![Alfons7](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Alfons7.jpg)
Diego Gelmírez or Xelmírez ( la, Didacus Gelmirici; c. 1069 – c. 1140) was the second
bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
(from 1100) and first
archbishop
In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...
(from 1120) of the
Catholic Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela in
Galicia, modern
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
. He is a prominent figure in the
history of Galicia
The Iberian Peninsula has been inhabited for at least 500,000 years, first by Neanderthals and then by modern humans.
Prehistory
Megalithic culture
Galicia, northern Portugal, Asturias, western León, and Zamora formed a single megalit ...
and an important
historiographer
Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians hav ...
of the
Iberia
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
of his day. Diego involved himself in many quarrels, ecclesiastical and secular, which were recounted in the , which covered his
episcopacy
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
from 1100 to 1139 and serves as a sort of ''
gesta'' of the bishop's life.
He was probably born at
Catoira
Catoira is a municipality in Galicia, Spain, located in the province of Pontevedra. Catoira is famous for its ruins of the Torres do Oeste (Towers of the West).
Demography
Local festivals
The most important celebrations include:
*the Vikin ...
, where his father, Gelmiro or Xelmirio, was the custodian of the castle. He received an education at the court of
Alfonso VI
Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...
, king of
León,
Galicia and
Castile. In 1092,
Raymond, count of Galicia, named him his notary and secretary and in 1093 he was the administrator of the Compostelan church. In 1094,
Dalmatius :''This article deals with the Caesar (335-337). For the censor Flavius Dalmatius, father of the caesar, see Flavius Dalmatius. For saints with this name, see Saint Dalmatius (disambiguation).''
Flavius Dalmatius Caesar (his name is often spell ...
was appointed the first bishop of Compostela. Dalmatius died the next year (1095) and the people of the see requested the king nominate Diego administrator again during the vacancy. In 1099, the
pope
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
authorised a new episcopal election and Diego was chosen the next year. He was anointed the second bishop of Compostela in 1101. During his tenure, he was given secular rule of the city by Alfonso and he strove to make Compostela
a major pilgrimage destination, which he did. He increased the prestige of his see and the volume of
pilgrims on the road to Compostela.
In 1107
Pedro Fróilaz de Traba
Pedro Fróilaz de Traba ('' fl.'' 1086–1126) 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 p ...
, the guardian of the heir,
Alfonso Raimúndez
Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...
, rebelled against
Queen Urraca
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mothe ...
and her new husband,
Alfonso the Battler
Alfonso I (''c''. 1073/10747 September 1134), called the Battler or the Warrior ( es, el Batallador), was King of Aragon and Navarre from 1104 until his death in 1134. He was the second son of King Sancho Ramírez and successor of his brother Pet ...
. According to the ''Historia'', he was opposed by a "brotherhood" () led by the knight
Arias Pérez
Arias Pérez or Peres ('' fl.'' 1110–1129) 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 ...
and Diego Gelmírez, who had known each other since childhood.
Richard A. Fletcher
Richard Alexander Fletcher (28 March 1944, in York, England – 28 February 2005, in Nunnington, England) was a historian who specialised in the medieval period.
Early years
Richard Fletcher was the eldest child and only son of Alexander Kendal ...
(1984)
''Saint James's Catapult: The Life and Times of Diego Gelmírez of Santiago de Compostela''
(Oxford: Oxford University Press), 131–35 and 157–60.[Simon Barton (1997), ''The Aristocracy in Twelfth-century León and Castile'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 50–51.] Diego Gelmírez had accepted the leadership of the brotherhood late in 1109 or early in 1110. In 1110 a truce between Pedro and the brotherhood was broken when the former took over the south Galician fortress of
Castrelo de Miño
Castrelo de Miño is a municipality in the Province of Ourense in the Galicia region of north-west Spain. It is a small area and lies in the western part of the province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country ...
and installed a garrison there under his wife Urraca and the young Alfonso. Arias promptly besieged it, and Pedro came to defend it.
The besieged called on Diego to negotiate terms of surrender, which he did, but the brotherhood had grown suspicious of him and when a deal was struck Arias had Diego, Pedro, and Alfonso all arrested.
In exchange for the castles of
Oeste and
Lanzada
Lanzada is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sondrio in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and north of Sondrio, on the border with Switzerland. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,445 and an a ...
, they were all soon released and Diego went over to the separatists.
In 1111, Diego crowned Alfonso Raimúndez
King of Galicia
Galicia is an autonomous community and historical nationality in modern-day northwestern Spain on the Iberian Peninsula, which was a major part of the Roman province known as Gallaecia prior to 409. It consists of the provinces of A Coruña, ...
in opposition to Urraca and her husband.
Late in 1113, when the royal court was in Galicia, Arias was inciting Urraca against Diego. Urraca deprived him of his secular authority at the request of the people, who agitated for communal rights, but she reinstated him in his temporal powers within a year and even exempted him from all military service to the crown and extended his charge over the whole diocese.
In 1120,
Pope Callixtus II
Pope Callixtus II or Callistus II ( – 13 December 1124), born Guy of Burgundy, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1 February 1119 to his death in 1124. His pontificate was shaped by the Investiture Controversy, ...
elevated Diego and his see to archiepiscopal rank and appointed him
papal legate
300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the pope's legate.
A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title ''legatus'') is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic ...
to Spain. That same year, according to the ''Historia'', Urraca ordered the leading men () of Galicia, including Arias Pérez, to do
homage
Homage (Old English) or Hommage (French) may refer to:
History
*Homage (feudal) /ˈhɒmɪdʒ/, the medieval oath of allegiance
*Commendation ceremony, medieval homage ceremony Arts
*Homage (arts) /oʊˈmɑʒ/, an allusion or imitation by one arti ...
() to Diego Gelmírez as "their lord, their patron, their king and their prince, saving their fealty to the queen" and recognise his rule (). In 1121, however, after Diego had renewed his alliance with the Pedro Fróilaz de Traba, his power appeared to threaten that of the queen. In the summer of 1121 she had Diego arrested at Castrelo in collaboration with Arias Pérez. Diego was imprisoned for a while, but the support of the people, which he had been cultivating, compelled his release. Sometime in 1121
Munio Peláez
Munio or Muño Peláez (''floruit'' 1105–1142; died perhaps 1149) 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 hi ...
built an "adulterine" (i.e. illegal) castle on the
river Iso near Compostela. The ''Historia Compostelana'' calls it a "den of robbers and bandits", and Diego managed to raze it to the ground soon after it was built.
In the spring of 1126, shortly after Urraca's death and the accession of Alfonso, Arias led a rebellion in Galicia. Diego Gelmírez and
Gómez Núñez of Toroño[Fletcher, 248.] or perhaps
Gutierre Vermúdez Gutierre Vermúdez (or Gutier Bermúdez) (died 1130) 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 ...
were charged ("by letter") with putting it down. Diego besieged Arias in Lobeiro and, with siege engines, in
Tabeirós, forcing him to surrender.
Diego's opinion of Arias was such that he said to him: "I fear, therefore, that if such that you are you leave this world, you will lose eternal life and incur the perpetual condemnation of your soul."
[Quoted in Ermelindo Portela Silva (1985), "Muerte y sociedad en la Galicia medieval (siglos XII–XIV)", ''Anuario de estudios medievales'', 15, 194, in Spanish: ''Temo, por tanto, que, si tal cual eres, te vas de este mundo, perderás la vida eterna e incurrirás en la perpetua condenación de tu alma''. Diego's words bear no indication that he believed in an intermediate state—]purgatory
Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...
—for Christians who died in their sins.
Notes
Sources
*Biggs, Anselm Gordon. ''Diego Xelmírez''. Xerais, 1983.
*Reilly, Bernard F
''The Kingdom of León-Castilla under Queen Urraca''.*Reilly, Bernard F. "The ''Historia Compostelana'': The Genesis and Composition of a Twelfth-Century Spanish ''Gesta''," in ''
Speculum'' 44 (1969): pp 78–85
*Vones, Ludwig, ''Die 'Historia Compostelana und die Kirchenpolitik des nordwestspanischen Raumes'' (Cologne, 1980)
*Falque, Emma, "The Manuscript Transmission of the 'Historia Compostellana," in ''
Manuscripta
The Knights of Columbus Vatican Film Library in St. Louis, Missouri is the only collection, outside the Vatican itself, of microfilms of more than 37,000 works from the ''Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana'', the Vatican Library in Europe. It is locat ...
'' (1985): pp 80–90
* Richard A. Fletcher (1984), Saint James's Catapult: The Life and Times of Diego Gelmírez of Santiago de Compostela (Oxford: Oxford University Press)
* Saunders, Tracy, St. James' Rooster (El Báculo de Santiago) offers a fictionalised version of the early days of the cathedral of Santiago, and the machinations of its first archbishop, Diego Gelmirez. iUniverse, 2011, Bóveda/Algaida, 2012.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diego Gelmirez
1060s births
1149 deaths
12th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in León and Castile
11th-century Galician people
Bishops and archbishops of Iria and Compostela
Archbishops of Santiago de Compostela
12th-century Galician people