Mayor Guillén de Guzmán (1205–1262) was a member of one of the most aristocratic families in the court of King

Ferdinand III of Castile Ferdinand III ( es, Fernando, link=no; 1199/120130 May 1252), called the Saint (''el Santo''), was King of Castile from 1217 and King of León from 1230 as well as King of Galicia from 1231. He was the son of Alfonso IX of León and Berenguel ...

. Her parents were Guillén Pérez de Guzmán and María González Girón, daughter of

Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón ( 1160–1231), also known as Gonzalo Ruiz Girón, firstborn son of Rodrigo Gutiérrez Girón and María de Guzmán, was one of Kingdom of Castile, Castile's wealthiest and most powerful nobles. He was based in Tierra de C ...

and his first wife Sancha Rodríguez, and sister of Pedro Rodríguez de Guzmán, Castile's first

adelantado ''Adelantado'' (, , ; meaning "advanced") was a title held by Spanish nobles in service of their respective kings during the Middle Ages. It was later used as a military title held by some Spanish ''conquistadores'' of the 15th, 16th and 17th cen ...

and father of Alonso Pérez de Guzmán.

Biographical sketch

Her name is registered in contemporary chronicles and documents as the lover of prince Alfonso de Castilla, future king

Alfonso X of Castile Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, es, el Sabio; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 30 May 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Ger ...

, son of

and Beatriz de Suabia. In 1255, Alfonso gave her lands in

La Alcarria The Alcarria ( es, La Alcarria) is a natural region in Castile (Spain). It is located mainly in Guadalajara Province but also overlaps those of Cuenca and Madrid. Its principal attractions are its fauna and flora and it is noted for its honey a ...

which included Cifuentes, Viana de Mondéjar, Palazuelos,

Salmerón Salmerón is a municipality located in the province of Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2004 census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a gi ...

, Vadesliras and

Alcocer Alcocer is a municipality located in the province of Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2004 census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a giv ...

. With the collaboration of King Alfonso, she founded the Monastery of Santa Clara de Alcocer in an unpopulated village called San Miguel del Monte within the jurisdiction of Alcocer. The foundational charter dated September 22, 1260 was confirmed by her brothers Pedro and Nuño Rodríguez de Guzmán.

Issue

From her relationship with Infante Alfonso she had one daughter: * Beatrice (1242–1303), the sole beneficiary of her mother's estates, married

Afonso III of Portugal Afonso III (; rare English alternatives: ''Alphonzo'' or ''Alphonse''), or ''Affonso'' (Archaic Portuguese), ''Alfonso'' or ''Alphonso'' ( Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonsus'' (Latin), the Boulonnais ( Port. ''o Bolonhês''), King of Portugal ...

and was the mother of Denis I of Portugal. On December 31, 1244, Alfonso with the consent of his father, donated the village of

Elche Elche ( ca-valencia, Elx) is a city and municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2014 data, Elche has a population of 228,647 inhabitants,Alcocer Alcocer is a municipality located in the province of Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2004 census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a giv ...

and was buried in the monastery of the

Poor Clares The Poor Clares, officially the Order of Saint Clare ( la, Ordo sanctae Clarae) – originally referred to as the Order of Poor Ladies, and later the Clarisses, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Order, and the Second Order of Saint Francis ...

that she had founded at San Miguel del Monte. Years later, on July 24, 1276, King Alfonso executed an agreement with Juan González who made a walnut-wood sepulchre with a

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

image of Mayor. The parchment document was auctioned at Christie's in 2009.Auctioned parchment at Christie's
/ref> The convent, as well as her sepulcher were moved to Alcocer years later. Her body, which remained intact until the beginning of the 20th-century, disappeared in 1936 along with a polychromed sculpture considered among the best funerary art from the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

in Guadalajara.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * 1205 births 1262 deaths 13th-century Castilians 13th-century Spanish women {{spain-bio-stub