Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón

Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón (c. 1160–1231), also known as Gonzalo Ruiz Girón, firstborn son of Rodrigo Gutiérrez Girón and María de Guzmán, was one of Castile's wealthiest and most powerful nobles. He was based in Tierra de Campos, and was among the most loyal supporters of King Alfonso VIII of Castile, Berengaria of Castile, and later of King Ferdinand III.

A member of the curia regia of King Alfonso VIII of Castile, he was Mayordomo mayor del rey (High Steward) from 1198 until the king's death in 1214. Along with his brothers Rodrigo, Pedro, Nuño, and Álvaro, he took part in the Battle of Navas de Tolosa which occurred on 16 July 1212.

After the death of King Alfonso, he was the High Steward of King Henry I until he was replaced on 29 December 1216 by Martín Muñoz de Hinojosa at the urgings of Count Álvaro Núñez de Lara, who in 1215 had made himself the young king's guardian, contrary to the wishes of the church and the nobility. This led to Gonzalo and his supporters distancing themselves from the crown and joining a party of nobles loyal to the king's sister Berengaria.

In February 1216, during the uprising of Álvaro Núñez de Lara, he took part in an extraordinary parliament along with other Castilian nobles including Lope Díaz de Haro, Alfonso Téllez de Meneses "el Viejo", Álvaro Díaz de Cameros, and others, where they agreed, with the support of Berengaria (sister of the young king Henry I), to form a common front against Álvaro Núñez. By the end of May the situation in Castile had become dangerous for Berengaria, so she decided to take refuge in the castle of Autillo de Campos, a property of Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón, and sent her son Fernando to the court of León and his father, King Alfonso IX. On 15 August 1216 a meeting was held among all the nobility of the Kingdom of Castile to try to reach an accord and avoid civil war, but their disagreements led the families of Girón, Téllez de Meneses, and Haro to distance themselves definitively from Álvaro Núñez de Lara.

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