On Jeronimo’s death in 1120, his successor, Gerardo, was driven from the see by the Aragonese opponents of Urraca, and found an asylum with his metropolitan. The accession of Alfonso VII. resulted in the deposition of the next bishop Munio, who was a violent partisan of Aragon. He made determined efforts to recover his authority, without success, the intercession even of St. Bernard availing him nothing. Meanwhile a certain count, Don Pedro Lope, who appears to have been all-powerful in the town, shut the gates against the canonical bishop, Berengario, who succeeded at last in taking possession of his see only by the direct intervention of the king in 1135, after a lapse of four years. The rebellious temperament of the Salamancans thus early manifested itself. A year or two later it was to cost them very dear. Scorning the leadership of any count or chief, the townsmen made repeated forays into Estremadura in search of glory and plunder. Returning laden with booty, they were met by a powerful Moorish army. The Mohammedan commander demanded a parley with their leader. The Salamancans replied that each man was his leader, whereupon the Moor thanked God for the folly of his adversaries. An engagement ensued, which might be better described as a massacre than as a battle, and but few returned to Salamanca to tell of the fate of their comrades. The bitter lesson was repeated thrice in after years before the insensate citizens were sufficiently humbled to appeal to the king for assistance. He sent them as commander a famous warrior, Don Ponce Vigil de Cabrera, who was received in sorely tried Salamanca with much enthusiasm. The indomitable spirit of the citizens under able captainship achieved wonders. The castle of Albalat was taken and razed to the ground, and the whole district of Ciudad Rodrigo subjugated. Alfonso VII. in 1147, as a mark of favour, empowered the Alcaldes to build or to rebuild the city wall, and to encircle the suburbs with another. Yet in 1170 we find the Salamancans allied with the people of Avila in arms against Fernando II., King of Leon. They regarded the founding of Ciudad Rodrigo as an encroachment on their privileges, and elected one Nuño Serrano as their king. On the field of Valmuza they gave battle to the king. Consulting the direction of the wind, they set fire to the brushwood, hoping that the smoke would be driven in the faces of their opponents. The wind suddenly changed, however, to the utter discomfiture of the rebels. The luckless Nuño was captured and burnt alive, and haughty Salamanca lay at the feet of the conqueror.