In medieval Iberia, an ''alférez'' (, ) or ''alferes'' (, ) was a high-ranking official in the household of a king or magnate. The term is derived from the Arabic ('' al-fāris''), meaning "horseman" or "cavalier", and it was commonly Latinised as ''alferiz'' or ''alferis'', although it was also translated into Latin as ''armiger'' or ''armentarius'', meaning "

armour-bearer In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight. Use of the term evolved over time. Initially, a squire served as a knight's apprentice. Later, a village leader or a lord of the manor might come to be known as a " ...

". The connection with arms-bearing is visible in several Latin synonyms: ''fertorarius'', ''inferartis'', and ''offertor''. The office was sometimes the same as that of the standard-bearer or ''signifer''.Simon Barton, ''The Aristocracy in Twelfth-century León and Castile'' (Cambridge, 1997), 142–44. The ''alférez'' was generally the next highest-ranking official after the

majordomo A majordomo is a person who speaks, makes arrangements, or takes charge for another. Typically, this is the highest (''major'') person of a household (''domūs'' or ''domicile'') staff, a head servant who acts on behalf of the owner of a large ...

.Simon Barton, ''The Aristocracy in Twelfth-century León and Castile'' (Cambridge, 1997), 59. He was generally in charge of the king or magnate's ''mesnada'' ( private army), his personal retinue of knights, and perhaps also of his

armoury An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and his guard. He generally followed his lord on campaign and into battle. The office of ''alférez'' originated in the tenth century. In the

Kingdom of Navarre The Kingdom of Navarre (; , , , ), originally the Kingdom of Pamplona (), was a Basque kingdom that occupied lands on both sides of the western Pyrenees, alongside the Atlantic Ocean between present-day Spain and France. The medieval state took ...

in the tenth and eleventh centuries, the office of ''alférez'' changed hands with higher frequency than others, and there is also evidence of rotation. It is the only courtly office for which two officers are cited at the same time: Fortún Jiménez and Ortí Ortiz were both ''inferartes'' in a charter of 1043. In the kingdoms of Castile and León in the eleventh and twelfth centuries the office was generally bestowed on young noble members of the court, often as a prelude to promotion to the rank of count. It is known that

Alfonso VIII of Castile Alfonso VIII (11 November 11555 October 1214), called the Noble (''El Noble'') or the one of Las Navas (''el de las Navas''), was King of Castile from 1158 to his death and King of Toledo. After having suffered a great defeat with his own army at ...

rewarded his ''alférez'' Álvaro Núñez de Lara with the grant of a village for carrying his standard in the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa.The date of the grant was 31 October 1212; the village was Castroverde; and the surviving charter reads: "for the many services which you have done me in the field of battle, carrying my standard as a brave man" (''pro seruitio plurimum comendando quod michi in campestri prelio fecistis, cum uexillum meum sicut uir strenuus tenuistis, cum Almiralmomeninum regem Cartaginis deuici''). Cited in Simon Barton, ''The Aristocracy in Twelfth-century León and Castile'' (Cambridge, 1997), 142 n217.

List of ''alféreces''

Navarre in the tenth and eleventh centuries

;Sources *Charles Cawley. 2008
Nobility of Navarre: Introduction
at the Medieval Lands Project.

León and Castile under Alfonso VII

;Sources *Simon Barton, ''The Aristocracy in Twelfth-century León and Castile'' (Cambridge, 1997), 144.

''Alféreces'' in aristocratic households

References

;Notes ;Further reading * Fletcher, Richard A. (1989). ''The Quest for El Cid''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. {{DEFAULTSORT:Alferez Reconquista