Garcia Ordonez (died 29 May 1108) was the ruler of La Rioja (from Najera) in the Kingdom of Castile during the Reconquista. As an important courtier of King Fernando I of Leon and later Alfonso VI of Castile, he was a rival of the famous knight El Cid for years, even attempting to have him assassinated in 1063. However, Garcia later patched up relations with him due to his love for El Cid's wife Ximena, and he assisted El Cid in the capture of Valencia in 1092. The count would be killed at the Battle of Ucles in 1108, an unfortunate end.
Biography[]
Ordonez in 1092
Garcia Ordonez was a magnate of the Kingdom of Castile who ruled the La Rioja region from the city of Najera, and he was the great-grandson of King Ramiro III of Leon and Bermudo II of Leon. He married a daughter of Garcia Sanchez III of Navarre, the sister of Sancho IV of Navarre, cementing his connection to royalty in Spain. Garcia served King Fernando I of Leon as one of his loyal magnates, and he was sent to demand that Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar hand over the captured emirs al-Kadir and Yusuf al-Mu'taman ibn Hud for execution in Burgos; when Rodrigo set them free after they swore never to attack King Fernnado again, Garcia informed Rodrigo that he would be tried for treason.
Garcia's rivalry with El Cid culminated in a duel between Rodrigo and Count Gormaz, the king's champion, and Gormaz was slain in the duel. Ordonez and Gormaz's daughter Ximena plotted to kill Rodrigo, but the attempt failed due to the intervention of Yusuf al-Mu'taman ibn Hud, and Garcia was later forced to ally with Rodrigo during the Siege of Valencia in 1092, patching up relations with him. Ordonez helped Ximena in escaping the king's dungeon and returning to El Cid, and Ordonez and El Cid became allies, with Ordonez asking El Cid to let him fight at his side with his men. The ensuing battle was a victory, but in 1099 the city was besieged by Ibn Yusuf's large army. Rodrigo died in the battle with the large North African army, but the siege was ultimately lifted. In 1108, Garcia himself would be slain alongside King Alfonso VI of Castile's son Sancho Alfonsez by the Almoravids at the Battle of Ucles, a disaster for Castile.