Ordoño III (–956) was the

King of León In the reign of Ordoño I of Asturias (850–866), the kingdom began to be known as that of León. In 910, an independent Kingdom of León was founded when the king of Asturias divided his territory amongst his three sons. Below follows a ...

from 951 to 956, son and successor of Ramiro II (931–951). He confronted Navarre and Castile, who supported his half-brother

Sancho the Fat The name Sancho is an Iberian name of Basque origin (Santxo, Santzo, Santso, Antzo, Sans). Sancho stems from the Latin name Sanctius.Eichler, Ernst; Hilty, Gerold; Löffler, Heinrich; Steger, Hugo; Zgusta, Ladislav: ''Namenforschung/Name Studies/ ...

in disputing Ordoño's claim to the throne. He also had to deal with internal rebellion, attacks from the Muslims of

al-Andalus Al-Andalus translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label= Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, al-Ándalus () was the M ...

, and the rebellion of Galicia. In response to the Muslims, Ordoño III led a raid as far as Lisbon (955), coming back north with a very lucrative haul of loot. Faced with this great show of force, Abd-al-Rahman III (912–961) was pushed to negotiate and conclude a peace treaty with the king of León. He tried to continue the actions of his father in fortifying the land and the royal authority in the face of the contumacious and secessional

Fernán González of Castile Fernán González (died 970) was the first autonomous count of Castile. Fernán González was a colourful character of legendary status in Iberia, and founder of the dynasty that would rule a semi-autonomous Castile, laying the foundations for it ...

. He even married Fernán's daughter

Urraca Urraca (also spelled ''Hurraca'', ''Urracha'' and ''Hurracka'' in medieval Latin) is a female first name. In Spanish, the name means magpie, derived perhaps from Latin ''furax'', meaning "thievish", in reference to the magpie's tendency to collec ...

and later repudiated her over her father's alliance with Sancho. Urraca bore him at least two children: a son named Ordoño who died young and a daughter named Theresa who became a nun. Ordoño III was also father of Bermudo II, but opinion is divided as to whether he was son of Urraca, or of a mistress, one of the daughters of Count Pelayo Gonzalez. Ordoño III died at Zamora in 956.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ordono 03 of Leon 920s births 956 deaths Year of birth uncertain 10th-century Leonese monarchs Beni Alfons Burials in the Royal Pantheon at the Basilica of San Isidoro