Kingdom of León
Kingdom of León Reinu de Llión () | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
910–1833 | |||||||||
Roman Catholic (Official)
Minority Sunni Islam, Judaism | |||||||||
Government | Feudal monarchy | ||||||||
King | |||||||||
• 910–914 | García I (first) | ||||||||
• 1188–1230 | Alfonso IX (last) | ||||||||
Legislature | Cortes of León | ||||||||
Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||
• Established | 910 | ||||||||
• Permanent union of Castile and León | 10 December 1230 | ||||||||
1833 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Today part of | Spain Portugal |
The Kingdom of León[a] was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in 910 when the Christian princes of Asturias along the northern coast of the peninsula shifted their capital from Oviedo to the city of León. The kings of León fought civil wars, wars against neighbouring kingdoms, and campaigns to repel invasions by both the Moors and the Vikings, all in order to protect their kingdom's changing fortunes.
García is the first of the kings described by the charters as reigning in León. It is generally assumed that the old Asturian kingdom was divided among the three sons of Alfonso III of Asturias: García (León), Ordoño (Galicia) and Fruela (Asturias), as all three participated in deposing their father. When García died in 914, León went to Ordoño, who now ruled both León and Galicia as Ordoño II. At Ordoño's death in 924, the throne went to his brother Fruela II (924–925), who died of leprosy a year later. Fruela's death in 925 was followed by a civil war, after which Alfonso, the eldest son of Ordoño II, emerged as the new king Alfonso IV, ruling from 925 to 932. After a further power struggle, Ramiro, the younger brother of Alfonso IV, became king in 932, having captured his brother Alfonso, as well as the three sons of Fruela II – Alfonso, Ordoño and Ramiro. Alfonso IV may have died soon after, but he left two infant sons, called Ordoño and Fruela. When Ramiro died in 951, he left two sons by two different wives. When the elder son Ordoño III, who ruled from 951 to 956, suddenly died aged little more than thirty, he was succeeded by his younger half-brother Sancho I "The Fat" (956–966), as Ordoño had failed to produce a legitimate heir.[2]
Sancho's son
The
Background
The city of
León was a small town during this time, but one of the few former Roman cities in the Kingdom of Asturias which still held significance (the surviving Roman walls bear the medieval walling upon them). During Visigothic times, the city had served as a
History
León was created as a separate kingdom when the Asturian king,
After a few years of civil wars during the reigns of
As the Leonese troops advanced they were followed by a process of
During the early 10th century, León expanded to the south and east, securing territory that became the County of
Viking raids
Sancho I died towards the end of 966 and five year old Ramiro III (966–982) ascended to the throne of León. In the second year of his reign, 968, a Viking fleet of 100 ships landed in Galicia led by king Gunrod.[7][unreliable source?] The Vikings defeated the Galician forces, and killed Sisnando, the bishop of Compostela.[8] The defeat in the Battle of Fornelos left Galicia without an authority capable of facing the Vikings, who for three years camped comfortably, looting different Galician regions. In 971, Gunrod and his Vikings were surprised and defeated by Count Gonzalo Sánchez upon return towards Ría de Ferrol (where they had their stranded ships). The Galician troops captured Gunrod and many of his warriors, executing them all.[9] Sporadic Viking assaults continued in the north of Spain even into the 11th century. In 1008, Galicia and the Douro region were attacked, and in 1014 or 1015 a major raid was launched against the city of Tui at the mouth of the Minho River. The Vikings managed to successfully capture the bishop and many of the town's inhabitants. The Knýtlinga saga and Gesta Danorum describe another big raid after this one, in the year 1028. It was led by Ulv Galiciefarer, who tried to go to the Riá de Arousa area and then became a mercenary for Rodrigo Romániz, but was defeated by the bishop of Compostela. The last recorded raids occurred during the period 1047–1066 when Cresconius, the bishop of Compostela, fought and won several battles against the Vikings.[8]
Peak
The Kingdom of León continued to be the most important of all those of the Iberian Peninsula. However,
Early in its existence, León lay directly to the north of the powerful Caliphate of Córdoba. When internal dissensions divided Al-Andalus' loyalties in the 11th century, leading to the age of smaller Taifa successor states of the Caliphate, the Christian kingdoms, who had been sending tribute to the Caliphate, found themselves in a position to demand payments (parias) instead, in return for favours to particular factions or as simple extortion.
Thus, though scarcely influenced by the culture of the successor territories of the former Caliphate, Ferdinand I followed the example of the counts of Barcelona and the kings of Aragon and became hugely wealthy from the parias of the Taifas. When he died in 1065, his territories and the parias were split among his three sons, of whom Alfonso emerged the victor in the classic fratricidal strife common to feudal successions.[10]
Few in Europe would have known of this immense new wealth in a kingdom so isolated that its bishops had virtually no contact with Rome, except that Ferdinand and his heirs (the kings of León and Castile) became the greatest benefactors of the
León and Castile
The two kingdoms of León and Castile were split in 1157, when a major defeat for
The last two kings of an independent Kingdom of León (1157–1230) were
Alfonso IX did not want his kingdom to disappear upon his death and designated his heirs as Sancha and Dulce, the daughters of his first wife. In order to maintain the independence of the Kingdom of León, Afonso IX applied in his testament the
The union between León and Castile was not accepted by the Leonese people.[citation needed] King Ferdinand III needed two years to suppress the secessionist revolts in the Kingdom of León, so his son Alfonso X restored the independence of the Kingdom of León. However, this was not respected by his son and successor, Sancho IV, whose brother John waited until 1296, following Sancho's death the previous year, to be crowned as John I, King of León, Galicia and Seville. In 1301, he abdicated, and the king of Castile assumed the Crown of León, reuniting the two kingdoms.
Though the kings of Castile and León initially continued to take the title King of León as the superior title, and to use a lion as part of their standard, power in fact became centralized in Castile, as exemplified by the Leonese language's replacement by Castilian. The Kingdom of León and the Kingdom of Castile kept different Parliaments, different flags, different coin and different laws until the Modern Era, when Spain, like other European states, centralized governmental power.
Modern era
The Kingdom of León coexisted as a personal union under the Crown of Castile, with León possessing separate institutions, such as its own cortes, the Real Adelantamiento of the Kingdom of León, and the Merino mayor of León, among others, many of which lasted until the 19th century. The Castilian monarchs, however, soon began a process of unifying the laws of the two kingdoms, as exemplified by the Siete Partidas. By the 16th century, León became a captaincy-general.
19th century
In the 19th century, León declared war, together with Galicia and Asturias, against the
Present
At present,
Political parties representing
Art and architecture
The art of the Kingdom of León, originating in the 10th century and flourishing until the European Romanesque period, is characterized by a unique blend of influences, notably from Al-Andalus, resulting in what is traditionally known as Mozarabic art. This artistic expression, rooted in Visigothic and Andalusian traditions, produced structures ranging from modest single-nave churches to elaborate monastic complexes.[14]
Key figures, including monarchs and ecclesiastical leaders, played a pivotal role in shaping this art, with a notable infusion of Andalusian tastes.[15] The art of León during the 9th to 11th centuries successfully merged diverse traditions, creating a distinctive style within the context of pre-Romanesque art. Noteworthy features include a mix of architectural styles, experimentation with various artistic elements like modillions or horseshoe arches, and the use of mural painting techniques influenced by both Roman and Caliphal styles.[16]
In the realm of painting, illuminated manuscripts like the "beatos" exemplify the vibrancy and evolution of Leonese art, incorporating elements from Byzantine-Merovingian influences to an Islamic-Carolingian character.[17]
During the 11th and 12th centuries, the arrival of Romanesque art marked a significant shift in Leonese artistic expression. Masterpieces such as the Basilica of San Isidoro became prominent examples of Romanesque sculpture and painting. This period also laid the foundation for the Romanesque predecessors of the cathedrals of León and Santiago de Compostela.[18] Sculpture, goldsmithing, and heraldry further thrived, with King Alfonso IX pioneering the use of personal emblems, contributing to the visual language of heraldry that became crucial in medieval battles.
See also
- León (historical region)
- List of Leonese monarchs
- Leonese language
- Heraldry of León
- Al-Andalus
- History of Portugal
- History of Spain
- Kingdom of Asturias
- Kingdom of Castile
- Kingdom of Galicia
- Nuevo León
Notes
- Latin: Regnum Legionense; Mirandese: Reino de Lhion
References
- ^ Menéndez Pidal, Ramón. "El Dialecto Leonés" pages 33–37.1906
- ISBN 978-0-631-18184-2.
- S2CID 161072458.
- ^ A History of Portugal. CUP Archive. 1971. p. 38.
- ^ Medieval Culture and the Mexican American Borderlands. Texas A&M University Press. 2001. p. 11.
- ^ Vikings at War. Casemate Publishers & Book Distributors, LLC. 2016. p. 347.
- ^ "10 Most Savage Viking Voyages Of All Time". 29 December 2017. Archived from the original on 28 June 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
- ^ a b Brink, Stefan; Price, Neil (2008). The Viking World. Routledge. pp. 467–68.
- ^ Eduardo Morales Moreno: Los vikingos en España. Revista Historia de Iberia Vieja, n.º 12, Madrid: HRH Editores, 2006.
- ^ ISBN 9781351665780. Archivedfrom the original on 2022-06-23. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
- ISBN 9780812234527. Archivedfrom the original on 2022-06-23. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
- ISBN 978-1416526063.
- ^ Real Decreto de 30 de noviembre de 1833
- ^ Puentes Arranz, Miguel (2015). "La herencia del arte cordobés en Castilla y León".
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ISSN 1697-5804.
- ISSN 0018-215X.
- ^ "Los Beatos Mozárabes". Turismo Prerrománico (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2024-01-07.
- ISBN 978-84-7490-683-7.
This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2009) |
External links
- "History of the Kingdom of León"
- R.A. Fletcher, The Episcopate in the Kingdom of León in the Twelfth Century (Chapter 1): Gives the cultural context of earlier and 12th century León
- "A brief explanation about the modern Leonese Country regionalism"