San Martin de Tours chrchi - Otero de Sariegos

Otero de Sariegos (villafáfila district), province of Zamora, Castilla y León, in the western part of the town, from which you can see the entire Salina Grande and Villafáfila in the background and part of the Salinas lagoon.

On the land consolidation map it is located on the map of the Villarrín-Otero joint zone, in polygon 4, in its urban area

Otero de Sariegos has always been a town with a small population, unlike its neighbouring towns such as Villafáfila and Villarrín de Campos.

In 1665 it was completely depopulated and its residents went to live elsewhere, the church was demolished.

Otero at the beginning of the 15th century belonged to María de Solier, through the purchase of all the vassals and plots of land from various owners, which would include the right of patronage of the church with the presentation of the parish priest, first under the Constables of Castile and then under the Duchy of Frías, which it held until the 19th century.

It belonged to the diocese of Astorga since ancient times, and was included in the archpresbytery of Villafáfila until 1954.

Sancto Martino appears documented in the years 930 and 934 and in the apocryphal document of 945 [2] . It was located in Lampreana, near Villa Travessa, with which it was linked by a carrale and next to the “termino vestro de frates” of the monks of Sahagún, which from other documents we know was located near the Salina Grande. This village could correspond to Otero de Sariegos, whose church is under the patronage of San Martín [3] , in the same way the only church located within the medieval fence of Villafáfila had this patronage. We could also place it in one of the plots, bordering the meadow of San Fagunde, where medieval remains appear.

Perhaps it had been built at their own expense in previous years, or we could venture a hypothesis that the origin of the hagiotoponym must have been a monastic establishment or an ancient church from the Visigoth era, or from the use of the Otero capitals, perhaps to which the Mozarabic or rather late Visigoth capital that serves as a baptismal font in the current church of Otero de Sariegos would belong.

D. Manuel Gómez Moreno [4] during his visit to the church in 1903, in his monumental catalogue of Spain province of Zamora, describes the capital:

“I saw another capital serving as a font in his church, also white marble and Corinthian, with diminished caulicules and veins revealed in its leaves. It resembles others of

This church that exists today was previously larger, it already existed as there are references to it in the 11th century and remains from the 13th century are noted, it easily underwent changes in its style and transformations.

"It is a remnant of a three-nave building, not earlier than the 16th century, although its door has a pointed arch, with the imposts of its large arches corresponding to the Renaissance.

The remains of the demolished part were surely reused, as we see in some areas such as the stone in the lower part of the bell tower.

On its northern side, on the outside, some elements seem to indicate that the church was designed with three naves, since the brick arches can be clearly seen in the two longitudinal exterior walls (the longest ones) , between the buttresses.

“14 reales was the cost of an alb that I bought for the Otero hermitage, as ordered by the Bishop” [7] .

The walled-up arch that closes the current apse preserves remains of paintings that are now on the outside. Another perpendicular arch was added; this first one was a former arch , so the one that preserves the paintings probably served as a triumphal arch, indicating that the original apse could have been located here. It probably fell into ruin, so it was walled up to preserve the rest of the church and this part was left to fall down.

In this exterior part to the north of the first two arches with buttresses, a small cemetery was built next to it which is still in use. It has a wooden entrance door, crowned with a cross, and from the inside of the cemetery there was a direct access door to the church which is walled up.

To the south of the nave is the bell tower on the left, the main entrance was created in the middle and to the right of the nave, but in an annex building, is the sacristy.

Its bell tower, half downwards, is made of stone, perhaps taken from demolished parts, the rest towards the end is made of brick, the first third has a deepened arch with a cross inside.

The tower is topped with a belfry with two bells. The bell tower is accessed from inside the church.

The bell tower is reached from inside the church via a spiral staircase. When you reach the last step, a trapdoor opens which leads to the inside of the bell tower so you can ring the bells.

The bell called Santa María is the one that is on the right side of the bell tower on the outside and on the left side of the bell tower on the inside. It hangs from a completely hand-made yoke. This bell is intact.

The bell called Mary and Joseph is the one on the right hand side of the bell tower, on the outside. On the left hand side of the bell tower, it had the same bite mark under the lip and the same scar on the left, with a tin sound.

That, when rung by the bell ringer, beneath his feet that subtle creaking of the wood accompanied his steps.

The bell tower from behind (looking at the north face) has a closed mezzanine above the church roof, above which is the place from where the bells are rung, made of wood and covered with a roof.

This bell tower was chosen among others in the province of Zamora where on April 22, 2018 a bell ringing was held in Otero de Sariegos on the occasion of the celebration of the New Year

European Cultural Heritage [8] , which bell ringers from all over the continent want to take advantage of to ask UNESCO to declare manual bell ringing as Cultural Heritage

Among the bell ringers who rang the bells was D. Isidro Domínguez Calzada [9] from Villafáfila, by his second surname Calzada [10] and his fourth Gómez [11] he was descended from people who lived in Otero de Sariegos, who received the surnames by transmission from his mother D. Esperanza Calzada Gómez.

Also D. Joaquín Alonso Martín [12] who was an altar boy at this church in the years of 1945, when in Spain there were more priests than churches and daily mass in almost all of them, in Otero they lacked a parish priest and it was a priest from Villarrín, Arcadio Flórez, who went by bicycle to Otero to officiate the Eucharists, and D. Joaquín Alonso Martín, who accompanied him on Sundays on the same bike and learned to ring the bells to call the neighbors of Otero to mass while Don Arcadio was preparing in the sacristy. He did this until he was seven years old and went to study at the seminary in Astorga.

In the middle the main entrance was created (in fact, it is very similar to the one we found walled up in the church of Santa María del Moral de Villafáfila),

Made of brick, with a bordered semicircular Gothic arch, it has a two-leaf door, which opens wide, made of wood, with gates, which can be entered from the left side.

Above it there is a small square niche, and at the top, a circular part of it, now covered, could have once contained an image.

In this southern part on the right side there is a small sacristy attached to the main nave that reaches a little more than half of the nave.

Its interior is a small temple with a single nave divided into four sections and covered by a ribbed vault, all of them in the Gothic style.

In the first section is the presbytery, with the altar from where the parish priest officiates mass, etc. and behind this is the Main Altarpiece.

“Main altarpiece, in classical style from the second half of the 16th century, without great value for its sculpture and even less for its painted panels. Base with reliefs of evangelists and prophets; first body Ionic, with eight columns, saints in the intercolumns, two virtues in relief at the ends and arch in the middle for the monstrance; second body Corinthian, with relief of Saint Martin in its center; third, even smaller, with Calvary, and God in the frontispiece” [13] .

The main altarpiece, second half of the 16th century, is composed of a bench and three bodies, with three columns and counter-columns with a base with reliefs of evangelists and prophets, finished with an attic and frontispiece. The first body is Ionic, with eight columns, saints in the intercolumns, two virtues in relief at the ends and in the middle of the semi-circular arch for the monstrance; and both on the left and right (the originals are missing) a canvas that has been replaced by an image of the Heart of Jesus and the Heart of Mary.

2nd Corinthian body, central street, with an image of Saint Martin mounted on a horse and carrying a sword. This image is not carved into the altarpiece, but is an image mounted there, which was taken out in procession on Saint Martin's day (November 11). On each side there is a street with a canvas, on the left it represents the Virgin with the baby Jesus in her arms, and on the right, the Virgin with the child being kissed, two virtues in relief at the ends.

The 3rd body, an even smaller central street with a relief of San Martín in its centre and another behind it on foot, on each side a street with two canvases, on the left a bishop and on the right Jesus shaking hands with a kneeling person together with two other standing angels, two virtues in relief at the ends.

Attic, has a central street with Calvary sculpted to Jesus on the cross, on each side two people, on the left, a woman, praying to the right. without being able to define, on each side is this, of a smaller canvas than in the other bodies, on the left an angel pointing to the right side. and on the right. A woman praying.

The Attic frontispiece is finished with a body in its central and only street, representing God, with one hand on a ball representing the world, and the other hand raised with two of the elongated ones.

In this first section of the church there are candelabras on each side of the column with a rudimentary wooden support.

A cross with its mast on the south side (right) on the left wall. A small image of the Heart of Jesus.

Behind this cross against the north wall is a small image of the Heart of Jesus.

In the 2nd section, on each side there are two similar and simple wooden altarpieces, of little value, and very simple decoration, with two parts.

1st lower part, the widest, in the middle a large niche in which an image is introduced, flanked by two columns and on each side the finish, all on a small ledge.

2nd upper part, is narrower coinciding with the central part of the 1st part, it has a small niche where an image is placed, it ends in a small triangular attic.

In its large niche where the image of Our Lady of Carmen is, at the top there is a much smaller niche with another image that could be St. Teresa of Jesus.

On each side of the altarpiece there are small images, on the left, Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception and on the right, Saint Joseph with the baby Jesus, and Saint Anthony of Padua with the baby Jesus. Altarpiece, 2nd section, north side (right).

In its large niche where the image of Our Lady of the Rosary is located, at the top of the niche is the image of Saint Roque.

On each side of the altarpiece there are small images, on the left, Saint Isidore in a small niche, Saint Anthony of Padua with the baby Jesus and on the right, Saint Anthony the Abbot “San Antón” , and a chapel that was taken from house to house by the neighbors where it remained for a time.

In the 3rd section to the south (right) is the entrance door to the church which has double-leaf gates, and on the left side you can enter through it, on the north side (left) there is only a small one of Our Lady of Fatima.

In the middle of the baptismal font, slightly higher from the ground, next to a pilaster to the south (right), there is a Mozarabic capital.

and behind these on the right is the spiral staircase that goes up to the bell tower.

This church has images of poor quality, and its current state is deteriorating, some of them are old and made of wood:

Our Lady of the Rosary, Our Lady of Carmen, Saint Teresa of Jesus?, Saint Roch, Saint Anthony the Abbot “Saint Anthony” , Saint Isidore the Farmer, Saint Anthony of Padua and Child Jesus.

The rest of the images were introduced in the 20th century and are made of plaster.

Heart of Jesus Saint Joseph with the child Jesus, Our Lady of Fatima Our Lady of the Immaculate.

The image of Saint Martin represented on a horse, with a sword, in Roman costume, belonged to the Roman cavalry army, and a large cape, the horse is adorned with a red breastplate that covers its entire back and ends in golden tassels.

This image that is on the altar of the 2nd Corinthian body, central street, is not an image sculpted on the main altarpiece, but an image that is deposited there, which on the day of San Martín, November 11, the feast of Otero de Sariegos, was taken out in procession.

She wears a large crown, a purple cloak and a large rosary, and in her hands a crowned baby Jesus.

This image was probably the titular image of the Rosary brotherhood, which was possibly founded between the 15th and 16th centuries and disappeared in the 19th century.

Perhaps, as was once typical, there was no brotherhood that did not hold a procession with its image. In the 16th century, Saint Pius V established its liturgical commemoration on October 7, the day of the Battle of Lepanto.

Wearing a nun's chasuble, with the upper part black, the rest brown with a multitude of folds decorated with filigree, in her left hand, at face level, she carries a lantern.

Where we can see, wearing a red tunic, some red flowers painted among his clothes, part of his right leg, in front of the sores he has, next to his faithful dog.

Wearing a crown, a large cape and tunic with large folds, they carry a book in their right hand and a staff in their left, accompanied by a pig, popularly known as Marrano Antón.

Saint Joseph, wearing a crown and a cape, holds a staff in his left hand, and with his right hand he holds the baby Jesus who is holding a cross in his left hand.

With a crown and a large pleated habit, carrying in her left hand the baby Jesus who wears a crown and a white dress.

San Isidro, with a crown and black cape, and a bag, in his right hand he carries a palm, in front of him two oxen led by an angel. He is placed in a small rectangular urn crowned by a cross.

At the top there is a small semicircular gate, carved and crowned with a cross. Inside there is a tree and in front of it the Virgin Mary on the right and Saint Joseph on the left. In the centre is the baby Jesus, holding each hand.

This chapel was carried from house to house by the neighbors where it was for a time and then it was passed on to another.

Crowned with a cross behind his head, wearing a beige tunic, he wears a large red cape that covers a large part of his body, and on his torso a large heart, which represents the Heart of Jesus. This image is made of plaster.

With a large crown on his head, a beige tunic covering his head and his entire body, his hands together as if he were praying, and doves at his feet.

Her face has a calm expression, with long blond hair, she wears a beige tunic with green filigree around the neck and sleeves, and a blue cape, her hands together praying, at her feet a snake is represented from one side to the other, in its mouth it carries an apple.

Saint Anthony in a habit and cord, holding in his arms the infant Jesus who is wrapped in a tunic and wearing a crown. This image is made of plaster.

Probably of medieval origin with penitential purposes, which disappeared before the first depopulation in the middle of the 17th century in 1662 , there was a brotherhood of the Cross, whose account book was deposited, along with other documents, in the church of San Juan de Villafáfila in 1674, possibly this brotherhood was not recovered when Otero de Sariegos was repopulated in 1680.

I do not have any further information on the brotherhood now, but it could be like many of them founded between the 16th and 17th centuries, where its patron was Our Lady of the Rosary, an image that is still preserved. According to history, the Virgin of the Rosary appeared in July 1200 to Domingo de Guzmán, in a chapel with a rosary in her hands, which taught him to pray and told him to preach it among men. In addition, she offered him different promises related to the rosary. The saint taught it to the soldiers led by his friend Simon IV de Montfort before the Battle of Muret, whose victory was attributed to the Virgin Mary. For this reason, Montfort erected the first chapel dedicated to this devotion. In the 15th century, devotion to the rosary had declined. Alan de Rupe declared that the Virgin appeared to him and asked him to revive his devotion and to collect in a book all the miracles of the rosary; she also reminded him of the promises that he had given centuries before to Saint Dominic. In the 16th century, Saint Pius V established its liturgical commemoration on October 7, the anniversary of the victory at the Battle of Lepanto, in which Christian forces defeated the Turks who were invading Europe (attributed to the Virgin), calling her Our Lady of Victories; in addition, he added to the litany of the Virgin the title "Help of Christians". His successor, Gregory XIII, changed the name of her feast to Our Lady of the Rosary. The victory at the Battle of Temesvar in 1716, attributed by Clement XI to her image, led the Pope to order that her feast be celebrated by the universal Church.

This brotherhood of the Rosary is referred to in the file of submission of the Viscount of Valoria, intendant of Zamora, to the Count of Aranda of the state of the congregations, brotherhoods and fraternities that exist in the towns of his jurisdiction, Otero de Soriego (Zamora) currently Otero de Sariegos (sheet VII and ss) [14] .

In the inventory carried out in the year 1853 in Otero de Sariegos, of the parish archive by D. Dámaso Martín Costilla (parish priest) [15] .

The services consisted of: a function, a procession and a compline (8 reales). The charge for the mass was not included, although it was officiated. However, alms were requested (at will) for this service.

If there was a mass for the souls the next day (10 reales); the sacristan's rights (3 reales). Custom: Accompany the preacher and steward, after vespers and masses,

to the house of this one who offered dinner and lunch. The priest appoints the steward:

"and it should not be noted that he names him Steward since it is all about charity . "

Possibly like many brotherhoods such as those in its neighbour Villafáfila, it disappeared during the 19th century, when its holdings, which used to be farms, were sold, which were often rented or had some kind of burden.

The inhabitants of Otero de Sariegos asked to be able to join the Ánimas de Villafáfila brotherhood and were admitted, as we can see in the 1804 list of Otero de Sariegos where the number of members is 90, which for the population of Otero de Sariegos which is between 1787, 98 inhabitants and 1857, 166 inhabitants, it could be said that almost the entire town belonged to said brotherhood.

Custom: On some Sundays in winter, spring and autumn a procession of Souls is held "and it is praiseworthy that it is continued, because God is the one who pays" [16] . refers to the brotherhood of the Brotherhood of Souls in the file of referral of the Viscount of Valoria, intendant of Zamora, to the Count of Aranda of the state of the congregations, brotherhoods and fraternities that exist in the towns of his jurisdiction, Villafáfila (Zamora) (sheet VIII and ff.) [17] .

That same year, the steward and four of the brotherhood met at the house of the priest of San Juan, with the priest and some residents of Otero de Sariegos, who requested the extension of the brotherhood to that town. They agreed that the residents of Otero could enjoy the suffrages and the wax of the brotherhood with some conditions: to appoint a collector of the neckline among the members of Otero, but without the right to elect a steward; the transport of the wax, and if necessary the cloth and the coffin, for the burials of Otero, would be the responsibility of the heirs of the deceased. In the event of two deceased coinciding on the same day, the funeral of Otero would be after that of Villafáfila. Attendance at vespers and mass would be voluntary.

The custom of ringing for the souls on the day of their feast from dusk to dawn was maintained, and in 1775 the bishop ordered that the bell be rung only until 10 at night.

At solemn burials the brotherhood's catafalque was used, which dates back to the 18th century, and was rented by those who were not members of the brotherhood.

The Church of San Martín, which was closed in 1896, became an annex of Santa María del Moral.

After the church of San Martín disappeared in 1953, the Brotherhood came to own and depend on the church of Santa María del Moral to this day.

The poles that were carried in procession are preserved, where it is crowned with the following figure.

Custom: After getting married, the priest accompanies the bride and groom to their home.

Custom: The priest accompanies the home after the baptism. When the woman who has given birth leaves home, she gives the priest a hen or its equivalent (4 reales)

Church fees: 24 reales, including all services (burial and services). They must also provide: 2 candles, 1 quarter of wheat, 2 pounds of bread, 1 roll of matches; half a sack of wine.

If other priests attend, an additional 16 reales are charged. The candles are lit until the offertory.

Custom: For nine days after the burial, the deceased is prayed at the church door or in front of it. If a novena is held, the prayers are held at the home of the deceased.

Church rights: 12 reales, 1 quarter of wheat, 8 pounds of bread, 1 roll of matches, 2 candles, 1 quart of wine.

Church fees: Only services 8 reales; mass and services 14 reales. Sacristan fees: 2 reales

Custom: The following were celebrated on these occasions: Christmas, Pentecost, Resurrection, Three Kings' Day and Saint Martin's Day (patron saint of the town).

During the offertory, the priest goes down to the lower step and, wearing his cap, waits for the Board and others who want to come to kiss the hands, and then the women, and once finished, a procession is held there.

It was carried out during the time that the harvest lasted and when the oxen went to graze in the Valdecasas meadow (which was around ten in the morning). On the day of Santa Ana, the

Vespers were sung on the three Easters of the year, on Saint Martin's Day (patron saint), the eve of the Immaculate Conception, and the eve of the infra octave of Corpus Christi.

The vow consisted of going in procession to the shrine of Our Lady of Villarigo or Villarigo. They carried only a cross and no image.

The Board was responsible for finding a priest to say the mass of their vow, without the parish priest omitting his own in the village.

The said Board contributes: two reales for the mass, bread leftovers in the said hermitage and gives 8 reales as alms to the priest and 28 reales to the parish priest for the blessing of bread and spells [19] .

This vow to visit the Hermitage of Villarigo would cease to exist when the hermitage disappeared in 1811.

Every April 25th, the festival of San Marcos , patron saint of Otero de Sariegos, was celebrated . When the town was still inhabited by people, the launching of rockets and firecrackers announced the beginning of the festival, where the mass played a major role, spectacular with songs that gave goosebumps.

The procession is then presided over by the banner of Otero de Sariegos, the symbol of identity.

In this regard, the Virgin , Our Lady of Carmen and Our Lady of the Rosary, are paraded. The women are in charge of carrying the floats through the streets of the town until they reach the beginning of their fields, where a small prayer service is held:

Mrs. Transito Miñambres Pedroso [20] tells us that her parents told her that this procession left at the beginning of the road that leads to Villafáfila, (today it is the Salina Grande Bird Observatory) and that there they received people from Revellinos who came in procession (which is also the festival of that town), it may be that this fact came from when the vow was made and went to Villarigo.

At the end of this, the neighbors performed an ancestral ritual, raising the Otero de Sariegos banner by hand from the ground, demonstrating their skill.

As there was no patron saint's day, it was enlivened with dancing, which took place in the afternoon and at night, always inside a building such as the ground floor of the Ojero house, in a breadbasket or in a well-equipped corral.

On that day a special meal was made in the houses, but the star dish was rice pudding prepared for the occasion. Villafáfila and Villarrín de Campos were the towns where most people came to participate in the celebration, a fact that was normal since they were the towns with which they were most closely related.

It was the other festival of Otero de Sariegos, San Martín de Tours, which is celebrated on November 11th at the same time as the patron saint of the church. This was only a celebration of the church, where mass was said and San Martín was taken out in a procession. Perhaps the procession stopped taking place between the end of the 19th century or the beginning of the 20th century [21] .

In recent decades the priest came from Villarrín de Campos, and mass was celebrated every Sunday. Don Julián, Don Abdón, Don Arcadio and Don Agustín were some of the parish priests who came to perform such an act.

The dissolution of the town council of Otero de Sariegos due to the fact that the town was losing a lot of population was the beginning of the end for Otero. The remaining residents decided to join the municipality of Villafáfila by vote. The Hermandad de Labradores was integrated into that of Villafáfila, the land consolidation was carried out, so the residents who remained decided to leave for the two nearby towns, where there were more amenities and better services and from there they could continue to go to work the land in Otero. If we add to this the lack of water in the houses and the closure of the school, we can understand the decline of Otero de Sariegos.

“When we all left, María Ares, who was a widow, stayed on one side, and Porfirio Alonso, who was single. Although María spent time in Villafáfila and time in Otero in the last few years, she was not there continuously, but Porfirio lived in the town all year round, so it can be said that Porfirio was the last of Otero de Sariegos. He was a man over eighty years old who lived without water at home and in a somewhat precarious situation. He left Otero on November 21, 2003.

The previous evening I was in Otero, I spoke with him a little and he told me: "The next day in the morning I am leaving, I have never left Otero except to go to military service but with great regret I am leaving and I will never return." A word that he has kept because Porfirio, almost 95 years old, lives in the Benavente residence" [22] .

With his departure, the smoke stopped coming out of the Oteran chimneys and the town was plunged into silence.

Villarrín de Campos and Villafáfila absorbed almost equally the Oteranos who left the town.

Even so, Otero's children, their descendants and relatives continue to come to the town on April 25 to commemorate the feast of San Marcos and to ensure that the flame of Otero de Sariegos does not go out completely.

Although this church has had some repairs at the end of the 20th century, its condition is very poor, as can be seen on the outside, especially in the bell tower, even more so on the inside in its structure, as can be seen in some photos, in addition to the poor condition in which the altarpieces and images are preserved.

It is currently closed, although the town receives many visitors, since just a few metres from the church and the town centre there is a dovecote that has been rehabilitated as a bird watching point for the Lagunas de Villafáfila Nature Reserve.

Catalogue of protected elements in the Urban Planning Regulations of Villafáfila.

The vaults that cover the entire temple have begun to collapse near the bell gable due to water leaks coming from the roof, and the arches and walls have cracks that indicate a collapse.

There is also moisture rising from the bottom of the walls, which is weakening them even further.

These damp conditions and the structural instability of the temple also affect the movable property that remains inside.

June 19, 2003 The state of the temple prevents its use, as it affects the safety of people. In addition, there are several movable items inside that are in danger due to the state of the construction.

Possibly the first reference to this church is in Lampreana, possibly in Otero 936:

“the Church of Oter de Sirago” were included in the Cillero of Villafáfila.

The territory of Lampreana belonged since ancient times to the diocese of Astorga, including Otero de Sariegos, but we have no documentary evidence of the participation of its cathedral in properties or income in the area until the 12th century.

This parish was first the Monastery of Sahagún, which would appoint the priest, then the rights passed with the purchase to María Soler in the 14th century, passing to the Constables of Castile, and finally to the Duke of Frías.

Villafáfila was the seat of the most south-eastern archpresbytery of the diocese of Astorga within the archdeaconry of Páramo in the dieseis of Astorga [24] , in it resided the archpriest whose first mention is from 1156, and under his authority was the parish clergy which implies the assumption of functions of ecclesiastical center of the region, which used to be linked to the acquisition of other central functions of a political or economic nature, and under his authority was the parish clergy. The archpriests used to be members of the local oligarchies and were more in tune with the local clergy and with the authorities of the towns than with the episcopal power, in 1153 it was the archpriest D. Salvador Peláez [25] . 1154, Don Alfonso VII donated to the Bishop of Astorga, Don Pedro Cristiano (1153-1156) the thirds ^{^[26]} of the entire church of Villafáfila and Lampreana. This is when the participation of the church of Astorga in the income of the region of the thirds [27] really becomes important , that is, the third part of all the tithes, including those of salt, of Villafáfila and all the land.

Lampreana, these decimal rights soon had to be defended against other ecclesiastical entities that refused to pay them or claimed rights over them.

“ut ab ago die secundun Sancta Canonum institutionem dent vobis tetias de tota terra Lamprena et Vila Fafila et hec Facio ut ab hac die habeatis it possideatis vos et emnes” [28] ,

(so that from this day, the second Holy Day, they may give you the establishment of canons over the entire land of Lampreana and Villafáfila and I do this so that from this day you and yours may have it in possession).

In 1156 [29] I know that he mentions for the first time the archpriest of Villafáfila.

In 1162, in addition to the thirds of all the churches of Villafáfila and Lampreana, they owned the church of San Martín [30] and two other churches [31] . The possession of churches was another way of participating in the distribution of the income generated through tithes, which was the possession of the church of San Juan. The income from these churches must have been substantial and the bishop of Zamora tried to take away the churches of San Pedro de Muélledes and Villarrín in 1181, so the bishop of Astorga had to resort to Rome. The establishment of churches by some monasteries usually entails a dispute over the tithes that the bishop always wants to be given to him.

Some of the property was leased or delivered to private individuals under certain conditions.

In the year 1207, Pope Innocent III issued a Brief of Commission to two Archdeacons and a Precentor of the Cathedral of León, to hear the lawsuit that D. Pedro IV, Bishop of Astorga , was holding with the Abbot of the Monastery of Moreruela over the payment of tithes of salt from La Lampreana, which had long belonged to the church of Astorga [32] .

In 1228 the local administrative center of the income of Astorga in Villafáfila is the church of San Juan de Villafáfila, the Apostolic legate Juan, Bishop of Sabina, awarded to the Episcopal Table of Astorga, among other assets, in Villafáfila and in Lampreana the church of San Juan with its belongings, vineyards, estate and lands, belonging to the Bishop's Cellar [33] :

“In Villa fafila et in Lampreana, ecclesiam Sancti Ioanis cum pertinenciis suis et vineas et hereditatem et tercias ad cellarium episcopi pertinent” ^{^[34]} , (In Villafafila and in Lampreana, the church of San Juan with its belongings and vineyards and heritage and thirds belonging to the bishop's cellar).

The collection of salt tithes belonging to the church of Astorga was carried out since 1235:

“annually from the feast of Saint John to the feast of Saint Mary in August...if the salt is found collected” ;

In 1310, the Chapter of the Cathedral of Astorga and Bishop Alfonso II signed a contract of exchange over the Cillero that they had in Villafáfila, with the Infante of Castile, Don Juan [35] . The Infante gave the bishop the Martiniegas that he had in El Bierzo, the church of El Toral (from that moment) with all the rights that belonged to said church and 2,000 maravedís that they would receive on the day of his burial. And the Chapter promised to provide a place for the burial of the body of Don Juan in the main church of Santa María de Astorga, between the choir and the main altar; to attend all the clergy of the town to the suffrages that are celebrated for him on the occasion of his death; to celebrate the anniversary of his death forever, etc. He handed over the Cillero of Villafáfila.

“our Cillero of Villafáfila with all those rights of ours that are of our Messa [36] … the entire third of the…and of the Church of Oter de Sirago” [37] .

“186 The Infante D. Juan, son of D. Alfonso X. decided to be buried in the Cathedral of Astorga: and for this purpose he gave the Bishop and Chapter the Martinegas of Biezo; and the right over the entire Church of Toral, the Prelate and Canons agreeing to bury him between the Choir and the main Altar, placing three Chaplains who daily sing Mass for him and his Fathers, with the other individualities that are expressed there (Royals 6. and 21.) This was in the year 1310” [38] .

The heirs of Infante D. Juan intend to keep these assets upon his death, and the bishop obtains a privilege of confirmation from King D. Enrique III:

"of the judgment in which it was declared that the cellar of Villafáfila that the heirs of the Infante D. Juan intended to enjoy belonged to His Excellency" ^{^[39]} .

XLI. Contract of the Infante Don Juan, son of King Don Alfonso the Wise, with the Bishop and Council of Astorga. It was 1348. Year; of 131

In Dei nomine Amen. Let it be known to all who see this Letter, as I, Infante D. Juan, son of the very name King D. Alfonso, Lord of Biscay, and Chief Governor, on behalf of King D. Fernando, my nephew, on the border, with the grant of Dona Maria my wife, is D. Alfonso, is of D. Juan my sons, I do, and grant .

“And We, the aforementioned Don Alfonso Bishop, with the grant and consent of the Dean and Chapter of our Church, promise to give to you, Infante Don Juan, who you may hold for us throughout your days, our Cellar of Villafáfila with all those rights that belong to our Church, which is what will be said here: The entirety of the Church of San Martín, and an orchard that lies near Santa María la Nueva, taken from the offering, and the small tithe and thirds, and a salt mine of Santa Marina that the cleric of Sant Salvador runs. Also, a couple of houses and plots of land because they give five sueldos of fuero each year, and some land that was the Puebla, and vineyards and houses in Azogue, because they face Loguer. And the entirety of the third of the Church of Sant Andrés, except for the offering and the mortuary that the cleric of Meroria runs. Another yes, the meatad of the tertiary of the 1st Church of Sant Pedro. Another yes, the meatad of the Tercia of the Church of Santa Martha, and the meatad of the Tertia of the Church of Sant Salvador, and the meatad of the Tertia of the Church of Rebillinos. Another yes, the entire third of the Church of Moral, and of Sant Pedro del Otero, and of the Church of Villarigo, and of the Church of Oter de Sirago, and of the Church of Sant Agostín, and of the Church of Videianes, two moyos of wheat, three moyos of barley, and two moyos of Salt for the emina of Benavente at these Churches non lieva the Bishop Offering a mortuary nin. And from the Cabanas that and oviere de Sal, the Bishop collects five ochavas per tithe. And from the Church of San Feliz he carries a mill of salt, and from the Church of San Miguel a mill of salt, and the Archpriest another mill. Also, the Bishop in Muelledes, four yokes of property and a salt mine and three parts of houses. And with this all the other things that are of the Bishop's Table that belong to this aforementioned Celler, yes to the gura and has. And by this grant we do not understand that you are giving anything that belongs to the Table of the Chapter or to the Chapels of Bishop Don Martín, or to anyone else. And this Donation of the aforementioned Celler of Villafáfila we force you from today that this letter dates, for all your life, and after your death that it remains free and takes from Us and our successors without any liability (...). Given in Burgos, the first day of March” [40] .

Apart from these assets of the episcopal table, the chapter and the archdeacon of Páramo, which included the archpresbytery of Villafáfila, owned assets such as the church of San Juan, which is not mentioned in the list of the episcopal table because its income belonged to the archdeacon.

In 1495 the Catholic Monarchs sent a provision for Don Pedro Pimentel and the council of Villafáfila to give lodgings to the servants of the bishop of Astorga at their fair prices, bread and wine and food at reasonable prices and barns to store bread from their income and tithes [41] .

In 1499 the lands had been leased and were brought by a nobleman from Villafáfila:

The vineyards were also granted in 1507 for a period of three lifetimes to the cleric of Villafáfila, Juan González:

"I have the bishop's vineyards in the boundaries of this said town, which I have for three lives with its charter ," and surely the salt-making hut that this cleric had by charter could be that of the Bishop [42] . Various inns and the Bishop's Pipe, which must have been a piped artesian spring, are still mentioned in 1522 and 1528, but in the Cadastre of Ensenada of 1752 there are no properties of the Bishop of Astorga in the area of Villafáfila, so I suppose that the tenants and members of the charter ended up taking effective possession of the old properties. If any type of tax was still in force or was a remnant of past centuries, in the 19th century with the disentailments they were abolished.

1761 on the map of the Bishopric of Astorga declined by D. Manuel Sutil Cura de la Bañeza, where it is limited to Villafáfila as the most southwestern archpriest and within the Otero de Sariegos.

In 1772 there were 19 residents, including a widow and the priest Manuel de Coca.

The origin of the clerics who served churches owned by episcopal monasteries or monasteries would be appointed by the owners of the churches and would generally exercise the benefits of foreign clerics, although in the performance of their duties they would integrate into the town. Other times the cleric proposed for the curacy is a resident of the town, but receives a plot of land from the owner of the church.

-Those who served churches owned by monasteries or episcopate churches would be appointed by the owners of the churches and would generally exercise the benefits of foreign clergy, although in the performance of their duties they would integrate into the population.

"Although the various territorial administrators of monastic property could perhaps be considered members of the local clergy, there is no doubt that this term refers primarily to parish clerics, whose ministry is in close contact with the community . "

The clergy represent a privileged group within the town, which as Martínez Sopena says:

“They do not cease to have a prominent position within the community. Their income derived from their participation in the tithes and the rents from the property of the churches they serve provide them with more abundant resources than the average citizen . ”

In addition, the local clergy enjoyed exemptions from certain services. This led them to form a separate group; and, in fact, in the confirmation of the agreement of 1235 on the distribution of the tithes of salt, where disputes arose with the council of Villafáfila over the amount of the tithes and first fruits of salt that the residents had to pay to the bishop, and in the year 1235 they signed an agreement between the two, which had already been established years before, during the life of King Alfonso IX, and through his mediation, but at that time it had not been put in writing.

This agreement establishes that the bishop of Astorga will receive 5 eminas of salt from each torva of salt, and that he may have in Villafáfila and its term by any means of purchase, donation or other, up to four yokes of oxen and twenty aranzanas of vines and four torvadas of salt ^{^[43]} , signed in a separate column, separate from the residents of the town and the episcopal clergy.

Sometimes the clergy are owners of churches, as is the case of Román Arias in 1165. Other times they own various episcopal properties in usufruct or rent, such as the Santa Marina salt mine, which was rented by the clergyman of San Salvador de Villafáfila in 1310.

The clergy of the town and villages had certain obligations to the Bishop of Astorga, among which were:

"to assist His Excellency with the part of the procuration that corresponds to them according to what the clergy of that place are obliged to do, and to faithfully pay the archdeacon of that territory and the canons of Santa Maria their dues annually,"

In 1241 the clergy in Villafáfila were grouped in a chapter, made up of the clergy of the town, distinguishing them from other clergy in the area of Villafáfila, which must not have been established much earlier, since at that time it still did not have a seal and they must use the seal of the archpriest to confirm an agreement. Thus, the clergy associated in the chapter, and with their archpriest at the head, were able to sue the convent of San Marcos de León over the distribution of tithes in 1241 and in 1379.

These councils served to accumulate property, although in Villafáfila the assets of the brotherhood of clerics of San Gervás are documented in the 15th and 16th centuries, but the true accumulation of lands and censuses did not occur until the end of the 16th century, when a new council was established.

They participate in the daily life of the population, as we will see, apart from governing the churches, also brotherhoods, chaplaincies, etc.

If any type of tax was still in force or was a reminder of past centuries, in the 19th century with the disentailments they were abolished.

Oter de Serigo, in the latter inns are documented [44] and in 1178 we know that it was included in the district of Villafáfila:

"...in Otero de Serigo...Iacet sapranominata uilla in alfoz de Villa Fafila..." [45] .

In the 14th century, the episcopal income of "the Church of Oter de Sirago" was included in the Cillero de Villafáfila, the town belonged to Arnao de Solier [46] , a French nobleman as a town with its own jurisdiction, not included in the district of Villalpando, who received the town of Villalpando by donation from Enrique II in 1369 as a reward for the help he gave him, together with other French nobles, in the long civil war that he maintained against his brother Pedro I, the Cruel, whom he killed in Montiel. Later in the 15th century his daughter Maria de Solier Meneses [47] , Lady of Villalpando received the town to which it belonged and married Don Juan Fernandez de Velasco Sarmiento [48] , his son Pedro Fernandez de Velasco [49] Count of Haro in 1435 received Otero de Sariegos, and passed into the hands of his son Pedro Fernandez de Velasco [50] granted the hereditary title of Constables of Castile, Jose Manuel Fernandez de Velasco y Tovar (1665-1713) [51] , VIII Duke of Frias, V Marquis of Jodar, X Count of Haro and last Constable of Castile, title suppressed on June 5, 1713, and finally the Duke of Frias in the person of Bernardino Fernandez de Velasco y Tovar IX Duke of Frias [52] , but as a town with its own jurisdiction, [53] had the right to present the parish priest.

The bishop of Astorga appointed the priest of the church of Otero, but the candidate was put forward by the Constable, so in 1540 Antº de Bernero, originally from Burgos, was serving as the priest. Previously, Francisco Rosel had held the benefice.

Blessed Sacrament, for the exaltation of the Eucharist, founded after the previous one.

It also had a granary or warehouse, founded by Licenciado Saldaña, a priest who had been from Otero, with certain loads of wheat stored in a breadbasket, which was lent to the neighbors to support themselves, with annual repayment without interest.

The demographic crisis at the end of the reign of Philip II led to a gradual abandonment of the neighbourhood towards nearby towns and little by little it was left without people. In 1665 there were no residents left and the appeals judge of Villalpando had to intervene, as Mayor of Otero, in the absence of an ordinary mayor, because some were dismantling the houses and taking the tiles and wood.

In 1673, the assets of the church of Otero, which was deserted, were added to the parishes of Villafáfila, and the books, liturgical objects, census deeds and properties were deposited.

In 1675 they were given into custody, by order of the Bishop of Astorga during the Pastoral Visit, after consultation with the Constable, as Lord of Otero, to the churches of Villafáfila de San Martín, El Salvador, and Santa María del Moral [54] . The altarpiece dedicated to San Martín is placed in this church as stated:

“an altarpiece is sold for 1,400 reales de vellón to Santa Colomba de las Monjas; with that money repairs are made in the church and the Otero altarpiece is placed in it” [55] .

The curious chapter on expenses from 1675 is cited as saying that the church was abandoned, a passenger from Toro had entered the church and had taken the image of Saint Barbara, and they had to pressure him through the courts to return it:

“Thirteen reales were paid to a man for bringing the image of Saint Barbara that a man from Toro had stolen from the altarpiece of Otero, while it was in the church before it was demolished” [56] .

That year, the prospect of repopulation must not have been very evident because that same year the bones of Licenciado Antonio de la Peña, who had been the priest of Otero years before, were transferred to Villafáfila to be buried in the parish church of San Juan due to the neglect of the church.

In place of the demolished church, a hermitage remained, as stated in the accounts of 1682:

“14 reales was the cost of an alb that I bought for the Otero hermitage, as ordered by the Bishop” [57] .

The depopulation lasted only a few years, Otero was repopulated in 1681, and they were sent on a Pastoral visit to return their objects and jewels deposited in the churches of Villafáfila [58] .

" In 1665 it was completely depopulated and its residents went to live elsewhere and its church was demolished and in 1681 six residents had come to live in the town at the request of the Constable of Castile ."

During the 18th century, the town of Otero belonged to the Duke of Frías, to whom it was the lordship and vassalage. He received lambs that belonged to him as a result of the tithes of the parishioners, as he was the patron saint of the church.

The neighbors paid tithes (more or less a tenth of the yields) of everything they produced and they were distributed in the following way:

-Of the lambs and grains, the bishop of Astorga took one third, the Duke of Frías another third, and the priest of Otero the remaining third;

- and of the rest of the productions: wool, chickpeas, wine, etc., one third to the bishop and two thirds to the priest.

In 1770, reference is made in the file of referral of the Viscount of Valoria, intendant of Zamora, to the Count of Aranda of the state of the congregations, brotherhoods and fraternities

that are in the towns under its jurisdiction, Villafáfila (Zamora) (sheet VIII et seq.).

Parish rights: customs and traditions of Otero de Sariegos and Villafáfila [59]

In the inventory made in 1853 in Otero de Sariegos, of the parish archive by D. Dámaso Martín Costilla (parish priest) [60] the Books of Factory, Sacramentals, Synods, Brotherhoods, and Tazmías are listed. In the latter, quite deteriorated, with reused parchment covers, the content recorded is heterogeneous since in addition to the basic aspects referring to the Tazmías (a detailed record of relations or lists of the parishioners who paid the tithes and the production data), it includes "rights and customs, assessments and anniversaries", which theoretically should not appear here. This custom of using the factory books and even the sacramentals to add or record subjects unrelated to them, is a practice that they carried out to save paper.

The research work refers to the parish rights included in the aforementioned manuscript. They constitute a sociological reference that helps to understand the organization of ecclesiastical services and customs related to religious practices, describing the conduct to follow in baptisms, burials, funerals, processions, etc. assigning a value according to a tariff on the professional activities of priests.

The following study reflects the amounts accrued in parish fees corresponding to the various religious services that the priest performed in his parish. It also describes the different “uses and customs” of a religious nature that the priests carried out on the occasion of liturgical functions: weddings, funerals, festivities, etc.

In the comparative study of parish rights between Villafáfila and Otero de Sariegos, although that of Otero has been included in each part of its subject, we include it all together so that when reading it can later be compared with that of Villafáfila.

Custom: After getting married, the priest accompanies the bride and groom to their home Baptisms

Custom: The priest accompanies the home after the baptism. When the woman who has given birth leaves home, she gives the priest a hen or its equivalent (4 reales).

Church fees: 24 reales, including all services (burial and services). They must also provide: 2 candles, 1 quarter of wheat, 2 pounds of bread, 1 roll of matches; half a zigzag of

wine. If other priests attend, 16 reales are added. The candles burn until the offertory.

Custom: For nine days after the burial, the deceased is prayed at the door of the church or in front of it. If a novena is held, the prayers are said in

Church rights: 12 reales, 1 quarter of wheat, 8 pounds of bread, 1 roll of matches, 2 candles, 1 quart of wine.

Church fees: Services only 8 reales; mass and services 14 reales. Sacristan fees: 2 reales.

This variety is defined as the fourth part of the Mass that the deceased leaves for his soul, which the executors cannot dispose of because it belongs to the Parish Priest. This fourth of Masses

which are prayed for the soul of the deceased, are carried out according to the estate and location of the deceased.

If there was a mass for the souls the next day (10 reales); the sacristan's rights (3 reales). Custom: Accompany the preacher and steward, after vespers and masses,

to the house of this one who offered dinner and lunch. The priest appoints the steward:

"and it should not be noted that he names him Steward since it is all about charity . "

Custom: The following were celebrated on these occasions: Christmas, Pentecost, Resurrection, Three Kings' Day and Saint Martin's Day (patron saint of the town).

Custom: On some Sundays in winter, spring and autumn a procession of souls takes place:

The vow consisted of going in procession to the hermitage of Ntra. Sra. de Villarigo or Villarigo. They carried only a cross and no image. The Board was in charge of finding a priest to attend them.

said the mass of the vow without the parish priest omitting his own in the town.

The Board contributes: two reales for the mass, leftover bread in the said hermitage and gives 8 reales in alms to the priest and 28 reales to the parish priest for the blessing of bread and spells.

It was carried out during the time that the harvest lasted and when the oxen went to graze in the Valdecasas meadow (which was around ten in the morning). On the day of Santa Ana, the celebration took place

Vespers were sung on the three Easters of the year, on Saint Martin's Day (patron saint), the eve of the Immaculate Conception, and the eve of the infra octave of Corpus Christi.

When there are assistants and they sing with the priest the office and mass (36 reales) to which one must

add: 1 bushel of wheat; a pound and a half of wax for the church and 1 for the priest. If he wears a Dalmatic to attend mass (5 reales) for each time he wears it. If no mass is celebrated, he pays for the burial (6 reales).

Other functions dedicated to the Virgin, saints, etc. with vespers, procession and mass: 20 reales.

Weddings: Wedding with proclamation, betrothal and mass (20 reales) Baptisms: To the parish priest (4 reales); to the sacristan (2 reales).

Sacristan: For major burial (6 reales for each service); without vestments (2 reales); year-end (6 reales for each service); Weddings (4 reales); Private functions with vespers and mass (4 reales).

Related to parish rights we indicate the content of the provisions published by the Bishopric of Astorga (1834).

1. From all the amounts that the parish priests receive, whether for sung or recited masses, or for processions, or for any other concept, a common fund will be created, the amount of which must be applied entirely to recited masses with a stipend of four reales for each one, the application being made in general according to the intention of the founders of the anniversaries in the amounts collected that belong to them.

2. All sung masses for the dead that are currently in force or will be in force in the future will be applied in the respective parishes. When the founder has

The alms for these masses will be applied to it whenever it reaches the amount of six reales each, and eight for the nocturnal masses for the dead, and the same when the bearers of the assets have paid up to the present an equal or higher stipend. But if in the foundation they had a lower stipend, and the owners do not want to increase it, we reduce these masses to the class of those said with the alms of four reales, celebrating as many as correspond to this respect.

3. Of the low masses that are also current or are put in place from now on, whose stipend set by the foundation, or paid from time immemorial until the present, does not reach the common amount of four reales, the parish priests will reduce half of their amount and apply it in their respective parishes, collecting the aforementioned ordinary alms for each mass, and the other half will be sent to the general collection of the Bishopric for its distribution and prompt application in the usual manner.

His bones were transferred to Villafáfila by the licensed parish priest, D. Antonio de la Peña, who had been the priest of Otero years before, to be buried in the parish church of San Juan due to the neglect of the church, 1675.

Parish Priest 1683 D. Francisco Lubiano already had a priest in the church, which was listed until 1722.

Parish priest 1756 Don Manuel Coca who was born in Otero in 1730, was parish priest until his death in 1794.

Parish Priest 1794 Mr. Manuel Garrido Fernández, from Carbajales, until the War of Independence he was in charge of the parish 1815.

Parish Priest D. Joaquín Alonso Martín 1945. From this moment on, the parish priest who gives mass is the titular of Villarrín de Campos.

As we have seen, the depopulation of Otero de Sariegos has happened twice, in 1662, although a few years later it was repopulated, in 2003 the second depopulation took place. Its adobe and rammed earth houses have been succumbing little by little, almost completely, where you can see like a skeleton among its streets, Sol, Larga, del Pozo, Traviesa, Cerrada, de la Paz, del Medio, Plazuela, what was once a body full of life in its streets and houses.

Its church, as a symbol of all this, which with effort tries to maintain itself, has begun to succumb to the hurtful time, its wounds between its walls bleed without a remedy being made, with great pain it does not resign itself to the fact that as long as a drop of its blood remains, it will remain standing, and they can return it to its splendor, because there is still time, but that time is evaporating.
The people of Otero de Sariegos, have always been related mainly to neighbours of Villafáfila and Villarrín de Campos, as they are the closest, other nearby towns such as San Agustín, Revellinos, Villalba, Cañizo, Villaveza, Bretó, Moreruela, etc., where the evolution of surnames, often having a round trip between these towns, some of them: Aliste, Alonso, Barrera, Bueno, Calvo, Calzada, Campo, del Castaño, Castro, de Costilla, Estal de, Esteban, Fernández, Ferreras, Fidalgo, García, Gómez, Gutiérrez, Ledesma, León de, Martín, Méndez, Miñambres, Palacios, Pedrero, Prada, de Prieto, Rodríguez, Serena, Toranzo, Valverde, Zamorano, etc.[61].

My eyes as a child, as a young man, and those that followed me as I grew older, from those first moments I have never stopped stepping foot in the town and its old term, in my memory, accompanying D. Dionisio Alonso Alonso (Isio Tábarés) my neighbour from Villafáfila, who from his shop on Saturdays took food products to sell among other basic necessities, stationing himself with his van next to the church door. Already a boy in the summer, hundreds of times taking the short cut from Villafáfila through the Salina Grande, dry from the hot summer, in a straight line only a little more than 1 km separated us and in a flash we were in Otero, there the sisters Dña. Margarita and Dña. María Ares and the brothers Dn. Evaristo and Dn. Porfirio Alonso, the last residents, with whom we spent some time during the visit, who just as they gave us a glass of water or some sweets, fixed a flat tire, asked us to do a message for them, or take a saying to their relatives, always spoke to us about their beloved town, in many we were able to enter the church because the Alonso brothers had the key to it. Since I was a child I have gone every April 25th, San Marcos' day, to the festival, mass, procession, pennant, even that day eating there and dancing as happened between the years of the 80s and 90s of the 20th century, enlivened by a small band, which the City Council of Villafáfila provided, and the beauty of the privileged view between Villafáfila and Villarín de Campos between Salina Grande and Laguna de Salinas. These last two decades, between visits to the town, to the feast of San Marcos, to the church or to its terminus, I have taken photographs, which allow me to see the most painful thing, that time that is erasing what this town of Otero de Sariegos once was, but also giving me the opportunity to have the image and to be able to show it.

I already felt that Otero de Sariegos was as much my town as Villafáfila, but when I dug into my genealogy, provided to a large extent by D. Elías Rodríguez Rodríguez[62], I found that on my paternal grandmother's side, Dña. Esperanza Calzada Gómez, both her first two surnames came from Otero de Sariegos. Even I, who drag the Fidalgo from Villaveza del Agua, am the same one who one day settled in Otero de Sariegos and moved to Villafáfila, which today are all those families that have that surname. This has given me even more right to increase that feeling of being from Otero de Sariegos.

Hypothesis on the church of Otero de Sariegos (Zamora). Beatriz Barrio. Architecture / Cultural dissemination 2, August 2022.

https://beatrizbarrio.com/os-dejo-mis-hipotesis-sobre-la-iglesia-de-otero-de-sariegos-zamora/

historiasdevillafafila.blogspot.com - http://historiasdevillafafila.blogspot.com/2016/09/cofradia-de-las-animas.html

Zamora: Institute of Zamorano Studies “Florian de Ocampo”, 2000. ISBN 84-86873-87-8.

historiasdevillafafila.blogspot.com - https://historiasdevillafafila.blogspot.com/2014/12/apellido-gomez-en-villafafila.html

Study of population, surnames, parish rights, customs and traditions. Otero de Sariegos (Zamora), 19th century. Brigecio: journal of studies of Benavente and its lands,

File of referral from the Viscount of Valoria, intendant of Zamora, to the Count of Aranda on the state of the congregations, brotherhoods and fraternities that exist in the towns

within its jurisdiction. 1770 - 1771. Otero de Soriego (Zamora) currently Otero de Sariegos (sheet VII and following).

Publication: Madrid: Ministry of Public Education and Fine Arts, 1927, pages 76 and 355.

Henrique Flórez. Sacred Spain Year 1742 Volume XVI. Appendix XXIX. Page 487 and 488. The royal thirds or decimal thirds were an income granted by the Church to the

Crown of Castile and later the Hispanic Monarchy, consisting of two ninths of the ecclesiastical tithes collected by it.

Henrique Flórez. Sacred Spain, Vol. XVI, Appendix XXIX. Page 487. Fidel Fita. Bulletin of the Royal Academy of History, Vol. 24, page 450. 1984. Augusto Quintana Prieto. The Bishopric

Flórez, E. España Sagrada, Madrid, volume XVI, writing XLI, page. 508 and 509.

Henrique Flórez. Sacred Spain, Year 1742, Volume XVI. Catalogue of Bishops Alfonso, p. 215, 816.

Juan de Castilla (of Tarifa) (1262 – Disaster of the Vega de Granada, June 25, 1319). Prince of Castile and son of Alfonso X of Castile and Queen Violante of Aragon.

Rodríguez González Ángel: Tumbo de S. Martín de Castañeda. Archv. Leones no. XX 1966, page 250.

José Nafría Ramos – Lawyer: Annexation of Otero de Sariegos to Villafáfila 1972. Opinion

Subject: Alteration of the municipal area through segregation and incorporation of part of the Municipal area sought by the City Council of Villarrín de Campos.

https://lospueblosdeshabitados.blogspot.com/2014/04/otero-de-sariegos-zamora.html

laopiniondezamora.es April 22, 2018. (reason for the celebration of the European Year of Cultural Heritage, which bell ringers from all over the continent want to take advantage of to celebrate their

request UNESCO to declare manual bell ringing as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity).

https://www.laopiniondezamora.es/comarcas/2018/04/23/ecos-otero-sariegos-1089196.html

https://www.laopiniondezamora.es/fotos/comarcas/2018/04/22/repique-campanas-otero-sariegos-1321676.html

Pascual Madoz: The Geographical-Statistical-Historical Dictionary of Spain and its Overseas Possessions Volume III.

https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5QadYRs7gZ3v4ypL6eCGyeaBXbISNaejDHW 2EXOIdbCM5XxZalQD9yQydnGqNspbXNH89tOrvefQI1gesiWEWNxX96ZpgE5lUmPcdA5XKu8DWh5HH8noDHeFFbtC8Gt_

WmjeyvRECtnC78QCJZkbnsV1DATUINvo-Pi_fFCcac-3sz4W6g3-HdbdpZKzSvMZ8LwBJTwTpKaly0t4ETgEFmEDND dy4GYZwtjRGksOXED3Yp4t05iQIAGYRwAEuGPjcyvvIgkmHiivZmDFQYFeIloBk0hpwiTKvEinS_6lU9I5Br205UV4

https://www.geni.com/people/Mosen-Arnao-de-Solier-conde-de-Villalpando/6000000003637348292.

Andalusia, https://www.geni.com/people/Mar%C3%ADa-de-Solier-de-Meneses-Se%C3%B1ora-de-Villalpando/6000000003693995109

https://es.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bernardino_Fernánndez_de_Velasco,_IX_Duque_de_Frías&action=edit&redlink=1

https://www.ine.es/intercensal/intercensal.do?search=1&cmbTipoBusq=0&textoMunicipio=Otero%20de%20Sariegos

Map of the Bishopric of Astorga, drawn by Manuel Sutil, priest of La Bañeza, 1761. Pages 68 and 69.

Manuel Gómez-Moreno, 1870-1970. Monumental catalogue of Spain. Province of Zamora: (1903-1905, Publication: Madrid: Ministry of Public Instruction and Fine Arts, 1927, p.76 and 355.

All text, photographs, lithographs, transcription and montage rights belong to their authors. Any type of use is prohibited without authorization.

All text, photographs and lithography have been authorized for storage, processing, work, transcription and assembly by José Luis Domínguez Martínez, its dissemination on villafafila.net, villafafila.net toro and any other media that the authorized person deems appropriate.

[1] Martínez Sopena, 1985: 62.

[2] Mínguez, 1976: Doc. 36 and 99.

[3] Martínez Sopena, 1985: 62.

[4] Manuel Gómez-Moreno: (Granada, February 21, 1870 - Madrid, June 7, 1970) was a Spanish archaeologist, art historian and historian.

[5] Manuel Gómez-Moreno, 1870-1970. Monumental catalogue of Spain. Province of Zamora: (1903-1905, Publication: Madrid: Ministry of Public Instruction and Fine Arts, 1927, p. 76

[6] Manuel Gómez-Moreno, 1870-1970. Monumental catalogue of Spain. Province of Zamora: (1903-1905, Publication: Madrid: Ministry of Public Instruction and Fine Arts, 1927, p. 355)

[7] Lib. Fab. San Martín, 1673-1744, p. 29.

[8] laopiniondezamora.es April 22, 2018. The echoes of Otero de Sariegos. (Reason for the celebration of the European Year of Cultural Heritage, which bell ringers from all over the continent want to take advantage of to request UNESCO to declare manual bell ringing as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity).https://www.laopiniondezamora.es/

regions/2018/04/23/ecos-otero-sariegos-1089196.html

[9] Mr. Isidro Dominguez Calzada. (Villafáfila 1944). Bell ringer at the now-disappeared church of San Martin and church of Santa Maria del Moral in Villafáfila

[10] Elias Rodriguez Rodriguez and Jose Luis Dominguez Martinez. Surname Calzada.

villafafila.net - https://villafafila.net/calzada/calzada.htm

[11] Elias Rodriguez Rodriguez. Last name Gomez.

historiasdevillafafila.blogspot.com - https://historiasdevillafafila.blogspot.com/2014/12/apellido-gomez-en-villafafila.html

[12] Mr. Joaquin Alonso Martin (Villarrin de Campos 1938).

[13] Manuel Gómez-Moreno, 1870-1970. Monumental catalogue of Spain. Province of Zamora: (1903-1905, Publication: Madrid: Ministry of Public Instruction and Fine Arts, 1927, p. 355.

[14] File of referral from the Viscount of Valoria, intendant of Zamora, to the Count of Aranda of the state of the congregations, brotherhoods and fraternities that exist in the towns under his jurisdiction. 1770 - 1771.

Otero de Soriego (Zamora) currently Otero de Sariegos (sheet VII and following). Reference code: ES.28079.AHN//CONSEJOS,7098,Exp.29

http://pares.mcu.es/ParesBusquedas20/catalogo/description/6846186?nm

[15] This inventory was ordered to be carried out on the occasion of the “Holy Visit of the Bishopric of Astorga”. Witnesses: Lorenzo Gómez (Factory Steward); Diego Suena (Councillor); Nemesio Calzada (neighbor) and Juan Llamas (Sacristan).

[16] In the inventory carried out in 1853 in Otero de Sariegos, parish rights: uses and customs.

[17] File of referral from the Viscount of Valoria, intendant of Zamora, to the Count of Aranda of the state of the congregations, brotherhoods and fraternities that exist in the towns under his jurisdiction.

1770 - 1771. Villafáfila (Zamora) (sheet VIII et seq.).

Reference code: ES.28079.AHN//TIPS,7098,Exp.29 http://pares.mcu.es/ParesBusquedas20/catalogo/description/6846186?nm

[18] This inventory was ordered to be carried out on the occasion of the “Holy Visit of the Bishopric of Astorga”. Witnesses: Lorenzo Gómez (Factory Steward); Diego Suena (Councillor); Nemesio Calzada (neighbor) and Juan Llamas (Sacristan).

[19] Inventory carried out in 1853 in Otero de Sariegos, of the parish archive by D. Dámaso Martín Costilla (parish priest).

[20] Mrs. Transito Miñambres Pedrero (Otero de Sariegos 1936) daughter of the town, married to a resident of Villafáfila and living there.

[21] Mrs. Transito Miñambres Pedrero (Otero de Sariegos 1936) daughter of the town, married to Mr. Carlos Alonso de Villafáfila and resident there.

[22] Faustino Calderón: Otero de Sariegos (Zamora) the uninhabited villages (Francisco Montero, from Otero who recounts with his words, today living in Villarrín de Campos).

https://lospueblosdeshabitados.blogspot.com/

https://lospueblosdeshabitados.blogspot.com/2014/04/otero-de-sariegos-zamora.html

[23] Mínguez, 1976: Doc. 39

[24] Sopena Martínez, Pascual:La Tierra de Campos Occidental, p. 40.

[25] Quintana Prieto, Augusto: The bishopric of Astorga in the 12th century, p. 352.

[26] Henrique Flórez. Sacred Spain, Year 1742, Volume XVI. Appendix XXIX. Pages 487 and 488. The royal thirds or decimal thirds were an income granted by the Church to the Crown of Castile and later to the Hispanic Monarchy, consisting of two ninths of the ecclesiastical tithes collected by it.

[27] The“Tertia ecclesiasticorum”was one third of the value of the tithe.

[28] Henrique Flórez. Sacred Spain,Vol. XVI, Appendix XXIX. Page 487. Fidel Fita. Bulletin of the Royal Academy of History, Vol. 24. Page 450. 1984. Augusto Quintana Prieto. The Bishopric of Astorga in the 12th Century. Page 337. Pedro Rodríguez

[29] Rodríguez González Ángel: Tumbo de S. Martín de Castañeda. Archv. Leones no. XX 1966, page 250.

[30] National Historical Archive (AHN), Codex nº940, folios 20 and 372.

[31] Quintana p. 682.

[32] Pedro Rodríguez López. Asturic Episcopologe. VOLUME II, -p. 254.

[33] Pedro Rodríguez López. - Episcopologio Asturicense. Volume II page 601.

[34] ADA Episcopal Chamber, perg. 2/40. Published by Cabero, 1989: 45.

[35] Juan de Castilla (of Tarifa)(1262 – Disaster of the Vega de Granada, June 25, 1319). Infante of Castile and son of Alfonso X of Castile and Queen Violante of Aragon.

https://dbe.rah.es/biografias/15389/juan-de-castilla

[36] Flórez, E. España Sagrada, Madrid, volume XVI, writing XLI, pages 508 and 509.

[37] Flórez, E. España Sagrada, op. cit. volume XVI, writing XLI, page. 509.

[38] Henrique Flórez. Sacred Spain, Year 1742, Volume XVI. Catalogue of Bishops Alfonso, page 215, 816

[39] ADA Index. Royals. No. 6.

[40] Manuel de la Granja Alonso: Personal documents.

[41] AGSRGS 1495-XI 3878.

[42] OO.MM. Lawsuits 21933.

[43] Cabero 1989: Doc. IV.

[44] Vignau, 1885: doc. XIV and LXXXVII.

[45] AHD of Leon. Gradefes No. 131.

[46] Mosen Arnao de Solierz: (Bretagne, France 1341 - August 14, 1385 Spain), Count of Villalpando, Lord of Siruela, Villalpando, Gandul and Marchenilla. Son of Enrique de Solier, Governor of Navarre and Matilde du Guesclin. Husband of Beatriz Fernández de Valdés and Pécha and Luisa de Bearne de la Cerda. Father of Agnès de Torres de Navarra and Solier, (Inés); María de Solier de Meneses, Lady of Villalpando; Beatriz de Solier and Fernan Solier de Bearne. Brother of María De Solier.

https://www.geni.com/people/Mosen-Arnao-de-Solier-conde-de-Villalpando/6000000003637348292

[47] Maria Solier de Meneses: Andalusia, (Spain 1370-1420). Mosen Arnao de Solier, Count of Villalpando. Wife of Juan Fernandez de Velasco y Sarmiento, lord of Medina and Pomar, and Alonso de Cabrera. Mother of Pedro Fernandez de Velasco y Solier, Count of Haro, member of the Royal Council, chief chamberlain to the king; Alonso Fernandez de Velasco y Solier, Lord of Gandul and Marchinilla; Hernando de Velasco y Solier, I Lord of Siruela; Maria de Villalpando and Alonso de Cabrera Solier, the Elder, Conqueror of the Canary Islands. Sister of Beatriz de Solier. Half-sister of Agnes de Torres de Navarre y Solier, (Ines) and Fernan Solier de Bearne.

https://www.geni.com/people/Mar%C3%ADa-de-Solier-de-Meneses-Se%C3%B1ora-de-Villalpando/6000000003693995109

https://dbe.rah.es/biografias/42421/maria-de-solier

[48] Juan Fernández de Velasco Sarmiento: (1368-Tordesillas, September 1418), was chief waiter of King Ferdinand I of Aragon and son of the Castilian magnate Pedro Fernández de Velasco and

Maria Sarmiento. He married Maria de Solier y de Meneses, daughter of Arnao de Solier, a French nobleman, lord of Villalpando, Siruela and Marchenilla, and his wife Maria Alfonso de Meneses. Wife to Maria de Solier descends the lineage of the Velasco constables of Castile. Children Pedro Fernández de Velasco, future Count of Haro and main heir to the entail of the House of Velasco. Juan Fernández de Velasco y Solier. Sancha de Velasco y Solier,5 mentioned in the codicil of her father who left her 12,000 gold florins for her marriage to Fadrique Enríquez, admiral of Castile, without heir. Fernando de Velasco y Solier, Lord of Siruela and Salinas, married in 1426 Leonor Carrillo de Mendoza y Lasso de la Vega, Lady of Cervera y Pernía, daughter of Álvaro Carrillo de Albornoz, Lord of Ocentejo and Cañamares, and Teresa de Mendoza de la Vega, sister of the 1st Marquis of Santillana. They were the parents of Juan de Velasco, 1st Count of Siruela. Sancho de Velasco died in infancy. When his father granted a codicil in 1418, he says that he was one of three children he had with his wife María after having granted a will in 1414.6 Diego de Velasco, born after his father granted his will in 1414 and before 1418 when he granted a codicil. Alonso de Velasco, 1st Lord of Gandul and Marchenilla, was also born after his father granted his will. He had an illegitimate daughter: María de Velasco, married to Pedro González de Agüero.5

[49] Pedro Fernández de Velasco, (1399-Medina de Pomar, February 25, 1470) nicknamed the good count of Haro. Rich man and Castilian magnate of the House of Velasco and son of Juan Fernández de Velasco Sarmiento and Maria de Solier, lady of Siruela, Gandiel, Marchenilla and Villalpando, Grandson of Arnaldo de Solier, Count of Villalpando, lord of Siruela, Villalpando and Marchenilla, and Maria Alfonso. He was I Count of Haro by concession of John II of Castile and also chief chamberlain of this monarch and member of the Council.

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Fernández_de_Velasco_(1399-1470)

[50] Pedro Fernández de Velasco (Burgos, 1425-Burgos, January 1492), 2nd Count of Haro, 6th Constable of Castile and chief chamberlain to the king. He was the son of Pedro Fernández de Velasco and Beatriz Manrique de Lara. On his father's side he was the grandson of Juan de Velasco, chief chamberlain to the king and lord of Medina de Pomar, and of María de Solier,4 and on his mother's side he was the grandson of Pedro Manrique de Lara, lord of Amusco and Treviño and progenitor of the Dukes of Nájera, and of Leonor de Castilla, who was the granddaughter of Enrique II of Castile.

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Fern%C3%A1ndez_de_Velasco_(1425-1492)

[51] José Manuel Fernández de Velasco y Tovar (1665-1713), 8th Duke of Frías, 5th Marquis of Jódar, 10th Count of Haro and last Constable of Castile. son of Francisco Baltasar de Velasco y Tovar, 7th Marquis of Berlanga, and María Catalina de Carvajal Enríquez y Sarmiento, 4th Marchioness of Jódar. He married twice: first, on 1 August 1678 in the church of the Santa Cruz in Madrid8 to Ángela de Benavides Carillo de Toledo Ponce de León, daughter of the 5th Marquis of Frómista, Luis Francisco de Benavides Carrillo de Toledo; and secondly (1705) with Ana María Téllez-Girón y Benavides, daughter of the 5th Duke of Osuna, Gaspar Téllez-Girón y Sandoval.1 She had two children from her first marriage: Bernardino, who succeeded to her titles, and Catalina Fernández de Velasco y Benavides, who married Francisco Fernández de Córdoba and Ponce de León.

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/José_Manuel_Fernández_de_Velasco_y_Tovar

[52] Bernardino Fernández de Velasco y Tovar (1685 – 25 April 1727), 9th Duke of Frías, 13th Count of Haro, 9th Marquis of Berlanga, 6th Marquis of Jodar and 8th Count of Salazar de Velasco. Son of José Manuel Fernández de Velasco y Tovar (1665 – 19 January 1713), 8th Duke of Frías, 12th Count of Haro, 8th Marquis of Berlanga, 5th Marquis of Jodar, and last Constable of Castile and Angela de Benavides Ponce de León (d. 1704)

[53] Moreno Ollero, 1991: 403.

[54] Lib. Fab. San Martín, 1673-1744, p. 8.

[55] Lib. Fab. San Martín, 1673-1744, p. 15.

[56] Lib. Fab. San Martín, 1673-1744, p. 16.

[57] Lib. Fab. San Martín, 1673-1744, p. 29.

[58] Lib. Fab. San Martín, 1744-1808, p. 33.

[59] Comparative study of the parish rights between Villafáfila and Otero de Sariegos (expressed in reales). Prepared by Francisco Trancón Pérez: Study of population, surnames, parish rights, uses and customs. Otero de Sariegos (Zamora), 19th century. Brigecio: journal of studies of Benavente and its lands, ISSN 1697-5804, No. 29, 2019, pp. 119-134.

https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/7274937.pdf

villafafila.net https://villafafila.net/oterosigloXIX/oterosigloXIX.htm

[60] This inventory was ordered to be carried out on the occasion of the “Holy Visit of the Bishopric of Astorga”. Witnesses: Lorenzo Gómez (Factory Steward); Diego Suena (Councillor); Nemesio Calzada (neighbor) and Juan Llamas (Sacristan)

[61] Study of population, surnames, parish rights, uses and customs. Otero de Sariegos (Zamora), 19th century. Brigecio: journal of studies of Benavente and its lands, ISSN 1697-5804, No. 29, 2019, pp. 119-134. List of surnames (1882-1883). The surnames used refer to the first surname (of the head of the nuclear or single-parent family, Table 10. Prepared by Francisco Trancón Pérez. https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/7274937.pdf,

villafafila.net https://villafafila.net/oterosigloXIX/oterosigloXIX.htm

[62] D. Elias Rodriguez Rodriguez: (Villafáfila 1954) son of Villafáfila and historian of the Villa