Mauregatus the Usurper () was the king of Asturias from 783 to 788 or 789. He was an illegitimate son of Alfonso I, supposedly by a

Moorish The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or s ...

serf. He usurped the throne on the death of

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 use ...

, the husband of his half sister Adosinda and earning himself the nickname of the Usurper.

The British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docume ...

, ''Mauregatus of Asturias'' The nobility had elected Alfonso II at Adosinda's insistence, but Mauregatus assembled a large army of supporters and forced Alfonso into

Álava Álava ( in Spanish) or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a Provinces of Spain, province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, heir of the ancient Basque señoríos#Lords of Álav ...

. Nothing is known in detail of his reign. The adoptionist dispute was raging between

Elipandus Elipandus (717–805) was a Spanish theologian and the archbishop of Toledo from 782. He was condemned by the Catholic Church as an Adoptionist. Six letters written by Elipandus survive, including one to Migetius and another on behalf of the b ...

, Archbishop of Toledo, and Beatus of Liébana and even occasioned the intervention of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first E ...

. Mauregatus also sent back an invading Muslim force. During his reign a hymn to

Saint James Saint James or St. James may refer to: People Saints * James, brother of Jesus (died 62 or 69), also known as James the Just *James the Great (died 44), Apostle, also known as James, son of Zebedee, or Saint James the Greater ** Saint James Matamo ...

was composed with an

acrostic An acrostic is a poem or other word composition in which the ''first'' letter (or syllable, or word) of each new line (or paragraph, or other recurring feature in the text) spells out a word, message or the alphabet. The term comes from the F ...

mentioning the king's name. This is considered to presage the legend of the saint's burial at Santiago de Compostela.

References

789 deaths Beni Alfons Year of birth unknown Illegitimate children of Spanish monarchs 8th-century Asturian monarchs {{Europe-royal-stub