Manrique Pérez de Lara

Parentage

Manrique's father was Pedro González de Lara (died 1130). Of Pedro's rule and Manrique's succession to his position of honour and leadership in the Reconquista, 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 count García Ordóñez. Older historians speculated that she was daughter of Pedro Fróilaz de Traba and his wife Mayor de Urgell, in part to explain his political interests associated with the county of Urgell, but this is untenable. Her own non-Iberian name and that of her son Manrique seem to point to an origin north of the Pyrenees. 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 the Siege of Tudela in 1087, or of Hugh 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, Nuño and Rodrigo. He also had three half-siblings, Elvira and Fernando, children of his father's liaison with Queen Urraca, and count García Garcés de Aza, son of his mother's first marriage. Count Pedro had two documented daughters, Milia, wife of Gómez González de Manzanedo, and María. Their maternity is not explicitly documented, but at least Milia was probably a full sister of Manrique.

Count and tenente (1145–1158)

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 al-Dawla, was defeated in the battle of Albacete and killed. 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.

Regency of Castile (1158–1164)

In the dispute over Alfonso VIII's regency that followed Sancho's death, the Lara family forced the Castro family into exile, igniting a civil war. Rodrigo Jiménez, perhaps relying on a popular legend, states that Manrique had the body of Gutierre Fernández de Castro disinterred 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 the Battle 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 styled nutritius regis ("nurturer of the king") and manente super negotia regni ("manager over the affairs of the kingdom"). In 1162 Manrique lost the tenencias of Atienza and Toledo and was placed in San Esteban de Gormaz.

Manrique was killed by Fernando Rodríguez at the Battle of Huete, a repeat of the disaster of Lobregal, in 1164, but the day of this battle is uncertain. The Anales toledanos primeros date it to 9 July and note Manrique's death: "They killed Count Manrique on the ninth day of the month of July in the Era 1202 [AD 1164]." There is a charter dated 21 June 1164, an earlier source than the Anales, 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 the Cistercian abbey of Santa 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 grandson García Pérez and to the Order of Calatrava. She also made many donations to Santa María de Huerta and to the Praemonstratensian monastery of Santa María de La Vid. Besides Calatrava, she patronised the Knights Hospitaller. She founded a Praemonstratensian convent at Brazacorta.