The eldest Lara, a Castilian who on 1 January 1200 is serving in León: he attended Alfonso IX's court from 24 June 1199 to 6 January 1200, and under Berenguela's arras of 8 December 1199 he holds seven of her castles in Asturias (Aguilar, Gozón, Ventosa, Buanga, Oviedo, Santa Cruz de Tineo, Tudela) as her vassal.
He held the Asturias de Oviedo in 1200. In Castile he had held Tamariz, Saldaña, Ubierna, Amaya, Carrión, Aguilar and the Bureba in the 1170s-90s and Astudillo in 1196; he was alférez in 1187-88 and will be again in 1201-1205.
Who he is
- Name
- Fernando Núñez de Lara
- Title
- Ricohombre; tenant of the Asturias de Oviedo for the king of León and for Queen Berenguela
- Since
- At the Leonese court from 24 June 1199 to 6 January 1200; Asturias de Oviedo in 1200
- Born
- not pinned (eldest of the three brothers; active from the 1170s)
- Family
- Son of Nuño Pérez de Lara and Teresa Fernández de Traba. Married Mayor (perhaps Mayor García, of the Aza) before 1202. Children Fernando, Álvaro, Sancha, Teresa.
- Confidence
- high
Barton 1997, pp. 171, 239-40 (via English Wikipedia).
Overlord
Alfonso IX of León and Queen Berenguela for his Leonese tenancies; a Castilian by birth and lands
What it holds
- Asturias de Oviedo (León) for Alfonso IX, 1200
- Seven arras castles of Queen Berenguela in Asturias (charter of 8 December 1199)
- Royal estates of Huerta and Carabanchel (granted 22 January 1189)
How it was acquired
By Leonese royal grant and the queen's arras; Castilian estates by inheritance and royal gift.
Allies and rivals
The queen of León's man; brother of the Castilian alférez. Rival of the Haros and the Castros.
How things stand that morning
In León. His Castilian tenancies of the 1190s (Bureba, Saldaña, Carrión, Ubierna, Amaya) are not held on the day as far as the evidence shows.
Wealth
Asturian rents and the queen's castles; estates in Castile.
Military
His own mesnada; the Asturian castles.
Threats
- The León marriage's dissolution would undo his Asturian position
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- 1201Returns to Castile and becomes alférez (1201-1205); takes the Bureba in 1202 after Diego López's break.Depends on: Haro's fall and his brother's handing over of the standard. Stopped by: The León marriage holding him in León, or the king keeping the Haros.
Places of note
- Oviedo, head of his Asturian tenancy: León. Drawn by the León agent.
- Gozón castle (arras): One of the seven arras castles he holds for Berenguela.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Barton's dated tenancies and court attendances are solid; the 1200 Asturias tenure is a single dated mention.
On the map: No parts drawn: on 1 January 1200 his districts are in León and the León agent draws them.
Primary sources for Castile
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Annals of Toledo and other short Iberian annals (12th and 13th centuries; Anales Toledanos I to 1219). Florez's volume 23 gathers the short annals of the peninsula. Read online
- Chronicle of the World (Lucas of Tuy), Lucas de Tuy (1236, for Queen Berenguela). The Leonese counterpart to Rodrigo, written at San Isidoro for Berenguela. Read online
- Latin Chronicle of the Kings of Castile, Anonymous, probably Juan of Osma, chancellor of Castile (about 1223 to 1239). The chancellor's chronicle of Alfonso VIII's reign, detailed from the 1190s. Read online
- Chronicle of Roger of Howden, Roger of Howden (about 1192 to 1201). The fullest single narrative for the year. Read online
- The Complete History: the passages on the Maghreb and al-Andalus, Ibn al-Athir (about 1220 to 1231, at Mosul). The year entries for 595 to 597 of the Hijra (late 1198 to 1201) record the death of Yaqub al-Mansur, the accession of al-Nasir and the opening of Yahya ibn Ghaniya's war in Ifriqiya; the following years follow Yahya and the Ghuzz captain Qaraqush through Tripoli, Gabès and Mahdia to al-Nasir's reconquest in 1206, with the best eastern account of Qaraqush's career. Read online
- The Garden of Pages: a History of the Kings of the Maghreb and of the City of Fez, Ibn Abi Zar al-Fasi (completed in 1326 at Fez, for the Marinid sultan Abu Said Uthman). The Almohad chapters give a brisk dated narrative of al-Mansur's death and burial, al-Nasir's accession and the Banu Ghaniya troubles, with the kind of detail (coinage, public works at Fez and Rabat, prices, plagues) that a Fez compiler cared about, and the annals of Fez supply the city's governors and markets. Read online
- The Wondrous Account of the History of al-Andalus and the Maghreb, Ibn Idhari al-Marrakushi (about 1312, at Marrakesh). The Almohad section is the fullest year-by-year narrative of the caliphate around 1200: the last campaigns and the death of Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur in January 1199, the accession of his son Muhammad al-Nasir, the renewed war of the Banu Ghaniya in Ifriqiya under Yahya ibn Ishaq and his ally Qaraqush, the Almohad losses of Mahdia and Tunis a few years later, and al-Nasir's reconquest of Ifriqiya in 1205 to 1206 followed by the appointment of Abd al-Wahid ibn Abi Hafs as governor. Read online
- Deeds of Philip Augustus, Rigord (about 1186 to 1206, in stages). The French court's own chronicle for the year, from the monk of Saint-Denis who called himself the king's chronographer. Read online
13 more in the sources library for France and Iberia.
Sources and studies
- Fernando Núñez de Lara (English Wikipedia, citing Barton 1997, Doubleday 2001)
- Gonzalo Núñez de Lara y Traba (English Wikipedia, citing Sánchez de Mora 2003, Torres Sevilla 1999)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.