MARTÍNEZ DE OVIEDO, GONZALO°

MARTÍNEZ DE OVIEDO, GONZALO ° (d. 1340), majordomo (dispensero de la casa del rey) of King Alfonso xi of Castile. He instigated the proposal to expel the Jews from the kingdom of Castile. When in the royal service, Martínez enjoyed the protection of the Jewish courtier Joseph de *Écija. According to Solomon *Ibn Verga in Shevet Yehudah, he was jealous of his Jewish master and petitioned the king to sell him Joseph and nine other Jews, including the physician Samuel *Ibn Waqar. The king granted his request and the two courtiers R. Joseph and R. Samuel died under torture in prison. Martínez' influence increased until he was appointed head of the Order of Alcántara. When Abu al-Malik, son of the sultan of Morocco, declared war on Castile in 1339, Martínez advised Alfonso to expel all the Jews from the kingdom and confiscate their property. In spite of the objections of some of the court ministers, the king accepted his suggestion and the Jews of several towns were arrested and their property seized. Martínez led the troops who defeated the Moroccan army, but after his victory he lost favor with the king, probably as a result of the intervention of Alfonso's mistress Doňa Leonor de Guzmán; he was arrested, charged as a traitor, and executed by royal command. Ibn Verga relates that all the tyrant's property was sold to Jews and his ring handed over to the courtier Moses, probably Moses *Abzardiel.

bibliography:

Baer, Spain, 1 (1961), 354ff.; S. ibn Verga, Shevet Yehudah, ed. by A. Shochat (1947), 53ff.