Lope Díaz II de Haro "Cabeza Brava" (b. 1170 – d. 15 November 1236) was a Spanish noble of the House of Haro, the sixth Lord of Biscay, and founder of the municipality of Plentzia. He was the eldest son of Diego López II de Haro and his wife, María Manrique. Lope was also a member of the Order of Santiago.
Lope Díaz came to power in difficult times after the death of his father on 16 October 1214. A few days after he came to power, King Alfonso VIII of Castile died, leaving his 10-year-old son, the ill-fated Henry I of Castile, as heir to the throne after mysterious the death of his older brother, Fernando de Castilla y Plantagenet. The House of Lara gained power over Henry and started a rivalry with his sister, Berengaria of Castile, who consequently was Lope Díaz' patron. In 1217, Henry was 'accidentally' killed at the age of 13 by a falling roof tile. He was succeeded by his sister Berengaria, with the support of Lope Díaz, amongst other nobles, who later abdicated in favor of her son Ferdinand III of Castile, crowned in Nájera. Alfonso IX of León, the father of Ferdinand III was against the coronation of his son and invaded Castile with the support of the House of Lara. During this invasion, Álvaro Núñez de Lara gained power in Nájera and was subsequently defeated and imprisoned by Lope Díaz.
For his supporting role in the backing of Ferdinand III as king, Lope Díaz was granted the title of "Alférez del Rey", or lieutenant of the king. He was married to the daughter of King Alfonso IX and step-sister of Ferdinand III, Urraca Alfonso de León. He was also given titles over the villages of Haro and Pedroso. Lope participated in various other wars supporting the ascension of Ferdinand III such as the expeditions against the Moors in Andalucía, of which the most important was the capture of Baeza in 1227. For his role in the city's capture, Lope Díaz was given the title of Conquistador de Baeza.
In 1234, fresh conflict broke out between King Ferdinand III and two of his leading magnates, Álvaro Pérez de Castro el Castellano: head of the House of Castro, and Lope Díaz II de Haro. Lope's grievances with the king were a result of a disagreement between the two at the siege of Úbeda. Without the approval of the king, who was uncle of Lope's daughters as his sister was Lope's wife, Alvaro Perez de Castro married Lope's daughter Mencia Lopez de Haro. This led king Ferdinand to relinquish all the titles and lands granted to Álvaro Pérez de Castro by the crown even though the conflict was settled arbitrarily by the Queens Berengaria de Castilla and Elisabeth of Swabia.[1]
Death
Lope Díaz de Haro II died shortly after on 15 November 1236. He was buried in a sepulcher at the monastery of Santa María la Real de Nájera
With Toda de Salcedo de Santa Gadea he had one son:
Diego López de Salcedo - Merino Mayor of Castilla and Adelantado of Álava and Guipúzcoa, who is present in the documentation of various monasteries and who in 1275 was present in the last will and testament of his half sister, the queen Mencía López de Haro. He was buried in the same chapel as her and Lope Diaz at the Monasterio de Santa María la Real de Nájera.[9] He married Teresa Álvarez de Lara, illegitimate daughter of Alvar Fernández de Lara.[10]
^Real Academia de Historia, Colección Salazar y Castro, Ref. M-8, fº 63v-64 "Archived copy"(PDF). Archived from the original(PDF) on 2013-06-13. Retrieved 2013-07-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) In an undeterminate date, Urraca Alfonso of León, already widowed, with her children Diego, Álvaro, Mencía, Alfonso, Lope López, and Manrique López de Haro acknowledge reimbursement by the Orden de Santiago of a debt that it had with her husband and father of her children.
^Real Academia de Historia, Colección Salazar y Castro, Ref. D-9, fº 21-24 "Archived copy"(PDF). Archived from the original(PDF) on 2013-06-13. Retrieved 2013-07-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^Noticias históricas de la tres provincias Vascongadas, tomo III, de Juan Antonio Llorente, año 1807, página 142 y 143 books.google.com Noticias históricas.
^In 1290, her daughter Inés López, granted Hospital de La Herrada all her properties in Autillo de Campos, Fuentes de Nava, and Becerril, mentioning that she was the granddaughter of Gonzalo Rodríguez and daughter of Mayor González. Cfr. Barón Faraldo (2006) p. 194
^On 10 September 1295, Berenguela López, abbess at the Monastery of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas, mentions that she is the daughter of Don López el Chico and Mayor González.
Arco y Garay, Ricardo del (1954). Instituto Jerónimo Zurita. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ed.). Sepulcros de la Casa Real de Castilla. OCLC11366237.
Barón Faraldo, Andrés (2006). Grupos y dominios aristocráticos en la Tierra de Campos oriental, Siglos X-XIII (in Spanish). Palencia: Monografías. ISBN84-8173-122-6.
Salazar y Acha, Jaime de (1989). "Los descendientes del conde Ero Fernández, fundador de Monasterio de Santa María de Ferreira de Pallares". El Museo de Pontevedra. No. 43. pp. 67–86. ISSN0210-7791.
