Elvira Menéndez (

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

and Galician: ; 2 December 1022) was a queen consort of Leon by marriage to King Alfonso V.

Life

She was a member of the highest ranks of the nobility of Portugal and Galicia as the daughter of count

Menendo González Menendo González (Portuguese and Galician: ''Mendo Gonçalves''; died 6 October 1008) was a semi-autonomous Duke of Galicia and Count of Portugal (997–1008), a dominant figure in the Kingdom of León. He was the royal ''alférez'', the king's ...

, Count of Portucale and his wife Toda (also known as Tutadomna, Tota). She became Queen of León as the wife of King Alfonso V with whom she was raised as a child. Her father, Menendo, was a member of the curia regis of King

Bermudo II of León Bermudo (or Vermudo) II (c. 953 – September 999), called the Gouty ( es, el Gotoso), was first a rival king in Galicia (982–984) and then king of the entire Kingdom of León (984–999). His reign is summed up by Justo Pérez de Urbel's desc ...

and the tutor and co-

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

, jointly with Queen Elvira Garcia, of ''Infante'' Alfonso, who later ruled as

Alfonso V of León Alfonso V (c. 9947 August 1028), called the Noble, was King of León from 999 to 1028. Like other kings of León, he used the title emperor () to assert his standing among the Christian rulers of Spain. He succeeded his father, Bermudo II, in 99 ...

. Queen Elvira died on 2 December 1022 and was buried in the Royal Pantheon of the

Basilica of San Isidoro In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name t ...

in León.

Issue

Elvira had two children with Alfonso V whom she married in 1013: * Bermudo III of León, killed in 1037 in the

Battle of Tamarón The Battle of Tamarón took place on 4 September 1037 between Ferdinand, Count of Castile, and Vermudo III, King of León. Ferdinand, who had married Vermudo's sister Sancha, defeated and killed his brother-in-law near Tamarón, Spain, after ...

by count Ferdinand who was married to Sancha, Bermudo's sister; *

Sancha of León Sancha of León (8 November 1067) was a princess and queen of León. She was married to Ferdinand I, the Count of Castile who later became King of León after having killed Sancha's brother in battle. She and her husband commissioned the Crucif ...

, queen of León and the wife of Ferdinand I.

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Elvira Menendez (died 1022) Beni Alfons Leonese queen consorts Galician queens consort 11th-century Spanish women 11th-century Portuguese people 11th-century people from the Kingdom of León 11th-century Portuguese women 990s births 1022 deaths Burials in the Royal Pantheon at the Basilica of San Isidoro