Mumadona Dias, or Muniadomna DÃaz (died 968), was a
Galician noble and
Countess of Portugal, who ruled the county jointly with her husband from about and then on her own after her husband's death around 950 until her death in 968. Celebrated, rich and the most powerful woman in the Northwest of the
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...
, she has been commemorated by several Portuguese cities.
Life
She was one of the three daughters of Count
Diogo Fernandes and of countess Onega (or Onecca) who had been the tutors of the future King
Ramiro II of León
Ramiro II ( 900 – 1 January 951), son of Ordoño II of León, Ordoño II and Elvira Menendez, was a Kingdom of León, King of León from 931 until his death. Initially titular king only of a lesser part of the kingdom, he gained the crown of Le ...
. Between 915 and 920 and, most certainly by 926—the year in which they appear together for the first time when King Ramiro II gave the couple the villa of
Creximir near
Guimarães
Guimarães () is a city and municipality located in northern Portugal, in the district of Braga.
Its historic town centre has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001, in recognition for being an "exceptionally well-preserved ...
— she married Count
Hermenegildo González
Hermenegildo González or Mendo I Gonçalves (died between 943 and 950) was a Galician count in the 10th century Kingdom of León, '' tenente'' in Deza, and the ancestor of one of the most relevant Galaico-Portuguese lineages of the Early Mid ...
.
Hermenegildo died between 943 and 950, and Mumadona governed the county alone after her husband's death. She left it in the ownership of countless domains, in an area that coincided reasonably with zones that would integrate the back counties of
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
and 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 ...
.
Those domains were divided in July 950 among her six children, giving
Gonzalo Menéndez
Gonzalo Menéndez (or Gonçalo Mendes) (''fl''. 950–997) was a Count of Portugal in the Kingdom of León. He regularly carries the title count (''comes''), the highest in the kingdom, in surviving documents. He may have used the title ''ma ...
the county of Portugal. In 950 or 951, with divine inspiration, she founded, on her property in Vimaranes, a monastery under
São Mamede's invocation (
Mosteiro of São Mamede or Mosteiro of Guimarães). Later she professed her vows there. To protect this monastery and its people from
Viking
Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9â ...
raids, she initiated the construction of the
Castle of Guimarães
The Castle of Guimarães () is the principal medieval castle in the concelho, municipality Guimarães, in the Norte Region, Portugal, northern region of Portugal. It was built under the orders of Mumadona Dias in the 10th century to defend the mo ...
, in the shade of which Guimarães' burgh was developed, and due to the constant raids, in 968 she gave this castle to the monastery for its protection. Eventually this became the headquarters of the court of the counts of Portugal.
The testamentary document in which she makes the donation of her domains,
cattle
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...
, incomes, religious objects and books to Guimarães monastery, dated 26 January 959, was important for verifying the existence of several castles and villages in the region.
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dias, Mumadona
Counts of Portugal
People of the Reconquista
10th-century counts of Portugal (Asturias-León)
968 deaths
10th-century births
10th-century countesses regnant