page_title: Manrique Pérez de Lara
section_title: Count and tenente (1145–1158)
hierarchical_section_title: Manrique Pérez de Lara / Count and tenente (1145–1158)
caption_attribution_description: Molina de Aragón, Guadalajara, España
context_page_description: Manrique Pérez de Lara was a magnate of the Kingdom of Castile and its regent from 1158 until his death. He was a leading figure of the House of Lara and one of the most important counsellors and generals of three successive Castilian monarchs: Alfonso VII, Sancho III and Alfonso VIII.
context_section_description: Between 26 December 1134 and 2 June 1137 Manrique served as alférez, 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 the tenencia (or honor, a fief governed on behalf of the crown) of Atienza, and in 1144 he received those of Ávila, Madrid and Toledo. Madrid he only governed until the next year (1145) and Ávila until 1150. On 21 August 1145 Manrique was made a count, the highest rank in the kingdom, by Alfonso VII in the ancient capital city of León. 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 the tenencias of Medinaceli in 1146. That year Alfonso sent him, Ponce Giraldo de Cabrera, Ermengol VI of Urgell, and Martín Fernández de Hita to help the king's Muslim ally Sayf al-Dawla regain the cities of Baeza, Jaén and Úbeda. This they succeeded in doing, but they soon quarrelled with Sayf and fighting ensued, during which Sayf was defeated and his submission to Alfonso reinforced. In January 1147 Manrique played a key rôle in the capture of Calatrava, a fact the king acknowledged in a charter drawn up on 9 January. In August Manrique took part in the reconquest of Almería and its hinterland, which included the taking of Baeza, which he immediately received from the king as a tenencia. He is highly praised by the anonymous author of the Poema 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, Bayona and 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 the tenencia of Segovia. In November 1148 Manrique and others of his family donated some houses in Toledo, which he ruled at the time, to Gonzalo 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. 
  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 of alférez in 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 of Balaguera and Cedillo in the Extremadura by dividing his property there amongst some settlers. Sometime before December 1153, Manrique married Ermessinde, daughter of Aimeric II of Narbonne and a cousin of Raymond Berengar IV of Barcelona. She bore him children: Aimerico, Ermengarda, Guillermo (William), María, Pedro and Sancha. On 5 December 1153, in their first recorded action as husband and wife, Manrique and Ermessinde gave the village of Cobeta to the Benedictine monasteries of Arlanza, San Salvador de Oña and Santo Domingo de Silos, and the cathedral of Santa María in Sigüenza, at th
caption: The extensive fortifications of Molina, Manrique's semi-independent fief, to which he granted a fuero in 1154.
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