Suero Vermúdez

Suero Vermúdez (or Bermúdez) (died 12 August 1138) was an Asturian nobleman, territorial governor, and military leader. His career was marked by loyalty to the crown of León-Castile during the reigns of Alfonso VI, Urraca, and Alfonso VII. He never took part in any revolt, but fought in many wars against rebels, against rivals, and against the Moors.

The primary sources for the life of Suero are the contemporary ''Historia compostellana'' and '' Chronica Adefonsi imperatoris'' plus some 150 surviving charters which mention, were drawn up by, or were confirmed by Suero. He held extensive lands and many interests in ecclesiastical properties. Out of his enormous wealth he was a generous patron of monasteries, and appears to have favoured the Benedictines and the Cluniac reform. The ''Chronica'' describes Suero, one of the few noblemen it praises, as "a man strong in counsel and a seeker of truth" and "a lover of peace and truth and a faithful friend of the king".

Under Alfonso VI

Suero Vermúdez was the eldest son of Bermudo Ovéquiz, son of Oveco Vermúdez and Elvira Suárez, and Jimena Peláez, daughter of Pelayo Fróilaz and Aldonza (Eldoncia) Ordóñez.Barton (1997), 300–1. Suero was related—it is not known how—to Rodrigo Vermúdez, a majordomo early in the reign of Alfonso VII (1127–30), and his younger brother Muño was briefly the majordomo of Urraca in September 1109. He was also a great-grandson of ''infante'' Ordoño Ramírez son of King Ramiro III of León, and ''infanta'' Cristina Bermúdez, daughter of Bermudo II of León, and thus a descendant of royalty and very distant relative of his contemporary sovereigns. Cristina had founded the Benedictine monastery of San Salvador at Cornellana in 1024 and it had been divided up between her heirs.Barton (1997), 215–16. Regaining complete control of the monastery and its properties would be a major preoccupation of Suero. Besides his descent from King Vermudo II, Suero could claim kinship with Vermudo's enemy in Galicia, Count Suero Gundemáriz. Suero is commonly referred to in contemporary documents simply and unambiguously as "Count Suero" (''Comes Suarius''), without reference to his father.

The earliest secure reference to Suero is as a young man in 1092. There is a mangled record of a donation by Suero to the monastery of Lourenzá dated 10 March 1094, but which, if accurate, must be dated later than 1100, since Suero appears in the donation with a title he did not then possess. According to a document dated 28 March 1098, Suero was then serving Count Raymond of Galicia as armiger or standard-bearer (''alférez''). There is no other mention of this appointment, although a certain Suero Núñez who was his ''alférez'' on 1 May 1096 may be the same person with his patronymic erroneously copied. There is also only one record of Suero's first ''tenencia'', a jurisdictional fief held directly from the crown and at royal pleasure. According to a charter copied into the ''tumbo'' (cartulary) of Lourenzá, Suero was governing Vilarente on 28 August 1099. He may also have governed Monterroso, an important fief in Galicia, under Count Raymond.Reilly (1982), 219–20. By 1 April 1101 he was a count (''comes''), the highest rank in the kingdom, bestowed only by the sovereign. During the rest of the reign of Alfonso VI Suero held only one other ''tenencia'': Rábade, where he is known to have been ruling between 23 January and 5 March 1104.

Supporter of Urraca

Suero married Enderquina Gutiérrez, daughter of Gutierre Rodríguez and an important member of the Castilian aristocracy. On 30 December 1110 she received a grant from Queen Urraca and was styled ''comitissa'' (countess). Since women were not granted that title independently but used it only in the case that their husbands were counts, by this time Enderquina must have been married to Suero. On 27 June 1114 the couple made a gift of land at Torre de Babia to a certain vassal of theirs, Pelayo Fróilaz, for his loyal service. It is the first of series of donations between 1114 and 1129 that the couple made displaying their magnificent landed wealth.Barton (1997), 69. On 9 February 1116 Suero is cited in one charter as ruling the city and towers of León, the old ''imperiale culmen'' (imperial summit). It is probable that he also ruled the surrounding country. He certainly owned property in León, and he may have previously been its count in 1114.Barton (1997), 80 and 209. He is described as ''legionensium comes'' (count of the Leonese), possibly a mere title with no attendant jurisdiction. Over the next fifteen years he appears governing briefly at Gordón, Astorga, ''Cordove'', and, in 1131, in Laciana and Paredes.

After the marriage of Alfonso VI's heiress, Urraca, to the King of Aragon and Navarre, Alfonso the Battler, in 1110, Suero consistently supported the queen against her husband. He was one of those who had confirmed Urraca's first act as successor of her husband Raymond in Galicia in December 1107. Only a day after the burial of Alfonso VI, on 22 July 1109, Suero was again one of those who confirmed Urraca's first act as successor. After the coronation of the queen's son by Raymond of Galicia, Alfonso VII, in September 1111, Suero, owing in part to his proximity to the Galician power base of Alfonso VII's backers, was the queen's most important supporter. By the fall of 1116 negotiations had begun between Urraca and Alfonso at Sahagún. According to the ''Historia compostellana'', Suero and fellow Asturian Munio Peláez were the main defenders of the former, while the latter was supported by Diego Gelmírez, Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases