The Chief of the King's Guard, King's Chief Guard, or Chief of the King's Corps, (''guarda-mor do rei'', or ''guarda-mor do Corpo do Rei'' in Portuguese) was an officer of the

Crown of Castile The Crown of Castile was a medieval polity in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and, some decades later, the parliaments of the kingdoms of Kingdom of Castile, Castile and Kingd ...

and of the

Portuguese Royal Family The Most Serene House of Braganza (), also known as the Brigantine dynasty (''dinastia Brigantina''), is a dynasty of emperors, kings, princes, and dukes of Portuguese people, Portuguese origin which reigned in Europe and the Americas. The hous ...

whose function was to protect the monarch and command his guard.

History

Some authors, when speaking of this position, state that it was more "honorific than effective", although Jaime de Salazar y Acha points out that this may have been the case during the last period of the

Late Middle Ages The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the Periodization, period of History of Europe, European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period ( ...

, but not in its beginnings, since in the first instance the king's security was in the hands of his ensign, but the latter in turn would delegate this responsibility to the officer of lower rank who would possibly, over the centuries, evolve into, in the opinion of this historian, the officer known as the Chief of the King's Guard. When the office of the king's ensign was monopolized by members of the high nobility in the 13th century, such as the

Lara Lara may refer to: People * Lara (name), can be a given name or a surname in several languages * Lara (mythology), a naiad nymph, daughter of the river Almo in Ovid's ''Fasti'' Places *Lara (state), a state in Venezuela * Electoral district ...

and the Haro, as well as by young members of the royalty, and even young boys, the protection of the king was left in the hands of his chief guard. The position is mentioned for the first time in the reign of Sancho IV of Castile. In the ''Crónica'' (chronicle) of this monarch, the Portuguese nobleman Esteban Pérez Florián is mentioned as "guard of the King", and in the document from 1290 Diego Gómez de Roa is mentioned as "guard-major of our Body" ("''guarda-mor de nosso Corpo''"). Around 1424, the position of chief guard was shared by two individuals, although it is not known whether this was because it had then become more of an "honorific than an effective" title, or because they alternated in holding it. However, it is certain that in 1447, during the reign of

John II John II may refer to: People * John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (1455–1499) * John II Casimir Vasa of Poland (1609–1672) * John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch (died 1302) * John II Doukas of Thessaly (1303–1318) * John II Komnenos (1087–114 ...

of Castile, and according to what is stated in one of the records of his reign, several individuals held the position, which had already become hereditary for several families of the kingdom, receiving 20,000 maravedis a year.

Duties

In the reign of

Alfonso X Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, ; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 1 June 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Germany on 1 Ap ...

of Castile, as Manuel González Jiménez has pointed out, the chief of the king's guard was responsible for the safety of the king and his family at court or in his palace, and a small group of men were at his command, including twenty infantry crossbowmen and ten on horseback, who protected the court or the place where the monarch was, although the twenty knights and a similar number of squires on foot were in charge of protecting the monarch and his family. Other duties of the chief guard were: * Commanding the personal guard that protected the king. * Coordinate everything related to the monarch's security and take charge of its organization. * Cooperate with other court officials such as the ''justiças-mores'' of the Royal House or the king's ''alguacis-mores'', who were in charge of certain police and public order tasks within the court.

List of chiefs of the king's guard

Sancho IV (1284-1295)

* (1286) Esteban Pérez Florián. He was also ''meirinho-mor'' (person applying justice and overseeing the application of justice on myearrial lands) of León and Asturias, ''

alcalde ''Alcalde'' (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and Administration (government), administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor (position), corregidor, the presiding officer o ...

'' of

Serpa Serpa (), officially the Municipality of Serpa (), is a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality in the Districts of Portugal, district of Beja District, Beja in Alentejo region, southern Portugal. The population in 2011 was 15,623, in an area of ...

, and

Mora Mora may refer to: People * José Maria Mora (1847–1926), Cuban-American photographer, often credited as "Mora" * Mora (singer) (born 1996), a Puerto Rican singer * Mora (surname), a Spanish name (includes a list of people with the name) Plac ...

and lieutenant of the fortresses of

San Esteban de Gormaz San Esteban de Gormaz is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the provinces of Spain, province of Soria (province), Soria in the autonomous community of Castile-Leon, Spain. Its population is approximately 3,500. The town is located in the ...

Castrojeriz Castrojeriz or Castrogeriz is a locality and municipality located in the province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León (Spain), the comarca of Odra-Pisuerga, the judicial district of Burgos, head of the town council of the ...

Fermoselle Fermoselle is a small medieval village located in the province of Zamora, western Spain, and is part of the region of Castile and León in the south-west region of the province. It has a population of fewer than 1500. The village of Fermoselle d ...

and Trastámara. * (1290) Diego Gómez de Roa. * (1291)

Fernán Pérez de Andrade Fernán Pérez de Andrade or Fernán Peres d'Andrade (? – 1397) was a Galician knight. His birthdate is unknown but is presumably before 1330. His death date fell between July 28 and August 21, 1397. As the fourth son of Ruy Freyre de Andrade ...

. * (1293-1294) Sancho Sánchez de Ulloa. He was a Castilian nobleman of the Ulloa family, also lord of Ulloa and of Monterroso and ''reposteiro-mor'' of King Sancho IV of Castile. He was a member of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.

Alfonso XI (1312-1350)

* (1327) Juan Martínez de Leiva. He was lord of Leiva, Banhos,

A Coruña A Coruña (; ; also informally called just Coruña; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality in Galicia, Spain. It is Galicia's second largest city, behind Vigo. The city is the provincial capital of the province ...

, and Valdescaray, ''meirinho-mor'' of Castile, guard and steward to King Alfonso XI of Castile, ''meirinho-mor'' of

Biscay Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...

, knight of the Order of the Band (''cavaleiro da Ordem da Banda''), ''meirinho-mor'' of Biscay, notary (''notário-mor das mordomias rodadas)'' and chamberlain to the

Infanta Infante (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as "infant" or translated as "prince", is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to the ...

Leonor Leonor or Léonor is the Spanish form of the given name Eleanor. People bearing the name include: * Leonor Acevedo Suárez (1876–1975), Argentine translator and mother of Jorge Luis Borges * Leonor Allende (1883–1931), Argentine writer and j ...

of Castile, sister of

Alfonso XI Alfonso XI (11 August 131126 March 1350), called the Avenger (''el Justiciero''), was King of Castile and León. He was the son of Ferdinand IV of Castile and his wife Constance of Portugal. Upon his father's death in 1312, several disputes en ...

and later queen consort of Aragon by her marriage to King Alfonso IV of Aragon. * (1327-1340)

Alonso Jofré Tenorio Alonso is a Spanish name of Germanic origin that is a Castilian variant of ''Adalfuns''. The original Visigothic name ''Alfonso'' suffered the phonetic change of the phoneme /f/ into the mute /h/ in the Early Middle Ages (around 9th Century), w ...

. He was lord of

Moguer Moguer is a municipality and small city located in the province of Huelva, Andalusia, Spain. According to the 2023 census, it has a population of 22,956. Its surface area is , and its population density is . The present site of Moguer had been ho ...

, admiral of Castile, chief guard of the king, ''alcalde'' of

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

and ''

alguacil Alguacil (in Spanish), aguazil or guazil (in Portuguese) is the title for a number of governmental office-holders. Origin The term ''alguacil'' is derived from the Arabic term (''wazir''), meaning Vizier. The first known use of the term dates ...

-mor'' of

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Or ...

. He was the son of Diego Alfonso Tenorio, chief treasurer of the king, and Aldonza Jofre de Loaysa. He died fighting against the Muslims in a naval battle in the

Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Europe from Africa. The two continents are separated by 7.7 nautical miles (14.2 kilometers, 8.9 miles) at its narrowest point. Fe ...

in 1340. * (1350) Lope Díaz de Cifuentes. Castilian ''rico homem'' (nobleman who fought for the king) and lord of

Almansa Almansa () is a Spanish town and municipality in the province of Albacete, part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. The name "Almansa" stems from the Arabic (al-manṣaf), "half way of the road". The municipality borders with Al ...

. He was the son of Diego Ramírez de Cifuentes, ''adiantado-mor'' of León and

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

and lord of Almanza and Cifuentes, and Leonor Fernández de Saldaña.

Peter I (1350-1369)

* (1350) Gutier Fernández de Toledo. He was lord of Anamella, steward of Peter I of Castile and also his chief guard. * (1351) Fernán Pérez Calvillo. He was lord of Cotillas, ''alcalde das sacas'' of the

kingdom of Murcia After roughly two decades as a protectorate of the Crown of Castile, the territory of the Taifa of Murcia became the Kingdom of Murcia (, a territorial jurisdiction of the Crown of Castile) in the wake of its Conquest of Murcia (1265–66), conq ...

in the territories from Vejas to Ontur, ''alcalde'' of the king and his chief guard, and ''tenente'' (lieutenant) ''do adiantado-mor deste reino'' in the name of Martín López de Córdoba, master of the orders of Alcántara and Calatrava. He was the son of Hernán Calvillo, lord of Cotillas, and Teresa García. * (1352) According to Díaz Martín, in February 1352, Gómez Pérez de Toledo, who was ''alguacil-mor'' of Toledo, was chief guard, although Jaime de Salazar y Acha points out that this author may have confused the father with the son and that in reality the king's guard at that time was Díaz Gómez de Toledo, son of Gómez Pérez and lord of Casarrubios, Valdepusa and Malpica, ''notário-mor'' (notary major) of the kingdom of Toledo and ''alcalde''-''mor'' of said city. * (1353)

Pedro González de Mendoza Pedro González de Mendoza (3 May 1428 – 11 January 1495) was a Spanish cardinal, statesman and lawyer. He served on the council of King Henry IV of Castile and in 1467 fought for him at the Second Battle of Olmedo. In 1468 he was named bis ...

. He was a Castilian nobleman of the

House of Mendoza The Mendoza family was a powerful line of Spanish nobles. Members of the family wielded considerable power, especially from the 14th to the 17th centuries in Castile. The family originated from the village of Mendoza (Basque ''mendi+oza'', 'c ...

, son of Gonzalo Yáñez de Mendoza and Juana de Orozco. He was lord of Hita and

Buitrago Buitrago is a municipality located in the province of Soria, Soria, Spain. According to the 2004 census ( INE), the municipality had a population of 55 inhabitants. Historically, a Jewish community was present in Buitrago. Its first written do ...

, among many other towns, chamberlain to King John I of Castile, and held the position of ''adiantado-mor'' of Castile between late 1365 and early 1366. * (1354) Juan Rodríguez de Cisneros. He was a Castillian ''rico homem'', lord of the House of Viduerna, Castrillo and Guardo, chief guard of the king, and ''adiantado'' and ''meirinho-mor'' of León and

. Cisneros was the son of Arias González de Cisneros, ''rico homem'' of Castile, and Mencía de Manzanedo. * (1355-1356) Fernán Pérez Portocarrero. By early October 1355 he was already the king's chief guard and held the post until at least mid-October 1356. He was lord of

Pinto Pinto is a Portuguese, Spanish, Jewish (Sephardic), and Italian surname. It is a high-frequency surname in all Portuguese-speaking countries and is also widely present in Spanish-speaking countries, Italy, India (especially in Mangalore, Karnata ...

, ''adiantado-mor'' of Castile, officer of the king's squadron, and was the son of Martín Fernández Portocarrero and Inés Pardo. * (1361-1368) Men Rodríguez de Biedma. He adopted the name Men Rodríguez de Benavides after being appointed heir to the estate of the House of Benavides by his cousin, Juan Alfonso de Benavides, who was the son of Juan Alfonso de Benavides and Teresa Alonso Godínez. Biedma was chief steward to Queen

Blanche of Bourbon Blanche of Bourbon (1339–1361) was Queen of Castile as the wife of King Peter of Castile. She married Peter in 1353, but he abandoned her for his mistress, Maria. Blanche spent her remaining years imprisoned in Arévalo, Alcázar of Toledo ...

and ''justiça-mor'' of the king's household, among many other posts, and was also lord of

Santisteban del Puerto Santisteban del Puerto is a city located in the province of Jaén, Spain. According to the 2005 census ( INE), the city has a population of 4840 inhabitants. See also * List of municipalities in Jaén Jaén is a province in the autonomous ...

, La Mota, Tenorio, Mayela, Estivella and Ardiles, ''caudilho-mor'' of the Bishopric of Jaén and captain-general of the border in 1360. * (1368) Gonzalo González Dávila. In 1368 he was the king's chief guard, according to a grant (''privilégio rodado'') issued on May 26 of the same year. Luis Vicente Díaz Martín points out that this was the only occasion on which a king's chief guard was among the confirmants of a document of this kind. * (1368-1369) Men Rodríguez de Biedma.

Henry II (1369-1379)

* (1369-1379) Men Rodríguez de Biedma. * (1370-1374)

Fernando Sánchez de Tovar Fernando (or Fernán) Sánchez de Tovar (died 1384) was a Crown of Castile, Castilian soldier and admiral. Soldier of Castile During the Castilian Civil War, Sánchez de Tovar initially supported King Peter the Cruel, who appointed him Adelantado ...

. He was lord of Astudillo,

Castroponce Castroponce is a municipality located in the province of Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating ...

, Los Gelves and the Aljarafe. He held the offices of ''adiantado-mor'' of Castile, admiral of Castile, chief guard of the king and ''alcaide entregador da Mesta.'' He died of plague in 1384 during the

siege of Lisbon The siege of Lisbon, from 1 July to 25 October 1147, was the military action against the Almoravid dynasty that brought the city of Lisbon under the definitive control of the new Christian power, the Kingdom of Portugal. The siege of Lisbon w ...

, and was the son of Ruy Fernández de Tovar and Elvira Ruiz Cabeza de Vaca. * (1375-1379) Sancho Fernández de Tovar. He was the son of the previous one and of Isabel de Padilla, having married Teresa de Toledo. He was lord of

Cevico de la Torre Cevico de la Torre is a Spanish municipality belonging to the province of Palencia, in the northern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León Castile and León is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwe ...

and chief guard of kings

Henry II Henry II may refer to: Kings * Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014 *Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154 *Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...

and Henry III of Castile.

John I (1379-1390)

* (1379-1381) Men Rodríguez de Biedma. According to Jaime de Salazar y Acha, he held the post of chief guard of the king throughout several reigns and until 1381. However, Francisco de Paula Canas Gálvez states that he did so only until 1380. * (1379-1390) Sancho Fernández de Tovar. * (1380) Íñigo Ortiz de Zúñiga. He was lord of Alesanco, chief steward to Queen Blanche of Bourbon and ''alcalde-mor'' of Seville, and was the son of Diego López de Zúñiga, lord of Alesanco, and Teresa Hurtado de Mendoza. Salazar and Acha, based on the ''Crónica do rei Dom Pedro ("Chronicle of King Peter"''), states that he was chief guard to Queen Blanche in 1361. * (1386) Pedro Rodríguez de Fonseca. He held the lordships of

, Casiyear and Condacunto in Portugal, among others, and was also ''alcalde'' of Castelo de Olivença, chief innkeeper (''estalajadeiro-mor'') to King John I of Castile and his son Henry III, chief guard to King John I of Castile, and ''selador-mor'' to the same monarch. He was also the son of the Portuguese knight Rui Pires da Fonseca and Inés de Acuña.

Henry III (1390-1406)

* (1390-1394) Sancho Fernández de Tovar.

Chiefs of the King's guard from the 15th century

From this century several families held the position hereditarily and simultaneously: * The Tovars, lords of Cevico de la Torre. * The Mendozas, lords of

Almazán Almazán () is a municipality located in the province of Soria, Castile and León, Spain. As of 2013, the municipality has a population of 5,843 inhabitants. It is also the seat of the judicial district of Almazán, and ecclesiastically it belongs ...

. * The Fonseca, lords of

Badajoz Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portugal, Portuguese Portugal–Spain border, border, on the left bank of the river ...

. * The Zúñiga, lords of Alesanco. * Osorio, counts of Trastámara. * The Acuña, counts of Buendía. * The Manuel, lords of

Belmonte de Campos Belmonte de Campos is a municipality located in the province of Palencia, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calcul ...

and descendants of King Ferdinand III of Castile.

Chiefs of the queen's guard

* (1361) Íñigo Ortiz de Zúñiga, mentioned above. In 1361 he was chief guard to Queen Blanche of Bourbon, wife of Pedro I of Castile.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{citation , last=Salazar y Acha , first=Jaime de , authorlink=Jaime de Salazar y Acha , editor=Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales , publisher=Rumagraf S.A. , language=es , title=La casa del Rey de Castilla y León en la Edad Media , series=Colección Historia de la Sociedad Política, dirigida por Bartolomé Clavero Salvador , edition=1st , year=2000 , place=Madrid , isbn=978-84-259-1128-6 Portuguese monarchy Kingdom of Castile