Banu Gómez
| Banu Gómez | |
|---|---|
| Noble House | |
| Country | Kingdom of León |
| Titles | Count of Saldaña, Count of Carrión, Count of Liébana, Count of Astorga |
| Founder | Diego Muňoz |
| Ethnicity | Leonese |
The Banu Gómez (Beni Gómez ) were a powerful but fractious noble family living on the Castilian marches of the Kingdom of León from the 10th to the 12th centuries. They rose to prominence in the 10th century as counts in Saldaña, Carrión and Liébana, and reached their apogee when, allied with Córdoba warlord, Almanzor, their head, García Gómez, expelled king Vermudo II of León and briefly ruled there. He would reconcile with the royal family, but launched two subsequent rebellions. On his death, the senior line of the family was eclipsed, but a younger branch would return to prominence, producing Pedro Ansúrez, one of the premier noblemen under king Alfonso VI and queen Urraca in the late 11th and early 12th centuries. The family would be portrayed in the Cantar de Mio Cid as rivals and antagonists of the hero, El Cid, and their rebellions would serve as a basis for the legend of Bernardo del Carpio.
Two competing theories have been proposed for the origin of the Banu Gómez. The first documented member was Diego Muñoz, Count in Saldaña. The family held lands around Liébana, and this along with his patronymic, indicating his father's name was Munio, led Castilian historian Justo Pérez de Urbel to suggest that Diego's parents were the Munio Diaz and wife Gulatrudia, who appear in the documentation of San Martin de Liébana (later Santo Toribio ) from the year 914. He noted in particular a 929 diploma of the then-widowed Gulatrudia witnessed by her children, including a Diego Muñoz. However, the other named children were all daughters, conflicting with the known family of the Saldaña Diego Muñoz, which likely included two brothers. Further, Gulatrudia's son is still found in Liébana in 964, after the reported death of the count in Saldaña. Thus, contrary to the Pérez de Urbel theory, the Liébana and Saldaña men named Diego Muñoz appear to be distinct.
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