Suero Vermúdez
Encyclopedia
Suero Vermúdez (died 12 August 1138) was an Asturian nobleman, extensive landowner, patron of churches, territorial governor, and military leader. He was an important man in León
and Castile
during the reigns of three monarchs—Alfonso VI, Urraca, and Alfonso VII—all of whom he served with notable loyalty, never taking part in any revolt, but aiding his sovereigns in wars against rebels, against rivals, and against the Moors
. The primary sources for the life of Suero are the contemporary narratives the Historia compostellana and the Chronica Adefonsi imperatoris and some 150 surviving charters which make mention of, were drawn up by, or confirmed by Suero. Suero held extensive interests in ecclesiastical properties. Out of his enormous wealth he was a generous patron of monasteries, and appears to have favoured the Benedictines and the Cluniac reform. The Chronica describes Suero, one of the few noblemen it praises, as "a man strong in counsel and a seeker of truth" and "a lover of peace and truth and a faithful friend of the king".
, it indicates that Suero's father was named Vermudo. He was in fact the eldest son of Vermudo Ovéquiz, son of Oveco Vermúdez and Elvira Suárez, and Jimena Peláez, daughter of Pelayo Fróilaz and Aldonza (Eldoncia) Ordóñez. Suero was related—it is not known how—to Rodrigo Vermúdez, a majordomo early in the reign of Alfonso VII (1127–30), and his younger brother Muño was briefly the majordomo of Urraca in September 1109. He was also a great-grandson of Cristina, the infanta and daughter of Vermudo II of León, and thus a descendant of royalty and very distant relative of his contemporary soveriegns. Cristina had founded the Benedictine monastery of San Salvador at Cornellana
in 1024 and it had been divided up between her heirs. Regaining complete control of the monastery and its properties would be a major preoccupation of Suero. Besides his descent from King Vermudo II, Suero could claim descent from Vermudo's enemy in Galicia, Count Suero Gundemáriz. Suero is commonly referred to in contemporary documents simply and unambiguously as "Count Suero" (Comes Suarius), without reference to his father.
The earliest secure reference to Suero is as a young man in 1092. There is a mangled record of a donation by Suero to the monastery of Lourenzá
dated 10 March 1094, but which, if accurate, must be dated later than 1100, since Suero appears in the donation with a title he did not then possess. According to a document dated 28 March 1098, Suero was then serving Count Raymond of Galicia as armiger or standard-bearer (alférez
). There is no other mention of this appointment, although a certain Suero Núñez who was his alférez on 1 May 1096 may be the same person with his patronymic erroneously copied. There is also only one record of Suero's first tenencia, a jurisdictional fief held directly from the crown and at royal pleasure. According to a charter copied into the tumbo (cartulary) of Lourenzá Suero was governing Vilarente on 28 August 1099. He may also have governed Monterroso
, an important fief in Galicia, under Count Raymond. By 1 April 1101 he was a count
(comes), the highest rank in the kingdom, bestowed only by the sovereign. During the rest of the reign of Alfonso VI Suero held only one other tenencia: Rábade
, where he is known to have been ruling between 23 January and 5 March 1104.
, Astorga, Cordove, and, in 1131, in Laciana
and Paredes
.
After the marriage of Alfonso VI's heiress, Urraca, to the King of Aragon and Navarre, Alfonso the Battler
, in 1110, Suero consistently supported the queen against her husband. He was one of those who had confirmed Urraca's first act as successor of her husband Raymond in Galicia in December 1107. Only a day after the burial of Alfonso VI, on 22 July 1109, Suero was again one of those who confirmed Urraca's first act as successor. After the coronation of the queen's son by Raymond of Galicia, Alfonso VII, in September 1111, Suero, owing in part to his proximity to the Galician power base of Alfonso VII's backers, was the queen's most important supporter. By the fall of 1116 negotiations had begun between Urraca and Alfonso at Sahagún
. According to the Historia compostellana, Suero and fellow Asturian Muño Peláez
were the main defenders of the former, while the latter was supported by Diego Gelmírez
, Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela, and Pedro Fróilaz de Traba
. At Sahagún it was agreed to divide the realm into two spheres of authority, but these are not defined, although Galicia went undoubtedly to Alfonso VII. The accord was to last three years.
In February 1117, however, Suero confirmed a diploma of Alfonso the Battler's as "Count Suero of Luna", perhaps having received Luna, in the mountains of León, from Alfonso. Suero can be further cited ruling Luna between 14 April 1117 and 27 March 1131. Suero and Enderquina received a gift of royal largesse as a reward for their loyal service ("in return for service", propter servicium) on 27 April 1120 from Urraca. On 26 March 1128 they received a second gift from Alfonso VII.
On 29 May 1117 Suero and Enderquina exchanged the monasteries of San Salvador de Perlora and San Andrés de Pravia with Bishop Pelayo of Oviedo for the monastery of San Juan de Teverga. This transaction was made in León, where it was confirmed by Urraca. On 4 March 1120 or 1121 Suero and Enderquina granted some properties they owned in Burgos
to the Cathedral of Burgos. This charter survives in its original in the archives of the cathedral.
on 7 March 1122, in the presence of the royal court, Suero and Enderquina donated Cornellana to the Abbey of Cluny. Along with Cornellana itself they donated a block of properties "acquired by inheritance or by [their] own efforts" (de parentibus nostris vel de nostris ganantiis, "from our parents and from our purchases"). All the lands Cluny received amounted to "fifty-six different properties scattered across a vast area, as well as four monasteria [monastic centres], six churches and a castle
(castellum)." Suero had received one church (ecclesiam) and three or four monasteries (monasteria) from Queen Urraca "by charter" (per incartationes), another three and a half churches plus a portion (portionem) in another he had inherited (called hereditates) or purchased (called gananciales). These were all proprietary churches he owned, but the difference between ecclesiae and monasteria is not clear. Cluny also received estates (villas) and male and female slaves (servos et ancillas). The donation was confirmed by Urraca, Alfonso VII, the queen's daughter Sancha Raimúdez, Diego Gelmírez, Pelayo of Oviedo, Diego of León
, Peter III of Lugo
, the prior of the monastery of San Zoilo de Carrión, and a "curious mixture of [lay] Galicians and Asturians". The charter was drawn up by a canon
of the Cathedral of León who had probably followed the royal court to Lugo.
In December 1128 Suero and his wife reversed their prior donation of Cornellana to Cluny and bestowed it instead on the Cathedral of San Salvador in Oviedo; the total endowment of properties this time was about half the size of the prior donation to Cluny, and included two inns they owned in León. Further, the donation stipulated that "if they or any of their kin became destitute, ill or disabled they were to be cared for in the abbey for the rest of their lives." This second donation of Cornellana was confirmed in the presence of the royal court by no less than seventeen of the eighteen bishops of Alfonso's kingdoms.
Suero also made a generous pious donation to the Cathedral of Lugo on 19 May 1118 on the condition that the cathedral canons should perform a Mass
for the sake of his soul every day for a year after his death and thereafter once a year on the anniversary of his death. In 1130 a synod held at Carrión
dealt with the claims of Cluny to the monastery of Cornellana, disputes which had arisen from Suero and Enderquina's reversal of a prior grant. This grant had been one of the larges Cluny had received in Spain, and they argued to the Papal legate
Uberto Lanfranchi at Carrión that in 1128 they had been "unjustly despoiled". The synod appears to have sided with Cluny, for Humbert sent a letter to Peter the Venerable
, the abbot of Cluny, claiming that Suero and Alfonso VII were simply slow to comply. Cluny was still laying claim to Cornellana over 160 years later.
from at least 26 May 1120. He was still ruling these places as late as 21 May 1136, when he is cited in the same document as also governing the western half of Asturias centred on Oviedo
. He was described as count "in Asturias" and Vadabia (Babia) in another private document of the same year. Bernard Reilly has suggested that it was around 1120 that Urraca began extending Suero's authority north out of the province of León and the Bierzo and into western Asturias.
After Alfonso VII succeeded Urraca, Suero immediately pledged loyalty to the new king at Zamora
on on 11 March 1126, three days after the death of the queen. He is the first magnate named when the Chronica Adefonsi imperatoris, a contemporary account of Alfonso's reign, lists those who did homage and fealty to the new king: Suero "came to him [Alfonso VII] with his friends and relatives, namely Alfonso his brother and his [Alfonso's] son Pedro Alfonso
, who was later made count by him [the king]." Suero then joined up with the king's ally from across the Pyrenees, Alfonso Jordan, the Count of Toulouse, to take the city of León, which was being held against the king by supporters of the House of Lara
. Only then did the remaining Leonese magnates make their way to the city to pledge allegiance to Alfonso. Although Suero was initially one of Alfonso's closest advisers, his increasing age and the consequent difficulty of following the court meant that he confirmed only some forty-three of the 252 charters issued by Alfonso between 1126 and early 1137.
At that time, according to the Chronica, the authority of Suero Vermúdez covered "Astorga, Luna, Gordón, with part of the Bierzo, as well as Babia, Laciana and the whole valley as far as the banks of the River Eo and as far as Cabruñana
" (Astoricam, Lunam, Gordonem cum Bergidi parte, necnon Vadabiam et Flacianam totumque vallem usque ad ripam fluminis, quod dicitur Oua, et usque ad Cubrunianam). In the words of one modern historian, "Count Suero by then controlled all of the mountainous area between León and Galicia north to the [Bay of] Biscay
and a long salient, north of León and south of Oviedo, running eastward almost to the borders of Asturias de Santillana." The description of Suero's lordship in the Chronica is corroborated by the charters and suggests that the various tenencias he is known to have held on at least one occasion formed part of a vast extended territorial lordship granted him in region of intersection between the provinces of Asturias, Galicia, and León. The majority of Suero's territory lay in the western Cantabrian Mountains
, but he also had considerable lands in the Tierra de Campos
in León. His southernmost estate was at Toro
on the Duero. In 1128 Suero and Enderquina not inaccurately boasted that their lands stretched from the Duero to the Bay of Biscay and from the Llorio in the west to the Deva in the east. Another indication of Suero's wealth is the size of his household, since in 1119 he was employing a notary
(notarius) named Juan to draw up his documents.
. He is known to have exchanged some estates with the monastery at an unknown date.
In 1128 Suero twice got into a dispute with the monastery of Corias over a piece of land at Peñaullán. He appointed two of his own knights, Martín Martínez and Pedro Menéndez, to make an enquiry into the dispute and adjudicate it. On 1 February 1129 Suero and his brother Gutierre
made exchange of properties. Later that year Suero and fellow Asturian Gonzalo Peláez
were sent by the king to Almazán
to negotiate with Alfonso the Battler, who still laid claim to the Leonese-Castilian throne. Gonzalo had long been a rival with Suero in western Asturias. In 1131 a monk of Corias was bringing a large load of wheat from León to Laciana through the lands governed by Suero when he was stopped by two of the count's officials and assessed a toll. He refused to pay it and the dispute became violent. Subsequently, Suero was forced by the monks of Corias to make an enquiry, appointing two of his knights, Pedro Garcés and Juan Pérez, with the task. Their finding was that a similar dispute had occurred between Corias and Suero's brother Gutierre during the reign of Alfonso VI, and that the king had ruled the monks owed no portazgo (tolls on cartage) within the tenencia of Laciana. Suero therefore renounced his right to the toll. In 1132 Suero again judged a lawsuits involving Corias.
In the fall of 1124 Suero took part in the reconquest of Sigüenza
. By 11 November he was with the royal court at Segovia
and by 30 November it had moved to Toledo
in preparation. The subsequent path of the campaign is unknown, but Sigüenza had fallen by the last week of January 1125.
In 1133 Alfonso VII led a military expedition into the Asturias to reduce the rebel Gonzalo Peláez, who four years earlier had been sent on a diplomatic mission with Suero. Unsuccessful in the short run, Alfonso left the campaign under the aegis of Suero Vermúdez and Suero's nephew Pedro Alfonso. Suero had probably taken part in a similar expedition against Gonzalo the previous year, and was absent from court for most of 1132–34 despite the usual frequency of his visits. Operations against Gonzalo continued this way for two years before he and Alfonso came to terms by May 1135. Part of the terms of the peace—which appear to have been negotiated by Suero, Pedro, and Bishop Arias of León—were that Gonzalo would surrender the three castles in which he had held out for three years in return for receiving the lordship of Luna which had previously been held by Suero until at least 1131. The last contemporary charter which Suero subscribed is dated 25 June 1136 and contains no reference to any tenencias. As he died a little over two years later, it is probable that he was already too old and infirm to play a large part in public affairs. Suero is buried in the monastery of Cornellana, where his epitaph records the date of his death. He had no known descendants. He was succeeded in many of his tenencias (Tineo, Oviedo, Vadabia) by his nephew Pedro Alfonso.
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...
and Castile
Kingdom of Castile
Kingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. It emerged as a political autonomous entity in the 9th century. It was called County of Castile and was held in vassalage from the Kingdom of León. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region...
during the reigns of three monarchs—Alfonso VI, Urraca, and Alfonso VII—all of whom he served with notable loyalty, never taking part in any revolt, but aiding his sovereigns in wars against rebels, against rivals, and against the Moors
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...
. The primary sources for the life of Suero are the contemporary narratives the Historia compostellana and the Chronica Adefonsi imperatoris and some 150 surviving charters which make mention of, were drawn up by, or confirmed by Suero. Suero held extensive interests in ecclesiastical properties. Out of his enormous wealth he was a generous patron of monasteries, and appears to have favoured the Benedictines and the Cluniac reform. The Chronica describes Suero, one of the few noblemen it praises, as "a man strong in counsel and a seeker of truth" and "a lover of peace and truth and a faithful friend of the king".
Under Alfonso VI
"Vermúdez" is a patronymicPatronymic
A patronym, or patronymic, is a component of a personal name based on the name of one's father, grandfather or an even earlier male ancestor. A component of a name based on the name of one's mother or a female ancestor is a matronymic. Each is a means of conveying lineage.In many areas patronyms...
, it indicates that Suero's father was named Vermudo. He was in fact the eldest son of Vermudo Ovéquiz, son of Oveco Vermúdez and Elvira Suárez, and Jimena Peláez, daughter of Pelayo Fróilaz and Aldonza (Eldoncia) Ordóñez. Suero was related—it is not known how—to Rodrigo Vermúdez, a majordomo early in the reign of Alfonso VII (1127–30), and his younger brother Muño was briefly the majordomo of Urraca in September 1109. He was also a great-grandson of Cristina, the infanta and daughter of Vermudo II of León, and thus a descendant of royalty and very distant relative of his contemporary soveriegns. Cristina had founded the Benedictine monastery of San Salvador at Cornellana
Cornellana
Cornellana is one of 28 parishes in Salas, a municipality within the province and autonomous community of Asturias, in northern Spain.It is in size, with a population of 796.-Villages:*Candanonegro...
in 1024 and it had been divided up between her heirs. Regaining complete control of the monastery and its properties would be a major preoccupation of Suero. Besides his descent from King Vermudo II, Suero could claim descent from Vermudo's enemy in Galicia, Count Suero Gundemáriz. Suero is commonly referred to in contemporary documents simply and unambiguously as "Count Suero" (Comes Suarius), without reference to his father.
The earliest secure reference to Suero is as a young man in 1092. There is a mangled record of a donation by Suero to the monastery of Lourenzá
Lourenzá
Lourenzá is a municipality in Lugo province in Galicia in northwest Spain....
dated 10 March 1094, but which, if accurate, must be dated later than 1100, since Suero appears in the donation with a title he did not then possess. According to a document dated 28 March 1098, Suero was then serving Count Raymond of Galicia as armiger or standard-bearer (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...
). There is no other mention of this appointment, although a certain Suero Núñez who was his alférez on 1 May 1096 may be the same person with his patronymic erroneously copied. There is also only one record of Suero's first tenencia, a jurisdictional fief held directly from the crown and at royal pleasure. According to a charter copied into the tumbo (cartulary) of Lourenzá Suero was governing Vilarente on 28 August 1099. He may also have governed 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...
, an important fief in Galicia, under Count Raymond. By 1 April 1101 he was a 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...
(comes), the highest rank in the kingdom, bestowed only by the sovereign. During the rest of the reign of Alfonso VI Suero held only one other tenencia: Rábade
Rábade
Rábade or San Vicenzo de Rábade is a town in the northwest of Spain in the province of Lugo. It is the third smallest municipality in Galicia. Rábade has a population of about 1500 and an area of 5.2 km²...
, where he is known to have been ruling between 23 January and 5 March 1104.
Supporter of Urraca
Suero married Enderquina Gutiérrez, daughter of Gutierre Rodríguez and an important member of the Castilian aristocracy. On 30 December 1110 she received a grant from Queen Urraca and was styled comitissa (countess). Since women were not granted that title independently but used it only in the case that their husbands were counts, by this time Enderquina must have been married to Suero. On 27 June 1114 the couple made a gift of land at Torre de Babia to a certain vassal of theirs, Pelayo Fróilaz, for his loyal service. It is the first of series of donations between 1114 and 1129 that the couple made displaying their magnificent landed wealth. On 9 February 1116 Suero is cited in one charter as ruling the city and towers of León, the old imperiale culmen (imperial summit). It is probable that he also ruled the surrounding country. He certainly owned property in León, and he may have previously been its count in 1114. He is described as legionensium comes (count of the Leonese), possibly a mere title with no attendant jurisdiction. Over the next fifteen years he appears governing briefly at GordónGordon
Gordon is a surname with numerous different origins. The masculine given name Gordon is derived from the surname.-Origin of the surname:...
, Astorga, Cordove, and, in 1131, in Laciana
Laciana
Laciana, Tsaciana in Leonese language, is a comarca in the province of León, Spain. It had 11,904 inhabitants in 2005. The rivers of this comarca flow towards the Atlantic Ocean. Local people speak a certain variant of the Leonese language known as Patsuezo.Many areas in Laciana were degraded in...
and Paredes
Paredes, Spain
Paredes is a municipality in Cuenca, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It has a population of 99....
.
After the marriage of Alfonso VI's heiress, Urraca, to the King of Aragon and Navarre, Alfonso the Battler
Alfonso the Battler
Alfonso I , called the Battler or the Warrior , was the king of Aragon and Navarre from 1104 until his death in 1134. He was the second son of King Sancho Ramírez and successor of his brother Peter I...
, in 1110, Suero consistently supported the queen against her husband. He was one of those who had confirmed Urraca's first act as successor of her husband Raymond in Galicia in December 1107. Only a day after the burial of Alfonso VI, on 22 July 1109, Suero was again one of those who confirmed Urraca's first act as successor. After the coronation of the queen's son by Raymond of Galicia, Alfonso VII, in September 1111, Suero, owing in part to his proximity to the Galician power base of Alfonso VII's backers, was the queen's most important supporter. By the fall of 1116 negotiations had begun between Urraca and Alfonso at Sahagún
Sahagún
Sahagún can refer to:*Sahagún, Spain, a town and monastery in Léon, Spain. Cradle of the Mudéjar architecture*Sahagún, Córdoba, the second town in population in Córdoba Department, Colombia, also called "The Cultural City of Cordoba"People...
. According to the Historia compostellana, Suero and fellow Asturian Muño Peláez
Muño Peláez
Muño or Munio Peláez was a Galician magnate during the reigns of Alfonso VI, Urraca and Alfonso VII. By December 1108 he held the title of comes , the highest in the kingdom. He was a son of Pelayo Gómez, son of Gómez Díaz de Carrión and Teresa Peláez, and Elvira Muñoz, daughter of Muño Rodríguez...
were the main defenders of the former, while the latter was supported by Diego Gelmírez
Diego Gelmírez
Diego Gelmírez was the second bishop and first archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain. He is a prominent figure in the history of Galicia and an important historiographer of the Spain of his day...
, Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela, and Pedro Fróilaz de Traba
Pedro Fróilaz de Traba
Pedro Fróilaz de Traba was the most powerful secular magnate in the Kingdom of Galicia during the first quarter of the twelfth century. According to the Historia compostelana, he was "spirited ... warlike ... of great power .....
. At Sahagún it was agreed to divide the realm into two spheres of authority, but these are not defined, although Galicia went undoubtedly to Alfonso VII. The accord was to last three years.
In February 1117, however, Suero confirmed a diploma of Alfonso the Battler's as "Count Suero of Luna", perhaps having received Luna, in the mountains of León, from Alfonso. Suero can be further cited ruling Luna between 14 April 1117 and 27 March 1131. Suero and Enderquina received a gift of royal largesse as a reward for their loyal service ("in return for service", propter servicium) on 27 April 1120 from Urraca. On 26 March 1128 they received a second gift from Alfonso VII.
On 29 May 1117 Suero and Enderquina exchanged the monasteries of San Salvador de Perlora and San Andrés de Pravia with Bishop Pelayo of Oviedo for the monastery of San Juan de Teverga. This transaction was made in León, where it was confirmed by Urraca. On 4 March 1120 or 1121 Suero and Enderquina granted some properties they owned in Burgos
Burgos
Burgos is a city of northern Spain, historic capital of Castile. It is situated at the edge of the central plateau, with about 178,966 inhabitants in the city proper and another 20,000 in its suburbs. It is the capital of the province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León...
to the Cathedral of Burgos. This charter survives in its original in the archives of the cathedral.
Donations of Cornellana
In 1120 Suero made several deals with his relatives to gain control over their shares of the monastery of Cornellana, thus gaining sole proprietorship. That year he made two donations to the monastery (22 January and 8 November). At LugoLugo
Lugo is a city in northwestern Spain, in the autonomous community of Galicia. It is the capital of the province of Lugo. The municipality had a population of 97,635 in 2010, which makes is the fourth most populated city in Galicia.-Population:...
on 7 March 1122, in the presence of the royal court, Suero and Enderquina donated Cornellana to the Abbey of Cluny. Along with Cornellana itself they donated a block of properties "acquired by inheritance or by [their] own efforts" (de parentibus nostris vel de nostris ganantiis, "from our parents and from our purchases"). All the lands Cluny received amounted to "fifty-six different properties scattered across a vast area, as well as four monasteria [monastic centres], six churches and a castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
(castellum)." Suero had received one church (ecclesiam) and three or four monasteries (monasteria) from Queen Urraca "by charter" (per incartationes), another three and a half churches plus a portion (portionem) in another he had inherited (called hereditates) or purchased (called gananciales). These were all proprietary churches he owned, but the difference between ecclesiae and monasteria is not clear. Cluny also received estates (villas) and male and female slaves (servos et ancillas). The donation was confirmed by Urraca, Alfonso VII, the queen's daughter Sancha Raimúdez, Diego Gelmírez, Pelayo of Oviedo, Diego of León
Diego (bishop of León)
Diego was the Bishop of León from 1112 or 1113 until his deposition in 1130. He succeeded his uncle Pedro, whose episcopate, and life, had ended in exile after the Battle of Candespina...
, Peter III of Lugo
Peter III (bishop of Lugo)
Peter III was the Bishop of Lugo from 1113 until 1133.Peter was a chaplain of Queen Urraca before he was raised to the see of Lugo after the resignation of his ineffective predecessor, Peter II, in 1113. According to the suggestions of the Historia compostellana, Peter III remained closely...
, the prior of the monastery of San Zoilo de Carrión, and a "curious mixture of [lay] Galicians and Asturians". The charter was drawn up by a canon
Canon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
of the Cathedral of León who had probably followed the royal court to Lugo.
In December 1128 Suero and his wife reversed their prior donation of Cornellana to Cluny and bestowed it instead on the Cathedral of San Salvador in Oviedo; the total endowment of properties this time was about half the size of the prior donation to Cluny, and included two inns they owned in León. Further, the donation stipulated that "if they or any of their kin became destitute, ill or disabled they were to be cared for in the abbey for the rest of their lives." This second donation of Cornellana was confirmed in the presence of the royal court by no less than seventeen of the eighteen bishops of Alfonso's kingdoms.
Suero also made a generous pious donation to the Cathedral of Lugo on 19 May 1118 on the condition that the cathedral canons should perform a Mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
for the sake of his soul every day for a year after his death and thereafter once a year on the anniversary of his death. In 1130 a synod held at Carrión
Carrión de los Condes
Carrión de los Condes is a municipality in the province of Palencia, part of the Autonomous Community of Castile and León, Spain.It is 40 kilometers from Palencia, on the Way of Saint James.-History:...
dealt with the claims of Cluny to the monastery of Cornellana, disputes which had arisen from Suero and Enderquina's reversal of a prior grant. This grant had been one of the larges Cluny had received in Spain, and they argued to 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....
Uberto Lanfranchi at Carrión that in 1128 they had been "unjustly despoiled". The synod appears to have sided with Cluny, for Humbert sent a letter to Peter the Venerable
Peter the Venerable
Peter the Venerable , also known as Peter of Montboissier, abbot of the Benedictine abbey of Cluny, born to Blessed Raingarde in Auvergne, France. He has been honored as a saint but has never been formally canonized.-Life:Peter was "Dedicated to God" at birth and given to the monastery at...
, the abbot of Cluny, claiming that Suero and Alfonso VII were simply slow to comply. Cluny was still laying claim to Cornellana over 160 years later.
Control of Asturias
Suero was one of the leading magnates of Asturias. He ruled Babia from at least 14 April 1117 and TineoTineo
- Politics :-Parroquias :-Tourism:The Sacred Art Museum of Tineo is located at the Plaza Alonso Martinez inside the Convento de San Francisco del Monte , a 14th century Roman Catholic church accessible via the AS-217 road.-External links:***...
from at least 26 May 1120. He was still ruling these places as late as 21 May 1136, when he is cited in the same document as also governing the western half of Asturias centred on Oviedo
Oviedo
Oviedo is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city....
. He was described as count "in Asturias" and Vadabia (Babia) in another private document of the same year. Bernard Reilly has suggested that it was around 1120 that Urraca began extending Suero's authority north out of the province of León and the Bierzo and into western Asturias.
After Alfonso VII succeeded Urraca, Suero immediately pledged loyalty to the new king at Zamora
Zamora, Spain
Zamora is a city in Castile and León, Spain, the capital of the province of Zamora. It lies on a rocky hill in the northwest, near the frontier with Portugal and crossed by the Duero river, which is some 50 km downstream as it reaches the Portuguese frontier...
on on 11 March 1126, three days after the death of the queen. He is the first magnate named when the Chronica Adefonsi imperatoris, a contemporary account of Alfonso's reign, lists those who did homage and fealty to the new king: Suero "came to him [Alfonso VII] with his friends and relatives, namely Alfonso his brother and his [Alfonso's] son 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...
, who was later made count by him [the king]." Suero then joined up with the king's ally from across the Pyrenees, Alfonso Jordan, the Count of Toulouse, to take the city of León, which was being held against the king by supporters of the House of Lara
House of Lara
The House of Lara or Casa de Lara are a noble family, known from the medieval Kingdom of Castile.Two of its branches, those from the Duke of Nájera and from the Marquis of Aguilar de Campoo were considered Grandees of Spain...
. Only then did the remaining Leonese magnates make their way to the city to pledge allegiance to Alfonso. Although Suero was initially one of Alfonso's closest advisers, his increasing age and the consequent difficulty of following the court meant that he confirmed only some forty-three of the 252 charters issued by Alfonso between 1126 and early 1137.
Cabruñana
Cabruñana is one of 28 parishes in the municipality of Grado, within the province and autonomous community of Asturias, in northern Spain.The population is 46 .-Villages and hamlets:* Cabruñana* Los Llanos...
" (Astoricam, Lunam, Gordonem cum Bergidi parte, necnon Vadabiam et Flacianam totumque vallem usque ad ripam fluminis, quod dicitur Oua, et usque ad Cubrunianam). In the words of one modern historian, "Count Suero by then controlled all of the mountainous area between León and Galicia north to the [Bay of] Biscay
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...
and a long salient, north of León and south of Oviedo, running eastward almost to the borders of Asturias de Santillana." The description of Suero's lordship in the Chronica is corroborated by the charters and suggests that the various tenencias he is known to have held on at least one occasion formed part of a vast extended territorial lordship granted him in region of intersection between the provinces of Asturias, Galicia, and León. The majority of Suero's territory lay in the western Cantabrian Mountains
Cantabrian Mountains
The Cantabrian Mountains or Cantabrian Range are one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain.They extend for more than approximately 180 miles across northern Spain, from the western limit of the Pyrenees to the edges of the Galician Massif close to Galicia, along the coast of the...
, but he also had considerable lands in 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...
in León. His southernmost estate was at Toro
Toro, Zamora
Toro is a town and municipality in the province of Zamora, part of the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is located on a fertile high plain, northwest of Madrid at an elevation of 740 meters....
on the Duero. In 1128 Suero and Enderquina not inaccurately boasted that their lands stretched from the Duero to the Bay of Biscay and from the Llorio in the west to the Deva in the east. Another indication of Suero's wealth is the size of his household, since in 1119 he was employing a notary
Notary
A notary is a lawyer or person with legal training who is licensed by the state to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents...
(notarius) named Juan to draw up his documents.
Disputes with Corias
In 1114 Suero had to judge the first of three lawsuits he judged involving the monks of San Juan Bautista de CoriasSan Juan Bautista de Corias
San Juan Bautista de Corias is a former Benedictine monastery in Corias on the right bank of the Narcea dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. It was founded in 1032 on his own land by Count Piñolo Jiménez and his wife Aldonza Muñoz, wealthy Leonese aristocrats...
. He is known to have exchanged some estates with the monastery at an unknown date.
In 1128 Suero twice got into a dispute with the monastery of Corias over a piece of land at Peñaullán. He appointed two of his own knights, Martín Martínez and Pedro Menéndez, to make an enquiry into the dispute and adjudicate it. On 1 February 1129 Suero and his brother Gutierre
Gutierre Vermúdez
Gutierre Vermúdez was a nobleman of the Kingdom of León, with interests primarily in Galicia, mainly in the northeast, around Lugo. He was a strong and loyal supporter of both Queen Urraca and the Emperor Alfonso VII .Gutierre was a son of Vermudo Ovéquiz, a son of Count Oveco Vermúdez...
made exchange of properties. Later that year Suero and fellow Asturian Gonzalo Peláez
Gonzalo Peláez
Gonzalo Peláez was the ruler of the Asturias from 1110 to 1132, during the reigns of Queen Urraca and her son, Alfonso VII . He held high military posts under the latter, but in 1132 he began a five-year rebellion against Alfonso, punctuated by three brief reconciliations...
were sent by the king to Almazán
Almazán
Almazán is a municipality located in the province of Soria, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 5,755 inhabitants.- External links :*...
to negotiate with Alfonso the Battler, who still laid claim to the Leonese-Castilian throne. Gonzalo had long been a rival with Suero in western Asturias. In 1131 a monk of Corias was bringing a large load of wheat from León to Laciana through the lands governed by Suero when he was stopped by two of the count's officials and assessed a toll. He refused to pay it and the dispute became violent. Subsequently, Suero was forced by the monks of Corias to make an enquiry, appointing two of his knights, Pedro Garcés and Juan Pérez, with the task. Their finding was that a similar dispute had occurred between Corias and Suero's brother Gutierre during the reign of Alfonso VI, and that the king had ruled the monks owed no portazgo (tolls on cartage) within the tenencia of Laciana. Suero therefore renounced his right to the toll. In 1132 Suero again judged a lawsuits involving Corias.
Military activities
Sigüenza
Sigüenza is a city in the province of Guadalajara in Spain.-History:The site of the ancient Segontia of the Celtiberian Arevaci, now called Villavieja , is half a league distant from the present Sigüenza...
. By 11 November he was with the royal court at Segovia
Segovia
Segovia is a city in Spain, the capital of Segovia Province in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is situated north of Madrid, 30 minutes by high speed train. The municipality counts some 55,500 inhabitants.-Etymology:...
and by 30 November it had moved to 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:...
in preparation. The subsequent path of the campaign is unknown, but Sigüenza had fallen by the last week of January 1125.
In 1133 Alfonso VII led a military expedition into the Asturias to reduce the rebel Gonzalo Peláez, who four years earlier had been sent on a diplomatic mission with Suero. Unsuccessful in the short run, Alfonso left the campaign under the aegis of Suero Vermúdez and Suero's nephew Pedro Alfonso. Suero had probably taken part in a similar expedition against Gonzalo the previous year, and was absent from court for most of 1132–34 despite the usual frequency of his visits. Operations against Gonzalo continued this way for two years before he and Alfonso came to terms by May 1135. Part of the terms of the peace—which appear to have been negotiated by Suero, Pedro, and Bishop Arias of León—were that Gonzalo would surrender the three castles in which he had held out for three years in return for receiving the lordship of Luna which had previously been held by Suero until at least 1131. The last contemporary charter which Suero subscribed is dated 25 June 1136 and contains no reference to any tenencias. As he died a little over two years later, it is probable that he was already too old and infirm to play a large part in public affairs. Suero is buried in the monastery of Cornellana, where his epitaph records the date of his death. He had no known descendants. He was succeeded in many of his tenencias (Tineo, Oviedo, Vadabia) by his nephew Pedro Alfonso.
External links
- Grant of the monastery of San Salvador de Cornellana to Cluny at Treasures of Columbia University Libraries Special Collections.