Fernando Ponce de Cabrera el Menor

Who is Fernando Ponce de Cabrera el Menor?

Fernando Ponce de Cabrera, called el Menor, was an important nobleman of the Kingdom of León.

Fernando was a younger son of Ponce de Cabrera, a Catalan baron who had emigrated to León, and María Fernández, daughter of Fernando Pérez de Traba and Sancha González. Between 1161 and 1163 a Fernando Ponce was the alférez of Ferdinand II, but this was probably his elder brother of the same name, Fernando Ponce el Mayor. In 1163 Fernando Ponce made a donation to the Cathedral of Zamora and in 1164 to the Benedictine monstery of San Martín de Castañeda, though his later religious patronage would focus on the Cistercians. He made donations to their monasteries at Meira and Moreruela, the latter founded by his father. On 4 August 1171 the two Fernando Ponces sold their land in Valdesalce to a certain Fernán Baldrín.

The first tenencias Fernando Ponce held were Melgar, which he continued to hold throughout most of his career, and Allariz, which he held but briefly. He was also briefly installed in the Limia in 1173, and he was re-installed as governor there on four later occasions: 1178–79, 1182–84, 1187, and 1195–96.