Bermudo Núñez (died 955) was a magnate from León and the first Count of Cea. He appears for the first time in 921 confirming a donation to the Monastery of San Benito in

Sahagún Sahagún () is a town and municipality of Spain, part of the autonomous community of Castile and León and the province of León. It is the main populated place in the Leonese part of the Tierra de Campos natural region. Sahagún contains some ...

from which it can be assumed that he was probably born near the end of the 9th century. A loyal vassal of the Leonese monarchs, he confirmed several royal charters and appears with the title of Count from at least the year 950, governing as a '' tenente'' the Cea region from 939 onwards. He probably played a relevant role in the

Battle of Simancas The Battle of Simancas (also called Alhandega or al-Khandaq) was a military battle that started on 19 July 939 in the Iberian Peninsula between the troops of the King of León Ramiro II and Cordovan caliph Abd al-Rahman III near the walls of ...

and after this victory of the Leonese troops, collaborated with his brother,

Oveco Núñez Oveco Núñez (died 951) was the Bishop of León from 927 until his death. His episcopate coincides with the reign of King Ramiro II (931–51), whose faithful supporter he was. Oveco is sometimes confused with his contemporary bishop of the sam ...

, Bishop of León in the ''

repoblación The ''Repoblación'' (, ; pt, Repovoação, ) was the ninth-century repopulating of a large region between the River Duero and the Cantabrian Mountains, which had been depopulated in the early years of the Reconquista. In the reign of Alfonso ...

'' of

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritag ...

Family origins

Although his filiation has not been confirmed, several hypotheses have been put forward. Medievalist scholar Margarita Torres Sevilla-Quiñones de León believes that he could have been the son of Nuño Ordóñez, a son of King Ordoño I of Asturias and brother of Alfonso III, which, according to the author, would explain the rapid rise of this lineage and its proximity to the

royal house A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in repu ...

. According to another hypothesis, proposed by genealogist Jaime de Salazar y Acha, Bermudo would have been the son of a Nuño Vélaz (or Vela), a son of Vela Jiménez, Count of

Álava Álava ( in Spanish) or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Álava, former medieval Catholic bishopric and now Latin titular see. Its ca ...

, through whom the Vela lineage spread throughout the Kingdom of León which would also explain the

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

se names in subsequent generations. Bishop Oveco Núñez in a charter dated 28 August 945, confirms several donations made by King

Ramiro II of León Ramiro II (c. 900 – 1 January 951), son of Ordoño II and Elvira Menendez, was a King of León from 931 until his death. Initially titular king only of a lesser part of the kingdom, he gained the crown of León (and with it, Galicia) after s ...

to the Monastery of Sahagún, also confirming the charter his brothers Vela, Suero, Munio, Bermudo and Nuño Núñez, followed by some of the children of these brothers, including Fernando Bermúdez, son of Bermudo Núñez. He also had a sister named Gontrodo who married

Ansur Fernández Ansur, Assur, or Asur Fernández (died 947/50) was a powerful Castilian nobleman and military leader in the Kingdom of León during the reign of Ramiro II. He was the first Count of Monzón, probably from before 939, certainly by 943, and he was ...

, Count of Monzón, the parents of Queen

Teresa Ansúrez Teresa Ansúrez (died in 997) was the Queen consort of King Sancho I of León, and because of that, she is also known as Teresa of Leon. She was regent of her son in 975-979. Consort Teresa was a daughter of nobleman Ansur Fernández and Gontr ...

, wife of King

Sancho I of León Sancho I of León, nicknamed Sancho the Fat (c. 932 – 19 December 966) was a king of León twice. He was succeeded in 958 by Ordoño IV and, on his death, by his son Ramiro. Reign He was the son of Ramiro II of León and his second wife ...

Marriage and issue

Count Bermudo Núñez married twice. From his first marriage to Argilo, he was the father of: * Froiloba Bermúdez, the first-born, married Muño Flaínez before 947. *

Fernando Bermúdez Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa, the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka. It is equivalent to the G ...

(died in 978), the second Count of Cea, inherited from his father and from his uncle Bishop Oveco. * Piniolo Bermúdez, who confirms, with his brothers Fernando and Jimena, a donation made by his father on 13 August 949 to the Monastery of Santiago de Valdávida. * Jimena Bermúdez * Vela Bermúdez (died after March 976), the father of Argilo, Nuño, and of Count Bermudo Vela. Between 947 and 949, he married Velasquita, with whom he had two sons: * Álvaro Bermúdez * Oveco Bermúdez

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bermudo Nunez Counts of Spain 9th-century births 950s deaths Year of birth unknown Year of death uncertain 10th-century nobility from the Kingdom of León People of the Reconquista