Rodrigo of Castile
Ruderick (Latin: Rudericus; died on 4 October – 5 November 873), better known by his Spanish name Rodrigo, was an influential noble of the Kingdom of Asturias, and was probably the first Count of Castile (850/862–873) and Álava (867/868–870).
Rodrigo was created governor of the eastern march (marca oriental) of the realm, the territory called al-Qila by the Arabs, which later became the county of Castile.
The area is believed to have earned this name due to the fact that there are few naturally occurring defensible positions, which lead to the creation of castles, or castillos, to defend the region.
The primary reason for the introduction of these comital powers was to improve how the eastern regions of Asturias were managed, as they were crucial outposts against the Moors.
[4] The earliest documentation of Rodrigo as count was the foundation charter of San Martín de Ferrand (in Herrán, Burgos) dating from 852, although this is now believed to be a forgery.
This allowed the Christians to expand to the south peacefully, both by repopulating the area known as the Desert of the Duero and by being welcomed by Christian-majority cities formerly under Muslim rule.
[8][9] Amaya was known as the "patrician city" because at one time it had been the capital of eight of the provinces of the Visigothic Kingdom of Toledo which had been conquered in 711-712 by Tariq ibn Ziyad.
It had been left empty since Tariq's conquest.A significant part of Rodrigo's re-settlers were Mozarabs who fled to Asturias from persecution in the Emirate of Cordoba.
According to the Spanish Muslim historian Ibn Idariboth, in battle and during the retreat, the Christians suffered heavy losses, including 19 counts.
The Moors captured the Castilian border fortresses that survived after the campaign of 863, including Bordjia belonging to the Count Gundisalvo (or Gonzalo), which some historians identify with Burgos.
After leaving Muslim garrisons in the fortresses of Pancorbo, Cerezo de Rio Tiron, Ibrillos and Grañón, the Moors returned to Cordoba.
These defeats so undermined Castile and Álava, that when Abd ar-Rahman attacked Rodrigo's lands again in 866, the Christians showed no signs of resistance, according to the historian al-Alatira they were not even able to collect the necessary troops.
This allowed the Castilians under Rodrigo to regain control of the fortresses of La Bureba, Pancorbo (in 870)[14] and Cerezo de Rio Tiron, while the Alavians took possession of Cellorigo.
Count Rodrigo quickly raised an army and entered the Kingdom of Asturias to support the young monarch, who was crowned in Oviedo on Christmas Day.
[15] Rodrigo last appears in a document dated 18 April 873, and is said to have died either on 4 October[15][17] or 5 November of the same year, and was succeeded by his son Diego Rodríguez.
[18] Rodrigo's role as probable founding count of Castile has led to an amplification of his actual activities, with forged charters pushing his rule in the county a decade earlier than it can reliably be traced.
This process has also led to the duplication of himself and his son, in the form of an invention of earlier counts Rodrigo (supposed brother of Aurelius and Vermudo I) and Diego.
