Alfonso III of Asturias

Alfonso III of Asturias, called “the Great” (c. 852-Zamora, December 20, 910), was king of Asturias from 866 until shortly before his death, which occurred in 910. Son and successor of Ordoño I and his wife, Queen Nuña, Alfonso III was the last Asturian king, or the first of León, since he lived in this city for long periods of time, and there he had its Governing Council and Court of Justice.

Since his rise to power, he had to face a series of internal problems: noble revolts, attempts at rebellion within the dynasty itself, such as the case of his brother, the infante Bermudo Ordóñez. He carried out a strong repopulation activity, welcoming an important Mozarabic immigration, and consolidated the Duero as the southern border of the kingdom, around the strongholds of Toro and Zamora. He fought vigorously against the Muslims, whom he defeated at Polvoraria. He rejected the jihad of the Umayyad rebel Ibn al-Qitt and made a pact with Ibn Marwan al-Yalliqi, Vali of Mérida.

He married Jimena Garcés between May and December 873, whose lineage is still disputed, although she was probably the daughter of García Íñiguez of Pamplona. From this marriage were born the first three kings of Leon, García, Ordoño and Fruela, that already during his father's lifetime they governed the central-eastern border (the future Castilla), Galicia and Portugal, and Asturias, respectively.

King Alfonso III of Asturias initiated the imperial idea in the IX century. In 867 he confirms as Adefonsus totius Hispaniae imperator . In 877 he appears as Adefonsus Hispaniae imperator and in 906 as Adefonsus... Hispaniae rex . Several of his descendants also adopted the imperial title.

His last years of reign are dark. For unknown reasons, his eldest son Garcia tried to overthrow him, which he finally achieved with the help of his brothers. Alfonso III abdicated, although he retained the royal title, and died in Zamora, apparently after undertaking one last foray into Muslim territory.

Biographical sketch

Early Years

His youth is unknown. He was associated to the throne in 853 and dealt with the government of Galicia. When his father died, he had to face Fruela Bermúdez, Count of Lugo, who was disputing the crown; It even seems that he came to usurp the throne, Alfonso taking refuge in Álava. It must be taken into account that until recently the monarchy had been elective and there would still be those who rejected the dynastic succession. However, a year later Alfonso III recovered the crown thanks to the help of Count Rodrigo de Castilla, who confronted the supporters of Fruela in 866. According to Sampiro's chronicle, the Oviedo magnates killed the rebel Count Fruela and Alfonso "was peacefully recognized by all as the successor of his father Ordoño I."

In the reconquest

Miniature of King Alfonso in the Tumbo A, preserved in the Library of the Cathedral of Santiago.

The following year, 867, he had to attend an uprising in the eastern part of the kingdom, in Alava, Basques according to the Crónica albeldense, Alava according to the Chronicle of Sampiro who had revolted led by the Count Eylo. Sampiro describes these events thus:

A messenger came from Álava, announcing that his hearts were inflated against the king: he heard what, the monarch set out to march there. Driven by the turkey who brought them their arrival, they quickly recognized their obligations and beggars lowered their heads before him and promised that they would remain faithful to their kingdom and authority, and that they would do whatever was ordained to them. Thus he submitted to his power an Álava lying before him, and Eylo, who presented himself as his count, brought it to Oviedo loaded with irons.

His father, Ordoño, had begun the repopulation of the border territories and Alfonso continued with it. The first successes were reaped in Portuguese lands, where King Alfonso's troops managed to locate the southwestern border on the Mondego River. Count Vimara Pérez in 868 conquered Porto and repopulated the region. In 878, the army of King Alfonso III, with Count Hermenegildo Gutiérrez in command, faced the Muslim forces led by the Emir of Córdoba Mohamed I who had started a attack against Porto. After having defeated the forces of the emir and expelled the Muslim inhabitants of Coimbra and Porto, from both cities the Christian troops, led by Hermenegildo, occupied and repopulated, with men brought from Galicia, other cities such as Braga, Viseo and Lamego. Coimbra, Lamego and Viseo were conquered again in 987 by Almanzor and it was not until 1064 that they were definitively reconquered by King Ferdinand I of León.

Alfonso III had to face the offensives of the Umayyad prince al-Mundir, son of the Cordovan emir Mohamed I. The fighting was almost constant between 875 and 883. The first Umayyad incursions were aimed at León and El Bierzo, but they failed. The Christian counteroffensive resulted in the taking of Deza and Atienza.

Abd al-Rahman Ibn Marwán, the Galician, lord of Mérida and rebel to the emir of Córdoba, sent his minister, Hashim ibn Abd al-Aziz, to ingratiate himself with him. This led to Al-Mundir in 878 directed his hosts again towards León and Astorga, while Salid ben Ganim reached Órbigo. The great king, to avoid the union of both armies, went out to meet the second, whom he defeated in the battle of Polvoraria, at the confluence of the Órbigo and Esla rivers. Al-Mundir then undertook the withdrawal, but Alfonso III intercepted him in the Valdemora valley, where he defeated him. Emir Mohamed was forced to pay a ransom and sign a three-year truce. It was the first time that Córdoba had asked for peace.

Both kings considered the truce a parenthesis, preparing for the next assault: Mohamed assembled a fleet to attack Galicia by sea, but it was shattered by a storm. Alfonso and Ibn Marwán descended the Tagus valley and beat the army Cordoba on Mount Oxifer, next to the Guadiana River.

In retaliation, Mohamed attacked the kingdom of Zaragoza in 882, where Alfonso had sent his son Ordoño to be educated with the Banu Qasi, sons of Musa, advancing along the old Roman road to León. There was an exchange of prisoners and the Cordovans withdrew. They repeated the campaign in 883 with the same result. In 884 Mohamed I and Alfonso III signed peace, as both began to have serious internal problems. The great king encountered an uprising led by his brothers Fruela, Odoario and Bermudo, who became strong in Astorga, supported by several counts, but were quickly defeated and executed.

Church of San Salvador de Valdedios, founded by King Alfonso III

In 901 the Umayyad rebel Ibn al-Qitt, proclaimed Mahdi, preached holy war and attacked Zamora —“rebuilt and repopulated by Mozarabs from Toledo [...] the most important outpost of the Asturian kingdom”— which was able to resist. The messianic leader, abandoned by his followers, was defeated and killed in battle on what is known as the Day of Zamora., however, he faced his former allies from Mérida and the Ebro valley: allied with the Count of Pallars, he carried out a coup that managed to defeat the Banu Qasi and install a Navarrese, Sancho Garcés I, on the throne of Pamplona.

End of his reign

At the end of his days, his son García revolted, who had married Nuña, daughter of the Count of Castilla Munio Núñez, who was the instigator of the conspiracy against the king. Captured García by his father, his mother-in-law Nuño provoked an uprising aided by Jimena, Ordoño and Fruela. According to the Crónica General de España of Alfonso X the Wise, Queen Jimena «supplied these castles in the lands of León, Alba, Gordón, Arbolio and Luna, and gave them to her by the infant Don García ». The castle of Luna was of singular importance as it housed the royal treasure. Alfonso III, according to Sampiro, was relegated to Boides, a village near San Salvador de Valdediós, then made a pilgrimage to Santiago, carried out a "military expedition authorized by García through the lands of Mérida", and died on December 20, 910 at midnight in Zamora upon his return from the raid, events corroborated in the chronicles of Ibn Hayyan.

From that moment, the kingdom of Asturias, enlarged with extensive territories, saw the capital transferred from Oviedo to León and people began to speak of the kingdom of León and from that moment on, the new sovereigns would be titled reges Legionis, that is, kings of León, with occasional divisions of the Asturian kingdom between Asturias, Galicia and León. With the borders extended to the Duero and Mondego rivers, Mozarabs began to flow. Although the kingdom was divided between his three sons for a few years: for García, León; for Ordoño, Galicia and Portugal; and for Fruela, Asturias.

In the third volume of his work Origins of the Spanish Nation, the historian Claudio Sánchez-Albornoz, a great defender of the great king, summarizes the end of his reign as follows:

At the death of Alfonso III in Zamora, in December of the year 910, two decisive centuries of Spanish history ended. The Asturorum regnum, the kingdom of the astures had fulfilled its historic mission in the forging of Spain and of the Hispanic. Its maximum geographical expansion coincided with its end.

Death and burial

Sarcophagus of Astorga, which contained the remains of Alfonso III the Magnus. National Archaeological Museum. Madrid.

Alfonso III died in the city of Zamora on December 20, 910 at midnight. His body was taken to the city of Astorga and buried in the cathedral of that city, where his wife, the wife, would later be buried. Queen Jimena de Asturias who died two years later in 912. Her remains were deposited in the Astorga sarcophagus, found in the Leonese municipality of San Justo de la Vega, and which since 1869 has been on display at the National Archaeological Museum, located in Madrid.

Later, in the year 986, the remains of Alfonso III and those of his wife were transferred, by order of King Bermudo II of León, to the city of Oviedo, as the Leonese monarch feared that the mortal remains of both would be desecrated by the Muslim troops led by Almanzor, who at that time were advancing towards the kingdom of León, being deposited in the pantheon of kings in the chapel of Nuestra Señora del Rey Casto in the cathedral of Oviedo, where numerous members of the Asturian royalty.

Marriage and offspring

Registration of the year 875 in the fortress of Alfonso III

He married Jimena de Asturias, whose affiliation is not confirmed, although some historians consider that she was the daughter of King García Íñiguez of Pamplona and sister of King Fortún Garcés. The wedding would have taken place between May 28 and May 20. December 873. In 874 both signed the donation of a gold cross to the church of Santiago.

Fruit of their marriage were born:

• García I de León (875-914), the firstborn, king of Leon.
• Ordoño II de León (876-924). King of Galicia and later Leon after inheriting the Lioness throne to the death of his older brother.
• Fruela II de León (c. 877-925). King of Asturias and later Leon.
• Gonzalo (m. v. 920). He confirmed in numerous privileges of the time, emitted by his parents and brothers, and was arcedian of Oviedo Cathedral. Some authors point out that he would probably be buried in the pantheon of kings of Oviedo Cathedral.
• Ramiro (m. 929). He could have inherited the throne of the kingdom of Asturias when his brother Fruela succeeded the brother of both, Ordoño II, in the Leonian kingdom. According to Jaime de Salazar and Acha, she may have married Queen Urraca, the widow of her brother Fruela. Manuel Carriedo Tejedo does not share that view and says that this confusion is due to a misinterpretation of Pelayo, bishop of Oviedo. According to the inscription in his tomb in the pantheon of kings of the Cathedral of Oviedo, he died on March 31, 929.

Culture

Concha or veneration of Santiago.

1. He convened the second Council to ovetate in 893.
2. He managed to elaborate the Cross of Victory, which appears in the current flag of Asturias, becoming a symbol of the Principality. The jewel was made by goldsmiths from the Frank kingdom. It ordered its elaboration in the early 10th century, as a donation to the Cathedral of San Salvador. Today it is kept in the Holy House of Oviedo Cathedral and a hanging copy of the Cangas de Onís bridge
3. The discovery of the tomb of Santiago makes Compostela the second apostolic headquarters after Rome, with authority over clerics of other Christian kingdoms and counties. Santiago becomes the destination of pilgrimsTrue transmitters of culture.
4. With regard to the Asturian art, during the reign of Alfonso III the Magnus is given the so-called "post-military stage" of the Asturian pre-Roman architecture, with buildings of the importance of San Salvador de Valdedios, Santo Adriano de Tuñón and the Basilica of Santiago de Compostela.
5. He ordained the writing of three chronicles in which history remakes presenting the kingdom of Asturias as the heir to the Visigoth kingdom:

• La Albelian Chronicle (c. 881).
• La Prophetic chronicle(c. 883)
• La Chronicle of the Visigoth Kings or Chronicle of Alfonso III (c. 911).