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Tello Téllez de Meneses (1170 – 1246) was the

bishop of Palencia The Roman Catholic Diocese of Palencia ( la, Palentin(sis)) is a diocese located in the city of Palencia in the ecclesiastical province of Burgos, Spain.

from 1208 until his death. He was a member of a prominent family from

Meneses Menezes, sometimes Meneses, was originally a Portuguese toponymic surname which originated in Montes Torozos, a region in Tierra de Campos, northeast of Valladolid and southeast of Palencia. The ancestor of the Meneses lineage was Tello Pérez de Me ...

in the

Tierra de Campos Tierra de Campos ("Land of Fields") is a large historical and natural region or greater comarca that straddles the provinces of León, Zamora, Valladolid and Palencia, in Castile and León, Spain. It is a vast, desolate plain with practically ...

. His father was

Tello Pérez de Meneses Tello Pérez de Meneses (died ) was a Castilian magnate and military leader under the reign of King Alfonso VIII of Castile, and the ancestor of the Téllez de Meneses, a prominent noble lineage, whose descendants include several royal members s ...

; his mother, Gontrodo García, founders of the monastery of Santa María de Matallana. A

Palencia Palencia () is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Palencia. Located in the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in the northern half o ...

n cultural institute, the Institución Tello Téllez de Meneses, bears his name. In 1208, with the support of King

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 ...

, Tello founded the

University of Palencia The University of Palencia was the first university of Spain. It was founded by Alfonso VIII at the request of Bishop Tello Téllez de Meneses. It was the model upon which the University of Salamanca was patterned. Study began to flourish in Pal ...

as a ''

studium generale is the old customary name for a medieval university in medieval Europe. Overview There is no official definition for the term . The term ' first appeared at the beginning of the 13th century out of customary usage, and meant a place where stude ...

'', a place of general study. He protected the friar and itinerant preacher

Pedro González Telmo Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish language, Spanish, Portuguese language, Portuguese, and Galician language, Galician name for ''Peter (given name), Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic fo ...

and offered to admit him to the university. In 1212, he joined his secular brothers, Alfonso Téllez, Suero Téllez and García Téllez, at the head of a body of troops in the

battle of Las Navas de Tolosa The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, known in Islamic history as the Battle of Al-Uqab ( ar, معركة العقاب), took place on 16 July 1212 and was an important turning point in the ''Reconquista'' and the medieval history of Spain. The Christ ...

, a major victory for Castile and its allies over the

Almohads The Almohad Caliphate (; ar, خِلَافَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ or or from ar, ٱلْمُوَحِّدُونَ, translit=al-Muwaḥḥidūn, lit=those who profess the unity of God) was a North African Berber Muslim empire fo ...

. In 1215–16, he attended the

Fourth Lateran Council The Fourth Council of the Lateran or Lateran IV was convoked by Pope Innocent III in April 1213 and opened at the Lateran Palace in Rome on 11 November 1215. Due to the great length of time between the Council's convocation and meeting, many bi ...

, a general synod of the Roman Catholic Church. During his episcopate, the fortified church and palace of

Villamuriel de Cerrato Villamuriel de Cerrato is a municipality located in the province of Palencia, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census (INE), the municipality had a population of 5,304 inhabitants. Fr Adolfo Nicolás Adolfo Nicolás Pachón ...

were built. He died at Jaén after an episcopate of 38 years.

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{authority control 1246 deaths Bishops of Palencia Year of birth uncertain