Gonzalo Peláez

The ruins of the castle of Tudela, where Gonzalo first entrenched himself when opposed by the king's forces. Gonzalo Peláez (died March 1138) was the ruler of the Asturias from 1110 to 1132, during the reigns of Queen Urraca (1109–26) and her son, Alfonso VII (1126–57). He held high military posts under the latter, but in 1132 he began a five-year rebellion against Alfonso, punctuated by three brief reconciliations. He died in exile in Portugal.

Of uncertain origins, Gonzalo may have been the son of Pelayo Peláez and Mumadonna (Mayor) González. The only link is a charter of 1097 by which a certain Mummadonna cognomento domna Maiore Gundesaluiz ("Mumadonna called lady Mayor González") made a donation to the Diocese of Oviedo for the good of her soul and that of her husband, Pelayo Peláez, making reference to their son named Gonzalo. On 18 November 1118 a Gonzalo Peláez, perhaps not the same man, received lands in the Araduey valley in the province of León from Queen Urraca along with his wife Mayor Muñoz. If it is the same man he may have been Leonese rather than Asturian, as usually assumed.

Rule in the Asturias Gonzalo first appears in the record in 1095, but without a noble title. By July 1110 he had received the tenencia of Asturias de Oviedo, which he held until April 1132. There is no reference to a count of Asturias after 1106, and Gonzalo was unrelated to the previous counts. He was a new man, not belonging to the high nobility and owing his rise to the king's favour. Rather than appoint a count after 1106, Alfonso preferred to appoint a castellan whose function would be primarily military, with other administrative functions left to Bishop Pelagius of Oviedo. Gonzalo and the bishop managed to get along: on 1 February 1113 Pelagius gave Gonzalo half of the town of Almunia de Candamo.

In light of his unusual position, Gonzalo was referred to in various ways in contemporary documents. In the earliest reference to his castellany, he was just cited as Gonzalo in Oveto, in Oviedo. By June 1113 he was dominante Asturias (lording it over Asturias), and in a document of December he was described as caput terra (head of the land). In May 1120 he was referred to as regnante Asturias (ruling Asturias) and Asturias presidente (presiding in Asturias), but his most common designation (after 1123 at least) was potestas in Asturias (the power in Asturias).

The Chronica Adefonsi imperatoris names "Count Gonzalo Peláez" as one of those magnates who pledged fealty to Alfonso VII upon his succession in 1126, but this seems an error, as Gonzalo did not receive the comital title until February 1130, perhaps extorted from the king in a time of emergency. The Chronica goes on to describe him as the "governor of Asturias [who] allied himself with the King, and was appointed Consul in charge of all military outposts in Asturias". In 1129 Alfonso VII sent Gonzalo, whom the Chronica describes as "Duke of Asturias", and Suero Vermúdez to negotiate with Alfonso I of Aragon and Navarre at Almazán. He served as alférez between November 1131 (possibly as early as July) and March 1132. He was then at the height of his power. The Chronica Adefonsi accuses him of not sufficiently or wholeheartedly aiding the king in the defence of the frontier against Alfonso of Aragon, and of openly defying Queen Urraca "after she had honored him." One modern historian, however, attributes Gonzalo's rise from obscurity to "almost total power in Asturias" to his faithfulness to Urraca during the civil wars of the first half of her reign. but he did not have the support of the bishop Alfonso of Oviedo. The king diverted an army he had assembled at Atienza to campaign against Aragon to the Asturias, to campaign against Gonzalo. Rodrigo Gómez was seized, stripped of his lands and titles, and "sent away". Suero first attacked Buanga and Pedro Alba de Quirós, although Gonzalo was then at Proaza. The royal forces tightened the encirclement of Gonzalo's strongholds. Ambushes were prepared on all roads leading to his castles and over the mountains. The Chronica records that "whomever they caught, they sent away with his hands cut off," which "was done for several days". To this Alfonso agreed, on the advice of his counsellors, who included his sister Sancha Raimúndez and his wife Berengaria.

Third rebellion Gonzalo undersigned four documents on 26 May 1135, and participated in the business of the royal court a week later (2 June). and a royal document of December 1135 records that Gonzalo was then in open revolt in Buanga. The next spring the king and Gonzalo again reconciled, and the latter was with the court at Sahagún throughout March 1136.

Last rebellion, exile and death Gonzalo remained with the court and on good terms with the king until at least late October, when the court was at Palencia. He is not, however, cited as tenente (holding) Luna in any surviving documents, and the king may not have fulfilled his part of the accord, though the Chronica says that he ordered Luna turned over to him "in order to avoid any further rebellion." In 1143 his surviving sister, Cristina Peláez, and her husband, Gonzalo Vermúdez, made a grant to the church of Oviedo for the sake of his soul.