Álvaro Núñez de Lara ( 11701218) 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.
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
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.
However a few months later, on 6 October 1214, King Alfonso VIII of Castile died and the court decided on his son Henry to succeed him on the throne. Before dying, the king had charged the bishops, his friend Mencía López de Haro, and his steward, Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón, executors of his will, with the task of seeing to the carrying out of his commands and the assurance of his succession. The king's widow Eleanor ceded custody of the heir to Berengaria. Weeks later, Queen Eleanor died and left the guardianship of Henry and the regency to her daughter Berengaria and the prelates of Palencia and Toledo.
Some nobles believed that Berengaria's regency was too dependent on the support of the Bishop of Palencia, Tello Téllez de Meneses, and Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada, Archbishop of Toledo. This situation annoyed them and, according to the Chronica latina regum Castellae, "a majority of the barons decided that Álvaro ought to be regent in the king's name and take charge of the care of the realm." Álvaro, according to De rebus Hispaniae, bribed García Lorenzo, a knight of Palencia and guardian of the young king, to hand Henry over to them. Berengaria conceded this reluctantly. Given this fait accompli and with the consent of the barons and prelates of the kingdom, Álvaro had to swear that neither he nor his brothers or other noblemen "... would transfer lands from or to anyone, nor would they wage war against neighboring kingdoms, nor impose tributes... under pain of conviction for high treason". As Jiménez de Rada asserted, it was the ambition of the Laras to control the kingdom, just as Álvaro's father, Nuño Pérez de Lara, had done while regent from 1164 to 1169 during the minority of King Alfonso VIII. It was during this time that Álvaro was raised to the rank of count.
Jiménez de Rada's De rebus Hispaniae is the main source for the events occurring in those years covered by the Estoria de España. The archbishop's objectivity in his recounting of events should be accepted with caution due to his sympathy for the crown, his disdain of the Laras, and his determination "to promote the interests of Toledo over those of Santiago and Seville." During his years as regent, Count Álvaro fell out with the clergy and abused his position, especially in 1215 when, taking advantage of the absence of several bishops from the kingdom during the Fourth Lateran Council (1215-1216), he moved to take over their privileges and rental income and expropriated the tercias (part of the church tithes). Nevertheless, on 15 February 1216, he apologized publicly and promised that we would never again collect these tercias nor suggest that they be expropriated."Sepan todos los que vieren esta carta, que yo, el Señor Conde Álvaro Núñez, con el consejo del Maestro de Uclés, del Prior del Hospital, de D. Gonzalo Núñez, de D. Gonzalo Rodríguez, de D. Rodrigo Rodríguez, de don Ordunio Martínez y de toda la corte, prometo a Dios, a la bienaventurada María, su madre, y a la santa Iglesia, que jamás tomaré en adelante las tercias de las Iglesias para los gastos del rey, ni aconsejaré que se tomen, y no haré fuerza ni injuria para tomarlas, ni para darlas a nadie, si no es donde la ley divina ordena dar; y en todo lo posible impediré que nadie les haga injuria, mientras tuviere en mi custodia al rey D. Enrique.” See p. 175, Gorosterratzu, Javier Don Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada, gran estadista, escritor y prelado: estudio documentado de su vida
In April 1216, making a show of his power, Count Álvaro signed a document in the Royal Monastery of San Benito de Sahagún in which Henry is said to reign in Toledo and Castile and "Álvaro Núñez to rule the whole country under him". He destabilized the political situation by excluding other noblemen from the center of power. A notable case was that of Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón, removed in 1216 from his post as high steward which he had held for eighteen years. Other nobles, like Lope Díaz II de Haro, Lord of Biscay, Álvaro Díaz de los Cameros, Alfonso Téllez de Meneses, and the Archbishop of Toledo himself were also marginalized.
In the spring of 1216, the count tried to convince King Alfonso IX to have his former wife, Queen Berengaria, hand over her castles. It may be for this reason that Berengaria decided to send her son Ferdinand to join his father in order to ensure his succession in León. Around this time, the Cortes were summoned a few times at the urging of some of the nobles. Berengaria did not attend them, either because she was not advised of them or by her own decision. Lope Díaz de Haro, Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón, Álvaro Díaz de los Cameros, Alfonso Téllez de Meneses, and Archbishop de Rada went to Berengaria, who was in the Abbey of Las Huelgas in Burgos, to ask that she intervene and respond to the abuses being committed by Álvaro.
Shortly afterward, Álvaro moved to Medina del Campo with King Henry, and then to Ávila where he was knighted. He wrote to Berengaria, warning her not to act against the king's household, that is, against the court of which he was the regent. Around this time, he negotiated the marriage of Henry to Mafalda, daughter of King Sancho I of Portugal, a union which was later annulled at the urging of Queen Berengaria by the bishops of Burgos and Palencia in obedience of the orders of Pope Innocent III. Later, Álvaro negotiated with King Alfonso IX for the marriage of his daughter Sancha to Henry. If the marriage (which was prevented by the death of the young king) had taken place, Henry would have become the heir to the crown of León.
In the autumn of 1216, Álvaro, claiming to act in the name of Henry I, demanded that Berengaria hand over several castles, including those of Burgos, San Esteban de Gormaz, Curiel de Duero, Valladolid, and Hita, as well as the Cantabrian ports, all of which were part of the arras paid her by Alfonso IX on the event of their marriage. Berengaria sought explanations from her brother Henry, who denied being aware of such a request on the part of the regent and, alarmed by the excesses being committed by Álvaro, attempted to meet with his sister. When Álvaro learned of this, he ordered the killing of the messenger Berengaria had sent to court to determine how her brother was and to ascertain the activities of the count. Jiménez de Rada's chronicle tells that Álvaro forged a letter of Berengaria's, supposedly urging the assassination of King Henry according to the advice of the Meneses and Girón families, Tierra de Campos nobles who were openly in support of her. Due to the bias shown by Jiménez de Rada and his unconditional support of Berengaria, the letter may have been authentic and not a forgery by Álvaro as the archbishop wrote. Whatever the case, opposition to Álvaro grew after this episode. Rodrigo González de Valverde, a knight loyal to Berengaria, tried to organize a meeting between Berengaria and her brother Henry, but he was taken prisoner and brought to the Castle of Alarcón on Álvaro's orders.
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.