page_title: Gutierre Fernández de Castro
section_title: Tenancies
hierarchical_section_title: Gutierre Fernández de Castro / Tenancies
caption_attribution_description: Español: Foto de las ruinas del castillo de Soria en otoño del año 2010. Esperanto: Fotaĵo de ruino de la soria kastelo en aŭtuno de la jaro 2010. This is a photo of a monument indexed in the Spanish heritage register of Bienes de Interés Cultural under the reference n/d.
context_page_description: Gutierre Fernández de Castro was a nobleman and military commander from the Kingdom of Castile. His career in royal service corresponds exactly with the reigns of Alfonso VII and his son Sancho III. He served Alfonso as a courtier after 1134 and as majordomo. He was the guardian and tutor the young Sancho III from 1145. Before his death he was also briefly the guardian of Sancho's infant son, Alfonso VIII.
  Gutierre took part in several military campaigns of reconquest against the Almoravid Emirate to the south of Castile. In 1139, on the king's orders, he began the successful Siege of Oreja. More often he was occupied defending the eastern frontier from invasion by Aragon or Navarre, and for this purpose the king invested him with many royal fiefs in this region. Towards the end of his life Gutierre was the elder statesman of the Castro family, and he died before his family's rivalry with the Laras developed into open civil war early in the reign of Alfonso VIII. Despite his high standing at court and his illustrious military career, Gutierre was never promoted to the rank of a count, which was the highest title borne by the Castilian aristocracy in the twelfth century.
context_section_description: Gutierre held several important fiefs (tenencias) from the crown, mainly in eastern Castile, near the frontier with Navarre. On account of his court attendance and military activities, his supervision of these territories must usually have been indirect. His first major tenancy was Calahorra, a city that had once been a part of Navarre and which was located just north of the Navarrese town of Tudela. He replaced Count Rodrigo Martínez—his co-envoy to Sayf al-Dawla in 1131—as fief-holder in Calahorra in 1140. There is ample evidence of Gutierre's methods of indirect rule in Calahorra. As early as 26 February 1140 he had appointed one Martín Fernández his alcalde (mayor or local magistrate). A private charter of 1 March 1142 cites a four-person council (the alcaldes de concejo) sharing in the government of Calahorra. Martín Fernández was probably a relative of Gutierre's, from the house of Ansúrez. Eight private documents between 1 April 1139 (probably mis-dated) and 1151 cite Martín as tenant (tenens) or vicar (vicarius) of Calahorra under Gutierre. Gutierre continued to hold Calahorra down to at least 27 February 1152. The next tenant, Fortún López, had been appointed by 6 July 1152. He may have been a confidante of Gutierre, and had previously held the city under the rule of Alfonso I of Aragon and Navarre until 1134.
  Gutierre may have held the fortress of Castrojeriz—where he also held property—as early as 23 August 1132. The evidence for his tenancy there is not entirely reliable: four imperfectly preserved royal charters of 1140, 1154 and 1155. There is, however, one original charter from 1146 that records that Gutierre then held Amaya, Burgos and Castrojeriz. There are three further private charters that name him as holding the fortress of Amaya (50 km northwest of Burgos) between 23 April 1148 and 1156, as well as two defective royal charters from 1148. He may have been alcalde of Burgos.
  Between 1140 and 1150 seven royal charters and one private document name Gutierre as "lord in Soria" (domino in Soria), and he may have held it down to 1152 at least. As of 26 July 1148, Gutierre had accepted a co-tenant in Soria: Fortún López. About the same time (1148), he received the lordship of Roa de Duero. He may even have been appointed "commander" (adelantado) of the diocese of Osma. In 1145–46 he was lord of Arnedo. In 1148–49 he held the fortress of Rueda de Jalón, which had been surrendered to Alfonso VII after Gutierre's embassy to Sayf al-Dawla in 1131. This fortress lay only 35 km west of Zaragoza, which Raymond Berengar of Barcelona held as a vassal of Alfonso. At about this time contemporary charters begin to record his preeminence in the Castilian heartlands, Old Castile. He is referred to as "prince of Castile" (princeps Castelle) in imperial diplomas and in private documents. He was not usually called a prince (an informal title), and he never held the formal rank of count; his most common title in royal documents was simply "potentate" (potestas). This title was employed without any reference to a tenancy between 1143 and 1150. A later series of documents calls him "potentate (or authority) in Castile" (potestas in Castella) between 1156 and 1158, probably indicating a new administrative role in Old Castile in conjunction with the succession events of 1157 and 1158. A fuero promulgated by the abbot of Santa María de Husillos on 21 November 1160 refers to the authority Gutierre still possessed in Castile at that time.
  Towards the end of Alfonso's reign, Gutierre acquired several fiefs in the region around Palencia. Private documents refer to him as tenant of Villagarcía de Campos (21 February 1154), Monzón de Campos (19 September 1154) and Carrión de los Condes (1156). In each of these he had a co-tenant (Diego Muñoz in Carrión). suggesting that, as a curial figure and career soldier, his interest in these lands—far from the frontier—was primarily fiscal: they provided him an income from the royal fisc. Like most aristocrats of his day, Gutierre used the wealth derived from his private properties and his royal 
caption: The ruins of the castle of Soria, which was commanded by Gutierre in 1140–50
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