Rodrigo Pérez de Traba (floruit 1111–1158/65), called el Velloso ("the Hairy"), was a Galician magnate who rose to prominence after the coronation of Alfonso VII as co-ruler of León in 1111. He served Alfonso at court in his early years, but was given increased responsibility in Galicia after the death of Alfonso's mother, Queen Urraca (1126). After about 1132 he became increasingly involved in the politics of Portugal, whose invasion of Galicia he supported in 1137. Even after León and Portugal made peace in 1141 Rodrigo was largely excluded from Leonese politics, with the notable exception of the military campaigns of 1147, until 1152. Thereafter until his death he was the dominant lay figure in Galicia.
Political activities
Feudal affairs Rodrigo was a younger son of Pedro Fróilaz de Traba and his second wife, Mayor Rodríguez.Simon Barton, The Aristocracy in Twelfth-century León and Castile (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 297–98. He is first mentioned in the Historia compostellana in connexion with the coronation of the young Alfonso VII on 17 September 1111 in Compostela. He took part in the ceremonies as the honorary alférez (armiger), alongside his father as steward. In the words of the Historia "the most esteemed count Pedro was royal steward and his son Rodrigo, as armiger, carried the sword of the king, the shield, and the lance."Margarita C. Torres Sevilla-Quiñones de León, "Relaciones fronterizas entre Portugal y León en tiempos de Alfonso VII: El ejemplo de la casa de Traba," Revista da Faculdade de Letras: Historia, 15:1 (1998), 311 n74: el clarisimo conde Pedro fue dapifero regio y su hijo Rodrigo sostuvo como alferez la espada del rey, el escudo y la lanza. On 26 September 1119 he was still serving as alférez to Alfonso, then co-ruling with his mother, Queen Urraca. The post of alférez was typically reserved for younger nobleman in anticipation of higher office. In April 1126, after Urraca's death, Rodrigo travelled with his father and the other magnates of Galicia to Zamora to swear oaths to Alfonso as sole king. In the context of this episode the Chronica Adefonsi imperatoris refers to "the sons of Count Pedro Fróilaz, among whom [was] Rodrigo, who was later named count by the king."Barton, 127. He was raised to the rank of count, the highest rank in the kingdom, on 2 April 1127, for he confirmed a royal donation to the Benedictine monastery at Sahagún that day as Comes dominus Rudericus Petriz in eadem die electus. Rodrigo's elevation to comital status probably took place before a gathering of the entire court in León.Barton, 141.Torres Sevilla-Quiñones de León, 310–12. On 3 August 1132 Rodrigo and his brother Martín granted a family estate at Palacios to Pedro and Arias Díaz.
Among the Galician castles (castra) which the Historia compostellana names Rodrigo as holding are San Jorge, Traba (from which his family took its name), and a place called Ferraria (today Ferreira, a parish of Coristanco).María del Carmen Pallarés, "Aristocracia y sistema de parentesco en la Galicia de los siglos centrales de la Edad Media: el grupo de los Traba," Hispania, 53:185 (1993), 828–29 n12, quotes the pertinent passage in Spanish: Un arcediano de la iglesia del apóstol Santiago, llamado Arias Muñiz, tenía su arcedianato en tierras pertenecientes a los castros de San Jorge, Traba y Ferreira, que estaban en poder del conde Rodrigo, hijo del conde Pedro. . . ("an archdeacon of the church of the apostle Santiago, named Arias Muñiz, had his archdiaconate in lands belonging to the castles of San Jorge, Traba, and Ferreira, which were in the power of Count Rodrigo, son of Count Pedro"). These three castra are elsewhere called castellis by Alfonso VII in a donation to the Cathedral of Santiago in 1127, where they also appear clumped together. In the charter of donation Rodrigo is twice named "Count Rodrigo de Traba" (Comes Rudericus de Traua), a name used again in a similar royal donation in 1131. These are the only instances in contemporary documents of Rodrigo using "Traba" as part of his name.Pallarés, 829–30. Sometime before 5 December 1135 Rodrigo was granted the tenencia (fief) of the Limia in Galicia, which he continued to govern down to at least 13 March 1156, possibly until his death. By 31 January 1155 he had also received the important Galician tenencia of Monterroso, where he can be seen ruling as late as 1 June 1157, and probably until his death. In one of Alfonso VII's last donations to the Cathedral of Santiago, in 1155, Rodrigo styled himself "Count Rodrigo Pérez of Galicia", the last apparent use of the title "Count of Galicia".Pallarés, 834 n28: Comes Rudericus Petriz Gallecie. One document dated 13 February 1147, but corrected to 1148, refers to his holding Salamanca, an important Leonese city, jointly with Ponce Giraldo de Cabrera, but this is the only citation of such a holding.Barton, 108.
Military affairs Rodrigo was politically closely aligned with the County of Portugal, which his half-brothers Vermudo and Fernando Pérez were de facto ruling through the latter's adulterous liaison with Countess Theresa. He regularly visited their court from 1128 onwards,His first recorded visit took place on 19 March 1128, cf. Barton, 298. even after the Battle of São Mamede liquidated his relatives' power. On 28 September 1132 as a reward for loyalty and service he received the vill of Burral from Afonso Henriques, Theresa's son and successor. At least between August 1132 and 26 February 1135 he held the lordship of Porto, and in 1137 he and Gómez Núñez aided the Portuguese when they invaded Galicia. At the time of the invasion the Chronica notes that Rodrigo "had fortifications in Limia and other commissions from the Emperor."Chronica Adefonsi imperatoris [hereafter CAI], I, §74. The translation is that of Glenn Edward Lipskey (1972), The Chronicle of Alfonso the Emperor. The nickname el Velloso comes from the Chronica, cf. Pallarés, 835. From at least November 1140 until as late as 1 February 1141 he was the dapifer (majordomo) of the new royal household of Portugal after Afonso declared himself king in 1139. In September 1141 Afonso Henriques and Alfonso VII finally came to terms, and both Rodrigo and Gómez "paid a severe political price as a result."Barton, 297. According to the Chronica, they "proved themselves disloyal to their lord, Alfonso. They handed their castles and commissions over to the King of Portugal [who fortified them and returned to his countryCAI, I, §77.]. These acts of treason resulted in their own ruin, for indeed they were what most prejudiced these Counts for the rest of their lives."
On only seven or eight occasions did Rodrigo pay a visit to the royal court between September 1141 and March 1152.They are: November 1141 at Nájera, 10 November 1145 at Valladolid, September 1146 (as recorded in the diplomatic correspondence of the Republic of Genoa), 8 December 1146 at Arévalo, 13 February 1147 at Salamanca, 24–28 February 1147 at Zamora, 11 July 1147 at Calatrava, and 13 February 1147 recte 1148 at Salamanca. Cf. Barton, 130 n147. During this period he continued to visit the Portuguese royal court also. Later, according to the Chronica, in a not unusual display of mercy, Alfonso invited the disgraced count to court and regaled him with gifts of gold and silver as he customarily did his regular courtiers, thus reconciling him to himself.CAI, I, §87: Imperator uero misericordia motus super comitem Rodericum iussit eum comedere panem coram se in palatio suo et dare stipendia auri et argenti sicut uni ex principibus suis, qui assistebant coram se. In 1147 Rodrigo joined the royal army that marched to re-conquer Almería from the Muslims, but like many of the Galicians initially present he left in midsummer after taking part in the Siege of Oreja (at least until 25 July).Barton, 180.
Ecclesiastical relations Sometime before 12 December 1155, at which time he was briefly governing Bubal, Castella, and Deza, Rodrigo had married Fronilde Fernández, daughter of Fernando Núñez and Mayor, daughter of Rodrigo Muñoz. She was thus a niece of Gómez Núñez. She gave Rodrigo a daughter, Guiomar, and a son, variously given as Álvar or Rodrigo. Guiomar married first Fernando Ponce de Cabrera el Mayor and secondly Diego Ximénez, by whom she was mother of Rodrigo Díaz de los Cameros. Fronilde was a generous benefactress of the Cistercians in Spain, making donations to their foundations at Armenteira,She made donations to this house and to Ferreira on 4 September 1182, 18 August 1162, and 17 December 1175, cf. Barton, 297. Ferreira de Pallares,Her last known act was a donation to this house on 10 February 1187, cf. Barton, 297. Meira, and Melón.Donations to Meira and Melón took place on 12 May 1158, 12 May 1162, 12 March 1168, 22 March 1179, and April 1185, cf. Barton, 297. In 1175 she made a donation to San Martiño de Fóra and helped found a convent at Ferreira de Pantón, which she placed in dependency on Meira.Raquel Alonso Álvarez, "Los promotores de la orden del Císter en los reinos de Castilla y León: familias aristocráticas y damas nobles," Anuario de Estudios Medievales, 37:2 (2007), 666.
While his wife's religious devotion favoured the Cistercians, Rodrigo's patronage lay solidly behind the Benedictines and the Praemonstratensians. On 20 December 1127 Alfonso VII donated some churches to the Benedictine monastery of Cines in Galicia "for the love of our most faithful count Don Rodrigo Pérez."Barton, 297 n13: pro amore fidelissimo nostro comes domnus Rodericus Petri. The surviving charter recording this grant of largesse has been challenged as a forgery by at least one historian, but its authenticity has been defended by another.Bernard F. Reilly, "The Chancery of Alfonso VII of León-Castilla: The Period 1116-1135 Reconsidered," Speculum, 51:2 (1976), 254 n68. It contains the date 1133, but the list of witnesses suggests it more probably belongs to 1127. It names Rodrigo Martínez as a count, but he cannot be shown to have attained that rank before late 1128. On 28 October 1155 Rodrigo confirmed a royal donation of property to the abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos. On 15 December he made donations to the Praemonstratensian monasteries of Retuerta and San Leonardo.