Jerome of Périgord
Forced to abandon it following Rodrigo's death, Jerome entered the service of Duke Raymond of Galicia in 1102 and became bishop over the churches in Salamanca, Ávila and Zamora.
[5] It is unclear when Jerome came to Spain, although he was certainly one of the "honest and learned" (honestos et litteratos) French monks recruited by Bernard of Sedirac, archbishop of Toledo, at the suggestion of Pope Urban II.
[8] However, Gerald of Braga had been installed in his see by earlier that year and the recruitment of French monks for Spanish work may have begun as early as 1088.
[9] A document from the Cid's rule in Valencia describes him as "coming from the North" (adueniente de Susana), which must refer to France, and suggests he may have arrived directly from there.
[11] He then travelled to Rome to be consecrated "by the pope's hand" (per Roman pontificis manus), becoming thereby the first bishop of Valencia in connection with the wider church in about a century.
[18] In late August 1101, the city was blockaded by the Almoravid Emirate and Jimena sent Jerome to the court of King Alfonso VI of Castile and León to ask for assistance.
[23] The formal installation of Jerome as bishop of Salamanca and administrator of the sees of Zamora and Ávila may have taken place at the synod of Carrión in early January 1103.
[23][24] It is probable that Jerome was appointed bishop by Raymond, who was in charge of reestablishing ecclesiastical structures in the recently conquered territory between the Duero and the Sierra de Guadarrama.
[1] At a meeting of the royal court at Sahagún on 6 February 1105, the king granted Jerome, as bishop of Salamanca, the church of San Martín at Zamora.
[28] Jerome assisted Duke Raymond in repopulating the region between the Duero and the Sierra de Guadarrama, and he probably took sole charge of the project after the latter's death in 1107.
During the troubled early reign of Urraca, Raymond's widow, who succeeded to the throne in 1109, Jerome briefly considered supporting her rival Theresa, Countess of Portugal, for he was in attendance at the Portuguese court on 1 August 1112.
[31] In 1115 Jerome spent the early spring at Urraca's court, confirming a royal donation to the cathedral of Toledo (March 15) and participating in face-to-face negotiations with King Alfonso I of Aragon at Sahagún (April 28).
[32] On 15 October, Jerome attended a general council of the realm at Astorga and he probably stayed with the royal court for the celebration of Christmas at León.
[33] On 27 November 1116, Jerome was present to the south of Villabáñez when Urraca and Raymond's son, Alfonso VII, then ruling as king in Galicia under his mother, issued his very first royal diploma.
[35][36] On 4 July 1117, Jerome was with the court of Urraca and Alfonso VII at León, where the queen gave a charter to the monastery of San Isidro de las Dueñas.
[38] In the spring of 1118, Jerome, probably with forces from his own province, joined the army assembled in eastern Castile for possible war with Alfonso of Aragon.
