In medieval Iberia, an ''alférez'' (, ) or ''alferes'' (, ) was a high-ranking official in the

household A household consists of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is i ...

of a king or magnate. The term is derived from the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

('' 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". 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 A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a ...

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.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 A private army (or private military) is a military or paramilitary force consisting of armed combatants who owe their allegiance to a private person, group, or organization, rather than a nation or state. History Private armies may form when ...

), his personal retinue of

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

s, 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 most ...

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 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 Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

. It is known that Alfonso VIII of Castile 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 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 Chris ...

.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