Matanza de los Oteros is a municipality in the province of

León, Spain León (; ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the province of León, part of the autonomous community of Castile and León, in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. It has a population of 124,303 (2019), ...

. It has an area of 20.69 mi² (53,58 km²) with a population of 179, as of 2017. It is about 28.58 mi (46 km) south of the Leonese capital, León.

Geography

Matanza de los Oteros is roughly 0.51 mi (825 m) above sea level. The hamlet rests on the Leonese cereal plateau in the region of Oteros del Rey. A generally flat land, this plain is only broken up by

hillocks A hillock or knoll is a small hill,The Free Dictionary
"hillock" entry, retrieved December 18, 2007 ...

and

buttes __NOTOC__ In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a French word mea ...

scattered throughout the area. Between these hills are many thalwegs creating small valleys which provide more humid areas between the large plains. The Raneros stream is an important source of water in the area. This is a tributary of the

Cea river The Cea River is a river of northwestern Spain. It is an affluent of the Esla River, and its course runs through the provinces of León, Valladolid and Zamora. It is 157 km long. Its source is in the municipality of Prioro, in León provi ...

and runs through the Toro valley. This municipality is included in the protected areas of the Oteros-Campos ZEPA (Zona de especial protección para las aves; Special Protection Zone for Birds) and the Lagunas de los Oteros LIC (Lugares de importancia comunitaria; Site of Community Importance)

History

The history of this municipality is obscure before the reign of

Alfonso III of Asturias Alfonso III (20 December 910), called the Great ( es, el Magno), was the king of León, Galicia and Asturias from 866 until his death. He was the son and successor of Ordoño I. In later sources he is the earliest to be called "Emperor of Spai ...

. During his reign, this area was repopulated by

Asturians Asturians ( ast, asturianos) are a Celtic-Romance ethnic group native to the autonomous community of Asturias, in the North-West of the Iberian Peninsula. Culture and society Heritage Asturians are directly descended from the Astures, who wer ...

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...

, and

Mozarabs The Mozarabs ( es, mozárabes ; pt, moçárabes ; ca, mossàrabs ; from ar, مستعرب, musta‘rab, lit=Arabized) is a modern historical term for the Iberian Christians, including Christianized Iberian Jews, who lived under Muslim rule in A ...

alike.The etymology of the site originates from an alleged battle that took place in the area. In 878, the Emir of Córdoba, Muhammad I, raised an army to invade the

Kingdom of León The Kingdom of León; es, Reino de León; gl, Reino de León; pt, Reino de Leão; la, Regnum Legionense; mwl, Reino de Lhion was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in 910 when t ...

. Alfonso III met him in battle in what is today known as

Santa Cristina de la Polvorosa Santa Cristina de la Polvorosa is a municipality located in the province of Zamora, Castile and León, Spain. References Municipalities of the Province of Zamora {{Zamora-geo-stub ...

where Muhammad I was defeated. The Cordoban army went into a rout and the victorious Asturians gave chase; the ensuing massacre was so great that the plain was named the Slaughter of the Hills (Matanza de los Oteros). Scholars are dubious of this claim, noting that it may simply be a corruption of the name ''mata ancha'' (broad bushes) into ''matanza'' (slaughter).

References

Municipalities in the Province of León {{León-geo-stub