 22 February 1140 Rodrigo was witness to a treaty between Alfonso VII and Raymond Berengar IV of Barcelona at Carrión de los Condes
. Later that year, Rodrigo, with Gutierre Fernández de Castro and a certain Lope López, waged war on García Ramírez of Navarre on behalf of Alfonso VII. García of Navarre was in fact Rodrigo's brother-in-law.
By 27 January 1141 Rodrigo was recorded as ruling Castile, a reference to Castella Vetula (Old Castile) in the north of the kingdom, territory which bordered Asturias de Santillana. He continued to hold it until his death. In 1142 he was appointed tutor or guardian of García, the youngest son of Alfonso VII. That same year Rodrigo confirmed the donation he and Elvira had made in 1137 of their villa at Villaverde to Oña, this time extending his hopes to include the eternal life of his ward García. The young García died in 1145.
In 1144 Rodrigo and Gutierre Fernández escorted the king of Navarre, against whom they had been fighting four years previous, from León to Pamplona
with his new bride, Urraca, the daughter of Alfonso VII. The escorts were rewarded by García, as recounted in the Chronica Adefonsi (I, §94):
The last document citing Rodrigo as ruling Asturias and Castile dates from 19 September 1146. Shortly afterwards he made his last donation to Oña, on 21 September. The last reference to Rodrigo as still living dates to November 1146. According to the Chronicon Burgense
he died that year. Surviving royal documents reveal that he spent most of his last year at court.
Secondary
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 under Alfonso VII. He governed large parts of Asturias
Asturias
The Principality of Asturias is an autonomous community of the Kingdom of Spain, coextensive with the former Kingdom of Asturias in the Middle Ages...
and northern Castile, was involved in the politics with neighbouring Navarre
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....
, to whose royal family he was related by marriage, and took part in 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...
. Although he was rewarded for loyalty by his sovereign on more than one occasion, he did take part in one brief rebellion, led by a relative. His was a branch of the Lara family.
Rodrigo was a son of Gómez González
Gómez González
Gómez González , called de Lara or de Candespina, was a Castilian nobleman and military leader who had some claim to being Count of Castile. He was the eldest son and successor of Gonzalo Salvadórez and his wife Sancha, and thus kinsman of the Lara family...
and Urraca Muñoz. He married Elvira, a daughter of the Navarrese infante Ramiro Sánchez, sometime before 1137, when they made a joint donation of their villa (palacio in contemporary records) at Villaverde
Villaverde
Villaverde may refer to:*Villaverde, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines*Villaverde, Álava, Spain*Villaverde, Madrid, Spain*Villaverde de Guadalimar, Spain*Villaverde de Íscar, Spain*Villaverde de Montejo, Spain*Villaverde del Monte, Spain...
to the monastery of San Salvador de Oña
San Salvador de Oña
San Salvador de Oña is a monastery in Oña, in the province of Burgos, central Spain.It was founded in 1011 by Sancho García, count of Castile, for his daughter Tigridia. In 1033 it was assigned to the Cistercian Order. In 1506 it went to the Benedictines of Valladolid. It was damaged during the...
. In this donation Rodrigo expressed the wish that his gift would purchase eternal life for his lord, Alfonso VII. Elvira outlived her husband by several years, making another donation to Oña on 18 February 1161 just before her departure on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The couple produced three sons, each of whom became counts: Álvaro, Gómez, and Gonzalo
Gonzalo Ruiz
Gonzalo Ruiz or Rodríguez was the ruler of La Bureba throughout much of the mid-twelfth century. He held important positions at the courts of successive Castilian monarchs and guarded the frontier with Navarre, to whose Jiménez rulers he was related...
.
According to one historian, Rodrigo first appears in royal documents in 1119, eight years after his father's death at the Battle of Candespina
Battle of Candespina
The Battle of Candespina was fought on 26 October 1111 between the forces of Alfonso I of Aragon and those of his estranged wife, Urraca of León and Castile, in the Campo de la Espina near Sepúlveda. Alfonso was victorious, as he would be again in a few weeks at the Battle of Viadangos.The battle...
(1111). Another historian cites a document of 13 February 1121 in the archives of the monastery of Sahagún
Sahagún
Sahagún can refer to:*Sahagún, Spain, a town and monastery in Léon, Spain. Cradle of the Mudéjar architecture*Sahagún, Córdoba, the second town in population in Córdoba Department, Colombia, also called "The Cultural City of Cordoba"People...
, a favoured royal residence, as his first public appearance. After the death of Queen Urraca on 8 March 1126, Rodrigo and his brother Diego were among the first to do homage to her successor, Alfonso VII. In this connexion, they are the first Castilians listed by the Chronica Adefonsi imperatoris, which says of Rodrigo postea ab eo factus est consul ("later made count by him [the king]").
On 17 June 1126 Rodrigo made a donation to the Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
monastery of San Pedro de las Dueñas. He made many other donations to the Benedictine monastery at Oña, both before and after his marriage (e.g. 1142).
Early in Alfonso's reign Rodrigo began to accrue positions in Castile. On 13 September 1129 he was holding Cervera
Cervera
Cervera is the capital of the comarca of Segarra, in the province of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. The title Compte de Cervera is a courtesy title, formerly part of the Crown of Aragon, that has been revived for Felipe, Prince of Asturias....
and Mudá
Mudá
Mudá is a municipality located in the province of Palencia, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 105 inhabitants....
from the king. On 16 November 1129 he was recorded as holding Briviesca
Briviesca
Briviesca is a municipality located in the province of Burgos, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2007 census , the municipality has a population of 7,227 inhabitants....
. After the rebellion of Rodrigo González de Lara
Rodrigo González de Lara
Rodrigo González de Lara was a Castilian nobleman of the House of Lara. Early in his career he ruled that half of Asturias allocated to Castile. He was faithful to the crown throughout the reign of Queen Urraca , during which time he was married to the queen's half-sister and ruled a large part of...
in 1130, Rodrigo Gómez was his replacement as governor of Asturias de Santillana, although the first charter that records him as such dates to 2 December 1131. He continued to govern that region for the rest of his life. He was also the recipient of royal largesse in October 1130.
By 1 June 1131 Rodrigo had been given the title count
Count
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 or consul), the highest dignity in the realm. At the same time he is first mentioned ruling Bureba, which he held onto until at least 25 February 1144. His son Gonzalo would also rule Bureba for most of his career.
In 1132 Rodrigo supported his kinsman, Gonzalo Peláez
Gonzalo Peláez
Gonzalo Peláez was the ruler of the Asturias from 1110 to 1132, during the reigns of Queen Urraca and her son, Alfonso VII . He held high military posts under the latter, but in 1132 he began a five-year rebellion against Alfonso, punctuated by three brief reconciliations...
, then in revolt in western Asturias, and rapidly fell from favour. The king was assembling an army at 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 :...
for a war with Alfonso I of Aragon and Navarre
Alfonso the Battler
Alfonso I , called the Battler or the Warrior , was the king of Aragon and Navarre from 1104 until his death in 1134. He was the second son of King Sancho Ramírez and successor of his brother Peter I...
when he learned of the insurrection. He changed plans and led his army into Asturias, where he "seized [Rodrigo Gómez], and he stripped him of his honor and sent him away," according to the Chronica Adefonsi (I, §30). There is some dispute whether the Rodrigo of the rebellion was the same as the count, but if he was the latter he was soon restored. He was still at court on 28 May 1132 and had already returned to favour by January 1133.
On 19 December 1135 Rodrigo and his sisters, Sancha and Estefanía, made a donation to Oña for the sake of their late brother Diego's soul. On 21 November 1137 Alfonso VII granted Rodrigo a series of estates in gratitude for his loyal service, the events of 1132 apparently notwithstanding. By 14 September 1138 Rodrigo had been appointed governor of Belorado
Belorado
Belorado is a village and municipality in Spain, belonging to the Province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile-Leon. It has a population of approximately 2,100 inhabitants. As well is known for being a city in the Way of Saint James....
, a post which he held until 1144, at which time he also appeared briefly ruling Cerezo. In 1139 he participated in the Siege of Oreja
Siege of Oreja
The Siege of Oreja by the forces of Alfonso VII, Emperor of Spain, lasted from April to October 1139, when the Almoravid garrison surrendered. It was the first major victory of the renewed Reconquista that characterised the last two decades of Alfonso's reign.-Principal sources:The main source for...
throughout the summer and into the autumn.
On 22 February 1140 Rodrigo was witness to a treaty between Alfonso VII and Raymond Berengar IV of Barcelona at Carrión de los Condes
Carrión de los Condes
Carrión de los Condes is a municipality in the province of Palencia, part of the Autonomous Community of Castile and León, Spain.It is 40 kilometers from Palencia, on the Way of Saint James.-History:...
. Later that year, Rodrigo, with Gutierre Fernández de Castro and a certain Lope López, waged war on García Ramírez of Navarre on behalf of Alfonso VII. García of Navarre was in fact Rodrigo's brother-in-law.
By 27 January 1141 Rodrigo was recorded as ruling Castile, a reference to Castella Vetula (Old Castile) in the north of the kingdom, territory which bordered Asturias de Santillana. He continued to hold it until his death. In 1142 he was appointed tutor or guardian of García, the youngest son of Alfonso VII. That same year Rodrigo confirmed the donation he and Elvira had made in 1137 of their villa at Villaverde to Oña, this time extending his hopes to include the eternal life of his ward García. The young García died in 1145.
In 1144 Rodrigo and Gutierre Fernández escorted the king of Navarre, against whom they had been fighting four years previous, from León to 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...
with his new bride, Urraca, the daughter of Alfonso VII. The escorts were rewarded by García, as recounted in the Chronica Adefonsi (I, §94):
[At Pamplona] King García prepared a royal feast for the Castilians and for all the knights and officers of his kingdom. The celebration lasted several days. When it was over, the King gave magnificent gifts to the Castilian nobles, and each of them returned to his land.
The last document citing Rodrigo as ruling Asturias and Castile dates from 19 September 1146. Shortly afterwards he made his last donation to Oña, on 21 September. The last reference to Rodrigo as still living dates to November 1146. According to the Chronicon Burgense
Chronicon Burgense
The Chronicon Burgense is a collection of Latin annals that, together with the Annales Compostellani and the Chronicon Ambrosianum, may form a group of related histories sometimes called the Efemérides riojanas because they may have been compiled in La Rioja...
he died that year. Surviving royal documents reveal that he spent most of his last year at court.
Works cited
Primary- The Chronicle of Alfonso the Emperor: A Translation of the Chronica Adefonsi imperatoris. Glenn Edward Lipskey, PhD dissertation, Northwestern University, 1972.
- Chronicon Burgense. España Sagrada, XXIII, 307–10. Enrique FlórezEnrique FlorezEnrique Flórez de Setién y Huidobro was a Spanish historian.Florez was born in Valladolid. At 15 years old, he entered the order of St Augustine. He subsequently became professor of theology at the University of Alcala, where he published a Cursus theologiae in five volumes...
, ed. Madrid: 1767.
Secondary
- Simon Barton. The Aristocracy in Twelfth-century León and Castile. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
- Bernard F. Reilly. The Kingdom of León-Castilla under King Alfonso VII, 1126–1157. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998.
Further reading
- F. Sagredo Fernández. "La tenencia de Bureba en la primera mitad del siglo XII." Homenaje a Fray Justo Pérez de Urbel, OSB, I, 197–217. Santo Domingo de Silos, 1977.