Rodrigo Gómez (Castilian nobleman)

Biography

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.

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).

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.

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.

In 1132, Rodrigo supported his kinsman, Gonzalo Peláez, then in revolt in western Asturias, and rapidly fell from favour.

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 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.

Notes

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 Flórez, ed. Madrid: 1767.

;Secondary

• Simon Barton. The Aristocracy in Twelfth-century León and Castile. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
• Carlos Estepa Díez. "Frontera, nobleza y señoríos en Castilla: el señorío de Molina (siglos XII–XIII)" Studia historica: Historia medieval, 24 (2006), 15–86.
• Bernard F. Reilly. The Kingdom of León-Castilla under King Alfonso VII, 1126–1157. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998.

References

1. Barton, 291.
2. Barton, 65.
3. Barton, 207.
4. The couple produced three sons, each of whom became counts: Álvaro, Gómez, and [[Gonzalo Ruiz
5. 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]").Barton, 127.
6. 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.Barton, 179–80.
7. Barton, 140.
8. Barton, 174.
9. Reilly, 83.