The Asturian or Astur-Leonese dynasty (Spanish ''dinastía asturiana'' or ''astur-leonesa''), known in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

as the Banī Adhfūnsh ("sons of Alfonso"), was the ruling family of the kingdom of

Asturias Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensiv ...

and León from 739 until 1037. Under their rule, the Astur-Leonese kingdom went from a small mountain enclave to one of the dominant powers in

Hispania Hispania ( la, Hispānia , ; nearly identically pronounced in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and Italian) was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hi ...

. The first ruling family of Asturias lasted only two generations:

Pelagius Pelagius (; c. 354–418) was a British theologian known for promoting a system of doctrines (termed Pelagianism by his opponents) which emphasized human choice in salvation and denied original sin. Pelagius and his followers abhorred the moral ...

(718–737) and Fafila (737–739). The latter was succeeded by his brother-in-law, Alfonso I, the son of Duke

Peter of Cantabria Peter ( la, Petrus, es, Pedro; died 730) was the Duke of Cantabria. While various writers have attempted to name his parentage, (for example, making him son or brother of King Erwig), early sources say nothing more specific than the chronicle of ...

and husband of Fafila's sister,

Ermesinda Ermesinda (c. 720 or c. 730 – ?) alternatively Ormisenda, Ermisenda, Ermesinde, Ermessenda) was queen consort of the Kingdom of Asturias, wife of King Alfonso I of Asturias ("Alfonso the Catholic"). She was the daughter of King Pelagius of Ast ...

. He founded a dynasty that was to last almost 300 years. For the first century, rule alternated between Alfonso's descendants and those of his brother,

Fruela of Cantabria Fruela de Cantabria or Fruela Pérez (died 758) was the second son of Duke Peter of Cantabria and brother of King Alfonso I of Asturias. Biographical sketch According to the ''Rotensis'' and ''Sebastianense'' versions of the ''Chronicle of Al ...

. With the death of Alfonso I's grandson, Alfonso II (842), Fruela's descendants took the throne permanently, headed by Ramiro I. At the death of Alfonso III (910), the kingdom was divided between his sons. The 10th century was thus characterized by family infighting, which was only brought to an end by the succession of Bermudo II in 984. During this period, however, the power of the neighbouring

Kingdom of Pamplona The Kingdom of Navarre (; , , , ), originally the Kingdom of Pamplona (), was a Basque kingdom that occupied lands on both sides of the western Pyrenees, alongside the Atlantic Ocean between present-day Spain and France. The medieval state too ...

waxed and in 1034 the Pamplonans captured León. The rule of the dynasty was brought to an end three years later when Bermudo III was killed in battle against his brother-in-law, Ferdinand of Castile, of the

Jiménez dynasty The Jiménez dynasty, alternatively called the Jimena, the Sancha, the Banu Sancho, the Abarca or the Banu Abarca,Alberto Cañada Juste, "¿Quién fue Sancho Abarca?, ''Príncipe de Viana'', 73: 79-132. was a medieval ruling family from the 9th c ...

of Pamplona, who thereafter assumed the throne. The historiography produced by and for the dynasty, such as the ''

Chronicle of Alfonso III The ''Chronicle of Alfonso III'' ( la, Chronica Adefonsi tertii regis) is a chronicle composed in the early tenth century on the order of King Alfonso III of León with the goal of showing the continuity between Visigothic Spain and the later Chris ...

'' (late 9th century), made Duke Peter a descendant of the

Visigothic The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is ...

king

Reccared I Reccared I (or Recared; la, Flavius Reccaredus; es, Flavio Recaredo; 559 – December 601; reigned 586–601) was Visigothic King of Hispania and Septimania. His reign marked a climactic shift in history, with the king's renunciation of Arianis ...

and stressed the dynasty's supposed Gothic descent.Julio Escalona, "Family Memories: Inventing Alfonso I of Asturias", in ''Building Legitimacy: Political Discourses and Forms of Legitimation in Medieval Societies'', ed. I. Alfonso, H. Kennedy and J. Escalona (Leiden: Brill, 2004), pp. 223–62.

Family tree

Notes

References

Stanley G. Payne Stanley George Payne (born September 9, 1934) is an American historian of modern Spain and European Fascism at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He retired from full-time teaching in 2004 and is currently Professor Emeritus at its Department ...

, ''A History of Spain and Portugal'', Volume 1, Chapter Three
The Early Christian Principalities and the Expansion of Asturias-León
{{DEFAULTSORT:Astur-Leonese Dynasty Kingdom of Asturias