Álvaro Núñez de Lara (c. 1170 – 1218) was a Castilian nobleman who played a key role, along with other members of the House of Lara, in the political and military affairs of the Kingdoms of León and Castile around the turn of the 13th century. He was made a count in 1214, served as alférez to King Alfonso VIII of Castile, was the regent during the minority of King Henry I of Castile, and was Mayordomo mayor (steward) to King Alfonso IX of León. He opposed Queen Berengaria of Castile and her son King Ferdinand III and supported the King of León during the war between the two countries of 1217–1218. At the end of his life he was a knight of the Order of Santiago, in whose Monastery of Uclés he was buried.
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Family
His parents both came from powerful houses with close connections to the Leonese royalty. His father, Count Nuño Pérez de Lara, was regent during the minority of Alfonso VIII of Castile, and son of Count Pedro González de Lara, the one-time lover of Queen Urraca. His mother, Teresa Fernández de Traba, was a member of the Galician House of Traba and half-sister of King Afonso I of Portugal, their shared mother being Teresa of León, Countess of Portugal, Urraca's half-sister. When Count Nuño died in 1177, Teresa married King Ferdinand II of León, who thus became the stepfather of her children, who were then raised at court along with the future King of León, Alfonso IX.
His brothers Fernando and Gonzalo were also counts and significant figures in the political and military affairs of the era. Fernando was alférez to King Alfonso VIII. Nonetheless, his outsized ambition put him at odds with the king and he had to leave Castile and seek refuge in Marrakesh, where he died in 1220 The career of the other brother, Gonzalo, father of count Nuño González de Lara "el Bueno", played out in the Kingdom of León.
Early career
In the Abbey of Las Huelgas, near Burgos, a cream-colored cap is on display, embroidered with reddish cauldrons. It dates from the early 13th century and has been almost perfectly preserved, after having lain for centuries hermetically sealed in the stone tomb of King Henry I of Castile (reigned 1214 – 1217). But the cap was not Henry's. It is rather thought that it belonged to Álvaro Núñez de Lara, and the cauldrons may well be the oldest representation of the heraldic arms of the family [...] The presence of the cap in the young king's tomb constitutes a graphic illustration of the political domination of the House of Lara in this period, and, in a certain sense, is also a symbol of the disaster which would befall them.
Upon the death of his stepfather King Ferdinand II, Álvaro established himself in the Castilian court, following his two brothers. From January 1196 he began to attest royal charters. It was during this time that the Laras became close to Diego López II de Haro, Lord of Biscay, and possibly around this time Álvaro married Urraca, the daughter of Diego, whom he replaced as royal alférez in May 1199, a post in which he served until 1201, when he handed it over to his brother Fernando, and again between 1208 and 1217. He fought alongside his brothers Fernando and Gonzalo in the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa on 16 July 1212, carrying the royal standard. The Chronica latina regum Castellae provides a vivid account of the performance of Count Álvaro in the battle.
In gratitude for the valor demonstrated by the count in this battle, which marked a milestone of the Reconquista, Alfonso VIII granted him, on 31 October 1212, the village of Castroverde, referring to him as "my beloved and loyal vassal (...) as reward for the many voluntary services which you have lent me and faithfully fulfilled, and as well which you have made an effort to fulfill up to this very day; and more so as reward for the service, which is to be particularly cherished, which you performed for me on the field of battle when you carried my standard like a valiant man." Years later, on 18 May 1217, Álvaro donated the village to the Order of Santiago.
Infante Ferdinand of León, son of Alfonso IX and his first wife Theresa of Portugal and heir to the throne of León, died in August 1214 at the age of 22. Berengaria and her father King Alfonso VIII harbored the hope that Infante Ferdinand of Leon, Alfonso IX's son by his second wife, Berengaria herself, would succeed his father, although first it was necessary to arrive at an agreement with the Leonese and the Portuguese to annul the rights to the throne of the sisters of the recently deceased infante, Sancha and Dulce.
A year of great tension in Castile
According to the Chronica latina regum Castellae, the year 1217 was one of great tension, "such as never had been before in Castile". The royal high steward, Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón, was replaced by Martín Muñoz de Hinojosa. Other nobles allied with Berengaria, such as the Meneses, Girón, Haro, and Cameros families, were notably absent from royal charters. Álvaro also made changes to the chancery.
The alferiz et procurator regis et regni, as he is titled in the records, succeeded in having all the castles of the kingdom handed over to him, possibly so he could install landholders and fortress captains whom he trusted. This led him into conflict with a great deal of the nobility, who noticed that he was grabbing more and more power. The opposition faction included the Meneses, Girón, Haro and Cameros families, whose absence from the Royal Council is noted from February 1217. In the same month, Álvaro traveled with King Henry to Valladolid, possibly as a last-ditch effort to avoid a war. The new royal high steward, Martín Muñoz de Hinojosa, sent a letter to Berengaria seeking the surrender of the castles of Burgos and Valladolid as well as the Cantabrian ports. It seems that she handed over all of these except for Valladolid, although this did not prevent the conflict. Berengaria was staying at the castle of Autillo de Campos, which was controlled by the Girón family. Álvaro refused to relinquish his power. The chronicles mention that the Girón family, García Fernández de Villamayor, Guillén Pérez de Guzmán, son-in-law of Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón, and Gil Manrique marched to Autillo to support Berengaria. Lope Díaz de Haro entrenched himself in Miranda de Ebro with some 300 knights. When Álvaro discovered this, he sent his brother Gonzalo, who set out with a larger army. The clergy succeeded in preventing a battle, and Gonzalo returned to court while Lope Díaz de Haro met up with Berengaria in Autillo.
In March 1217, Álvaro, accompanied by his brothers Counts Fernando and Gonzalo, Martín Muñoz de Hinojosa, García Ordóñez, Guillermo González de Mendoza, and other nobles, invaded Tierra de Campos, where the Girón and Meneses families held inherited lands, causing much destruction in the valley of Trigueros. They then headed for the castle of Montealegre and the lands of Suero Téllez de Meneses. His relatives, Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón and Alfonso Téllez de Meneses, came to his aid with their armed retinues, although they retreated and avoided waging battle on finding out that the young King Henry was among the regent's forces. Alfonso Téllez de Meneses surrendered the castle and marched to Villalba del Alcor, pursued by Álvaro's troops, where he defended the castle during a seventy-day siege without the support of the nobles who were still in Autillo.
Death of Henry I, abdication of Berengaria, and succession of Ferdinand III
In May 1217, Álvaro established himself in the episcopal palace of Palencia with the Castilian court and King Henry. On 26 May, the young king suffered an accident while playing with other children in the palace courtyard when a tile which came loose from the roof fell and struck him on the head, causing a fatal injury. This accident marked the beginning of Álvaro's downfall. He tried to conceal the king's death and brought his body to the castle of Tariego. Berengaria learned of her brother's death almost immediately, probably thanks to her spies in the Leonese court. She took charge of recovering her brother's body and bringing it to the family vault in the Abbey of Las Huelgas in Burgos, where he was buried.
Meanwhile, Berengaria asked her son, the future King Ferdinand III, who was with his father King Alfonso IX in Toro, to come join her. She entrusted this mission to three of her most loyal supporters, Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón, Alfonso Téllez de Meneses, and Lope Díaz II de Haro. They were to convince Alfonso that Infante Ferdinand must return to join his mother, without revealing the plans for the succession to the throne of Castile, and to accompany him to Autillo, where she was, on the pretext that the castle had been attacked, and hiding the news of the death of her brother Henry. Although the infantas Sancha and Dulce rejected the noblemen's explanations, they finally convinced them that Henry was safe and sound and succeeded in bringing Infante Ferdinand to join his mother in Autillo, where shortly afterward he was acclaimed king.
This was done without the approval of the court and the councils of the most important towns of Castile which met in Segovia and later in Valladolid to deal with the succession issue. Some preferred the fulfillment of the terms of the Treaty of Sahagún by which Alfonso IX would be proclaimed King of Castile, thereby uniting the two crowns, or otherwise that the throne should pass to Berengaria, a choice which ultimately prevailed. Berengaria immediately abdicated in favor of her son, who was proclaimed king on 2 July 1217 in Valladolid.
And they all said with one voice that the Castilians would never submit to the French nor to the Leonese, but would always have a lord and king from the lineage of the kings of Castile.
War between the two kingdoms and Álvaro's defeat
Although Berengaria was the eldest of the children of Alfonso VIII of Castile, Álvaro had claimed that Blanche of Castile, queen consort of France by her marriage to Louis VIII, should succeed the recently deceased King Henry. He sent her a letter to this effect, which she rejected, and she asked that Álvaro hand over the castles he offered her to her sister Berengaria. Berengaria and King Ferdinand moved immediately to Palencia. Ferdinand's troops marched to Dueñas where his partisans started negotiations to put an end to hostilities. Álvaro reproached Berengaria for the rushed coronation of Ferdinand and sought custody of him, Berengaria refused the offer, although the new king was already approaching eighteen years of age. Álvaro's claims were dismissed and King Ferdinand and his retinue marched to Valladolid.
On 4 July, two days after Ferdinand's coronation, his father, King Alfonso IX, who still had not renounced his claims to the throne of Castile, invaded the Tierra de Campos and occupied Urueña, Villagarcía, Castromonte and Arroyo. Meanwhile, Infante Sancho Fernández of León who at the time was the royal alférez and tenant-in-chief of León, Salamanca, and other places, invaded Ávila, but was repelled by the town militia and forced to retreat. King Ferdinand tried to arrive at an agreement with his father wherein he would renounce the Castilian throne. Alfonso IX proposed that he secure a papal dispensation in order to remarry Berengaria, recognizing her rights to the throne of Castile, and that the two kingdoms unite upon their deaths, and that they be succeeded by their son Ferdinand as the sole king.
The Castilians rejected this proposal and Alfonso IX set out for Burgos to take the city. Berengaria and her supporters sent Lope Díaz II de Haro and the brothers Rodrigo and Álvaro Díaz de los Cameros to protect Dueñas, fearing an attack from Alfonso. Advised by Álvaro, Alfonso headed toward Burgos by way of Laguna de Duero, Torquemada, and Tordómar, laying waste along the way to the lands of Berengaria's high steward García Fernández de Villamayor. Finally he decided to return to León after weighing the difficulty of taking Burgos. On his way through Palencia, he laid waste to the lands of his enemies, the Girón and Meneses families and advanced as far as Torremormojón. Meanwhile, troops from Ávila and Segovia arrived at the Castilian court, which was in Palencia, to support King Ferdinand, who had already recovered control of Burgos, Lerma, Lara, and Palenzuela, although Muñó remained loyal to Álvaro. In the middle of August 1217, King Ferdinand entered Burgos, where he was acclaimed. There were still several fortresses left to be recovered, including Belorado, Nájera, Navarrete, and San Clemente. The first two remained loyal to Álvaro's brother Gonzalo, while the last two surrendered to the king.
Death and burial
According to the chronicle of Archbishop Jiménez de Rada, Álvaro Núñez de Lara took ill and died in Castrejón, where he had come in pursuit of Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón and Lope Díaz de Haro. The Crónica general vulgata differs from this account, stating that he was taken to Toro, joined the Order, and died there.
Marriage and children
Álvaro married Urraca Díaz de Haro, daughter of Diego López II de Haro, Lord of Biscay, and his wife Toda Pérez de Azagra. They had no children. In 1217, he gave his wife's aunt Urraca López de Haro several properties in la Bureba which allowed the queen dowager of León to found the Abbey of Santa María la Real de Vileña.
He had four illegitimate children with Teresa Gil de Osorno:
Fernando Álvarez de Lara, who inherited Valdenebro, the village after which his descendants took their name. In 1228, his distant cousin Aurembiaix of Urgel gave him an ecclesiastical property. He married Teresa Rodríguez de Villalobos.
Gonzalo Álvarez de Lara.
Rodrigo Álvarez de Lara. He distinguished himself in his military career and took part in the conquest of Cordoba and Seville. He received Tamariz and Alcalá de Guadaíra in the subsequent land distributions. His signatures are found on royal charters until 1260. He married Sancha Díaz de Cifuentes, daughter of Diego Froilaz and Aldonza Martínez de Silva.
Nuño Álvarez de Lara.
