Nuño Rasura was one of two legendary judges of Castile, the other being his son-in-law Laín Calvo. According to the '' Mocedades de Rodrigo'', Nuño gained the nickname "Rasura" because "he took from Castile equal measures of wheat" to offer as a gift to Church of Saint James. English medievalist Richard A. Fletcher writes that "the legend of the judges has more to tell us of the Castilians' self-image at a later date than of the realities of the ninth century: they liked to think of themselves as sturdy, independent, resourceful, democratic." The twelfth-century '' Liber regum'' and the ''

Poema de Fernán González The ''Poema de Fernán González'' is a Castilian epic poem, specifically, a '' cantar de gesta'' of the Mester de Clerecía. Composed in a metre called the '' cuaderna vía'', it narrates the deeds of the historical Count of Castile, Fernán ...

'' report that at the end of the ninth century reign of

Alfonso II of Asturias Alfonso II of Kingdom of Asturias, Asturias (842), nicknamed the Chaste (), was the king of Asturias during two different periods: first in the year 783 and later from 791 until his death in 842. Upon his death, Nepotian of Asturias, Nepotian ...

(died 842), two judges were named to administer and defend the newly repopulating region that would become Castile. Nuño and Laín are described by the ''Poema'' as ancestors, respectively, of Castilian heroes

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 i ...

and

El Cid Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar ( – 10 July 1099) was a Castilian knight and ruler in medieval Spain. Fighting both with Christian and Muslim armies during his lifetime, he earned the Arabic honorific ("the Lord" or "the Master"), which would evolve i ...

. The fullest account of the judges is given in

Lucas de Tuy Lucas de Tui (or O Tudense) (died 1249) was a Leonese cleric and intellectual, remembered best as a historian. He was Bishop of Tuy from 1239 until his death. Born in León, Lucas was a canon of San Isidoro there between 1221 and 1239. While a ...

(writing ''c''.1236), who makes Nuño Rasura come from

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

. A prudent man, he convinced all the nobles of Castile to send him their sons that he might educate them. He ruled as far as the river

Pisuerga The Pisuerga is a river in northern Spain, the Duero's second largest tributary. It rises in the Cantabrian Mountains in the province of Palencia, autonomous region of Castile and León. Its traditional source is called Fuente Cobre, but it has ...

. His supposed son, Gonzalo Núñez, was elected to succeed him on his death, and was given the title count. He is said to have married Jimena, daughter of Nuño Fernández, and to have been by her the father of Fernán González. Gonzalo was a just man and a good soldier, who waged many wars with the "tyrannical" Kings of León and 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 ...

.Lucas's account of Nuño's reign is translated into Spanish in Gonzalo Martínez Díez (2005), ''El condado de Castilla, 711–1038: La historia frente a la leyenda'' (Marcial Pons Historia), 284. It has been suggested that Nuño Rasura is to be identified with a historical Munio Núñez (named as Nuño Núñez in older histories), the early ninth century ''repoblador'' who along with wife Argilo in 824 granted certain ''

fuero (), (), (), () or () is a Spanish legal term and concept. The word comes from Latin , an open space used as a market, tribunal and meeting place. The same Latin root is the origin of the French terms and , and the Portuguese terms and ...

s'' (charters of privileges) to the village of Brañosera. These grants were confirmed by the later Counts of Castile, the claimed descendants of Rasura. Munio and Argilo are thought to have been grandparents (or more distant ancestors) of Castilian counts

Munio Núñez Munio Núñez, Count of Castile (899– and c. 904–c. 909), was a nobleman who was almost certainly the son of Nuño Muñoz, who would have been the son of Munio Núñez de Brañosera who in 824, with his wife Argilo, granted the '' Carta Pue ...

and Roa, Gonzalo Fernández of Lara and Nuño Fernández of Amaya, as well as of Muniadomna Núñez, queen to

García I of León García I ( – 914) was the King of León from 910 until his death and eldest of three succeeding sons of Alfonso III of Asturias by his wife Jimena. García took part in the government alongside his father until 909. In that year a conspiracy ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuno Rasura Legendary Spanish people Medieval legends