Rodrigo González Girón (before 1194 – 1256), eldest son of Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón and his first wife, Sancha Rodríguez, was a nobleman from

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 of ...

. After the death of his father in 1231, he was the head of the Girón family.

Life

Rodrigo took over many of the tenancies 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 ...

that his father have formerly governed, including

Monzón Monzón () is a small city and municipality in the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. Its population was 17,176 as of 2014. It is located at the confluence of the Cinca and Sosa rivers, in the Cinca Media comarca of the province of Huesca. ...

, half of Carrión and

Asturias de Santillana Asturias de Santillana is a historical ''comarca'' whose territory in large part corresponded to the central and western part of today's autonomous community of Cantabria, as well as the extreme east of Asturias. Most of the province of Asturias ...

. He possessed extensive properties in Villarmentero de Campos, Revenga de Campos, Villalonga and Villovieco. In 1232, together with his brother Gonzalo, he reached an agreement with the abbess of the

monastery of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may ...

concerning certain '' behetrías'' in these places. In 1252, he acquired various estates around Autillo de Campos that he afterwards donated to the Hospital de la Herrada, of which he was a noted patron. Rodrigo was present with King Fernando III of Castile at the

siege of Córdoba (1236) During the reconquista, the siege of Córdoba ( Spanish: , Conquest of Córdoba) was a successful investment by the forces of Ferdinand III, king of Castile and León, marking the end of the Islamic rule over the city that had begun in 711. ...

and he accompanied Prince Alfonso (the future

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 ...

) to accept the surrender 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 1243. The party entered Murcia on 1 May 1243 and King Muhammad ibn Hud al-Dawla signed the

Treaty of Alcaraz The Treaty of Alcaraz was an agreement signed in Alcaraz, Albacete, Alcaraz around April 2, 1243, between Alfonso X of Castile, Alfonso of Castile – the future Alfonso X – acting on behalf of Ferdinand III of Castile, and several representativ ...

handing over his kingdom. On 5 July, Alfonso partitioned the kingdom, granting

Elche Elche (, ; , , , ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2024's data, Elche has a population of 234,800 inhabitants,

to Rodrigo as a tenancy. The following he year he revoked it and gave it to his mistress,

Mayor Guillén de Guzmán 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. Her parents were Guillén Pérez de Guzmán and María González Girón, daughter of Gonzalo Rodríguez G ...

. Rodrigo played an important role in the conquest of Seville, where he received the village of Villalba, which he afterwards donated to the

Order of Calatrava The Order of Calatrava (, ) was one of the Spanish military orders, four Spanish military orders and the first Military order (society), military order founded in Kingdom of Castile, Castile, but the second to receive papal approval. The papal bu ...

. He likewise took the surrender of Carmona when it submitted to Ferdinand. He held the office of '' mayordomo mayor'' under Ferdinand III on two separate occasions: from August 1238 until February 1246 and from January 1248 until 1252. His second period in office ended with Ferdinand's death, when Alfonso X named Juan García de Villamayor, the son of his tutors, García Fernández de Villamayor and Mayor Arias, as his ''mayordomo''. Rodrigo died in 1256 and was interred in the monastery of Santa María de Benavides in a lavish sepulchre sculpted by Roy Martínez de Bureba and now lost.

Marriage and descendants

Rodrigo was married three times. His first wife was María Fróilaz, daughter of Count Froila Ramírez and Urraca González. They first appear together in a charter of 1229 in the monastery of Santa María de Benevívere. From this marriage Rodrigo had at least the following children: * Pedro Rodríguez Girón, who in 1255 sold to the monastery of Santa María de Matallana some goods in the San Pedro and Falcón quarters 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 ...

. * Gómez Rodríguez Girón By 1243 Rodrigo was married to his second wife, Teresa López, supposedly a daughter of Count

Lope Díaz II de Haro Lope Díaz II de Haro "''Cabeza Brava''" (b. 1170 – d. 15 November 1236) was a Spanish noble of the House of Haro, the sixth Lord of Biscay, and founder of the Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Plentzia. He was the eldest son of Diego L� ...

and Urraca Alfonso de León. As her ''

arras Arras ( , ; ; historical ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of the Artois region, with a ...

'' he gave her some lands in the mountains north of Palencia. Rodrigo's third wife was Berenguela López de Haro, daughter Lope Díaz II de Haro and Urraca Alfonso. She outlived him and served as his

testamentary trust A testamentary trust (sometimes referred to as a will trust or trust under will) is a trust which arises upon the death of the testator, and which is specified in their will. A will may contain more than one testamentary trust, and may address ...

ee. Rodrigo had no issue by either his second or third wife.

In literature

He is the ''Don Rodrigo'' referred to in the '' cantiga de escarnio'' no. 9 of Alfonso X.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{refend 1256 deaths People from Palencia 13th-century Spanish nobility People of the Reconquista