Aurelius ( es, Aurelio) (c. 740 – 774) was the

King of Asturias This is a list of the rulers of the Kingdom of Asturias, a kingdom in the Iberian peninsula during the Early Middle Ages. It originated as a refuge for Visigothic nobles following the conquest of Iberia by the Umayyad Caliphate. Following the for ...

from 768 to his death. Born in León, he was the son of Fruela of Cantabria (son of

Peter of Cantabria Peter ( la, Petrus, es, Pedro; died 730) was the Duke of Cantabria. While various writers have attempted to name his parentage, (for example, making him son or brother of King Erwig), early sources say nothing more specific than the chronicle of ...

); nephew of

Alfonso I of Asturias Alfonso I of Asturias, called the Catholic (''el Católico''), (c. 693 – 757) was the third King of Asturias, reigning from 739 to his death in 757. His reign saw an extension of the Christian domain of Asturias, reconquering Galicia and Le ...

; and a cousin of his predecessor, Fruela the Cruel. His brother, Bermudo I, later reigned as king 789 – 791. Aurelius was chosen as king by the Asturian

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...

after Fruela assassinated his brother and was in turn assassinated. He is believed to have been crowned in Sama. His seems to have been a relatively quiet and peaceful reign, attested by the near-absence of mention of his reign in the medieval chronicles. The only event of his reign narrated in the chronicles was a rebellion of serfs, which Aurelius put down. The location of the uprising is unknown, but it is the first recorded instance of anti- seignorial revolt in the history of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

. It is believed that, according to the custom of the times, he negotiated peace with the Muslims who dominated the lands to his south by an exchange of brides, which according to legend led to the place-name ''

El Entrego L'Entregu ( es, El Entrego, "the Hand-over") is a town and urban center in San Martín del Rey Aurelio, Asturias, Spain. In September 2007, by a decree of the Principality of Asturias, L'Entregu joined the adjacent Sotrondio and Blimea to form a ...

'', nowadays the heart of the municipality of San Martín del Rey Aurelio. It would appear that his principal residence and the effective capital of Asturias during his reign was the municipality of San Martín del Rey Aurelio, then part of

Langreo Langreo (; ast, Llangréu) is a municipality and town in northern Spain, in Asturias. It is the 4th largest town of Asturias with 43,000 inhabitants. Langreo is located in the centre of Asturias, approximately south-east of Oviedo. It was an im ...

. Having reigned six years, Aurelius died there of natural causes in the year 774. The chronicles of the era make no mention of Aurelius having a wife or children. He was succeeded by his cousin-in-law,

Silo A silo (from the Greek σιρός – ''siros'', "pit for holding grain") is a structure for storing bulk materials. Silos are used in agriculture to store fermented feed known as silage, not to be confused with a grain bin, which is used t ...

, husband of Alfonso I's daughter

Adosinda Adosinda was the queen of Asturias during the reign of her husband, Silo, from 774 to 783. She was a daughter of Alfonso I and Ermesinda, daughter of the first Asturian king, Pelayo. She was a sister of Fruela I. Her husband probably succeede ...

Burial place

Historians disagree about the disposition of Aurelius's remains. The medieval Asturian Chronicles disagree with one another. Some say that he was entombed near where he lived in the Valley of Langreo, in the Church of San Martín de Tours in San Martín del Rey Aurelio, where there is a tomb engraved "Rey Aurelio". The ''

Estoria de España The ''Estoria de España'' ("History of Spain"), also known in the 1906 edition of Ramón Menéndez Pidal as the ''Primera Crónica General'' ("First General Chronicle"), is a history book written on the initiative of Alfonso X of Castile ''"El S ...

'' or ''Primera Crónica General'', written in the 13th century during the reign of

Alfonso X of Castile Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, es, el Sabio; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 30 May 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Germ ...

, says that Aurelius' remains were entombed in the municipality of Cangas de Onís. Nonetheless, historian Esteban de Garibay states that Aurelius was entombed next to his father Fruela of Cantabria, in the no-longer-existent church of San Miguel in Yanguas, a municipality of the

Province of Soria Soria is a province of central Spain, in the eastern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. Most of the province is in the mountainous Sistema Ibérico area. Demographics It is bordered by the provinces of La Rioja, Zaragoza, ...

Notes

References

* ''Gran Enciclopedia Asturiana'' (1981) Editor: Silverio Cañada {{DEFAULTSORT:Aurelius of Asturias 8th-century Asturian monarchs Beni Alfons 740s births Year of birth uncertain 774 deaths Burials in Spain