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Birth:          ABT 1160 
Death:          1231 

Notes
http://wikibin.org/articles/english-royal-descent-from-muhammad.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzalo_Rodr%C3%ADguez_Gir%C3%B3n
Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón (c. 1160–1231),[1] also known as Gonzalo Ruiz Girón, 
firstborn son of Rodrigo Gutiérrez Girón and María de Guzmán, was one of Castile's 
wealthiest and most powerful nobles. He was based in Tierra de Campos,[2] and was 
among the most loyal supporters of King Alfonso VIII of Castile, Berengaria of Castile, 
and later of King Ferdinand III.
Service to the crown[edit]

A member of the curia regia of King Alfonso VIII of Castile, he was Mayordomo mayor 
del rey (High Steward) from 1198 until the king's death in 1214. Along with his 
brothers Rodrigo, Pedro, Nuño, and Álvaro, he took part in the Battle of Navas de 
Tolosa which occurred on 16 July 1212.[3]

After the death of King Alfonso, he was the High Steward of King Henry I until he was 
replaced on 29 December 1216 by Martín Muñoz de Hinojosa at the urgings of Count 
Álvaro Núñez de Lara, who in 1215 had made himself the young king's guardian, 
contrary to the wishes of the church and the nobility. This led to Gonzalo and his 
supporters distancing themselves from the crown and joining a party of nobles loyal to 
the king's sister Berengaria.

In February 1216, during the uprising of Álvaro Núñez de Lara, he took part in an 
extraordinary parliament along with other Castilian nobles including Lope Díaz de 
Haro, Alfonso Téllez de Meneses "el Viejo", Álvaro Díaz de Cameros, and others, 
where they agreed, with the support of Berengaria (sister of the young king Henry I), 
to form a common front against Álvaro Núñez.[4] By the end of May the situation in 
Castile had become dangerous for Berengaria, so she decided to take refuge in the 
castle of Autillo de Campos, a property of Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón, and sent her son 
Fernando to the court of León and his father, King Alfonso IX. On 15 August 1216 a 
meeting was held among all the nobility of the Kingdom of Castile to try to reach an 
accord and avoid civil war, but their disagreements led the families of Girón, Téllez de 
Meneses, and Haro to distance themselves definitively from Álvaro Núñez de Lara.[5]

According to the Crónica latina de los reyes de Castilla, the year 1217 was one of 
great tension, such as never had occurred in Castile before. Álvaro Núñez de Lara 
refused to renounce the power he had gained thereto and harassed the forces that 
remained loyal to Berengaria, laying waste to the valley of Trigueros and besieging 
Autillo de Campos, where Berengaria and her partisans were located, as well as 
Cisneros and Frechilla.

Circumstances changed suddenly when King Henry died on 6 June 1217 after 
receiving a head wound from a roof tile that came loose accidentally while he was 
playing with other children in the palace of the Bishop of Palencia, Tello Téllez de 
Meneses. Álvaro Núñez de Lara, as the young king's guardian, tried to keep the 
matter quiet, bringing the king's body to the castle of Tariego, but he could not 
prevent the news from reaching Queen Berengaria.[6]

Immediately, Berengaria charged Lope Díaz de Haro, Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón, and 
Alfonso Téllez de Meneses with the task of discreetly fetching her son Ferdinand, who 
at the time was in Toro with his father King Alfonso, using as pretext the possibility of 
an attack on Autillo and without revealing the news of her brother's death. Despite the 
hesitation of the infantas Sancha and Dulce, the nobles were able to convince the 
King that King Henry was alive and well, thereupon leaving Toro with Ferdinand. 
Berengaria, the legitimate heiress to the throne of Castile, renounced it in favor of her 
son Ferdinand, who shortly thereafter was proclaimed king in Autillo de Campos on 14 
June 1217.[7]

On 20 September of that year, Alfonso Téllez de Meneses took Álvaro Núñez de Lara 
prisoner, and Álvaro was obliged to hand over some fortresses. On 11 November a 
generous truce was signed, allowing members of the House of Lara to recover their 
liberty and privileges. As soon as he was released from prison, however, Álvaro once 
again defied his enemies Alfonso Téllez de Meneses, Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón, and 
Lope Díaz de Haro, but he died while laying siege to them in the fortress of Castrejón 
de Trabancos, where they had taken refuge after an initial defeat.[8] His brother 
Fernando Núñez de Lara made his way to Morocco, where he placed himself in the 
service of Caliph Yusuf II.[9] The Pact of Toro of 26 August 1218 ratified the truce 
and put an end to the conflict.[10]

Political office and landed estates[edit]

Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón consolidated his position after the kingdom was once again 
at peace and the threat posed by Count de Lara and his brothers had faded away. He 
was High Steward for King Ferdinand III and a distinguished member of the curia 
regia. He held several feudal estates at different times, including Monzón, Liébana, La 
Pernía, Gatón de Campos, Herrín de Campos, Peñas Negras, Cervera, Guardo, half of 
the important holding Carrión (shared with his brother Rodrigo Rodríguez Girón), the 
castle of Torremormojón, where he succeeded his father in 1194, and the distant 
castle of Entrepeñas, near the Monastery of San Román de Entrepeñas, in Santibáñez 
de la Peña. He also held several properties in Boadilla de Rioseco, Cardeñosa de 
Volpejera, Revenga de Campos, Villasabariego de Ucieza, and Cordovilla.[11] In 
1221, King Ferdinand repaid Gonzalo for his loyalty and services rendered by granting 
him the lordship of Autillo de Campos, a favor later granted his descendants by 
subsequent monarchs.

Charity[edit]

In 1209, along with his first wife, he founded the Hospital de la Herrada in the district 
of San Illodo y San Antonino in Carrión on the Way of Saint James, with the purpose 
of giving alms and lodging to the pilgrims and treating their illnesses. They entrusted 
its administration to the Diocese of Palencia.[11]

Gonzalo died around 1231 and was buried in the Hospital de la Herrada that he 
founded.

Marriages and descendants[edit]

He first married, around 1185, Sancha Rodríguez (died between 1209 and 1212).[12]
[11] In his 1697 study of the Lara family, Luis de Salazar y Castro suggested she was 
daughter of a Rodrigo Rodríguez appearing in documents without further identifying 
details, in turn made son of count Rodrigo González de Lara by the infanta Sancha 
Alfonso.[13] In this he has been followed by many more recent works. However, a 
recent survey of the Lara by Antonio Sánchez de Mora dismisses this connection as 
being without basis, a deliberate attempt to give the Girón prominent ancestry.[14] 
Based on an ancient pedigree of the patrons of the monastery of Santa María de 
Ferreira de Pallares, Jaime de Salazar y Acha has asserted that she was the daughter 
of Rodrigo Fernández de Toroño, alférez to the king, and Aldonza Pérez, daughter of 
Pedro Muñoz de Carrión, a landholder in Aranga and a descendant of the Banu Gómez 
and of the Galician nobleman Pedro Froilaz.[15]

An illuminating document, cited by several authors, mentions all of his children from 
both his marriages, except Gonzalo. On 8 May 1222, in the records of the Palencia 
Cathedral, Gonzalo, High Steward of the King, in the company of his children and 
second wife, affirmed that the gift of a hospital in the district of San Zoilo in Carrión, 
along with all its rights and privileges, was to be restored to Palencia's episcopal see 
in perpetuity. The children of the first marriage were:[16]
Rodrigo González Girón (before 1194–1256)
Gonzalo González Girón (d. 1258), married to Teresa Arias[17]
Teresa González Girón, who signed the 1222 document with the consent of her 
husband Rodrigo González[18]
María González Girón, who signed the document with the consent of her first husband 
Guillén Pérez de Guzmán, son of Pedro Rodríguez de Guzmán and Mahalda. María, 
according to Salazar y Acha, married secondly Gil Vasques de Soverosa, and had 
children from both marriages. A daughter of the first was Mayor Guillén de Guzmán, 
mistress of King Alfonso X.
Aldonza González Girón, married by 1222 to Ramiro Fróilaz, son of Count Froila 
Ramírez and Sancha Fernández
Elvira González Girón, who signed the document with the authorization of the abbess 
of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas[19]
Sancha Rodríguez Girón, another nun, who signed it with the permission of the 
abbess of San Andrés de Arroyo[20]
Brígida González Girón, a nun in the Abbey of Santa María de la Consolación de 
Perales, who signed with the consent of the abbess

Around May 1213, Gonzalo married, for the second time, Marquesa Pérez, who may 
have come from the Villalobos family or the Manzanedo family, although her parentage 
has not been confirmed.[21][22][23] Together they signed a document of 1222 
mentioning the children of this marriage, all of whom were minors at that date.[24] In 
1224, along with his wife Marquesa, he donated the church of Santa María de 
Baquerín to the Hospital de la Herrada which he had founded.[25] The children of this 
second marriage, who lack the historical relevance of the first, were:[25]
Pedro González Girón
Muño González Girón
Nuño González Girón
María González Girón (thus bearing the same name as her elder half-sister), wife of 
Ponç I, Count of Urgell, with whom she had two children; Ermengol and Álvaro who 
inherited a significant legacy in the kingdoms of Castile and León[26][27]
Leonor González Girón, who married, according to Luis de Salazar y Castro, Gonzalo 
Gómez de Roa, Lord of Aza and Roa, with whom she had three children, one of whom, 
Juan González de Roa, became Grand Master of the Order of Calatrava
Inés González Girón
Mayor González Girón, possibly the wife of Lope López de Haro "el Chico" son of 
Lope Díaz II de Haro[28][29]

Parents
GIRON Rodrigo Gutierrez (ABT 1130 - 1193)
DE GUZMAN Maria (ABT 1135 - )

Siblings
GIRON Gonzalo Rodriguez (ABT 1160 - 1231)
GIRON Elvira Rodriguez (ABT 1173 - AFT 22 Feb 1211)

Marriage To DE LARA Sancha Rodriguez (ABT 1160 - ABT 1210)
    m.  

Notes

Parents
DE LARA Rodrigo Rodriguez (ABT 1130 - )
DE AZAGRA Elvira Garcia ()

Children by DE LARA Sancha Rodriguez ABT 1160 - ABT 1210
GIRON Maria Gonzalez (ABT 1185 - )
GIRON Aldonza Gonzalez (ABT 1190 - )

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