Rodrigo Gómez

Rodrigo Gómez (died 1146) was a Castilian nobleman and military leader under Alfonso VII. He governed large parts of Asturias and northern Castile, was involved in the politics with neighbouring Navarre, to whose royal family he was related by marriage, and took part in the Reconquista. Although he was rewarded for loyalty by his sovereign on more than one occasion, he did take part in one brief rebellion, led by a relative. His was a branch of the Lara family.

Rodrigo was a son of Gómez González and Urraca Muñoz. He married Elvira, a daughter of the Navarrese infante Ramiro Sánchez, sometime before 1137, when they made a joint donation of their villa (palacio in contemporary records) at Villaverde to the monastery of San Salvador de Oña. In this donation Rodrigo expressed the wish that his gift would purchase eternal life for his lord, Alfonso VII. Elvira outlived her husband by several years, making another donation to Oña on 18 February 1161 just before her departure on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The couple produced three sons, each of whom became counts: Álvaro, Gómez, and Gonzalo.

According to one historian, Rodrigo first appears in royal documents in 1119, eight years after his father's death at the Battle of Candespina (1111). Another historian cites a document of 13 February 1121 in the archives of the monastery of Sahagún, a favoured royal residence, as his first public appearance. After the death of Queen Urraca on 8 March 1126, Rodrigo and his brother Diego were among the first to do homage to her successor, Alfonso VII. In this connexion, they are the first Castilians listed by the Chronica Adefonsi imperatoris, which says of Rodrigo postea ab eo factus est consul ("later made count by him [the king]").

...
Wikipedia