Gonzalo Ruiz Girón

Last updated April 04, 2019

Gonzalo Ruiz Girón (died 1280) was a Spanish nobleman from Palencia. He was Grand Master of the Order of Santiago, and Adelantado of the Kingdom of Murcia. Ruiz was killed at the Battle of Moclín. He was a member of the House of Girón.

Palencia is a province of northern Spain, in the northern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. It is bordered by the provinces of León, Cantabria, Burgos, and Valladolid.

The Order of Santiago, also known as "The Order of St. James of the Sword," was founded in the 12th century, and owes its name to the Patron Saint of Spain, Santiago. Its initial objective was to protect the pilgrim of St. James' Way, to defend Christendom and to remove the Muslim Moors from the Iberian Peninsula.

Adelantado was a title held by Spanish nobles in service of their respective kings during the Middle Ages. It was later used as a military title held by some Spanish conquistadores of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries.

Family Origins

He was the son of Gonzalo González Girón and Teresa Arias. His paternal grandparents were Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón, a noble from Frechilla and Autillo de Campos, head mayordomo of King Alfonso VIII of Castile and his first wife Sancha Rodríguez. They are credited with founding the Hospital de la Herrada in Carrión de los Condes.^[1] His maternal grandparents were Arias González de Quesada and María Froilaz.

Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón, also known as Gonzalo Ruiz Girón, firstborn son of Rodrigo Gutiérrez Girón and María de Guzmán, was one of Castile's wealthiest and most powerful nobles. He was based in Tierra de Campos, and was among the most loyal supporters of King Alfonso VIII of Castile, Berengaria of Castile, and later of King Ferdinand III.

Frechilla is a municipality located in the province of Palencia, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 249 inhabitants.

Autillo de Campos is a municipality located in the province of Palencia, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 191 inhabitants.

The family legend states that a noble named Rodrigo González de Cisneros saved the life of King Alfonso VI of León by giving the king his horse and thus allowing him to escape what was apparently a battle lost to a Moorish Kingdom. He cut three pieces (jirones or girones, in Spanish) from the King's tunic and later asked the King to allow him to use these in his coat of arms.

A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon, surcoat, or tabard. The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement which in its whole consists of shield, supporters, crest, and motto. A coat of arms is traditionally unique to an individual person, family, state, organization or corporation.

This legend has no foundations and the events are not mentioned by historians or in popular tradition. Most importantly, the use of coats of arms was unknown at the time of King Alfonso VI and it was not until a century later that this custom became common.^[2]

Traditionally, the House of Girón was one of the most powerful families in the area of Tierra de Campos since the time of the Banu Gómez.^[3]

Tierra de Campos Natural region in Castile and León, Spain

Tierra de Campos is a large historical and natural region or greater comarca that straddles the provinces of León, Zamora, Valladolid and Palencia, in Castile and León, Spain. It is a vast, desolate plain with practically no relief, except for some wide undulations of the terrain.

The Banu Gómez were a powerful but fractious noble family living on the Castilian marches of the Kingdom of León from the 10th to the 12th centuries. They rose to prominence in the 10th century as counts in Saldaña, Carrión and Liébana, and reached their apogee when, allied with Córdoba warlord, Almanzor, their head, García Gómez, expelled king Vermudo II of León and briefly ruled there. He would reconcile with the royal family, but launched two subsequent rebellions. On his death, the senior line of the family was eclipsed, but a younger branch would return to prominence, producing Pedro Ansúrez, one of the premier noblemen under king Alfonso VI and queen Urraca in the late 11th and early 12th centuries. The family would be portrayed in the Cantar de Mio Cid as rivals and antagonists of the hero, El Cid, and their rebellions would serve as a basis for the legend of Bernardo del Carpio.

Biography

He entered into the Order of Santiago de la Espada and was made commander of Ocaña, León, and Castile.

Ocaña, a town and municipality of central Spain, in the province of Toledo. It is located on the extreme north of the tableland known as the Mesa de Ocaña, and has a station on the railway from Aranjuez to Cuenca.

The 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. The County of Castile separated in 931, the County of Portugal separated to become the independent Kingdom of Portugal in 1139 and the eastern, inland part of León was joined to the Kingdom of Castile in 1230.

The Kingdom of Castile was a large and powerful state located on the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region. It began in the 9th century as the County of Castile, an eastern frontier lordship of the Kingdom of León. During the 10th century its counts increased their autonomy, but it was not until 1065 that it was separated from León and became a kingdom in its own right. Between 1072 and 1157 it was again united with León, and after 1230 this union became permanent. Throughout this period the Castilian kings made extensive conquests in southern Iberia at the expense of the Islamic principalities. Castile and León, with their southern acquisitions, came to be known collectively as the Crown of Castile, a term that also came to encompass overseas expansion.

In 1274, he gained ownership over the charter of Montiel and the towns of Cózar and Alcubillas. In 1275, he was elected as Grand Master of the Order of Santiago, succeeding Pelayo Pérez Correa. In that same here, Gonzalo was granted a lifelong title over areas in Montiel and was responsible for the repopulation, and the foundation of new localities.

Death

In 1280, Gonzalo died as a result of injuries received during the Battle of Moclín, which was fought on the 23rd of June of that year in the municipality of Moclín in Granada. More than 2,800 men died in that battle, including a large number of the members of the Order of Santiago. He was buried in the town of Alcaudete in Jaén.^[4]

Marriage and Descendants

Gonzalo married Elvira Díaz de Castañeda, granddaughter of Alvar Díaz de Asturias and of Teresa Perez Girón, daughter of Diego Gómez de Castañeda. Gonzalo had at least two children with Elvira:

Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón y Castañeda y Rodrigo González, also known as Rodrigo González de San Román or Ruy González Girón
María Girón y Castañeda, who married Alvar Pérez de Guzmán, and was the eventual grandmother of Leonor de Guzmán and of Alonso Meléndez de Guzmán.

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References

↑ Salazar y Acha (1989) p.82
↑ Cotarelo Mori, Emilio (July 1903). "Las armas de los Girones: Estudios de la antigua heráldica española" (PDF). Revista de Archivos, bibliotecas y museos (in Spanish). pp. 18–19, volume IX. OCLC 431825172.
↑ Barón Faraldo, Andrés (2006). Grupos y dominios aristocráticos en la Tierrade Campos oriental, Siglos X-XIII (in Spanish). Palencia: Monografías. p. 171. ISBN 84-8173-122-6.
↑ Lafuente Alcántara, Miguel (2008). Historia de Granada, comprendiendo la de sus cuatro provincias. Tomo I. Valladolid: Editorial Maxtor. p. 340. ISBN 84-9761-505-0.

Bibliography

García Fitz, Francisco (2005). Universidad de Sevilla, ed. Castilla y León frente al Islam. Estrategias de expansión y tácticas militares (siglos XI-XIII) (1st ed.). Madrid: Secretariado de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Sevilla. ISBN 84-472-0421-9.

González Jiménez, Manuel (October 2004). Alfonso X el Sabio (1st ed.). Barcelona: Editorial Ariel S. A. ISBN 84-344-6758-5.

González Jiménez, Manuel (1991). "Relaciones de las Ordenes Militares castellanas con la Corona (siglos XII-XIII)". Historia, instituciones, documentos (18). Sevilla: Universidad de Sevilla: Departamento de Historia Medieval y Ciencias y Técnicas Historiográficas. pp. 209–222. ISSN 0210-7716 . Retrieved 20 March 2010.

Ibáñez de Segovia Peralta y Mendoza, Gaspar; Marqués de Mondejar (1777). Joachin Ibarra, ed. Memorias historicas del Rei D. Alonso el Sabio i observaciones a su chronica. Madrid.

Lafuente Alcántara, Miguel (2008). Historia de Granada, comprendiendo la de sus cuatro provincias. Tomo I. Valladolid: Editorial Maxtor. ISBN 84-9761-505-0.

Torres Fontes, Juan (1977). "La Orden de Santa María de España". Miscelánea medieval murciana. 3. Murcia: Universidad de Murcia. pp. 73–118. ISSN 0210-4903 . Retrieved 20 March 2010.

de Salazar y Acha, Jaime (1989). "Los descendientes del conde Ero Fernández, fundador de Monasterio de Santa María de Ferreira de Pallares". El Museo de Pontevedra (43). pp. 67–86. ISSN 0210-7791.