Álvaro Núñez de Lara (died 1218)
Nonetheless, his outsized ambition put him at odds with the king and he had to leave Castile and seek refuge in Marrakech, where he died in 1220[2] The career of the other brother, Gonzalo, father of count Nuño González de Lara "el Bueno", played out in the Kingdom of León.
He fought alongside his brothers Fernando and Gonzalo in the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa on 16 July 1212, carrying the royal standard.
[9] In gratitude for the valor demonstrated by the count in this battle, which marked a milestone of the Reconquista, Alfonso VIII granted him, on 31 October 1212, the village of Castroverde, referring to him as "my beloved and loyal vassal (...) as reward for the many voluntary services which you have lent me and faithfully fulfilled, and as well which you have made an effort to fulfill up to this very day; and more so as reward for the service, which is to be particularly cherished, which you performed for me on the field of battle when you carried my standard like a valiant man.
[13] However a few months later, on 6 October 1214, King Alfonso VIII of Castile died and the court decided on his son Henry to succeed him on the throne.
Before dying, the king had charged the bishops, his friend Mencía López de Haro,[c] and his steward, Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón, executors of his will, with the task of seeing to the carrying out of his commands and the assurance of his succession.
Weeks later, Queen Eleanor died and left the guardianship of Henry and the regency to her daughter Berengaria and the prelates of Palencia and Toledo.
This situation annoyed them and, according to the Chronica latina regum Castellae, "a majority of the barons decided that Álvaro ought to be regent in the king's name and take charge of the care of the realm.
"[15] Álvaro, according to De rebus Hispaniae, bribed García Lorenzo, a knight of Palencia and guardian of the young king, to hand Henry over to them.
The archbishop's objectivity in his recounting of events should be accepted with caution due to his sympathy for the crown, his disdain of the Laras, and his determination "to promote the interests of Toledo over those of Santiago and Seville.
[25] Around this time, he negotiated the marriage of Henry to Mafalda, daughter of King Sancho I of Portugal, a union which was later annulled at the urging of Queen Berengaria by the bishops of Burgos and Palencia in obedience of the orders of Pope Innocent III.
[29] Berengaria sought explanations from her brother Henry, who denied being aware of such a request on the part of the regent and, alarmed by the excesses being committed by Álvaro, attempted to meet with his sister.
[30] Due to the bias shown by Jiménez de Rada and his unconditional support of Berengaria, the letter may have been authentic and not a forgery by Álvaro as the archbishop wrote.
[32] The alferiz et procurator regis et regni, as he is titled in the records, succeeded in having all the castles of the kingdom handed over to him, possibly so he could install landholders and fortress captains whom he trusted.
[33] The opposition faction included the Meneses, Girón, Haro and Cameros families, whose absence from the Royal Council is noted from February 1217.
The new royal high steward, Martín Muñoz de Hinojosa, sent a letter to Berengaria seeking the surrender of the castles of Burgos and Valladolid as well as the Cantabrian ports.
The clergy succeeded in preventing a battle, and Gonzalo returned to court while Lope Díaz de Haro met up with Berengaria in Autillo.
His relatives, Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón and Alfonso Téllez de Meneses, came to his aid with their armed retinues, although they retreated and avoided waging battle on finding out that the young King Henry was among the regent's forces.
Lope Díaz de Haro and Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón headed to the court of León to ask that Infante Ferdinand come in aid of his mother.
[31] On 26 May, the young king suffered an accident while playing with other children in the palace courtyard when a tile which came loose from the roof fell and struck him on the head, causing a fatal injury.
They were to convince Alfonso that Infante Ferdinand must return to join his mother, without revealing the plans for the succession to the throne of Castile, and to accompany him to Autillo, where she was, on the pretext that the castle had been attacked, and hiding the news of the death of her brother Henry.
[38] Although the infantas Sancha and Dulce rejected the noblemen's explanations, they finally convinced them that Henry was safe and sound and succeeded in bringing Infante Ferdinand to join his mother in Autillo, where shortly afterward he was acclaimed king.
Some preferred the fulfillment of the terms of the Treaty of Sahagún by which Alfonso IX would be proclaimed King of Castile, thereby uniting the two crowns, or otherwise that the throne should pass to Berengaria, a choice which ultimately prevailed.
On 4 July, two days after Ferdinand's coronation, his father, King Alfonso IX, who still had not renounced his claims to the throne of Castile, invaded the Tierra de Campos and occupied Urueña, Villagarcía, Castromonte and Arroyo.
Alfonso IX proposed that he secure a papal dispensation in order to remarry Berengaria, recognizing her rights to the throne of Castile, and that the two kingdoms unite upon their deaths, and that they be succeeded by their son Ferdinand as the sole king.
Meanwhile, troops from Ávila and Segovia arrived at the Castilian court, which was in Palencia, to support King Ferdinand, who had already recovered control of Burgos, Lerma, Lara, and Palenzuela, although Muñó remained loyal to Álvaro.
[46] However, the peace did not hold and, possibly encouraged by Álvaro, Alfonso IX invaded Castile in the spring of 1218 and took the fortress of Valdenebro near Medina de Rioseco.
Ferdinand III went to Tordehumos whence he resisted the invasions of the Laras who, in turn, convinced Alfonso IX to break the truce and attack Castile.
