Álvaro de Zúñiga y GuzmánOther spellings for Zúñiga: Estúñiga, Stúñiga and Stunica. (Encinas de Esgueva, 1410 – Béjar, 10 June 1488) was a Castilian nobleman, member of the influential House of Zúñiga, of Navarrese origin. He was one of the most powerful men in Castile, as evidenced by his numerous titles and the offices he held, and was involved in much of the kingdom's most important political and military events, notably in the various conflicts between the nobility and the candidates for succession to the throne that would culminate in the War of the Castilian Succession and that would only calm down with the final recognition of the Catholic Monarchs, whom he initially opposed but eventually supported.
As a maid to King John II of Castile, in his youth he fought alongside his father against Álvaro de Luna, Constable of Castile and Favourite of King John. When his father died in 1453, he became the second Count of Plasencia and leader of the Liga Nobiliaria. He supported King Henry IV during the first years of his reign, but eventually fell out with the king for opposing the rights of succession of his daughter, Joanna la Beltraneja, and supporting the claims to succession of Alfonso, Prince of Asturias, Henry's half-brother.
Álvaro de Zuñiga becomes the leader of the Liga Nobiliaria, the party created to defend Alfonso's rights to the throne, which is hosted in Zuñiga's palace in Plasencia, which functions as a court of the future king. Álvaro de Zuñiga is one of the main characters in the so-called Farce of Ávila, a ceremony that took place on 5 June 1465, during which the deposition of Henry IV was staged and D. Alfonso was acclaimed king. This marked the beginning of the War of the Castilian Succession. In 1467, Álvaro de Zuñiga formally reconciled with Henry IV and approached the Portuguese King Afonso V, who was received by Zuñiga in Plasencia in May 1475 where he married Joanna, who had been the acclaimed queen of Castile the previous year.
After the defeat of the Portuguese king against the armies of the Catholic Monarchs at the Battle of Toro (1 March 1476), Álvaro de Zuñiga becomes neutral in the civil war and the Catholic Monarchs eventually recognize most of Álvaro's titles and possessions, later granting him more privileges.
Biography
Affiliation Álvaro de Zúñiga was the son of Pedro de Zúñiga y Leiva and his wife Isabel Elvira de Guzmán y Ayala. His father was justicia mayor and alguacil mayor of Castile, 1st Count of Ledesma. His mother was Senhora de Gibraleón and daughter of Alvar Pérez de Guzmán and his wife Elvira de Ayala
In 1429 Álvaro married Leonor Manrique de Lara y Castilla, daughter of Pedro Manrique de Lara y Mendoza, Lord of Amusco, adelantado mayor of León and his wife Leonor de Castilla. The marriage was concerted in January 1428 by the parents of the bride and groom, to unite the two powerful families. The couple had nine children:
Pedro (1430–1484), 2nd Count of Bañares, 1st Count of Ayamonte; Diego, Prior of San Marcos in León in the Order of Santiago; Álvaro, Prior of Saint John of Jerusalem (later Order of Malta); Iñigo, who died very early; Francisco, Lord of Mirabel and Berantevilla; Fadrique, Bishop of Osma; Leonor, married to Juan de Luna y Pimentel, 2nd Count of San Esteban de Gormaz and widow of Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 4th Lord of Oropesa; Elvira (1430-?), married to Alonso de Sotomayor y Guzmán, 1st Count of Belalcázar; Joan, Abbess in the monastery of Calabecinos.
After becoming a widower, Álvaro married in 1458 his niece, Leonor Pimentel y Zúñiga, daughter of Juan Alonso Pimentel (Count of Mayorga), and his sister, Elvira de Zúñiga y Guzmán. To achieve this, she obtained a papal exemption from Pius II and King Henry IV. From her second marriage she had four children:
Juan, Master of the Order of Alcántara, archbishop of Seville, Cardinal and Primate of Spain; Fernando, Prior; Maria (1465-?), Lady of Burguillos, married to her nephew Álvaro II de Zúñiga y Guzmán, 2nd Duke of Béjar, Count of Bañares and Marquis of Gibraleón; Isabel (1470–1520), married to Faldrique Álvarez de Toledo, firstborn of the 1st Duke of Alba de Tormes, Garcí Álvarez de Toledo and his wife María Enríquez.
The Duchess Leonor Pimentel died in Béjar on 31 March 1486.
At the service of John II
As a child, Álvaro de Zúñiga y Guzmán was the donzel of John II of Castille. In his youth, he collaborated with his father in the fight against Álvaro de Luna, Constable of Castile and Favourite of John, over whom he had great influence. On 22 May 1430 Álvaro was named king and appointed Álvaro alguacil mayor of Castile.
On 9 September 1433 Álvaro and his father Pedro joined the Velascos to fight for John II's effective freedom. In February 1437 Álvaro de Luna ordered the arrest of the adelantado Pedro Manrique de Lara, who had held the second post in the royal council since 1430. Pedro Manrique de Lara was arrested on 13 August 1437, but escaped on the night of 20–21 August with the help of Álvaro de Zúñiga.
The Favourite Álvaro de Luna ignited the rivalry of the House of Zúñiga with the Álvarez de Toledo by granting the county of Alba de Tormes to Hernán Álvarez de Toledo, which gave rise to an entrenched struggle for control of Salamanca. Some cities, such as Cáceres and Trujillo, opposed armed resistance to attempts to convert them from realengo (royal jurisdiction) to landlords. Trujillo was offered to Pedro de Zúñiga in exchange for Ledesma. With Béjar and Plasencia in their possession, from 1440 onwards, the House of Zúñiga directed its policy towards definitively controlling Extremadura.
Álvaro, his father, Pedro Manrique, and the 2nd Admiral of Castile, Fadrique Enriquez, prepared the rebellion of the league of the nobility against the Favourite Álvaro de Luna. This league, composed of Pedro de Castilla, Bishop of Osma, Sancho de Rojas, bishop of Astorga, Luis de la Cerda, Count of Medellín, among others, committed themselves on 19 June 1439 to accept the mediation of the King of Navarre, John II, and the infante Henry, so that the disturbances in the kingdom would cease. On 21 September a confederation pact is signed by Pedro de Zúñiga, his son Álvaro, the Count of Haro, and his son Pedro Fernández de Velasco, to free King John II of Castile from the oppression he was in, promising him help until he saw the king free and the kingdom appeased. On 1 December 1450 Pedro de Zúñiga renounced the title of alcalde of Seville in favor of his son Álvaro.
In early 1543 King John II, instigated by the queen, was willing to eliminate his favourite through his King of Arms, Diego López de Zúñiga y Navarra, lord of Clavijo, a relative of the count of Plasencia. The queen obtained a document from the king legalizing the rebellion of the count of Plasencia and authorizing the arrest of Álvaro de Luna. Pedro de Zúñiga, the Count of Plasencia, causes his son Álvaro to settle with his troops in Curiel de Duero before 30 July 1453. The Favourite Álvaro de Luna wanted to prevent the movement by taking possession of Béjar, where Pedro had fortified himself but failed in his attempt because one of his loyalists, Alonso Pérez de Vivero, communicated the favourite's plans to the count of Plasencia. The valid had Alonso Pérez de Vivero murdered in Burgos on 1 April 1453.
Álvaro de Zúñiga is called to Burgos on behalf of the king. On the night of 1–2 April Álvaro de Zúñiga and his soldiers enter the castle of Burgos. King John II, tortured by doubts and vacillations, sent him four letters written by his own hand, the last one on 3 April and the following dispatch on 4 April: "Don Álvaro de Stunica, my alguacil-mor: I command you to arrest the body of Don Álvaro de Luna, Master of Santiago and, if he defends himself, to kill him."
At dawn on 4 April Álvaro de Zúñiga came down from the castle with the dispatch in a gauntlet and went to Pedro de Cartagena's house, where Álvaro de Luna was staying. His servants defended themselves with arrows for three hours, after which they surrendered along with the favourite. Álvaro de Luna was imprisoned in the fortress of Portillo, under the custody of Diego López de Zúñiga y Navarra. The king assigned ten jurists to the trial of the favourite. The judges agreed on the death penalty, but that it should be carried out by warrant and not by sentence. The execution order was received in Portillo on 31 May 1453. Álvaro de Luna was taken to Valladolid the next day, where he spent the night in one of the houses of Count Plasencia, Pedro de Zúñiga, in the old street of Francos. Álvaro de Luna retained serenity on the way to the scaffold. He was beheaded in the Plaza Mayor of Valladolid on 3 June 1453. The Zúñiga replaced Álvaro de Luna in the privacy and royal favor of John II.
When his father died in July 1453, Álvaro de Zúñiga took possession of Plasencia by deed of 15 August 1453 and became 2nd Count of Plasencia. He took over leadership of the Liga Nobiliaria and inherited the positions of justicia-mor and alguacil-mor of Castile. Zuñiga also became the 2nd Count of Plasencia.
At the service of King Henry IV of Castile and León
King John II died in Valladolid on 21 July 1454. The Prince of Asturias was proclaimed King of Castile and León as Henry IV in Valladolid on 23 July 1454. His reign began with the agreement of the nobles. His first Favourite was Juan Pacheco, 1st Marquis of Vilhena, who had been educated and raised in the royal palace and was the new king's companion from childhood. Henry IV had married Blanche II of Navarre in 1440, daughter of King John II of Aragon but the marriage was annulled by Pope Nicholas V on 27 July 1453 for not being consummated, due to Henry's impotence and acknowledged homosexuality. This episode earned Henry the epithet "the Impotent." Henry remarried on 20 May 1455 to Princess Joan of Portugal, sister of King Alfonso V of Portugal.
Henry IV decided to continue the war with Granada and thus entertain the nobility in their restless bellicosity. Álvaro de Zúñiga and his host of Plasencia arrived, and the incursions lasted several years. In the summer of 1458, Queen Joan and her ladies participate in the military operations as spectators at a party. After the conferences of Alfaro between kings Henry of Castile and León and John of Navarre and Aragon, in May 1457, the Favourite Juan Pacheco, benefiting from the agreements, reduces the Liga Nobiliaria to impotence, enthroning its most prominent members in the new government: the Master of the Order of Calatrava Pedro Girón, the Accountant Diego Arias, the Archbishop of Seville Alonso de Fonseca y Ulloa, the Count of Plasencia Álvaro de Zúñiga and the Count of Alba Hernán Álvarez de Toledo. Beltrán de la Cueva is appointed Constable of Castile on 25 March 1458.
The relations of Álvaro de Zúñiga, Count of Plasencia, with King Henry IV and with the Favourite Juan Pacheco, Marquis of Vilhena, were very cordial and firm between 1458 and 1464. After the death of his first wife, Leonor Manrique of Lara and Castile, Álvaro wished to marry his goddaughter and niece Leonor Pimentel y Zúñiga, despite the consanguinity and age difference (he was 49 and she was 16). Pope Callixtus III refused to grant the necessary exemption, but his successor, Pope Pius II, issued the license that allowed the consanguineous marriage. Henry IV also authorized the marriage and declared on 18 March 1461 that it had taken place by his order.
Liga Nobiliaria