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Birth:          ABT 1130 
Death:          1193 
Burial:         Palencia Cathedral

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodrigo_Guti%C3%A9rrez_Gir%C3%B3n
Rodrigo Gutiérrez Girón (died 1193) was a magnate and ricohombre from Palencia who 
played a key role in the Medieval history of the Iberian Peninsula. He was the first one 
of his lineage to add Girón to his patronymic.[a] Owner of vast holdings and estates, 
Rodrigo and his relatives formed one of the most powerful clans in Tierra de Campos 
since the time of the Banu Gómez.[1]
Biography[edit]

Mayordomo mayor of King Alfonso VIII of Castile between 1173 and 1193, except for 
short intervals, he and his descendants were part of one of the most powerful families 
in the medieval Kingdoms of Castile and León and played a relevant role in the 
definitive unification of the crowns of both kingdoms. He participated in several major 
battles during the Reconquista in southern Spain.

Rodrigo governed several feudal estates, including Gatón de Campos, Monzón, 
Torremormojón, Montealegre, half of Carrión and Liébana,[2] all of which, except the 
last one, were situated in Tierra de Campos. For his loyalty and services to the crown, 
he was generously rewarded. In 1179 King Alfonso VIII granted him Borox and allowed 
him to build public baths and ovens in Toledo as well as a watermill at the Tagus 
River.

In 1189 he was governing Higares Castle in Mocejón and the surrounding lands which 
he gave that year to the bishop and Cathedral of Toledo. In 1191, Rodrigo and his 
second wife, Jimena, donated "for their souls" half of the income and properties at 
Dueñas Castle in the province of Ciudad Real, to the Order of Calatrava, leaving the 
other half for the offspring of his first marriage. In this donation, the couple also 
included half of Borox, Mocejón, plus the ovens and watermill in Toledo.[3]

Rodrigo died in 1193 and received burial at Palencia Cathedral.

Ancestry[edit]

The origin of the Girón lineage has been subject to much debate by historians and 
genealogists. Jerónimo Gudiel was the first one to write a complete treatise on this 
family, commissioned by the first Duke of Osuna, Pedro Téllez-Girón, a work which 
was published in 1577. According to the hagiographer of the Duke, the Girón came 
from Cisneros, Palencia and descended from Count Rodrigo González de Cisneros, a 
member of the House of Lara, following the genealogy previously proposed by Pedro 
Afonso, Count of Barcelos. Luis de Salazar y Castro in his work on the Laras, also 
mistakenly attributed the origins of this family to Count Gonzalo Peláez, a powerful 
magnate from Asturias.[4]

Analyzing medieval documentation and charters, modern historians have been able to 
clarify the origins of this important lineage from Tierra de Campos, possible 
descendants of the Banu Mirel and the Banu Gómez clans.[5] According to these 
investigations, Rodrigo Gutiérrez Girón was the son of Gutierre Téllez and Urraca 
Díaz.[b] His paternal grandfather was Tello Fernández, a nobleman from Saldaña who 
appears in 1116 as tenant-in-chief in Torremormojón and later, in 1127, holding the 
same post in Tierra de Campos,[6] and governing the castle of Aceca, Toledo where 
he died in 1133 when the castle was taken and destroyed by the Almoravids.[7]

Rodrigo had four brothers[8] Álvaro, Pedro Gutiérrez, married to María Bueso, 
Gonzalo, and Mayor, wife of Alfonso Téllez,son of Tello Téllez and Mayor Suárez.[9] 
His brother Pedro, who appears in 1169 in the Monastery of San Isidro de Dueñas as 
the brother of Rodrigo Gutiérrez, was lord of half of Ocaña and, jointly with his 
kinsman, Tello Pérez de Meneses and their respective wives, founded a hospital for 
captives and pilgrims in Cuenca in 1182, donating it to the Order of Santiago two 
years later.[10]

Marriage and Issue[edit]

His first marriage was with María de Guzmán, daughter of Rodrigo Muñoz de Guzmán 
and Mayor Díaz.[2] Eight children were born of this marriage, as attested by a 
donation they made, after their father had died, in 1194 to the Order of Calatrava of 
their inheritance in Dueñas Castle.[11] A nephew of these siblings also appears in the 
document, Rodrigo González Girón.[c] The offspring of this marriage were:
Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón. Mayordomo mayor and lord of Frechilla and Autillo de 
Campos.
Gutierre Rodríguez Girón, royal chancellor from 7 November 1182 to 22 August 1192, 
who confirmed charters during those years as Guterrio Roderici existente cancellario 
scripsit and Bishop of Segovia between 1194 and 1195, the year of his death at the 
Battle of Alarcos.
Álvaro Rodríguez Girón, who appears in 1218 in the documentation of the Monastery 
of Santa María la Real in Aguilar de Campoo selling properties in Aguilar de Campoo 
and in Quintanilla de Verezoza.
Pedro Rodríguez Girón, the husband of Sancha Pérez de Lumiares, daughter of Pedro 
Alfonso Viegas de Ribadouro and Urraca Alfonso, illegitimate daughter of King Afonso 
Henriques.[12]
Nuño Rodríguez Girón.
Rodrigo Rodríguez Girón, royal chancellor and lord of the villa of Madrid.
Teresa Rodríguez Girón, wife of Ponce Vela de Cabrera, alférez of King Ferdinand II 
of León, ancestors of the Ponce de León.
Elvira Rodríguez Girón (died circa 1211), first wife of Alfonso Téllez de Meneses "el 
Viejo", grandparents of Mayor Alfonso de Meneses, the mother of Queen María de 
Molina.

Rodrigo Gutiérrez Girón married for the second time Jimena Osorio, daughter of Count 
Osorio Martínez. Both appear in the donation made on 22 November 1191 to the Order 
of Calatrava. Without issue from this marriage.

The Coat of arms of the Girón[edit]

According to legend, an individual named Rodrigo González de Cisneros saved the life 
of King Alfonso VI of León in a battle against the Moors by giving his horse to the King 
so that he would be able to escape. He cut three pieces (jirones or girones, in 
Spanish) from the King's tunic and later asked the King to allow him to use these in his 
coat of arms.

This legend has no foundations and the events are not mentioned by historians or in 
popular tradition. Most importantly, the use of coats of arms was unknown at the time 
of King Alfonso VI and it was not until a century later that this custom became 
common.[13]

Parents
TELLEZ Gutierre (ABT 1100 - )
DIAZ Urraca (ABT 1105 - )

Siblings
GIRON Rodrigo Gutierrez (ABT 1130 - 1193)

Marriage To DE GUZMAN Maria (ABT 1135 - )
    m.  

Notes

Parents
DE GUZMAN Rodrigo Munoz (ABT 1105 - AFT 29 Jan 1186)
DIAZ Mayor (ABT 1105 - )

Children by DE GUZMAN Maria ABT 1135 - 
GIRON Gonzalo Rodriguez (ABT 1160 - 1231)
GIRON Elvira Rodriguez (ABT 1173 - AFT 22 Feb 1211)

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