King of León Alfonso V of León

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 37405

Notes:

Alfonso V (994-1028), called the Noble, was King of León from 999 to 1028. He was the son of Bermudo II by his second wife Elvira García of Castile. The Abbot Oliva called him "Emperor of Spain".

Because of his youth at his father's death, his mother acted as a regent. She retired in 1007 and became a nun. He began the work of reorganizing the Christian kingdom of the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula after a most disastrous period of civil war and Arab inroads. Enough is known of him to justify the belief that he had some of the qualities of a soldier and a statesman.

His name, and that of his wife Elvira Mendes (sometimes Geloria Mendes), are associated with the grant of the first franchises of León (1017). He was killed by an arrow while besieging the town of Viseu in northern Portugal, then held by the Muslims.

Alfonso — Elvira Mendes. Elvira (daughter of Menendo González and Todadomna) was born 996; died 20 Dec 1022. [Group Sheet]

1. Sancha of León was born 1013; died 27 Nov 1067.
2. Bermudo III of León was born Abt 1015; died 4 Sep 1037.

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 37406

Notes:

Bermudo (or Vermudo) II (956-999), called the Gouty (Spanish: el Gotoso), was the King of Galicia (982-999) and León (984-999). His reign is summed up by Justo Pérez de Urbel's description of him as "el pobre rey atormentado en la vida por la espada de Almanzor y en muerte por la pluma vengadora de un obispo" (the poor king tormented in life by the sword of Almanzor and in death by the vengeful pen of a bishop).

A son of Ordoño III, he was raised by the nobility against the king Ramiro III, a son of Sancho I, in Galicia and Portugal in 982. This usurpation is usually seen in the context of ongoing succession crises since the 950s. When Bermudo succeeded to the throne the two parties were led by Gonzalo Menéndez-supporter of Bermudo-and Rodrigo Velázquez and his son Pelayo Rodríguez-supporters of Ramiro III. Bermudo was crowned in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela on 15 October 982. Opposition from Pelayo, then bishop of Santiago, and by Arias Peláez, Bishop of Mondoñedo, may have caused their exile, to Celanova and San Martín de Lalín respectively, at this same time.

Because his support was limited and regional Bermudo required the protection of the Caliphate of Córdoba. There was much unrest in Castile in his early years and the Cordoban armies of Almanzor came, not as allies, but as conquerors. Between November 991 and September 992 Vermudo was expelled from the kingdom by a revolt led by the magnates Gonzalo Vermúdez, Munio Fernández, and count Pelayo Rodríguez. He was soon restored and reconciled to the discontents. On 8 August 994 Bermudo gave the village of Veiga to the monastery of Celanova, the village having been built by Suario Gundemárez on land illegally appropriated from the monastery. Suario took refuge there during his later rebellion. On 23 August that year the village of Morella was granted to abbot Salvato of Celanova after it was confiscated because the murder of Fortún Velázquez had taken place there.

Bermudo eventually succeeded in recovering Zamora from the Muslims, but did not succeed in expelling them totally until 987. This brought on the reprisals of Almanzor, who set out to destroy Coimbra. After the latter besieged and razed the city of León, Bermudo took refuge in Zamora. The Muslims continued their conquests, taking Astorga (996) and sacking Santiago de Compostela (997).

In 999, the gout from which he suffered was aggravated and it became impossible for him to ride a horse. Military leader of Christians of northwestern Spain, he subsequently travelled by litter. Later that same year he died in Villanueva del Bierzo and was buried in the Monastery of Carracedo. Later, his remains were transferred to the Cathedral of León.

By his first wife, Velasquita Ramírez, he left a daughter, Cristina, who married Ordoño Ramírez, son of his rival Ramiro III. Vermudo married secondly Elvira García, daughter of the Castilian count García Fernández, with whom he had three children: Alfonso, who succeeded him; Theresa; and Sancha. He also had three bastards: Elvira, Pelayo, and Ordoño, who married Fronilde, daughter of the aforementioned count Pelayo.

Bermudo — Elvira García of Castile. Elvira (daughter of García Fernández of Castile and Ava De Ribagorza) was born 965; died 1017. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 37413

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 37407

Notes:

Ordoño III (c. 926 - 956) was the King of León from 951 to 956, son and successor of Ramiro II (931-951).[1] He confronted Navarre and Castile, who supported his half-brother Sancho the Fat in disputing Ordoño's claim to the throne.

He also had to deal with internal rebellion, attacks from the Moors of al-Andalus, and the rebellion of Galicia. In response to the Muslims, Ordoño III sent troops as far as Lisbon (955). Before this great show of force, the Muslims had nothing to do but ask for peace. Negotiations ended with a treaty between the king of León and the caliph of Córdoba Abd al-Rahman III (912-961).

He tried to continue the actions of his father in fortifying the land and the royal authority in the face of the contumacious and secessional Fernán González of Castile. He even married Fernán's daughter Urraca and later repudiated her over her father's alliance with Sancho.
Urraca bore him at least two children: a son named Ordoño who died young and a daughter named Theresa who became a nun. Ordoño III was also father of Bermudo II, but opinion is divided as to whether he was son of Urraca, or of a mistress, one of the daughters of Count Pelayo Gonzalez.

Ordoño III died at Zamora in 956.

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 37400

Notes:

García Fernández, called of the White Hands (Spanish: Él de las Manos Blancas) (Burgos, 938 - Córdoba, 995), was the count of Castile and Alava from 970 to 995.

The son of Count Fernán González, he continued to recognise the suzerainty of the Kingdom of León, even though he was practically autonomous. In order to expand his frontiers at the expense of the Moors, in 974 he expanded the social base of the nobility by promulgating decrees stating that any villein of Castrojeriz who equipped a knight for battle would enter the ranks of the nobility. He was succeeded by his son, Sancho I of Castile.

García — Ava De Ribagorza. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 37414

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 37408

Notes:

Ramiro II (c. 900-1 January 951), son of Ordoño II, was King of León from 931 until his death. Initially titular king only of a lesser part of Asturias, he gained the crown of León (and with it, Galicia) after his brother Alfonso IV abdicated in 931. The scant Anales castellanos primeros are a primary source for his reign.

Ramiro was the creator of a Navarrese/Leonese coalition that defeated the Muslims in the Battle of Simancas (939). This victory allowed the advance of the Leonine border of the Duero to the Tormes.

In the last years of his reign he could not avoid Castilian independence under the direction of Fernán González of Castile, but still in 950 he launched an expedition to the valley of the Edge and defeated the Muslims at Talavera.

He married twice, first to Adosinda Gutierrez, Ramiro's first cousin, being daughter of Gutier Osoriz and Ildonzia Menendez, niece of Ramiro's mother, queen Elvira Menendez and cousin of San Rosendo. By her had sons Bermudo and Ordoño III, and presumably daughter Teresa, wife of García Sánchez I of Pamplona. He subsequently married Urraca, sister of García, having Sancho I and Elvira.

He figures prominently in the romantic poem, the Miragaia, which tells the apocryphal story of Ramiro bedding Ortega, the daughter of a local Arab lord. By her he is given a son Alboazar, the progenitor of the Galician/Portuguese Maya family.[1] This Maya tradition was subsequently linked to another legend, that told in the Cantar de los Siete Infantes de Lara by giving Ramiro and Ortega (sometimes called Ortigueda) a daughter Ortega Ramírez, who is made to marry Gustios Gonzalez, grandfather of the legendary hero Mudarra Gonzalez de Lara. Subsequent elaboration of this legend gave further supposed descendants, but none of these Lara connections are accepted by modern scholars.

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 37401

Notes:

Fernán González (died 970) was the first independent count of Castile, son of Gonzalo Fernández de Burgos, who had been named count of Arlanza and the Duero around the year 900, and by tradition a descendant of semi-legendary judge Nuño Rasura. His mother Muniadona was so well remembered that the later Counts of Castile would sometimes be recorded by Iberian Muslim scholars as Ibn Mama Duna (descendant of Muniadona).

Fernán González was a colourful character of legendary status in Iberia, and founder of the dynasty that would rule a semi-autonomous Castile, laying the foundations for its status as an independent kingdom. In the year 930, Fernán's name appears with the title of count inside the administrative organization of eastern the Kingdom of León.

He grew up in the castle of Lara and inherited his father's title after the capture and death of his uncle, Nuño Fernández.

In 931, Fernán gathered under his control a strong military force composed of troops from the counties of Burgos, Asturias, Santillana, Lantaron, Álava, Castile, and Lara. His military prowess came to prominence in the Battle of Simancas in 939 and then at Sepulveda, where he wrested the region from the Moors and repopulated it. As his power increased, so did his independence from León. During this period he married Sancha, the sister of the king of Navarre, García Sánchez I. Sancha was a daughter of Sancho I of Pamplona, and Toda of Navarre.

After having fought with Ramiro II of León against the Arabs, and after the Battle of Simancas and the retreat of the Muslims, Fernán was dissatisfied because the king of León distributed his troops in the frontier towns and he rose in rebellion against him. He was, however, defeated and made prisoner in 944, which lasted for 3 years until he became reconciled with his sovereign, giving his daughter Urraca in marriage to the king's son, Ordoño, who afterwards became King Ordoño III.

Notwithstanding this alliance, Fernán continued to foment trouble and discord in León. He later aided Sancho I against his brother Ordoño III, and then Ordoño IV, son of Alfonso IV, against Sancho.

Upon the death of Ramiro II of León in 951, the kingdom of León experienced a dynastic crisis that Fernán played out to his advantage.

Initially Fernán supported the demands of Sancho I against his brother Ordoño III, but when Sancho failed, Fernán was forced to recognize Ordoño as king. Ordoño III's early death allowed Fernán to recover his maneuvering capacity, although he abandoned his old ally Sancho, instead supporting his rival Ordoño IV. Shortly after 4 September 959, his wife Sancha of Navarre died, changing the political context, and in 960 Fernán was defeated through Navarrese intervention. He was captured by King García of Navarre, but he recovered his freedom after making various territorial concessions. Prior to 5 May 964 he cemented the new alliance by marrying García's own daughter Urraca, the niece of his first wife. With the kingdom of León weakened and in disorder, Fernán slowly solidified his position as legitimate independent count of Castile.

After his death the county was left to his son García Fernández, while Urraca returned to the Pamplona court before remarrying to William Sancho of Gascony. His remains were buried in the monastery of San Pedro of Arlanza.

His life and feats are recorded in an anonymous poem, The Poem of Fernán González, written between 1250 and 1271 and conserved as an incomplete copy from the fifteenth century.