Ponce Vela de Cabrera, also known as Ponce Vélaz de Cabrera (died 24 September 1202),[1] was a noble from the
Kingdom of León who played an important role during the reign of
Alfonso IX. Through one of his sons descends the Ponce de León, "one of the most illustrious aristocratic houses of the later Middle Ages".[2][3]
He starts to appear in royal charters in 1176, and served as the alférez of King Alfonso IX in 1185 and in the following year, in which he was also appointed
tenant-in-chief of
Mansilla and other villages and regions that had been governed by his relatives count
Suero Vermúdez and Pedro Alfonso, including
Tineo and Babia,
Gozón, and Cabezón. He also governed
Mayorga,
Zamora, and
El Bierzo.[3]
He died on 24 September 1202 and was buried in the Monastery of Santa María de Nogales in
San Esteban de Nogales that had been founded by his parents.
Marriage and issue
Count Ponce Vela married Teresa Rodríguez Giron, daughter of
Rodrigo Gutiérrez Girón and his first wife, María de Guzmán. In 1195, Pontius Velez una cum uxore mea, Tharesia Rodrigues (Ponce Vela with my wife, Teresa Rodríguez) donated one-third of Granucillo that he had inherited from his parents to the Monastery of Nogales.[6] The offspring of this marriage were:[3]
Juan Ponce de Cabrera
Fernando Ponce de Cabrera
Pedro Ponce de Cabrera (died between 1248 and 1254), married
Aldonza Alfonso, illegitimate daughter of King Alfonso IX and his mistress
Aldonza Martínez de Silva[1] This marriage gave rise to the powerful house of the Ponce de León which held titles in the late Middle Ages of the dukedoms of
Arcos and
Cádiz.
Barton, Simon (1992). "Two Catalan magnates in the courts of the kings of León-Castile: the careers of Ponce de Cabrera and Ponce de Minerva re-examined". Journal of Medieval History. 18 (3): 233–266.
doi:
10.1016/0304-4181(92)90022-q.
ISSN0304-4181.
Calleja Puerta, Miguel (2001). El conde Suero Vermúdez, su parentela y su entorno social: La aristocracia asturleonesa en los siglos XI y XII (in Spanish). Oviedo: KRK Ediciones.
ISBN84-95401-68-1.
Carriazo Rubio, Juan Luis (2002). La memoria del linaje: Los Ponce de León y sus antepasados a fines de la Edad Media (in Spanish). Seville: Universidad de Sevilla, Secretariado de Publicaciones.
ISBN84-472-0723-4.
Salazar y Acha, Jaime de (1985). Una Familia de la Alta Edad Media: Los Velas y su Realidad Histórica (en Estudios Genealógicos y Heráldicos) (in Spanish). Asociación Española de Estudios Genealógicos y Heráldicos.
ISBN84-398-3591-4.
Torres Sevilla-Quiñones de León, Margarita Cecilia (1999). Linajes nobiliarios de León y Castilla: Siglos IX-XIII (in Spanish). Salamanca: Junta de Castilla y León, Consejería de educación y cultura.
ISBN84-7846-781-5.