Ramiro III (c. 961 – 26 June 985),

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 ...

(966–984), was the son of Sancho the Fat and his successor at the age of only five.

Reinhart Dozy Reinhart Pieter Anne Dozy (Leiden, Netherlands, 21 February 1820 – Leiden, 29 April 1883) was a Dutch scholar of French (Huguenot) origin, who was born in Leiden. He was an Orientalist scholar of Arabic language, history and literature. Biogra ...

, ''Histoire des Musulmans d'espagne'' (1932).

Family

During his minority, the

regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

was in the hands of two nuns: his aunt

Elvira Ramírez Elvira Ramírez (''c''. 935 – aft. 986) was a Leonese princess who served as regent of the kingdom between 962 and 975 during the minority of her nephew Ramiro III of León. Childhood Born about 935, she was the daughter of the King Ramiro II of ...

, who took the title of queen during the minority, and then his mother Teresa Ansúrez, who had been put in a convent on her husband's death. As a consequence of this, his reign is known for its support of the clergy.

Reign

Among the acts of his regents during his minority was their ratification of a

peace treaty A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an agreement to stop hostilities; a surre ...

with

Caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

al-Hakam II Al-Hakam II, also known as Abū al-ʿĀṣ al-Mustanṣir bi-Llāh al-Hakam b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān (; January 13, 915 – October 16, 976), was the Caliph of Córdoba. He was the second ''Umayyad'' Caliph of Córdoba in Al-Andalus, and son of Ab ...

; he also confronted

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to 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 se ...

s who had invaded

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

. With the conclusion of the peace treaty, the

vizier A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called '' katib'' (secretary), who was ...

Almanzor Abu ʿĀmir Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn Abi ʿĀmir al-Maʿafiri ( ar, أبو عامر محمد بن عبد الله بن أبي عامر المعافري), nicknamed al-Manṣūr ( ar, المنصور, "the Victorious"), which is often Latiniz ...

invaded his realm. Upon reaching his majority and after his wedding to Sancha (d. after 983), perhaps daughter of

Gómez Díaz, Count of Saldaña Gómez (frequently anglicized as Gomez) is a common Spanish patronymic surname meaning "son of Gome". The Portuguese and Old Galician version is Gomes, while the Catalan form is Gomis. The given name ''Gome'' is derived from the Visigothic word ...

, Ramiro tried to institute an absolutist monarchy which resulted in the alienation of the already separatist Galicia and Castile. This, together with the constant routs experienced at the hands of the

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

s, such as the

Battle of Rueda The Battle of Rueda (981) was a battle of the Spanish Reconquista between the Muslim forces of Al-Andalus and a coalition of north-Iberian Christian states. Due to the difficulty in interpreting the various chronicles, historians are still deba ...

, the

Battle of Torrevicente The Battle of Torrevicente was fought on Saturday, 9 July 981 between a force loyal to the Caliphate of Córdoba under the command of Ibn Abi ‘Amir and a rebel force under Galib ibn Abd al-Rahman and his Christian allies, King Ramiro Garcés o ...

and the worst, which took place at

San Esteban de Gormaz San Esteban de Gormaz is a municipality in the province of Soria in the autonomous community of Castile-Leon, Spain. Its population is approximately 3,500. The town is located in the Wool Route and the Way of the Cid, the route of the exile of ...

under the regency of his aunt in 975, led the Galician nobility in 982 to proclaim Bermudo II, son of Ordoño III, king of Galicia. He lost his throne to Bermudo two years later, in 984. He had at least one child with his wife, Sancha Gómez,

Ordoño Ramírez Ordoño Ramírez, called "the Blind" ( 981–before 1024) was the son of King Ramiro III of León and Sancha Gómez, grandson of Sancho I of León and Queen Teresa Ansúrez and, on the maternal side, of Gómez Díaz, Count of Saldaña and Countess ...

, who married

Cristina Bermúdez Cristina Bermúdez (pronunciation: ristina beɾmudeθ ( 982- Cornellana, 1051/1067), was an infanta of León, daughter of King Bermudo IIHer filiation, as the daughter of King Bermudo II, is attested in a charter dated 22 December 1037 granted ...

, daughter of his rival.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramiro 03 of Leon 10th-century Leonese monarchs Medieval child rulers Beni Alfons 960s births 985 deaths Year of birth uncertain Burials in the Royal Pantheon at the Basilica of San Isidoro