Ramiro Fróilaz
Encyclopedia
Ramiro Fróilaz was a Leonese
magnate, statesman, and military leader. He was a dominant figure in the kingdom during the reigns of Alfonso VII and Ferdinand II
. He was primarily a territorial governor, but also a court figure, connected to royalty both by blood and by marriage. The military exploits of his sovereigns involved him against both the neighbouring kingdoms of Navarre
and Portugal
and in the Reconquista
of the lands of al-Andalus
.
and Estefanía Sánchez of the Navarrese royal house
. Ramiro's first wife was Inés (Agnès), perhaps a member of the French royal house
or the family of the Counts of Armagnac. She was buried in the church of San Isidoro de León, where her epitaph names her husband and describes her as "descended from the kings of France". She was the mother of his eldest two sons, Alfonso
and Fruela. On 22 September 1150 Ramiro gave these two the bridewealth (arras) which he had neglected to give their mother before her death.
Ramiro's second wife was Sancha, an obscure woman whose origins are unknown. She gave him a son and a daughter: García and Estefanía, who married Ponce de Minerva
. On the occasion of her marriage, the king and Ramiro gave Ponce their respective halves of the village of Carrizo de la Ribera, where Estefanía later erected a monastery (1176). Estefanía and Ponce's only son was named Ramiro after his grandfather.
Ramiro's third wife was Elo (Eilo) Álvarez, daughter of Álvar Fáñez and Mayor Pérez and widow of Rodrigo Fernández de Castro. She was named after her maternal grandmother, Elo Alfonso, wife of Pedro Ansúrez
. This last marriage extended Ramiro's influence into the Tierra de Campos
. Ramiro also controlled the marriages of his close kin. When his niece Estefanía Díaz married without his consent sometime before September 1150 he confiscated her lands. The deed disinheriting her is the only surviving reference to Ramiro's second wife and also the earliest to his third wife.
On 1 June 1153 Ramiro and his wife Elo terminated a dispute with his sister, María Fróilaz, and her husband, Pedro Alfonso
, over the water source at Villanueva
. Also that year Ramiro granted an estate at Villaseca
to García Pérez and his wife, Teresa Pérez, as a reward for their loyal service. García, a son of Pedro Martínez and grandson of Martín Flaínez
, served as a knight in Ramiro's household. García was also a loyal servant of the king, who granted him largesse on three occasions. Teresa later (1177) founded the Cistercian monastery of Gradefes
, and it is in the records of this establishment that Ramiro's gift can be read.
, concluded from it that "the same count and countess Fruela Díaz and Estefanía, with their children Ramiro, Diego, Constanza and María, founded the monastery of Arbas
, in the gate of Pajares, on 15 March 1116."
In November 1123 Ramiro was the alcalde
(justiciar) of Toledo
, a post he probably held into 1124. He is described in two charters as urbis alcaldus (justiciar of the city) and toletanus alcaidus (Toledan justiciar). The Chronica Adefonsi imperatoris, a contemporary account of the reign of Alfonso VII, records that Ramiro Fróilaz (Radimirus Froile) was one of those who came to the city of León only after it had been captured by the king's allies, Alfonso Jordan and Suero Vermúdez
, in 1126 to do him homage on his succession. He was one of those qui postea facti sunt comites ("who was later made count").
Between 29 May 1132 and 18 September 1133 Ramiro served as alférez
of the royal armies, a post commonly reserved for the scions of noble houses. Except during the period when he was alférez, when he was constantly at court, Ramiro was a semi-regular courtier. In the year 1146, for example, he accompanied Alfonso VII for only about half the court's itinerary.
of Ulver
in the Bierzo. At the same time Ramiro received from the crown the tenencia of La Cabrera
, sometime before 6 March 1122/6, when he is first recorded as tenente there, although he had appointed one Menendeo Peláez as his merino
. He held it at least until 5 March 1129. The next lord of the place, Ponce de Cabrera, is not mentioned until 13 May 1138. At Ulver Ramiro remained until at least 27 October 1128, when Ponce appears as holding it and entrusting it to a merino, Pelayo Peláez. By July 1133 Ramiro had regained Ulver and held it until 26 February 1169 and probably until his death. Between 1133 and 1155 he entrusted it to his vassal Fernando Peláez.
Sometime before 15 January 1128 (perhaps as early as 1123) Ramiro received the rule of the entire Bierzo. By 25 August 1131 Ramiro was the military governor of nearby Astorga in charge of its castle and walls. In 1137 he was entrusted with the fief of Aguilar
, which had recently been confiscated from the mysteriously disgraced Osorio Martínez
. Nuño Pérez, the castellan of the castle at Aguilar, for reasons unknown, rebelled against Ramiro, but was defeated by 2 December. Later Alfonso VII raised Ramiro to the rank of count
, a title he first carried in a charter for the Diocese of Sigüenza dated 14 September 1138. By May 1139 Osorio had regained Aguilar, where he continued down to at least December 1140. Thereafter it returned to Ramiro to govern until at least December 1166.
From at least 18 May 1126 until as late as 22 June 1165 Ramiro was governing Valdeorras
. There, on 13 September 1139, he heard a property dispute, an account of which has been preserved in the tumbo of San Pedro de Montes. The dispute occurred between the monastery of San Pedro and Mayor Sánchez and her sons concerning an estate at a place called Villa. While Mayor claimed to have purchased the land from its previous holder, Pedro Peláez, the monastery claimed that it was a pious donation. Ramiro, with some leading men of Valdeorras, both clergy and laity, arbitrating the dispute until the monks agreed to pay 160 solidi
to Mayor in return for her renunciation of any rights to the estate.
Ramiro was ruling the city of León, where he owned houses and a palace (palacio), between 11 April 1141 and 4 July 1144. On 31 December 1156 Ramiro and Elo donated some houses they owned in León to the monastery of Vega
, a daughter house of Fontevraud
. In 1154/5 Ramiro's authority over the city of Astorga was shared with Ponce de Cabrera. There is no record of Ramiro holding Astorga after 20 September 1168. He was an old man when he died. Sometime before 1162 Ramiro was also co-tenant with Ponce at Villafranca del Bierzo
.
Probably for nearly his entire adult life Ramiro governed Villabuena; there are records of his tenancy there between 1128 and 1166. He also governed Cifuentes
for more than twenty years and Riba de Esla for more than a decade. Among the tenencias Ramiro governed only briefly—such that no more than one record of his lordship there survives—are Alba de Gordón, Avedillo de Sanabria, Ferreras, Molinaseca
, Monteagudo
, Oteros, Peñamián, Robledo
, Tibres, and Trigueros. Among the tenencias which Ramiro governed later in his career (the last decade of the reign of Alfonso VII and the first of Ferdinand II) are found Argüello, Boñar
, Caldelas, Casayo, Gordón
, Villafranca
, and Villarmildo.
in 1134 during the campaign of harassment against García Ramírez of Navarre. In the summer of 1139 Ramiro was present at the long Siege of Oreja
. In 1140 Ramiro went to war with Afonso Henriques
, king of neighbouring Portugal
, but was defeated and captured. There is no documentary evidence that he had gone with Alfonso into Portugal in 1137, but the Chronica Adefonsi (I, §82) narrates an episode involving him that occurred on the 1137 campaign:
After the Battle of Valdevez
the Portuguese and the Leonese came to terms, captured castles were surrendered and "Count Ramiro was released, and all the knights who had been captured on either side were given their freedom." The capture of Ramiro is not mentioned in the Crónica de Dom Afonso Henriques.
Briefly in 1147 Ramiro was stripped of the Bierzo, which was given to Sancha Raimúndez, the king's sister, but he was soon restored to it and continue to rule it until at least June 1169, probably until his death some short time later. This perhaps corresponded to Ramiro's absence on the campaign against Almería
that year. Although the Poema de Almería records his presence at the siege of the city, royal documents do not record him with the army after 11 July, just before the siege of Andújar
. He had not joined the army until shortly before 23 May at Toledo and had missed the capitulation of Calatrava
on 11 January. The anonymous author of the Poema names Ramiro second of the great nobles in the following of Alfonso VII at Almería:
Ramiro was an elder statesman during the reign of Alfonso's successor in León, Ferdinand II. On 23 May 1158 he was the first-named guarantor of Ferdinand II in the Treaty of Sahagún
, which ended a state of war between Ferdinand and his brother, Sancho III of Castile
. Ramiro's death probably occurred in 1169. His obituary is recorded in the records of the church of San Isidoro, where he is buried. In the seventeenth century, historian José Pellicer de Osau y Tovar said of "Ramiro Frolaz" that "he was one of the greatest grandees Spain had, and his name endures in the histories from the year 1120 down to 1168."
Kingdom of León
The Kingdom of León was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in AD 910 when the Christian princes of Asturias along the northern coast of the peninsula shifted their capital from Oviedo to the city of León...
magnate, statesman, and military leader. He was a dominant figure in the kingdom during the reigns of Alfonso VII and Ferdinand II
Ferdinand II of Leon
Ferdinand II was King of León and Galicia from 1157 to his death.-Life:Born in Toledo, Castile, he was the son of King Alfonso VII of León and Castile and of Berenguela, of the House of Barcelona. At his father's death, he received León and Galicia, while his brother Sancho received Castile and...
. He was primarily a territorial governor, but also a court figure, connected to royalty both by blood and by marriage. The military exploits of his sovereigns involved him against both the neighbouring kingdoms of Navarre
Kingdom of Navarre
The Kingdom of Navarre , originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, was a European kingdom which occupied lands on either side of the Pyrenees alongside the Atlantic Ocean....
and Portugal
Kingdom of Portugal
The Kingdom of Portugal was Portugal's general designation under the monarchy. The kingdom was located in the west of the Iberian Peninsula, Europe and existed from 1139 to 1910...
and in the Reconquista
Reconquista
The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...
of the lands of al-Andalus
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
.
Family
Ramiro was the eldest son of Fruela DíazFruela Díaz
Fruela Díaz , known in contemporary sources as Froila Didaci or Didaz, was a nobleman in the Kingdom of León, the dominant figure in the centre of the realm during the late reign of Alfonso VI and the early reign of Urraca...
and Estefanía Sánchez of the Navarrese royal house
Jiménez dynasty
The Jiménez or Ximenes were an Iberian ruling family from the 10th century to the 13th century. They were the first Europeanisers of Spain and brought her back within the wider European political scene while also giving her the political character and division that persisted until the end of the...
. Ramiro's first wife was Inés (Agnès), perhaps a member of the French royal house
House of Capet
The House of Capet, or The Direct Capetian Dynasty, , also called The House of France , or simply the Capets, which ruled the Kingdom of France from 987 to 1328, was the most senior line of the Capetian dynasty – itself a derivative dynasty from the Robertians. As rulers of France, the dynasty...
or the family of the Counts of Armagnac. She was buried in the church of San Isidoro de León, where her epitaph names her husband and describes her as "descended from the kings of France". She was the mother of his eldest two sons, Alfonso
Alfonso Ramírez (count)
Alfonso Ramírez was a Spanish nobleman of the Kingdom of León, who ruled the Bierzo intermittently between 1167 and his death....
and Fruela. On 22 September 1150 Ramiro gave these two the bridewealth (arras) which he had neglected to give their mother before her death.
Ramiro's second wife was Sancha, an obscure woman whose origins are unknown. She gave him a son and a daughter: García and Estefanía, who married Ponce de Minerva
Ponce de Minerva
Ponce de Minerva was a nobleman, courtier, governor, and general serving, at the same and different times, the kingdoms of León and Castile. Originally from Occitania, he came as a young man to León , where he was raised probably in close connexion to the royal family...
. On the occasion of her marriage, the king and Ramiro gave Ponce their respective halves of the village of Carrizo de la Ribera, where Estefanía later erected a monastery (1176). Estefanía and Ponce's only son was named Ramiro after his grandfather.
Ramiro's third wife was Elo (Eilo) Álvarez, daughter of Álvar Fáñez and Mayor Pérez and widow of Rodrigo Fernández de Castro. She was named after her maternal grandmother, Elo Alfonso, wife of Pedro Ansúrez
Pedro Ansúrez
Pedro Ansúrez was a Castilian count of Liébana, Saldaña and Carrión in the closing decades of the eleventh century and the opening decades of the twelfth. He is considered the founder and first lord of Valladolid....
. This last marriage extended Ramiro's influence into the Tierra de Campos
Tierra de Campos
Tierra de Campos is a large historical region or greater comarca that straddles the provinces of León, Zamora, Valladolid and Palencia, in Castile and León, Spain...
. Ramiro also controlled the marriages of his close kin. When his niece Estefanía Díaz married without his consent sometime before September 1150 he confiscated her lands. The deed disinheriting her is the only surviving reference to Ramiro's second wife and also the earliest to his third wife.
On 1 June 1153 Ramiro and his wife Elo terminated a dispute with his sister, María Fróilaz, and her husband, Pedro Alfonso
Pedro Alfonso
Pedro Alfonso or Alfónsez was an Asturian magnate, dominating the region from 1139 until his death. He had vast landholdings in the Asturias, the province of León, and Toledo, including in the cities of León and Toledo, the most important cities of the realm. His commercial dealings, too, were...
, over the water source at Villanueva
Villanueva
-Colombia:*Villanueva, Bolívar, a town and municipality in Bolívar Department*Villanueva, Casanare, a town and municipality in Casanare Department*Villanueva, La Guajira, a town and municipality in La Guajira Department...
. Also that year Ramiro granted an estate at Villaseca
Villaseca de la Sagra
Villaseca de la Sagra is a municipality located in the province of Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2006 census , the municipality has a population of 1,581 inhabitants....
to García Pérez and his wife, Teresa Pérez, as a reward for their loyal service. García, a son of Pedro Martínez and grandson of Martín Flaínez
Martín Flaínez
Martín Flaínez was "one of the most powerful and distinguished members" of the Leonese aristocracy during the reign of Alfonso VI , with which the length of his public life almost exactly coincided...
, served as a knight in Ramiro's household. García was also a loyal servant of the king, who granted him largesse on three occasions. Teresa later (1177) founded the Cistercian monastery of Gradefes
Gradefes
Gradefes is a municipality located in the province of León, Castile and León, Spain. , the municipality has a population of 1,076 inhabitants....
, and it is in the records of this establishment that Ramiro's gift can be read.
Early public career
The earliest reference to Ramiro is in a now lost charter recording the foundation of the monastery of Santa María de Arbas del Puerto. A résumé of the charter was kept in the Archivo Histórico Nacional during the directorship of Juan Menéndez Pidal, whose brother, the historian Ramón Menéndez PidalRamón Menéndez Pidal
Ramón Menéndez Pidal was a Spanish philologist and historian. He worked extensively on the history of the Spanish language and Spanish folklore and folk poetry. One of his main topics was the history and legend of The Cid....
, concluded from it that "the same count and countess Fruela Díaz and Estefanía, with their children Ramiro, Diego, Constanza and María, founded the monastery of Arbas
Arbas
Arbas is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France.-Population:-References:*...
, in the gate of Pajares, on 15 March 1116."
In November 1123 Ramiro was the alcalde
Alcalde
Alcalde , or Alcalde ordinario, is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An alcalde was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian cabildo and judge of first instance of a town...
(justiciar) of Toledo
Toledo, Spain
Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...
, a post he probably held into 1124. He is described in two charters as urbis alcaldus (justiciar of the city) and toletanus alcaidus (Toledan justiciar). The Chronica Adefonsi imperatoris, a contemporary account of the reign of Alfonso VII, records that Ramiro Fróilaz (Radimirus Froile) was one of those who came to the city of León only after it had been captured by the king's allies, Alfonso Jordan and Suero Vermúdez
Suero Vermúdez
Suero Vermúdez was an Asturian nobleman, extensive landowner, patron of churches, territorial governor, and military leader...
, in 1126 to do him homage on his succession. He was one of those qui postea facti sunt comites ("who was later made count").
Between 29 May 1132 and 18 September 1133 Ramiro served as alférez
Alférez
Alférez is a junior officer rank also used in Spain, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. The variant Alferes is used in Portugal and was formerly also used in Brazil. A naval variant, Frigate Alférez, is used in Spain, Dominican Republic and Peru. "Alférez" is often translated as ensign...
of the royal armies, a post commonly reserved for the scions of noble houses. Except during the period when he was alférez, when he was constantly at court, Ramiro was a semi-regular courtier. In the year 1146, for example, he accompanied Alfonso VII for only about half the court's itinerary.
Tenancies
Ramiro held twenty-seven recorded fiefs from the crown (tenencias) in his long career. A scribe writing in 1145 referred to Ramiro as Comes Ramirus hic et ubique: "Count Ramiro, here and everywhere." Not long after the death of his father (1119), who had guarded the mountainous passes between the regions of León and Galicia, Queen Urraca appointed Ramiro castellanCastellan
A castellan was the governor or captain of a castle. The word stems from the Latin Castellanus, derived from castellum "castle". Also known as a constable.-Duties:...
of Ulver
Cornatel
Cornăţel may refer to several villages in Romania:* Cornăţel, a village in Buzoeşti Commune, Argeş County* Cornăţel, a village in Urecheşti Commune, Bacău County* Cornăţel, a village in Roşia Commune, Sibiu County...
in the Bierzo. At the same time Ramiro received from the crown the tenencia of La Cabrera
La Cabrera
La Cabrera is a municipality of the Community of Madrid, Spain.-External links:...
, sometime before 6 March 1122/6, when he is first recorded as tenente there, although he had appointed one Menendeo Peláez as his merino
Merindad
Merindad is a Mediaeval Spanish administrative term that refers to a country subdivision smaller than a province but larger than a municipality. It was roughly approximate to the English count or bailiff...
. He held it at least until 5 March 1129. The next lord of the place, Ponce de Cabrera, is not mentioned until 13 May 1138. At Ulver Ramiro remained until at least 27 October 1128, when Ponce appears as holding it and entrusting it to a merino, Pelayo Peláez. By July 1133 Ramiro had regained Ulver and held it until 26 February 1169 and probably until his death. Between 1133 and 1155 he entrusted it to his vassal Fernando Peláez.
Sometime before 15 January 1128 (perhaps as early as 1123) Ramiro received the rule of the entire Bierzo. By 25 August 1131 Ramiro was the military governor of nearby Astorga in charge of its castle and walls. In 1137 he was entrusted with the fief of Aguilar
Aguilar de Campoo
Aguilar de Campoo is a town in the province of Palencia, autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is close to the River Pisuerga.-History:In 1255 Alfonso X the Wise declared it Villa Realenga...
, which had recently been confiscated from the mysteriously disgraced Osorio Martínez
Osorio Martínez
Osorio Martínez was a magnate from the Province of León in the Empire of Alfonso VII. He served the emperor militarily throughout his long career, which peaked in 1138–41. Besides the documentary sources, which are somewhat meagre at times after his fall from royal favour, he is mentioned in two...
. Nuño Pérez, the castellan of the castle at Aguilar, for reasons unknown, rebelled against Ramiro, but was defeated by 2 December. Later Alfonso VII raised Ramiro to the rank of count
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
, a title he first carried in a charter for the Diocese of Sigüenza dated 14 September 1138. By May 1139 Osorio had regained Aguilar, where he continued down to at least December 1140. Thereafter it returned to Ramiro to govern until at least December 1166.
From at least 18 May 1126 until as late as 22 June 1165 Ramiro was governing Valdeorras
Valdeorras
Valdeorras is a comarca in the Galician Province of Ourense. The overall population of this local region is 28,984 .-Municipalities:*O Barco de Valdeorras, capital of the comarca*O Bolo*Carballeda de Valdeorras*Larouco* Petín* A Rúa* Rubiá...
. There, on 13 September 1139, he heard a property dispute, an account of which has been preserved in the tumbo of San Pedro de Montes. The dispute occurred between the monastery of San Pedro and Mayor Sánchez and her sons concerning an estate at a place called Villa. While Mayor claimed to have purchased the land from its previous holder, Pedro Peláez, the monastery claimed that it was a pious donation. Ramiro, with some leading men of Valdeorras, both clergy and laity, arbitrating the dispute until the monks agreed to pay 160 solidi
Solidus (coin)
The solidus was originally a gold coin issued by the Romans, and a weight measure for gold more generally, corresponding to 4.5 grams.-Roman and Byzantine coinage:...
to Mayor in return for her renunciation of any rights to the estate.
Ramiro was ruling the city of León, where he owned houses and a palace (palacio), between 11 April 1141 and 4 July 1144. On 31 December 1156 Ramiro and Elo donated some houses they owned in León to the monastery of Vega
Vega
Vega is the brightest star in the constellation Lyra, the fifth brightest star in the night sky and the second brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere, after Arcturus...
, a daughter house of Fontevraud
Fontevraud Abbey
Fontevraud Abbey or Fontevrault Abbey is a religious building hosting a cultural centre since 1975, the Centre Culturel de l'Ouest, in the village of Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, near Chinon, in Anjou, France. It was founded by the itinerant reforming preacher Robert of Arbrissel, who had just created a...
. In 1154/5 Ramiro's authority over the city of Astorga was shared with Ponce de Cabrera. There is no record of Ramiro holding Astorga after 20 September 1168. He was an old man when he died. Sometime before 1162 Ramiro was also co-tenant with Ponce at Villafranca del Bierzo
Villafranca del Bierzo
thumb|250px|Castle of Villafranca.Vilafranca del Bierzo is a village and municipality located in the comarca of El Bierzo, in the province of León, Castile and León, Spain.It is one of Galician speaking councils of Castilla y León....
.
Probably for nearly his entire adult life Ramiro governed Villabuena; there are records of his tenancy there between 1128 and 1166. He also governed Cifuentes
Cifuentes
Cifuentes may refer to:*Cifuentes, Guadalajara, a municipality in Guadalajara, Spain*Cifuentes, Cuba, a municipality in Villa Clara, Cuba People with the surname Cifuentes:...
for more than twenty years and Riba de Esla for more than a decade. Among the tenencias Ramiro governed only briefly—such that no more than one record of his lordship there survives—are Alba de Gordón, Avedillo de Sanabria, Ferreras, Molinaseca
Molinaseca
Molinaseca is a village and municipality located in the region of El Bierzo . According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 750 inhabitants....
, Monteagudo
Monteagudo
Monteagudo is the name of:* Monteagudo, Bolivia, a town in Bolivia* Monteagudo, Navarre, a town and municipality located in the province of Navarre, Spain* Monteagudo del Castillo, a town and municipality in the province of Teruel, Spain...
, Oteros, Peñamián, Robledo
Robledo
Robledo is the name of a caldera in Catamarca Province, Argentina....
, Tibres, and Trigueros. Among the tenencias which Ramiro governed later in his career (the last decade of the reign of Alfonso VII and the first of Ferdinand II) are found Argüello, Boñar
Boñar
The municipality of Boñar is located in the province of León, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2010 census , the municipality has a population of 2,085 inhabitants with almost all of the residents living in the main town of Boñar...
, Caldelas, Casayo, Gordón
Gordon
Gordon is a surname with numerous different origins. The masculine given name Gordon is derived from the surname.-Origin of the surname:...
, Villafranca
Villafranca del Bierzo
thumb|250px|Castle of Villafranca.Vilafranca del Bierzo is a village and municipality located in the comarca of El Bierzo, in the province of León, Castile and León, Spain.It is one of Galician speaking councils of Castilla y León....
, and Villarmildo.
Military campaigns
Jerónimo Zurita places Ramiro at the side of Alfonso VII in ZaragozaZaragoza
Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...
in 1134 during the campaign of harassment against García Ramírez of Navarre. In the summer of 1139 Ramiro was present at the long Siege of Oreja
Siege of Oreja
The Siege of Oreja by the forces of Alfonso VII, Emperor of Spain, lasted from April to October 1139, when the Almoravid garrison surrendered. It was the first major victory of the renewed Reconquista that characterised the last two decades of Alfonso's reign.-Principal sources:The main source for...
. In 1140 Ramiro went to war with Afonso Henriques
Afonso I of Portugal
Afonso I or Dom Afonso Henriques , more commonly known as Afonso Henriques , nicknamed "the Conqueror" , "the Founder" or "the Great" by the Portuguese, and El-Bortukali and Ibn-Arrik by the Moors whom he fought, was the first King of Portugal...
, king of neighbouring Portugal
Kingdom of Portugal
The Kingdom of Portugal was Portugal's general designation under the monarchy. The kingdom was located in the west of the Iberian Peninsula, Europe and existed from 1139 to 1910...
, but was defeated and captured. There is no documentary evidence that he had gone with Alfonso into Portugal in 1137, but the Chronica Adefonsi (I, §82) narrates an episode involving him that occurred on the 1137 campaign:
The King of Portugal likewise mobilized his army and marched out to fight the few men who had foolishly been separated from the Emperor's main force. The Portuguese confronted Count Ramiro who was attempting to conquer their land. They joined in battle, and Ramiro was defeated and taken prisoner.
After the Battle of Valdevez
Battle of Valdevez
The Battle of Valdevez took place at Arcos de Valdevez on the banks of the river Vez between the Kingdom of León and the Kingdom of Portugal in the summer of 1140 or 1141. It is one of only two pitched battles that Alfonso VII of León is known to have fought, and the only of the two not coincident...
the Portuguese and the Leonese came to terms, captured castles were surrendered and "Count Ramiro was released, and all the knights who had been captured on either side were given their freedom." The capture of Ramiro is not mentioned in the Crónica de Dom Afonso Henriques.
Briefly in 1147 Ramiro was stripped of the Bierzo, which was given to Sancha Raimúndez, the king's sister, but he was soon restored to it and continue to rule it until at least June 1169, probably until his death some short time later. This perhaps corresponded to Ramiro's absence on the campaign against Almería
Almería
Almería is a city in Andalusia, Spain, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the province of the same name.-Toponym:Tradition says that the name Almería stems from the Arabic المرية Al-Mariyya: "The Mirror", comparing it to "The Mirror of the Sea"...
that year. Although the Poema de Almería records his presence at the siege of the city, royal documents do not record him with the army after 11 July, just before the siege of Andújar
Andújar
Andújar is a Spanish municipality of 38,539 people in the province of Jaén, in Andalusia. The municipality is divided by the Guadalquivir River. The northern part of the municipality is where the Natural Park of the Sierra de Andújar is situated. To the south are agricultural fields and...
. He had not joined the army until shortly before 23 May at Toledo and had missed the capitulation of Calatrava
Calatrava
-Spain:* Calatrava la Vieja , Spanish medieval town* Calatrava la Nueva, Spanish medieval castle and convent-Philippines:* Calatrava, Negros Occidental, a municipality in the Philippines...
on 11 January. The anonymous author of the Poema names Ramiro second of the great nobles in the following of Alfonso VII at Almería:
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Ramiro was an elder statesman during the reign of Alfonso's successor in León, Ferdinand II. On 23 May 1158 he was the first-named guarantor of Ferdinand II in the Treaty of Sahagún
Treaty of Sahagún (1158)
The Treaty of Sahagún ended a state of war between the Castile and León, establishing pacem et ueram amiciciam between their respective monarchs, Sancho III and Ferdinand II, who called themselves boni fratres et boni amici...
, which ended a state of war between Ferdinand and his brother, Sancho III of Castile
Sancho III of Castile
Sancho III was King of Castile and Toledo for one year, from 1157 to 1158. During the Reconquista, in which he took an active part, he founded the Order of Calatrava...
. Ramiro's death probably occurred in 1169. His obituary is recorded in the records of the church of San Isidoro, where he is buried. In the seventeenth century, historian José Pellicer de Osau y Tovar said of "Ramiro Frolaz" that "he was one of the greatest grandees Spain had, and his name endures in the histories from the year 1120 down to 1168."