Nuño González de Lara (died 1275)
Nuño González I de Lara (died 8 September 1275), nicknamed el Bueno ("the Good"), was a Castilian nobleman, royal counsellor and military leader.
The king's policies often stymied his efforts to increase the power and wealth of his house, and in 1272 he led many prominent noblemen into open rebellion.
He became the closest friend of the future Alfonso X during the prince's childhood (1223–31), when King Ferdinand III sent him to be raised away from the royal court.
Nuño was a frequent visitor to the prince's court, along with other childhood friends, like the children of Alfonso's erstwhile guardian, García Fernández de Villamayor.
As an indication of his closeness to the king, he usually signed first after the prelates and members of the royal family, in the highest position possible for a lay non-royal lord.
[1] In 1255, Nuño led the royal army that defeated Alfonso's rebellious brother Henry near Lebrija, forcing him into exile.
He and his wife possessed some windmills at Alcalá acquired by other means and sold them to the Order of Santiago in exchange for a house in San Miguel de Bobadilla in December 1259.
[5] In 1260, Nuño arranged his son Juan's marriage to Teresa Álvarez de Azagra, heiress of the lordship of Albarracín.
A written agreement was signed wherein Alfonso promised to lead an army in person against Granada if Ibn al-Ahmar attacked the Banu Ashqilula.
He gave the younger Nuño a gift of jewels and told him to inform his father and brother, Juan Núñez, of their agreement.
[13] In late 1269, Nuño sought to enter the service of King James I of Aragon, who was in Burgos for the wedding of Alfonso X's son, Fernando de la Cerda.
Alfonso X ordered a general mobilisation, summoning his noblemen to appear on the frontier under the command of his brother Manuel and son Fernando.
The leaders of the revolt, including Nuño and the king's brother Philip, had been in contact with the Marinid emir, Abu Yusuf, and his son Abd al-Wahid.
Before Abu Yusuf the rebels accused Alfonso X of debasing the coinage, violating their customary privileges, causing inflation and favouring merchants.
When Ibn al-Ahmar died on 12 January 1273, there was a dispute over the succession, but the Castilian exiles' support for his son, Abu Abd Allah, secured him the throne.
On account of the truce, however, the frontier was quiet and Nuño and his son Juan even contemplated answering the call of the Second Council of Lyon (18 May 1274) for a new crusade to the Holy Land.
[20] After initial campaigns towards Seville and Jaén, Abu Yusuf personally led the main Marinid army against Écija.
The Moroccan historian Ibn Abi Zar, who calls Nuño "the cursed one", records that he led a massive army with breastplates, chain mail, banners and trumpets.
Given that Abu Abd Allah owed his throne largely to the intervention of Nuño, whom he knew personally, this was calculated to offend.
Out of friendship with Nuño and hatred of the Marinids, Abu Abd Allah had the head embalmed in musk and camphor and sent secretly to Córdoba for burial with the body.
