Gutierre Menéndez

Gutier Menéndez (c. 865 – 934) was a Galician magnate in the Kingdom of León. Related to the royal family through marriages, he acted as a powerbroker in the civil wars that followed the disputed succession of 925.

Gutier could not have been born much later than 870, since he had an adult son in 911. He was a son of Count Hermenegildo Gutiérrez and Hermesinda Gatóñez. His paternal grandparents were Gutier and Elvira, while his maternal grandparents were Count Gatón and Egilo. Gatón's sister, Nuña, was the wife of King Ordoño I, while Gutier's sister Elvira was the wife of Ordoño II.

Gutier married Ilduara Ériz, daughter of Count Ero Fernández and Adosinda. They were probably married no later than 890, judging by the ages of their children. They had three sons and two daughters:

In their testament, Gutier and Ilduara, with the support of their relatives, divided their property roughly equally between their five children in a so-called colmellum divisionis (division of a branch of a family). In the will, Gutier says that during his career he obtained wealth through "royal grants, booty in war and other means" (de munificentia regis, de preda vel de ex aliquo ganato) on top of the wealth that he had inherited.

Gutier's immense wealth is indicated by the aforementioned testament and a gift of land to his wife made in 916. He gave her lands not only in Galicia, the family's power base, but also in Portugal to the south and Asturias to the east.

During the reign of his brother-in-law, Ordoño II, king of Galicia from 910 and then of León from 914 until his death in 924, Gutier was a regular presence at the royal court. He is attested as a signatory and intervenor in numerous royal acts, and during this period his activity was not restricted to Galicia.

Ordoño II was succeeded without incident by his younger brother, Fruela II. On Fruela's death the following year (925), however, a civil war broke out between the sons of Ordoño, who were Gutier's nephews. The eldest son, Sancho Ordóñez, briefly established himself at León, but by 926 he was restricted to Galicia, while his younger brother, Alfonso IV, ruled in León. In December 927, the two kings, apparently reconciled, met to confirm the restoration of the monastery of Santa María de Loyo in the suburbs of Lugo by Gutier and Ilduara. In the royal presence, Gutier presided over the council. The situation suggests that Gutier's intervention may have reconciled the two kings.

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