Pedro Alfonso

"[Pedro] is handsome as Absalom, as strong as Samson, and he possesses the wisdom of Solomon."

Pedro Alfonso or Alfónsez (Latin: Petrus Adefonsi; floruit 1126–1173) was an Asturian magnate, dominating the region from 1139 until his death. He had vast landholdings in the Asturias, the region of León, and "kingdom" of Toledo, including in the cities of León and Toledo themselves, the most important cities of the realm. His commercial dealings were extensive, a sign of his economic power, and he loyally served Alfonso VII and his son Ferdinand II as a military commander and diplomat from 1128 until his death.

Pedro was the son of Alfonso Vermúdez, himself the son of Bermudo Ovéquiz of the Vela family and Jimena Peláez, and Urraca Raimúndez, possibly the daughter of Raymond the Fratricide who had to flee Navarre after participating in the murder of his brother king Sancho IV of Navarre in 1076. Pedro took as his first wife María Fróilaz, daughter of Froila Díaz and widow of Melendo Núñez. Her mother, Estefanía Sánchez, was a daughter of Sancho Garcés, the illegitimate half-brother of Sancho IV of Navarre. They were married by 30 November 1143 and were still together as late as 4 October 1164. They had one daughter named Elvira Pérez, who was Pedro's primary heiress. In December 1174 Elvira donated her father's former estates in Santa Marina and Villaverde to the Order of Calatrava. On 26 June 1175 she made a donation to the Order of Santiago of the "houses, baths, ovens, lands, vineyards, orchards, and gardens" in Toledo as well as the lands in Azaña that she had inherited from her "illustrious" father.

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