Fernando Rodríguez de Castro (1125–1185) was a Castilian

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...

 nobleman, statesman and military leader who made his career in 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 was the leader of the House of Castro

House of Castro

The House of Castro, is believed to have had its origins in Castile, the name deriving from the town of Castrogeriz , and had deep branches in Galicia.-Origins and Brief History:...

 during the civil wars that followed the death of 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...

 and the succession of the infant Alfonso VIII. He was nicknamed el Castellano ("the Castilian") in León and el Leonés ("the Leonese") in Castile.

Fernando was the eldest son of Rodrigo Fernández de Castro and his wife, Eilo Álvarez. He led the Castro family in their dispute with 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...

 over the custody and regency of the young Alfonso VIII after Sancho III's death in August 1158. Early in 1160 the Laras managed to exile him to the court of Ferdinand II of León

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 returned to Castile in March with an army and defeated the Laras at the Battle of Lobregal

Battle of Lobregal

The Battle of Lobregal took place in March 1160 between the House of Lara and its allies and the forces of the House of Castro under Fernando Rodríguez de Castro...

, where his erstwhile father-in-law, 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...

, was killed fighting alongside his enemies, and Nuño Pérez de Lara

Nuño Pérez de Lara

Nuño Pérez de Lara was a Castilian nobleman, politician and military leader. He began his career at the court of the Emperor Alfonso VII, during whose reign he took part in the repoblación of the Extremadura and the defence of the Almohad frontier...

 was captured. Nonetheless, he was unable to reestablish himself in his homeland. Shortly after 1160, with a mixed force of Christians and Muslims, Fernando besieged the recently founded city of Ciudad Rodrigo

Ciudad Rodrigo

Ciudad Rodrigo is a small cathedral city in the province of Salamanca, in western Spain, with a population of about 14,000. It is the seat of a judicial district as well....

. Ferdinand II, with the militias of Salamanca

Salamanca

Salamanca is a city in western Spain, in the community of Castile and León. Because it is known for its beautiful buildings and urban environment, the Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is the most important university city in Spain and is known for its contributions to...

 and 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...

, came to its relief. Fernando was soon reconciled to the king of León, who appointed him governor first of Cuéllar

Cuéllar

Cuéllar is a large town and local government district in the autonomous community of Castile and León, in Spain. It had a population of 9,841 in 2008....

, Dueñas

Dueñas, Palencia

Dueñas is a municipality located in the province of Palencia, Castile and León, Spain....

, Salamanca, 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....

, Valladolid

Valladolid

Valladolid is a historic city and municipality in north-central Spain, situated at the confluence of the Pisuerga and Esgueva rivers, and located within three wine-making regions: Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Cigales...

, and Zamora, and later of Asturias

Asturias

The Principality of Asturias is an autonomous community of the Kingdom of Spain, coextensive with the former Kingdom of Asturias in the Middle Ages...

 and Benavente

Benavente, Zamora

Benavente is a municipality in the north of the province of Zamora, in the autonomous community Castile and León of Spain. It has about 20,000 inhabitants....

. He served Ferdinand II as majordomo, the highest court official in power, on two occasions: between 15 August 1162 and 6 September 1164 and between 19 October 1165 and 15 May 1166. In 1162 Ferdinand II conquered 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:...

 from Castile and placed it in the hands of Fernando Rodríguez as governor. Toledo remained a Leonese possession until 1166. In 1164 Fernando returned to Castile a second time with an army and killed Manrique Pérez de Lara

Manrique Pérez de Lara

Manrique Pérez de Lara was a magnate of the Kingdom of Castile and its regent from 1158 until his death. He was one of the most important counsellors and generals of three successive Castilian monarchs: Alfonso VII , Sancho III and Alfonso VIII...

 in the Battle of Huete

Battle of Huete

The Battle of Huete took place in 1164 between the Lara family and its allies, and the Castro family and its supporters. It was part of the civil war which engulfed the Kingdom of Castile following the death of Sancho III , wherein competing factions sought control of his minor son and successor,...

 (June/July). In 1168 he was appointed 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...

in the city of León, and controlled the city's fortifications (tenente turris Legionis, "held the towers of León") until 1182.

In the early summer of 1169, the Portuguese

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...

 freebooter Gerald the Fearless

Gerald the Fearless

Gerald or Gerard the Fearless , known in Portuguese as Geraldo Geraldes Sempavor , was a Portuguese warrior and folk hero of the Reconquista whose theatre of operations was in the barren Alentejo and Extremadura regions of the lower Guadiana river. The city of Évora was the most lasting of his...

 took the city of Badajoz

Badajoz

Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain, situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana, and the Madrid–Lisbon railway. The population in 2007 was 145,257....

 after a long siege, but the garrison took refuge in the alcazaba

Alcazaba

An alcazaba , alcáçova or alcassaba is a Moorish fortification in Spain and Portugal. The word derives from the Arabic word القصبة , a walled-fortification in a city....

, the siege of which continued. Seeing an opportunity to add to his domains the chief city of the region at the expense of both his Muslim and Christian enemies, 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...

 came with an army to Badajoz to relieve Gerald. This provoked the opposition of Ferdinand of León, who claimed Badajoz as his own and came south with an army at the request of the Almohad

Almohad

The Almohad Dynasty , was a Moroccan Berber-Muslim dynasty founded in the 12th century that established a Berber state in Tinmel in the Atlas Mountains in roughly 1120.The movement was started by Ibn Tumart in the Masmuda tribe, followed by Abd al-Mu'min al-Gumi between 1130 and his...

 caliph Abu Yaqub Yusuf

Abu Yaqub Yusuf

Abu Ya`qub Yusuf or Yusuf I was the second Almohad Amir or caliph. He reigned from 1163 until 1184. He had the Giralda in Seville built....

, who had already sent a contingent of 500 cavalry to assist the garrison. Fernando Rodríguez, then majordomo, was one of the Leonese leaders on this expedition. The besieging Portuguese were themselves besieged by the Leonese and fighting broke out in the streets. While trying to flee, Afonso was caught on the hinge of a gate and flung from his horse, breaking his leg. He was captured by Ferdinand's men, while Fernando captured Gerald. After the mêlée the Leonese had control of the town and the alcazaba, which they soon relinquished to their Muslim allies. Several of Gerald's conquests were ceded to purchase his freedom. Ferdinand retained Cáceres

Cáceres, Spain

Cáceres is the capital of the same name province, in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. , its population was 91,131 inhabitants. The municipio has a land area of 1,750.33 km², and is the largest in geographical extension in Spain....

, but Trujillo, Montánchez

Montánchez

Montánchez is a town in Spain, in the province of Caceres, Extremadura.It is situated at , some 702 metres above sea level. The municipality has an approximate population of just over 2,000.....

, Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Santa Cruz de la Sierra, commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the capital of the Santa Cruz department in eastern Bolivia and the largest city in the country...

, and Monfragüe

Monfragüe

Monfragüe is a comarca of Extremadura, western Spain, which contains the most recently designated of the country's fourteen National Parks ....

 he gave to Fernando Ruiz. Fernando thus established a semi-independent lordship between the Tagus

Tagus

The Tagus is the longest river on the Iberian Peninsula. It is long, in Spain, along the border between Portugal and Spain and in Portugal, where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Lisbon. It drains an area of . The Tagus is highly utilized for most of its course...

 and Guadiana

Guadiana

The Guadiana , or Odiana, is an international river located on the Portuguese–Spanish border, separating Extremadura and Andalucia from Alentejo and Algarve...

 rivers, with his seat at Trujillo. In 1171 he was granted the infantaticum of León. Between 1172 and 1175 Fernando held Mayorga and Melgar de Arriba

Melgar de Arriba

Melgar de Arriba is a municipality located in the province of Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 271 inhabitants....

 from the Crown, both had been fiefs of Osorio Martínez. He was for the remainder of his career a frequent attendee at both the Leonese and Castilian courts. The Annales compostellani

Annales Compostellani

The Annales Compostellani or Anales castellanos terceros are a set of Latin annals found in, and named after, Santiago de Compostela...

record Fernando's death in the year 1185, sometime after August 16.

Marriages

Fernando's first wife was Constance (Constanza) Osorio, daughter of the Osorio Martínez killed at Lobregal. The couple had probably separated before the Battle of Lobregal. In February 1165 Constance married Pedro Arias de Limia as his second wife. In 1168 Fernando married his cousin Estefanía Alfonso la Desdichada ("Stephanie the Unfortunate", born 1148), an illegitimate daughter of Alfonso VII and his mistress Urraca Fernández. She bore him two sons: Pedro

Pedro Fernández de Castro (twelfth century)

Pedro Fernández de Castro "Castilian" , was a Castilian nobleman, son of Fernando Rodríguez de Castro and Estefanía Alfonso la Desdichada ....

 and Martín. On 1 July 1180 Fernando murdered her out of jealousy. She was buried in the monastery of San Isidoro de León.

External links

• There is a brief genealogical notice at the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy's Medieval Lands Project website.