Elvira Menéndez ( Portuguese and Galician: Elvira Mendes; died between 20 February and 12 October 921) was

Queen consort A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king, and usually shares her spouse's social Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and status. She holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles and may be crowned and anointed, but hi ...

of León due to her marriage with King Ordoño II.

Biography

Elvira was the daughter of Hermenegildo Gutiérrez, a Galician noble, count in Tuy and

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

, who was responsible for the reconquest of

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ), officially the City of Coimbra (), is a city and a concelho, municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2021 census was 140,796, in an area of . The fourth-largest agglomerated urban area in Po ...

, and his wife Ermesenda Gatónez. Around 892, Elvira married ''

Infante Infante (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as "infant" or translated as "prince", is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to the ...

'' Ordoño, the son of King

Alfonso III of Asturias Alfonso III (20 December 910), called the Great (), was king of Asturias from 866 until his death. He was the son and successor of Ordoño I. After his death, the Kingdom of Asturias was split between his sons, with García inheriting León, ...

, who first ruled as King of Galicia and later of León after the death of his brother García I in 914. Elvira confirmed numerous charters with her husband, many of these being privileges and donations to Galician nobles and religious establishments, especially 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 ...

. Elvira died between 20 February and 12 October 921. According to the chronicle of

Sampiro Sampiro (''c''. 956 – 1041) was a Leonese cleric, politician, and intellectual, one of the earliest chroniclers of post-conquest Spain known by name. He was also the Bishop of Astorga from 1034 or 1035 until his death. According to some sour ...

, when King Ordoño received the news of her death upon his return from a successful campaign against the

Moors The term Moor is an Endonym and exonym, exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslims, Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a s ...

in Zamora, "...the pain was as great as the joy for his triumph". She was buried in the Pantheon of Asturian Kings in the Cathedral of San Salvador in

Oviedo Oviedo () or Uviéu (Asturian language, Asturian: ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains th ...

Issue

From her marriage to King Ordoño she had the following children: * Sancho Ordóñez,

King of Galicia Galicia (Spain), Galicia is an autonomous community and historical nationality in modern-day northwestern Spain on the Iberian Peninsula, which was a major part of the Roman province known as Gallaecia prior to 409. It consists of the province ...

; * Alfonso IV,

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 ...

; * Ramiro II, King of León after the abdication of his brother Alfonso; * García Ordóñez (died after 934); * Jimena Ordóñez (died after 935).

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Elvira Menendez 921 deaths Mothers of emperors Year of birth unknown Queens consort of Leon Galician queens consort 10th-century Portuguese people 10th-century Portuguese women 10th-century people from the Kingdom of León 10th-century Spanish women Mothers of Leonese monarchs