Rodrigo Álvarez
Encyclopedia
Galician people
The Galicians are an ethnic group, a nationality whose historical homeland is Galicia in north-western Spain. Most Galicians are bilingual, speaking both their historic language, Galician, and Castilian Spanish.-Political and administrative divisions:...
magnate in the Kingdom of León
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...
. He founded the Order of Mountjoy in 1174 and affiliated it with the Cistercian Order that he had long patronised.
Rodrigo was a son of Álvaro Rodríguez
Álvaro Rodríguez
Álvaro Rodríguez was a Galician magnate during the reigns of Alfonso VII and Ferdinand II.Álvaro was the son of Rodrigo Vélaz and Urraca Álvarez, perhaps a daughter of Álvar Fáñez and Mayor Pérez, daughter of Pedro Ansúrez. He married Sancha, an illegitimate daughter of Fernando Pérez de Traba and...
and Sancha Fernández. He entered the public record in a royal charter of 13 June 1161. A sign of his landed wealth is given by the properties he held at Buján, Fafián, Goon, and Levasser, which he at one point mortgaged for 200 maravedíes. He and his brother Vermudo also came to own lands on the river Esla in the province of León, probably through their mother's second marriage to the Leonese count 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...
. Early he received the tenencia (fief from the crown) of Allariz
Allariz
The town of Allariz is in the province of Ourense, Autonomous Community of Galicia, Spain. It occupies the center of the western half of the province, connecting with the towns of Taboadela, Paderne, Sandiás, Vilar de Santos, Rairiz de Veiga, Xunqueira de Ambía, A Merca and A Bola...
, where he is attested on 18 September 1162. By 1165 he was also holding the region of Lemos from the crown, and in 1168 also Monterroso
Monterroso
Monterroso is a municipality in Lugo province in Galicia in north-west Spain.-History:Monterroso was the seat of an important tenencia in medieval Galicia...
. After the death of his father in January 1167 he was given the title 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...
, the highest rank in the kingdom, and received the tenencia of Sarria
Sarria
Sarria is a municipality in the province of Lugo, northwestern Spain, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Sarria is the most densely populate town on the French Way in Galicia, with 13 700 inhabitants...
, which he held until 1171. During those four years (1168–71) he was a regular attendee of the court of King 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...
. At an unknown date, Rodrigo married María, daughter of 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...
and Estefanía Ramírez. For her bridewealth Rodrigo gave her the church of San Pelayo de Villamuriel, which she in turn granted to San Marcos de León on 3 June 1172.
At an unknown date Rodrigo—in his own words, "seized by diabolical rage"—burned down the church of Santa María de Mal. On 20 February 1171, in penance for this sin, he donated the church San Salvador de Sarria to the Cathedral of Lugo
Lugo Cathedral
250px|thumb|View with the bell tower and the Gothic-style rear, featuring [[buttress]]es.250px|thumb|Rear view.Saint Mary's Cathedral , better known as Lugo Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral and basilica in Lugo, Galicia, north-western Spain, built starting from the early 12th century...
. Later that year, perhaps out of guilt, he resigned his tenencias and joined the Order of Santiago
Order of Santiago
The Order of Santiago was founded in the 12th century, and owes its name to the national patron of Galicia and Spain, Santiago , under whose banner the Christians of Galicia and Asturias began in the 9th century to combat and drive back the Muslims of the Iberian Peninsula.-History:Santiago de...
. Two documents of September 1172/3 place Rodrigo, as a knight of the Order, at the court of Afonso I of Portugal
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...
in Coimbra
Coimbra
Coimbra is a city in the municipality of Coimbra in Portugal. Although it served as the nation's capital during the High Middle Ages, it is better-known for its university, the University of Coimbra, which is one of the oldest in Europe and the oldest academic institution in the...
. By 1172 Rodrigo had grown dissatisfied with the lax practices of the Order of Santiago, especially the allowance for members to marry, and he received permission from the Papal legate
Papal legate
A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
Jacinth
Pope Celestine III
Pope Celestine III , born Giacinto Bobone, was elected Pope on March 21, 1191, and reigned until his death. He was born into the noble Orsini family in Rome, though he was only a cardinal deacon before becoming Pope...
to Spain to found a new confraternity in accordance with the Cistercian rule (instituta Cisterciensis ordinis). This was approved by Pope Alexander III
Pope Alexander III
Pope Alexander III , born Rolando of Siena, was Pope from 1159 to 1181. He is noted in history for laying the foundation stone for the Notre Dame de Paris.-Church career:...
the next year. Alexander forbade the new order to accept any former members of Santiago or to acquire any properties that might be disputed by Santiago. The use of the Cistercian rule caused some controversy at the Abbey of Cîteaux, where the chapter objected to Rodrigo's "inconstancy", but the abbot eventually approved it without the consent of the chapter, which was obtained later (by December 1175). Late in 1173 or early in 1174 Rodrigo and a few companions founded the Order of Mountjoy. Shortly afterwards his wife separated from him and later joined her mother's convent at Carrizo
Carrizo
Carrizo is the Spanish vernacular name of the following plants found in a carrizal:* Phragmites australis* Arundo donax* Ammophila arenariaCarrizo may refer to:*Amadeo Carrizo, an Argentine football goalkeeper...
(founded 1176), where she would be abbess between 1184 and 1191. On 28 November 1190 she gave some more of her bridewealth to San Marcos de León and the Order of Santiago. She probably died in 1192.
The rest of his life Rodrigo devoted to the aggrandisement of his newfound order. According to a bull of Innocent III
Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III was Pope from 8 January 1198 until his death. His birth name was Lotario dei Conti di Segni, sometimes anglicised to Lothar of Segni....
he chose for his Order a half-red, half-white cross. He received support from Alfonso II of Aragon
Alfonso II of Aragon
Alfonso II or Alfons I ; Huesca, 1-25 March 1157 – 25 April 1196), called the Chaste or the Troubadour, was the King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona from 1164 until his death. He was the son of Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona and Petronilla of Aragon and the first King of Aragon who was...
, who donated the castle of Alfambra
Alfambra
Alfambra is a municipality located in the province of Teruel, Aragon, Spain. , the municipality has a population of 676 inhabitants....
to the order in return for military aid against the Muslims. He was also able to acquire estates in the Kingdom of Jerusalem
Kingdom of Jerusalem
The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Catholic kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 after the First Crusade. The kingdom lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, was destroyed by the Mamluks, but its history is divided into two distinct periods....
, including Mountjoy
Mountjoy
Mountjoy may refer to:* Brockagh , a hamlet in County Tyrone in present-day Northern Ireland* Mountjoy Castle, a castle in Magheralamfield, County Tyrone* Mountjoy Prison, a closed prison in County Dublin, Ireland opened in 1850...
, after which the order took its name. In 1176–77 he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. He received lands from Reginald of Châtillon that King Baldwin IV
Baldwin IV of Jerusalem
Baldwin IV of Jerusalem , called the Leper or the Leprous, the son of Amalric I of Jerusalem and his first wife, Agnes of Courtenay, was king of Jerusalem from 1174 to 1185. His full sister was Queen Sibylla of Jerusalem and his nephew through this sister was the child-king Baldwin V...
only confirmed on the condition that Rodrigo and his knights fight the Muslims continuously in the Holy Land. In 1186 an attempted merger was made with the Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
, and it is possible that Rodrigo was already dying at that stage. He had almost certainly died by the autumn of 1187. He was buried in the convent of Alfambra. He had been a patron of the Cistercians. Besides founding a military order under their auspices, he endowed their foundations at 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....
(29 September 1173) and Meira
Meira
Meira, is a municipality in the Spanish province of Lugo and a parish of the municipality of Moaña....
(1182).