"Aragonese deliver the castle to the queen. Oh!!, How much military glory gave to Galicians that day when the Aragonese king escaped in front of them!. But much was more excellent and cheerful when the brave forces of Galicia protected Castile and its knights from attack by enemies and forced to take back the Castle occupied by the Aragonese. Oh shame!!, the Castilians need foreign forces and are protected by the audacity of the Galicians!. What will happen with these cowardly knights when the Galicia's armies -their shield and protection- leave?."
Contents
Historia Compostellana, Book I, Chapter 90
The Historia Compostelana (fully titled in Latin : De rebus gestis D. Didaci Gelmirez, primi Compostellani Archiepiscopi [1] ) is a historical chronicle by several authors based on the relation of events by a writer in the immediate circle of Diego Gelmírez, [2] second bishop (1100–1120) then first archbishop (1120–1140) of Compostela, one of the major figures of the Middle Ages in Galicia. [3] The primary narrative of the Historia Compostelana spans the years 1100 – 1139, the years of Gelmírez' tenure, in three books. Its twofold central agenda is to extol the Archbishop's doings, while establishing the foundation and rights of Santiago de Compostela, including its founding legend, which provided apostolic connections with Saint James the Great. The bishopric had been transferred from Iria Flavia to Compostela as recently as 1095.
From a Galician perspective, the Historia recounts the reigns of the contemporary sovereigns of Castile: Alfonso VI (until 1109), Urraca (1109–1126) and Alfonso VII (from 1126). "A very complex work of multiple authorship, it must be used with care, for it is essentially an episcopal gesta of Diego Gelmírez, bishop and then archbishop of Santiago de Compostela, and very partisan in its commentary," is the assessment of the major historian of this period, Bernard F. Reilly. [4]
In the context of Hispanic historiography in Latin, it is unique for narrating contemporary events and utilizing documents inserted in the text, giving it great historical value.
The Historia contains an account of the translation of the body of St. James to Galicia in the first century CE in its opening chapter. It says that the body was brought to the forest of Libredón, near the river Sar, and buried by several disciples in a marble tomb. [5] The account goes on to claim that Christianity was then lost in Spain for a period and restored before the Muslim conquest of Spain.
The tomb was lost until the bishop Theodemir in the ninth century, when God sought to "change the fortune of the Church" by revealing its location. The second chapter of Book I describes its discovery and the confirmation of the relics by Alfonso II, before beginning an ecclesiastical history of Compostela from the early ninth century until the episcopacy of Diego Peláez. During this period, the episcopal seat was shared between the old centre of Iria Flavia and the emerging centre of Compostela.
Chapters II-IX contains a list of Irian-Compostelan bishops. An early bishop, Adaulfo II, was accused of sodomy by his jealous rivals and sentenced to trial by bullfight; as Adaulfo was innocent, the bull did not charge him. He was followed by Sisnando, who was noted as a pious man, and Hermenegildo (d. 951), who was unpopular and considered a thief. Bishop Sisnando II was imprisoned by Sancho I of León, and then battled Rosendo (d. 968), who succeeded him as bishop. In 985 Bishop Pelayo Rodríguez was apparently removed by Bermudo II and replaced by Pedro de Mozonzo; in retribution, his father is said to have encouraged Almanzor to sack Compostela. However, Manuel Suárez notes that Pelayo may have simply retired to Celanovas, and it is highly unlikely that the sack of Compostela happened at the behest of a minor nobleman.
The bishop following the sack of Compostela was Pelayo Díaz, who was removed from the seat by force: the Historia says he was seen as an usurper and therefore an illegitimate bishop. His brother Vimara Díaz then became bishop of Iria-Compostela. Vimara was likewise unpopular and was drowned in the River Miño by the Galician nobility. Bishop Cresconio (d. 1066-67) repelled a Viking invasion from Compostela and built walls around the city. His nephew Gudesteo succeeded him but was removed (likely killed) by the count Froilan after a dispute in 1069.
The next bishop of Iria-Compostela was Diego Peláez. It was during this period, around 1075, that construction of the Romanesque cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, replacing the building which had stood there since the ninth century. The Historia Compostelana speaks well of Peláez, though admits that he involved himself in affairs unsuited to his office. The business in question was clarified later in the history as attempting to free García II of Galicia from prison and rebel against Alfonso VI of León and Castile by reinstating Galicia as an independent kingdom. Peláez was apparently involved with William I of England in this endeavour, but was deposed in 1086 before the plan could be implemented. After the deposition of Bishop Peláez, the see of Iria-Compostela was left without a bishop, instead being ruled by a combination of the nobility and temporary prelates. The nobles appointed Pedro of Cardeña as bishop, but this was not approved by the pope, and he was deemed illegitimate and deposed within two years. Another bishop was appointed around 1090, Pedro Vimáraz, but he was described as cruel and died "bitterly" not long after. Though Vimáraz arranged the marriage of Urraca to Raymond of Burgundy and the latter's appointment as Count of Galicia, both seen as positive developments, the history laments the disarray within the canonry which occurred during his brief rule.
Diego Gelmírez, the central figure of the Historia, comes concretely into the narrative around 1093 when he is recorded as the secretary of Raymond of Burgundy. During this period, the see of Iria-Compostela did not have a bishop, and so in 1094 Gelmírez was made the temporary administrator of the church. He was given this position by the Galician nobility due to his father Gelmírio's good reputation as a steward. The Historia does not provide details about Gelmírez's early life, but does say he was a native of Galicia and came from a noble family. His father had been caretaker of some Church property in southern Galicia and was noted for his prudence.
Gelmírez's first prelature was short-lived. In 1095 the Cluniac monk Dalmacio was elected as the bishop. Dalmacio began to restore the church and attended the Council of Clermont, where an extension was granted to the church of Santiago. The 1095 extension officially moved the episcopal seat from Iria to Compostela, ending the two centuries of joint rule, and made Compostela exempt from a metropolitan. This meant that Compostela was under the jurisdiction of the Holy See rather than an archbishop, and was granted largely due to the tomb of St. James. Shortly after returning from Clermont, Dalmacio died, and Diego Gelmírez again became the administrator of the church.
In 1099 the pope gave permission for a new bishop to be elected, and in March of 1100 Gelmírez travelled to Rome to be ordained an archdeacon. He was elected as the second bishop of Compostela in July of that year, though he was not consecrated until Easter 1101 due to safety concerns amidst conflict with Aragón.
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Urraca, called "the reckless" (la temeraria), was Queen of León, Castile and Galicia from 1109 until her death. She claimed the imperial title as suo jure Empress of All Spain and Empress of All Galicia. She is considered to be the first European queen to reign in her own right.
Iria Flavia or simply Iria in Galicia, northwestern Spain, is an ancient settlement and former bishopric in the modern municipality of Padrón, which remains a Catholic titular see.
Diego Gelmírez or Xelmírez was the second bishop and first archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, modern Spain. He is a prominent figure in the history of Galicia and an important historiographer of the Iberia of his day. Diego involved himself in many quarrels, ecclesiastical and secular, which were recounted in the Historia Compostelana, which covered his episcopacy from 1100 to 1139 and serves as a sort of gesta of the bishop's life.
Raymond of Burgundy was the ruler of Galicia as vassal of Alfonso VI of León and Castile, the Emperor of All Spain, from about 1090 until his death. He was the fourth son of Count William I of Burgundy and Stephanie. He married Urraca, future queen of León and heir of Alfonso VI, and was the father of the future Alfonso VII.
The Kingdom of Galicia was a political entity located in southwestern Europe, which at its territorial zenith occupied the entire northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. In the early 10th century, the Kingdom of Galicia was formed following the division of the Kingdom of Asturias after the death of Alfonso III in 910. His sons split the kingdom, with Ordoño II inheriting Galicia. While Galicia became a distinct political entity, it remained closely tied to the Leonese and Asturian realms through dynastic connections. Later, Ordoño II would unite Galicia and León when he inherited the latter, creating the Kingdom of León. Though the Kingdom of Galicia had moments of semi-independence, it was typically integrated into the Kingdom of León. Compostela became the capital of Galicia in the 11th century, while the independence of Portugal (1128) determined its southern boundary. The accession of Castilian King Ferdinand III to the Leonese kingdom in 1230 brought Galicia under the control of the Crown of Castile.
Pelayo Rodríguez was the Bishop of Iria Flavia (977–985). He was a son of the powerful magnate Rodrigo Velázquez and his wife Adosinda and is usually associated with the conflicts surrounding the accession of Vermudo II after a Galician rebellion in 982.
The Battle of Viadangos or Fontedangos was fought in the autumn of 1111 between the forces of Alfonso I of Aragon and the Galician allies of his estranged wife, Urraca of León and Castile, at Villadangos north of Luna, some twenty kilometres from León. Alfonso was victorious in a rout, but Urraca's son and co-ruler, Alfonso Raimúndez, escaped.
Pelagiusof Oviedo was a medieval ecclesiastic, historian, and forger who served the Diocese of Oviedo as an auxiliary bishop from 1098 and as bishop from 1102 until his deposition in 1130 and again from 1142 to 1143. He was an active and independent-minded prelate, who zealously defended the privileges and prestige of his diocese. During his episcopal tenure he oversaw the most productive scriptorium in Spain, which produced the vast Corpus Pelagianum, to which Pelagius contributed his own Chronicon regum Legionensium. His work as a historian is generally reliable, but for the forged, interpolated, and otherwise skilfully altered documents that emanated from his office he has been called el Fabulador and the "prince of falsifiers". It has been suggested that a monument be built in his honour in Oviedo.
Arias Pérez or Peres was a Galician knight and military leader in the Kingdom of León. According to modern scholar Richard Fletcher, he was "active, resourceful, spirited and persuasive", and the contemporary Historia compostellana says that he was "so eloquent that he could turn black into white and white into black", although he "was not of the great nobility".
Gómez Núñez was a Galician and Portuguese political and military leader in the Kingdom of León. His power lay in the valley of the Minho, mainly on the north side, bounded by the Atlantic on the west and corresponding approximately with the Diocese of Tui. There, according to a contemporary source, he had "a strong site, a fence of castles and a multitude of knights and infantry."
Gutierre Vermúdez was a nobleman of the Kingdom of León, with interests primarily in Galicia, mainly in the northeast, around Lugo. He was a strong and loyal supporter of both Queen Urraca (1109–26) and the Emperor Alfonso VII (1126–57).
Munio or Muño Peláez was a Galician magnate, a member of the Banu Gómez clan, during the reigns of Alfonso VI, Urraca and Alfonso VII. By December 1108 he held the title of comes (count), the highest in the kingdom. He was a son of count Pelayo Gómez, grandson son of Gómez Díaz de Carrión and Teresa Peláez. His mother was Elvira Muñoz, half-sister of count Rodrigo Muñoz, and daughter of Munio Rodríguez and Ilduara Velázquez. Elvira's ancestors had founded the monastery of Santa María de Ferreira.
Pedro Fróilaz de Traba was the most powerful secular magnate in the Kingdom of Galicia during the first quarter of the twelfth century. According to the Historia compostelana, he was "spirited ... warlike ... of great power ... a man who feared God and hated iniquity," for Diego Gelmírez himself had "fed him, like a spiritual son, with the nutriment of holy teaching." Brought up at the court of the Emperor Alfonso VI, Pedro raised the future Emperor Alfonso VII in his household. Around the latter he and Diego formed a "Galician party" that dominated that region during the turbulent reign of Urraca (1109–26). In September 1111 they even had the child Alfonso crowned king at Santiago de Compostela, but it was Pedro who was imperator in orbe Galletiae.
Saint Gonzalo (or Gundisalvus) (c. 1040 – c. 1108), a medieval Galician nobleman and clergyman, was the long-serving Bishop of Mondoñedo from 1071. According to one modern source he was a brother of Pedro Fróilaz de Traba. If he was elected at the canonical age of thirty, he would have been born in 1040 or 1041, which would in turn support the contemporary contention that he was old in 1104–5, but cast doubt on his relationship with Pedro Fróilaz. Perhaps he was a more distant relative of the same family, the budding House of Traba.
Rodrigo Vélaz was the "count of Galicia, who held Sarria" according to the near-contemporary Chronica Adefonsi imperatoris. During his long public career he was the dominant figure in mountainous eastern Galicia while the House of Traba dominated its western seaboard. He served under three monarchs—Alfonso VI, Urraca, and Alfonso VII—and was loyal to all of them, never figuring in any rebellion. The contemporary Historia compostellana is a valuable source for his life, since there are no aristocratic archives surviving in Spain from this period. Rodrigo's career must be pieced together from the few references in the chronicles and the charters preserved in various ecclesiastical archives.
Suero Vermúdez was an Asturian nobleman, territorial governor, and military leader. His career was marked by loyalty to the crown of León-Castile during the reigns of Alfonso VI, Urraca, and Alfonso VII. He never took part in any revolt, but fought in many wars against rebels, against rivals, and against the Moors.
Fernando Yáñez was a minor Galician nobleman—a miles, or mere knight—who rose in rank in the service of Queen Urraca (1109–26) and King Alfonso VII (1126–57). He eventually became the royal military commander charged with the defence of the Limia on the border between Galicia and Portugal. Contemporary sources call him the "prince" and "duke" of Limia.
Froila Arias was a Galician count who governed the fortress of Traba and the region of Trastámara during a tumultuous period.
Pelayo Curvo was a Galician nobleman active between 1128 and 1173.
Diego Peláez was an eleventh-century bishop of Santiago de Compostela and a prominent figure in the Galician ecclesiastical nobility. He contributed to the growth of the diocese and its territories during the Middle Ages.
