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
The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...
() to assert his standing among the Christian
rulers of Spain. He succeeded his father,
Bermudo II, in 999. His mother
Elvira García and count
Menendo González, who raised him in
Galicia, acted as his co-regents. Upon the count's death in 1008, Alfonso ruled on his own.
Reign
Alfonso began the work of reorganizing the Christian kingdom of the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula after a most disastrous period of civil war and Arab inroads.
Enough is known of him to justify the belief that he had some of the qualities of a soldier and a statesman.
His name and that of his wife are associated with the grant of the first franchises of
León (1017). On Wednesday, 7 August 1028, Alfonso V was killed by an arrow while besieging the Muslim-occupied town of
Viseu
Viseu () is a city and municipality in the Centro Region of Portugal and the capital of the Viseu District, district of the same name, with a population of 100,105 inhabitants in the entire municipality, and center of the Viseu Dão Lafões Interm ...
. King Alfonso was buried next to his first wife Elvira, according to his wishes, at the Church of Saint John the Baptist and San Pelayo which later changed its name to the
Basilica of San Isidoro when the latter
saint's remains were transferred from
Seville
Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...
. The following epitaph was carved on his tomb:
Family
Alfonso first married
Elvira Menéndez in 1013, daughter of his tutor Menendo González at whose house he was raised as a child. They had two children:
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Sancha of León, married
Ferdinand I of León and Castile
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Bermudo III of León
Bermudo III or Vermudo III ( 1015– 4 September 1037) was the king of León from 1028 until his death. He was a son of Alfonso V of León by his first wife Elvira Menéndez (died 1022), Elvira Menéndez, and was the last Astur-Leonese dynasty, s ...
(–1037)
After Elvira's death on 2 December 1022, Alfonso married
Urraca Garcés, sister of King
Sancho III of Pamplona
Sancho Garcés III ( 992–996 – 18 October 1035), also known as Sancho the Great (, ), was the Kingdom of Pamplona, King of Pamplona from 1004 until his death in 1035. He also ruled the County of Aragon and by marriage the counties of County o ...
. Before this marriage took place, the king of Pamplona had sent Ponce, abbot at the Monastery of San Pedro de Tavèrnoles, later
bishop of Oviedo, and a nobleman named Garcia, to intercede before
Abbot Oliba, bishop of
Vic, in favor of the marriage of his sister Urraca to the king of León, despite the impediments of consanguinity. Although Bishop Oliba did not authorize the marriage, describing it as ''incesti connubii'' in a letter dated 11 May 1023, the royal wedding was celebrated between the date of the bishop's letter and 13 November 1023 when Alfonso V and his new wife, who confirms as ''Urraka regina'', appear together for the first time in a charter in the
Cathedral of León.
Urraca and her mother
Jimena Fernández made a donation on 26 September 1028 to the
Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela
The Santiago de Compostela Archcathedral Basilica (Spanish language, Spanish and Galician language, Galician: ) is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela, Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela and is an inte ...
confirming as ''Scemena regina simulque et filia mea Urraca Regina (...) genitoris nostri Fredenandus Ueremudiz et domna Geloria'', and a few years later, King Bermudo III on 6 August 1031 referred to his step-mother as ''Urraca regina Garseani regis filia''.
Alfonso and Urraca had one daughter, who was named
Jimena as attested in a charter dated 22 December 1036 in a donation made by Muniadona and her son Fernando Gundemáriz, son of
Gundemaro Pinióliz, whom she confirms as Jimena, daughter of King Alfonso.
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Alfonso 05 Of Leon
11th-century Leonese monarchs
10th-century Leonese monarchs
Monarchs killed in action
Spanish military personnel killed in action
Medieval child monarchs
990s births
1028 deaths
Burials in the Royal Pantheon at the Basilica of San Isidoro
Deaths by arrow wounds
Astur-Leonese dynasty