The Iberian Crusades VII: Kingdom of León
The Kingdom of Leon was one of the Iberian kingdoms that arose during the period of the Christian reconquest and was independent during three periods:
- 910 to 1037 (under the dominion of the house of Leonesa),
- 1065 to 1072 (under the rule of the house of Navarre)
- 1157 to 1230 (under the domain of the house of Burgundy)
With the division of the Kingdom of Asturias by the children of King Afonso III, the Great past chapter. Garcia stayed with the Kingdom of León, Ordonho with Galicia and Fruela with Asturias.
Eventually, Galicia and Asturias ended up becoming integral parts of the kingdom of León, given the death without descendants of their sovereigns, with King Fruela controlling the entire vast area of the Christian North-West (Galicia, Asturias, Portuscalle).
Christian kingdoms around 1030
The kingdom would end in 1037 when King Bermudo III was defeated and killed by Fernando I of Castile, who had legitimate pretensions to the throne of León since it was married to the sister of Bermudo, the queen Sancha. The kingdom of Léon was then integrated into the double crown of León and Castile, led by Fernando Magno.
The second creation of the kingdom of León took place with the death of Fernando Magno in 1065 and the division of his territories between his sons.
- Sancho received Castille;
- Afonso received León;
- Garcia received Galicia.
What followed was fighting between the 3 brothers and Afonso VI of Leon was able to dominate Castile and Galicia, and proclaimed himself emperor of all Spain (Imperator totus Hispaniae). León was the major Kingdom among the nations that made up Afonso VI state, and the capital of the kingdom was based in the old city of León.
Afonso VI (1047-1109)
The Imperator totus Hispaniae continued in the reigns of his daughter Urraca and his grandson Afonso VII.
After Afonso VII death (1157), Leon gained again, for a brief period, his independence. The extensive territories that made up his state were divided between his sons Sancho who received Castile, and Fernando who received the lands of Galicia and Leon.
The kingdom of Leon would end in 1230, when Ferdinand III of Castile, son of Alfonso IX of León through his marriage to Berengaria of Castile, appropriated the throne, according to the testamentary dispositions of the father, to his half sisters and legitimate heiresses, the queens Sancha and Dulce. But with the help of Mother Berengaria and the mother of the heirs, Queen Teresa Sanches of Portugal, the two crowns were definitively unified, and Castile became dominant in all the states of the peninsular center - the capital would henceforth be in Toledo, the old Gothic capital, and not in Leon.
In next chapters, we will look more in detail into Fernando Magno rule, the birth of Portugal and more stories from the Muslim side of the Iberian Peninsula!
Check out past chapters:
The Iberian Crusade: Prologue
The Iberian Crusades: I
The Iberian Crusades: II
The Iberian Crusades: III
The Iberian Crusades: IV
The Iberian Crusades: V
The Iberian Crusades: VI
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