Manrique Pérez de Lara

Royal charter issued by Manrique under exceptional circumstances in 1156. Note the imperialsignumin the bottom centre.

Manrique Pérez de Lara(died 1164) was a magnate of theKingdom of Castileand itsregentfrom 1158 until his death. He was a leading figure of theHouse of Laraand one of the most important counsellors and generals of three successive Castilian monarchs:Alfonso VII(1126–57),Sancho III(1157–58) andAlfonso VIII(1158–1214).

Parentage

Manrique's father wasPedro González de Lara(died 1130).Of Pedro's rule and Manrique's succession to his position of honour and leadership in theReconquista,a contemporary writes:

He took after his father in everything that he did. His father was Count Pedro of Lara, who ruled his own land for many years. The son also follows in all his father's footsteps. Still in the flower of youth, but enriched with honour and respected by the Emperor as is his nature, he was the upholder of the law, the worst scourge of the Moors.

Manrique's mother Eva is of unknown parentage, but had previously been married to countGarcía Ordóñez.Older historians speculated that she was daughter ofPedro Fróilaz de Trabaand his wife Mayor de Urgell, in part to explain his political interests associated with thecounty of Urgell,but this is untenable.Her own non-Iberian name and that of her son Manriqueseem to point to an origin north of thePyrenees.Several theories have been put forward, including making her a daughter of Aimeric V, viscount of Rochechouart, one of the French barons who had joined theSiege of Tudelain 1087, or ofHugh II, Count of Empúries,and his wife Sancha de Urgell.The first mention of Manrique's parents' marriage dates from November 1127, and must have occurred after 1108, when García Ordóñez was killed.Manrique had three full brothers:Álvaro,Nuñoand Rodrigo. He also had three half-siblings, Elvira andFernando,children of his father's liaison withQueen Urraca,and countGarcía Garcés de Aza,son of his mother's first marriage. Count Pedro had two documented daughters, Milia, wife ofGómez González de Manzanedo,and María. Their maternity is not explicitly documented, but at least Milia was probably a full sister of Manrique.

Another royal charter issued by Manrique under exceptional circumstances in 1156. Note the imperialsignumin the bottom centre.

Count andtenente(1145–1158)

Between 26 December 1134 and 2 June 1137 Manrique served asalférez,that is, head of the military household, of Alfonso VII. This post was usually reserved for young noblemen with promising career prospects. In 1143 Manrique was granted thetenencia(orhonor,a fief governed on behalf of the crown) ofAtienza,and in 1144 he received those ofÁvila,MadridandToledo.Madrid he only governed until the next year (1145) and Ávila until 1150. On 21 August 1145 Manrique was made acount,the highest rank in the kingdom, by Alfonso VII in the ancient capital city ofLeón.A charter survives that reads: "Manrique the same day this charter was made was made a count".Although it was common for aristocratic sons to accede to the titles of their fathers on the latters' deaths, Manrique had to wait fifteen years to receive the comital title from the king. While he continued to rule Atienza and Toledo, he also received thetenenciasofMedinaceliin 1146. That year Alfonso sent him,Ponce Giraldo de Cabrera,Ermengol VI of Urgell,andMartín Fernández de Hitato help the king's Muslim allySayf al-Dawlaregain the cities ofBaeza,JaénandÚbeda.This they succeeded in doing, but they soon quarrelled with Sayf al-Dawla, was defeated in thebattle of Albaceteand killed.In January 1147 Manrique played a key rôle in the capture ofCalatrava,a fact the king acknowledged in a charter drawn up on 9 January. In August Manrique took part in the reconquest ofAlmeríaand its hinterland, which included the taking of Baeza, which he immediately received from the king as atenencia.He is highly praised by the anonymous author of thePoema de Almería,who cites his splendour and generosity ahead of his wisdom and valour:

Count Manrique, a sincere friend of Christ, valiant in warfare, is placed in charge of all these towns [Andújar,Baños,Bayonaand Baeza]. He was liked by all, just as he was liked by the Emperor, so that he shone among the Saracens and Christians alike. Illustrious in reputation and beloved by all, bountiful and generous, he was niggardly to no man. He was skilled in arms, he possessed the mind of a sage, he delighted in battle and was a master of the science of war.

This emphasis was typical in the period, when generosity, munificence and prodigality were considered signs of greatness, and the rewarding of followers was essential to maintaining one's power.In Baeza, Manrique's rule can be traced for a decade, until 1157. In 1148 he received thetenenciaofSegovia.In November 1148 Manrique and others of his family donated some houses in Toledo, which he ruled at the time, toGonzalo de Marañón.It is a sign of the diversity of his interests that he owned urban properties in the most important city in the kingdom.

The fortress-likeRomanesquecathedral of Sigüenza enjoyed the patronage of Manrique Pérez

In 1149 Manrique was entrusted with the tutorship of the king's eldest son and heir, the future Sancho III, who was raised in his household.Some indication of the size of Manrique's household—court is perhaps the better word—is given by the fact that he employed at least two individuals, Gonzalo Peláez and García Díaz, in the post ofalférezin 1153 and 1156 respectively.Manrique is also known to have employed a chaplain (capellanus). In 1153 this office was filled by a certain Sebastian, who was also acting as Manrique's scribe when needed. By November 1155 he had hired a clerk named Sancho who signed his documents as "chancellor".

In February 1152 Manrique encouraged the settlement ofBalagueraandCedilloin theExtremaduraby dividing his property there amongst some settlers.Sometime before December 1153, Manrique marriedErmessinde,daughter ofAimeric II of Narbonneand a cousin ofRaymond Berengar IV of Barcelona.They had children:Aimerico,Ermengarda, Guillermo (William), María,Pedroand Sancha.On 5 December 1153, in their first recorded action as husband and wife, Manrique and Ermessinde gave the village ofCobetato theBenedictinemonasteries ofArlanza,San Salvador de OñaandSanto Domingo de Silos,and the cathedral of Santa María inSigüenza,at the time under construction according to a Benedictine plan. The charter of this donation was drawn up by Sebastian. It survives with tags which once attached aseal,now lost.Manrique may have been the first member of the Castilian nobility to employ a seal to authenticate documents. The royal chancery had only been employing them from 1146, though episcopal chanceries had already adopted them under French influence (1140).Manrique's marital connexion with the rulers of Narbonne may have influenced his decision, and his seal was probably based on the type used inLanguedocat the time. In 1163, when the chancery of the young Alfonso VIII adopted a seal, it was probably based on Manrique's. The earliest surviving aristocratic seal from Castile is one of Manrique's son Pedro, from document of 1179 drawn up atCalatayud.A look at the earliest seals of Alfonso VIII and Pedro Manrique suggests that Manrique's own seal showed an armed, stylised, equestrian figure patterned after Anglo-French designs, but left-facing in the Mediterranean fashion.

The extensive fortifications of Molina, Manrique's semi-independent fief, to which he granted afueroin 1154.

On 21 April 1154 Manrique and Ermessinde issued a sweepingfueroto the town ofMolina de Aragón.The document survives only in a thirteenth-century copy, and it may have been amended in light of later twelfth-centuryfueros,although much of its material has precedents in the early twelfth century. It lists the privileges of the inhabitants, the rents owed to Manrique, a list of officials who would serve on the municipal council and an extensive legal code.A large portion of the law deals with the formation of the local militia. Knights (caballeros) who lived in the town with their families for a certain period of the year were exempted from taxes. A fifth of the booty taken by the local militia in war was to go to Manrique, and those who skipped out on their military obligations were fined. Unprecedentedly (and perhaps suspiciously), a maintenance was paid to those who captured Muslim leaders in battle and had to temporarily support them before they were handed over to the king. Thefueroalso mandated watchtower duty, a medical allowance for wounds received in war, the use ofbattle standards,and standards of military equipment for both cavalry and infantry. Also without precedent is a law requiring all those with a certain amount of wealth to purchase a horse and serve in the militia as a knight. If the thirteenth-century copy is accurate to the original, thefueroof Molina marks a transition in the customary law martial law of the peninsula, especially of Castile andAragon.The semi-independent nature of the rule of Manrique and his successors at Molina has been likened to the rule ofRodrigo Díaz de VivaratValenciatwo generations earlier and to the contemporary rule ofPedro Ruiz de AzagrainAlbarracín.Manrique even used the formulaDei gratia comes( "count by the grace of God" ), implying that his power did not derive from the king.When the lordship passed to the crown through the marriage ofMaría de MolinaandSancho IV,Molina was retained as a subsidiary title until the time ofIsabel II.

In November 1155 Manrique bought thevillofAlcoleafrom García Garcés de Aza for 1,000maravedís,a sign of his wealth.It is a sign of his power influence that in 1156 he, as governor (tenente) of Baeza and its entire district, was, under exceptional circumstances, conceded by the king the right to make three grants of reconquered (and thus royal) land to his supporters in the region, as part of the programme ofrepopulation.The charters, which did not require the confirmation of any members of the royal court, were drawn up by Manrique's scribe and authenticated with Manrique's seal.It is probable that the exceptional circumstances which led Alfonso to leave the function of the royal chancery in the hands of Manrique and his household staff was the pressing need to secure the region against the threateningAlmohads.

That same year (1156), Manrique was entrusted with thetenenciaofBurgo de Osma,which hesubinfeudatedto his vassal Diego Pérez asalcalde.Manrique was also governing the Mediterranean port city of Almería (near Alcolea) in January 1157. Later that year both Almería and Baeza were lost to the Almohads.In August that year, Alfonso VII died. According to theDe rebus Hispaniae,written by a Navarrese cleric,Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada,a century later, the division of Alfonso VII's empire between his heirs was a result of the evil counsel of Manrique Pérez de Lara andFernando Pérez de Traba,who together "aimed to sow the seed of discord".Alfonso's elder son, Sancho, succeeded in Castile andToledo,while his second son,Ferdinand II,succeeded inLeónandGalicia.Sancho died on 31 August 1158 and Manrique became regent and guardian of the child king Alfonso VIII. At least one later account with a pro-Leonese bias, theChronicon mundiofLucas de Tuy,asserts that Ferdinand II became regent and protector of Alfonso VIII, but this is a fabrication.

Regency of Castile (1158–1164)

In the dispute over Alfonso VIII's regency that followed Sancho's death, the Lara family forced theCastro familyinto exile, igniting a civil war. Rodrigo Jiménez, perhaps relying on a popular legend, states that Manrique had the body ofGutierre Fernández de Castrodisinterred and held as a ransom.In January 1160 he took over the government of the Extremadura on behalf of the crown, all the while continuing to hold Atienza and Toledo. In March 1160 the exiled Castro leader,Fernando Rodríguez,returned to confront the Laras and their allies in theBattle of Lobregal.The Castros were victorious, and Manrique's brother Nuño was captured, but the Laras were not displaced.By March 1161 the guardianship of the young Alfonso, initially held by Gutierre Fernández, followed by García Garcés de Aza, was being exercised by Manrique, who was stylednutritius regis( "nurturer of the king" )andmanente super negotia regni( "manager over the affairs of the kingdom" ).In 1162 Manrique lost thetenenciasof Atienza and Toledo and was placed inSan Esteban de Gormaz.

Abbey of Huerta, where Manrique was buried.

Manrique was killed by Fernando Rodríguez at theBattle of Huete,a repeat of the disaster of Lobregal, in 1164, but the day of this battle is uncertain. TheAnales toledanos primerosdate it to 9 July and note Manrique's death: "They killed Count Manrique on the ninth day of the month of July in theEra1202 [AD1164]. "There is a charter dated 21 June 1164, an earlier source than theAnales,that places the battle on 3 June:

...in the year this charter was written when Fernando Rodríguez with those of Toledo and of Huete fought with the count Don Manrique and this same count Don Manrique was killed, and many other Castilians [with him]... This charter was made on the fifth day of the week, the eleventh kalends of July [Thursday, 21 June]. Under the Era 1202 [AD 1164]. Fifteen and three days before this charter was made [3 June] Count Don Manrique and his knights were killed.

Manrique was buried in theCistercianabbey ofSanta María de Huerta,founded by Alfonso VII in 1147 and destined to be heavily patronised by the Lara family. His widow, Ermessinde, was still alive as late as 1175, when she donated property in Molina de Aragón to her grandsonGarcía Pérezand to theOrder of Calatrava.She also made many donations to Santa María de Huerta and to thePraemonstratensianmonastery ofSanta María de La Vid.Besides Calatrava, she patronised theKnights Hospitaller.She founded a Praemonstratensian convent atBrazacorta.

Bibliography

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