Rodrigo (died 873) was the first count of Castile, reigning from about 850 to his death. Some Iberian Muslim writers refer to a brother or brother-in-law of Ordoño I, while others assign the same role to a Ruderick without stating a relationship, and the references have been interpreted as referring to the same man. This has been used by authors such as Fernández de Béthencourt, writing in 1897, to suggest that count Rodrigo was a son of Ramiro I of Asturias and his supposed second wife, 'Urraca Paterna' (actually just Paterna, Urraca being the wife of a later prince Ramiro) and half-brother of Ordoño, but Barrau-Dihago dismissed this interpretation for want of evidence.
He was created governor of the eastern march (marca oriental) of the realm, which later became the county of Castile, by Ordoño, possibly upon the latter's assumption of the crown. He took part in Ordoño's Repoblación, repopulating Amaya in 860. He was at the side of the king in many battles of the Reconquista, including the siege and sack of Albelda in 859.
In 863, the 'brother of Ordoño' fought Muslim troops, and in 865 Rodrigo was defeated magnificently at Bureba by the troops of the emir of Córdoba, resulting in the sacking of his castles and those of other noblemen in Castile, which brought to a temporary halt the process of reconquest and repopulation of the area. Between 867 and 868, he assisted in the suppression of the Alavés rebellion of the Basque magnate Eglyón. For this service he was made count of Álava. He governed that county until 870, when Vela Jiménez is recorded as count. He last appears in a document dated 18 April 873, and is said to have died 5 November of the same year, being succeeded by his son Diego Rodríguez.
His role as 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, and 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.
Rodrigo (¿?-873) fue un noble y primer conde de Castilla (c. 860 - 873). Algunos investigadores lo suponen hijo de Ramiro I de Asturias y Paterna, su segunda mujer, por lo que sería hermanastro de Ordoño I. Sin embargo, es improbable que un hijo de un matrimonio que se celebró no antes de 842 haya repoblado Amaya en 860.
Índice
Vida y gobierno
El rey Ordoño le encomendó el gobierno de la marca oriental del Reino de Asturias, el territorio que los árabes llamaban Al-Qila, "los castillos", misión que acometió con una gran libertad de acción unida a una fidelidad ejemplar al monarca.
Repobló Amaya en el 860 y luchó al lado de Ordoño I contra los musulmanes en distintas batallas, destacando en la de Albelda (859).
Entre los años 867/868 sofocó la rebelión del magnate alavés Egylon y obtuvo el gobierno del condado de Álava, territorio que rigió hasta en torno el 870, momento en que aparece Vela Jiménez como conde de Álava. Tras su muerte le sucedió en el gobierno de Castilla su hijo Diego Rodríguez Porcelos.
Territorio
El señorío del conde Rodrigo, según Fray Justo Pérez de Urbel, quedaba limitado al norte por las montañas de Santander, y al sur por la línea de fortalezas levantadas sobre el Ebro, comprendiendo al occidente los montes de Brañosera, Reinosa y Campoo, donde antes habíamos visto actuar a Nuño Núñez; en el cento los valles de Bricia, Sotoscueva, Villarcayo y Valdivielso, y en el este el valle de Tobalina hasta Larrate, hoy Puentelarrá. Esta zona protegía la entrada de los invasores sarracenos y estaba erizada de fortalezas. Incorpora al condado los valles de Mena y Losa.
Documentación
A pesar de la existencia de un documento fechado en 852 en el que aparece el nombre de Rodrigo como conde de Castilla, esta carta es una falsificación. Por ello se considera que el primer documento más o menos fiable, en realidad es de 862:
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