Alfonso Téllez de Meneses el Viejo

[15] Gontrodo's parents founded the Cistercian convent of Santa María la Real in Gradefes, which she joined after she was widowed and where she eventually became the abbess.

[19] Around this time Alfonso Téllez de Meneses also governed Portillo on behalf of his relative Ermengol VIII, Count of Urgell.

[20] He fought at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, which took place on 16 July 1212, along with his brothers-in-law Gonzalo, Rodrigo, Pedro, Nuño, and Álvaro Rodríguez Girón, and his three brothers.

[26] By the end of May the situation in Castile had become dangerous for Berengaria, so she decided to take refuge in the castle of Autillo de Campos, a property of Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón, and sent her son Fernando to the court of León and his father, King Alfonso IX.

Circumstances changed suddenly when King Henry died on 6 June 1217 after receiving a head wound from a roof tile that came loose accidentally while he was playing with other children in the palace of the Bishop of Palencia, Tello Téllez de Meneses.

[28] Immediately, Berengaria charged Lope Díaz de Haro, Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón, and Alfonso Téllez de Meneses with the task of discreetly fetching her son Ferdinand, who at the time was in Toro with his father King Alfonso, using as pretext the possibility of an attack on Autillo and without revealing the news of her brother's death.

Berengaria, the legitimate heiress to the throne of Castile, renounced it in favor of her son Ferdinand, who shortly thereafter was proclaimed king in Autillo de Campos on 14 June 1217.

Coat of arms of the Téllez de Meneses family: Or, a chain in bend azure.
Monastery of Santa María de Palazuelos ( Corcos del Valle , Province of Valladolid ), founded by Alfonso Téllez de Meneses, who, according to tradition, was laid to rest here. Some of his descendants are buried here, including Mayor Alfonso de Meneses , mother of Queen María de Molina .