Torre Sevilla-Quiñones de León : An cestry of el Cid
Todd A. Farmerie
article by Margarita C. Torre Sevilla-Quiñones de León dealing
with the ancestry of the spanish national hero, Rodrigo Diaz de
Vivar, 'el Cid'. Being in spanish, the article may have been
inaccessible to many members of this group, but since the issues
have been discussed here before, it might be helpful to
summarize. It should be mentioned that this is more a review
that a detailed study, and much summarized in accompanying charts
is not discussed in detail, reference instead being made to
published studies of the families in question. It should be
noted that much of what is presented has been seen here before.
The author begins by discussing the situation in Leon/Castile in
the mid-11th century, placing Rodrigo Diaz within nobility (his
grandfather, "Lain Nuñez" is said to have been at the court of
Fernando I). In his only known document, the father or Rodrigo
Diaz, Diego Flainez, apears amidst a clan of Alvarez, one of
which, Rodrigo Alvarez, was his father in law. This elder
Rodrigo is known to be brother of a Nuño Alvarez, (of which two
appear in the same document) who is identified with the prominant
man of that name from which the Lara derive (not a novel
suggestion). In addition, brothers Gonzalo, Fortun, and Diego
Alvarez are placed within the family, this last being father of
Alvar Diaz de Oca and father in law of both Lope Iñiguez, Count
of Vizcaya, and of Count Gonzalo Salvadores. Thus, maternally,
el Cid was linked to some of the most elevated families in the
Kingdom.
In the chart presenting these relationships, space is dedicated
to the Lara. This family traces to a 'Gonzalo Nuñez', who
married a Goto, and father of Counts Pedro and Rodrigo Gonzalez
de Lara. Salazar y Castro produced for this count a pedigree
making him son of a Nuño Gonzalez, son of Gonzalo Nuñez, son of
Nuño Gonzalez, son of Count Gonzalo of Castile (father of Count
Fernan Gonzalez). This has long been discounted, and two recent
theories have been proposed. One suggests that Salazar y Castro
was ont he right track, but had become mired in the confusion
between Nuño and Munio - at the time distinct names, but later
confused, and that in his string of Gonzalo and Nuño are to be
seen historical noblemen named Munio Gonzalez, Gonzalo Muñoz, and
Munio Gonzalez. This hypothesis was expanded upon in a series of
charts published by Szabolcs de Vajay, in which the earliest of
these Munios was made son of Gonzalo Garcia, son of Count Garcia
Fernandez of Castile. (It should be noted that in the process,
three generations were added to the pedigree suggested by Salazar
y Castro - an addition difficult to rectify with the chronology.)
The alternative was that the first documented Lara progenitor,
Gonzalo Nuñez, was son of a Nuño Alvarez, from whom certain lands
passed. The current work harmonizes the two alternatives -
making Gonzalo Nuñez son of Munio Gonzalez marry Goto Nuñez,
daughter of Nuño Alvarez (by Maria, daughter of Gutierre Alfonso
and his wife Goto). Munio Gonzalez is then made son of Gonzalo
Garcia (removing a Gonzalo Muñoz and Munio Gonzalez, and bringing
the line more into chronological harmony). Some of you may
recall that Canal Sanchez-Pagin suggested that Jimena Munioz,
mistress of Alfonzo VI, was sister of Gonzalo 'Nuñez' de Lara, so
this is of interest to any descendant of Teresa of Portugal and
her sister Elvira Alfonso (e.g. Osorio).
The Salvadorez appear to be linked to the Lara, and have likewise
long been asigned a descent from the ancient Counts of Castile,
in their case through an invented son of the first hereditary
Count. In the Vajay charts mentioned above, this descent is
replaced by one making Salvador Gonzalez (the well-documented
father of Count Gonzalo Salvadorez) son of a Gonzalo Gonzalez, a
seeming place-filler made son of Gonzalo Garcia. With the
shortenning of the Lara lineage, this Gonzalo Gonzalez is no
longer necessary, and Salvador is shown as son of Gonzalo Garcia
himself. Unfortunately, none of this is directly discussed.
Regarding the paternal ancestry of Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, the
author calls attention to the apparent conguence of the male-line
traditionally given el Cid, and that seen in the Flainez, one of
the most prominant families of the time and later (the Osorio are
a scion line), and a family which appears frequently in documents
of the Alvarez, making an intermarriage perfectly reasonable. El
Cid is traditionally son of Diego Lainez, son of Lain Nuñez, son
Nuño Lainez (=Eilona), son of Lain Fernandez, son of Fernando
Lainez, son of Lain Calvo, Judge of Castile. Taking the forms
more likely to appear, we have at the core the same names seen in
the Flainez pedigree, starting with the generation of the
grandfather of el Cid - Flain Muñoz (like "Lain Nuñez", a
nobleman at the court of Fernando I), Munio Flainez (=Froilona),
Flain ¿Fernandez?. We have seen this before, again in the Vajay
charts, where the Flainez and Rodrigo Diaz are traced together to
Flain Diaz, judge (matching Lain Calvo), who is then connected
with the family of Nuño Nuñez Rasura. This Flain Diaz is not
documented or explained by the Vajay charts, and I have always
wondered whether the patronymic was a genealogical device to
connect el Cid with the first comtal family. Torre
Sevilla-Quiñones goes a step further than my doubts, stating that
the whole "Judges" period is a fable, and that Lain Calvo himself
is probably mythical. She truncates the pedigree with Flain,
father of Munio Flainez and his brother Fernando Flainez. She is
careful with respect to the maternity of Diego Flainez, but
suggests he is child of Flain Muñoz by the first wife, Justa
Fernandez de Cea (whose maternal grandfather was Diego Muñoz), or
perhaps a bastard.
Finally, she places into the same family the paternal line of
Jimena Diaz, wife of el Cid. Several years ago, Salazar Acha
identified her father "Count Diego" as a count Diego Fernandez.
he then speculated that it was he, and not his wife, who was
child of Fernando Gundemariz. Torre Sevilla-Quiñones identifies
him with the documented Diego Fernandez, paternal grandson of the
same count Flain Muñoz tapped as grandfather of el Cid, making
husband and wife first cousins, once removed, deriving from the
same male line.
If her father is correctly placed as son of Fernando Flainez and
his wife Elvira Pelaez (his first cousin, daughter of the
genealogical dead-end count Pelayo Rodriguez and Gotina Fernandez
de Cea, sister of Justa), and her mother Christina as daughter of
Fernando Gundemariz, it becomes difficult to explain the
tradition of relationship to Alfonso VI. The closest connection
being through sisters Justa Fernandez de Cea, Gotina Fernandez de
Cea, Jimena Fernandez de Cea, Queen of Navarre, but this
relationship (one generation closer) was shared by her husband,
so it is unclear why her royal kinship was notable, while kinship
between el Cid and Alfonso was not noted. Perhaps this favors
Diego Flainez not being son of Justa, or perhaps the whole
tradition of royal relations is false.
Interessting stuff, but light on detailed explanation.
taf