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Birth:          ABT 1161 
Death:          1230 

Notes
familysearch.org
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfonso_T%C3%A9llez_de_Meneses_el_Viejo
Alfonso Téllez de Meneses (c. 1161–1230),[1] known as el Viejo ("the Old"), was a 
nobleman of Castile and a participant in the key Reconquista battle of Las Navas de 
Tolosa. He was the second Lord of Meneses, Lord of Cea, Grajal,[2] Montalbán, and, 
through his second wife, first Lord of Alburquerque.
Family[edit]

His father was Tello Pérez de Meneses, a powerful noble in Tierra de Campos and 
Cea,[2] founder, with his wife Gontrodo, of the Monastery of Santa María de 
Matallana,[3][4][5][6] and three hospitals for lepers and pilgrims in Cuenca,[7][6] 
Villamartín, and in San Nicolás del Real Camino.[8][9][10] Although mistakenly 
considered the founders of the Monastery of Santa María de Trianos because of the 
donation that the couple made in 1185 with the consent of their five children, the 
monastery had been founded before 1125 the year in which Pope Honorius II issued a 
Papal bull appointing the abbot and the prior of this religious establishment.[11][12]

The mother of Alfonso Téllez de Meneses was Gontrodo García of the Fláinez family 
who married Tello Pérez de Meneses around 1161, the year in which he granted her 
arras.[13][14] Gontrodo was the daughter of García Pérez, tenente in Cea who 
distinguished himself in the conquest of Baeza and Almería, and of Teresa Pérez.[15] 
Gontrodo's parents founded the Cistercian convent of Santa María la Real in 
Gradefes, which she joined after she was widowed and where she eventually became 
the abbess.[16][17]

Life[edit]

In 1209 King Alfonso VIII ceded to Alfonso Téllez de Meneses the village of 
Montalbán.[18] The following year he received as a gift of the king the village of 
Navahermosa, its castle Dos Hermanas, and the village of Malamoneda and its 
eponymous castle, splitting them off from the jurisdiction of the Knights Templar.[19] 
Around this time Alfonso Téllez de Meneses also governed Portillo on behalf of his 
relative Ermengol VIII, Count of Urgell.[20]

He fought at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, which took place on 16 July 1212, 
along with his brothers-in-law Gonzalo, Rodrigo, Pedro, Nuño, and Álvaro Rodríguez 
Girón, and his three brothers.[21][22]

In July 1213 Alfonso VIII ceded the village of Palazuelos[23] to Alfonso Téllez de 
Meneses[24] and he in turn donated it to a Cistercian community, specifically that of 
San Andrés de Valbení. In 1216 construction began on the Romanesque Monastery of 
Palazuelos. It was completed in the middle of the 13th century and became the 
headquarters of the Cistercians of Castile.[25]

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, Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón, 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.[26] 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 distance themselves definitively from Álvaro Núñez de Lara.[27]

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.[28]

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.[29]

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.[30] His brother 
Fernando Núñez de Lara made his way to Morocco, where he placed himself in the 
service of Caliph Yusuf II.[31] The Pact of Toro of 26 August 1218 ratified the truce 
and put an end to the conflict.[32]

Alfonso Téllez de Meneses died in 1230 while accompanying King Ferdinand on his 
way to his coronation as King of León, the occasion of the union of the two crowns 
upon the death of Alfonso IX of León.[33] He was buried, according to tradition, in the 
Monastery of Santa María de Palazuelos which he had founded.[34][35]

Marriage and children[edit]

Alfonso married twice. His first wife was Elvira Rodríguez Girón (? – after 22 February 
1211), daughter of Rodrigo Gutiérrez Girón.[2][36] They had four children:
Tello Alfonso de Meneses, subject of chivalric romances on account of his defense of 
Martos and Córdoba. He died without issue, leaving his brother Alfonso to succeed 
him as Governor of Cordoba and Lord of Meneses.[37]
Alfonso Téllez de Meneses "el Mozo",[25] ("the Young"; ? – c. 1257), who married 
María Anes de Limia, daughter of Juan Fernández, tenant-in-chief in Limia y 
Monterroso, and Maria Pais Ribeira "a Ribeirinha". Alfonso and María had three 
children, including, Mayor Alfonso de Meneses, the wife of infante Alfonso de Molina, 
and mother of Queen María de Molina and her brother Alfonso Téllez de Molina, Lord 
of Meneses and alférez to the king.[38]
Mayor Alfonso, married to Rodrigo Gómez de Traba, son of Count Gómez González de 
Traba and Elvira Pérez.[36][25]
Teresa Alfonso,[25][36] married to Menendo González de Sousa, and by him the 
mother of María Méndez de Sousa who married Martín Alfonso, illegitimate son of 
Alfonso IX of León and Teresa Gil de Soverosa.[39][36]

Between February 1211, the year in which his first wife died, and before July 1213 
when he first appears with his second wife,[36][40] he married the young Portuguese 
Teresa Sanches, the illegitimate daughter of Sancho I of Portugal and Maria Pais 
Ribeira,[41] who later married Juan Fernández, tenant-in-chief in Limia and 
Monterroso. Alfonso probably succeeded to the Lordship of Alburquerque thanks to his 
second marriage to Teresa, since it was inherited by the children of this marriage, 
while the Lordship of Meneses passed to his firstborn, Tello, the son of his first wife. 
The children of this second marriage were:
Martín Alfonso (died after 15 June 1285), who married Mencia Rodríguez. Martín left 
a will dated 15 June 1285, leaving instructions for his wife Mencia, his sister María 
Alfonso, and his five children, Teresa, María, Alfonso, Velasco, and Gil Martínez. He 
also mentions his brother-in-law Gómez Rodríguez who must be Mencía's brother.[42]
Alfonso Alfonso de Meneses "Tizón", (died after 1252), who according to some 
authors married Mayor González Girón, daughter of Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón.
María Alfonso (died before 15 June 1285).
Juan Alfonso (?–1268), married to Elvira or Berenguela González Girón, daughter of 
Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón.[35][43]

Parents
DE MENESES Tello Perez (ABT 1130 - ABT 1200)
____ Gontrodo ()

Siblings
TELLEZ DE MENESES Alonso (ABT 1161 - 1230)

Marriage To GIRON Elvira Rodriguez (ABT 1173 - AFT 22 Feb 1211)
    m. ABT 1194 Spain

Notes

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

Children by GIRON Elvira Rodriguez ABT 1173 - AFT 22 Feb 1211
TELLEZ DE MENESES Alfonso (ABT 1195 - ABT 1257)

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