La Bureba
On 29 November 1171, Gonzalo signed a charter as "Gonzalo Ruiz de Bureba" for the first time. In 1173 he appears to have been granted the title of "conde" (count), the highest rank attainable at the time. Sometime after August 1175 Gonzalo was estranged from Alfonso VIII. He was at the Leonese court from 1176 to 1180. By 10 November 1180 he had reconciled with Alfonso, but he appears infrequently at court thereafter. He took to patronising religious foundations: a Cistercian monastery at Burgos received a donation on 13 September 1185 and the Benedictine monastery of San Salvador de Oña—the intellectual capital of La Bureba—received two in 1193 and 1201.