to ES II Tafel 49
Alfonso III had an eldest (?) son Garcia I who was king of Leon 910-914.
ES also mentions Ramiro who put himself up as king of Leon and married his
brother Fruela II's widow Urraca. ES does not indicate that the two brothers
were married to the same woman. But ES gives by Urraca (wife of Fruela II)
that she was the daughter of Abdallah Ibn Mohammad Wali of Tudela, Chief of
the family Banu Qasi.
Urraca and Fruela II are shown to have had four children Ramiro, Eudo,
Portis and Uracca (sic). Uracca married before 969 Aznar Purcelis, who died
after 969 (I would hope so).
Is it known whether this couple has further descendants? It would give a
Muslim line into the Spain.
Best wishes
Leo van de Pas
----- Original Message -----
From: "Todd A. Farmerie" <farmerie@interfold.com>
To: <GEN-MEDIEVAL-L@rootsweb.com>
Sent: Saturday, November 12, 2005 10:39 AM
Subject: Re: Ramiro III, King of Leon 966-85
maria emma escobar wrote:
Vermudo II and Ramiro III were cousins in first grade: their fathers:
Ordoño III (Vermudo II´s father) and Sancho I ( Ramiro III´s father) were
brothers, both Ramiro II´s sons.
Just to amplify for Will's sake, father-to-son transmission of the crown
was the exception, rather than the rule. Looking at the 11 kings
following Alfonso III, only three, Fruela II, Ordono III and Ramiro III
followed their father (and even Fruela only reigned over the entire
kingdom after reuniting a partition with his brother Garcia, sort of like
Alfonso VI would later do), through Vermudo II, then a more typical
pattern is seen:
1. Alfonso III
2. Fruela II, son of 1.
3. Ordono II, son of 1.
4. Alfonso Fruelaz, son of 2.
5. Sancho Ordonez, son of 3.
6. Alfonso IV, son of 3.
7. Ramiro II, son of 3.
8. Ordono III, son of 7 by first wife.
9. Ordono IV, son of 6.
10. Sancho I, son of 7 by second wife.
11. Ramiro III, son of 10.
12. Vermudo II, son of 8.
13. Alfonso V, son of 12.
14. Vermudo III, son of 13.
15. Fernando I, husband of Sancha, sister of 14.
Why aren't 4 & 5 numbered? Alfonso Fruelaz, Sancho Ordonez and Alfonso IV
all reigned in the same year. Alfonso, son of Fruela, briefly held sway
as the senior member of the next generation (his uncle Ramiro, who
apparently also married Fruela's widow, put himself up as senior agnate
but he never was able to mount a successful claim although he is sometimes
refered to as anti-King). Months later, Alfonso lost power to (and, IIRC,
was blinded by) his cousin Sancho, whose claim was as eldest son of
Ordono. Sancho's brother Alfonso took advantage of the instability, and
using the support of his father-in-law the King of Navarre supplanted his
brother before the end of the same year. They were recorded by the
best-known chronicler simply as Alfonso, then Sancho, then Alfonso, and
this was interpreted by later historians as a squable between the two sons
of Ordono, Alfonso succeeding, experiencing a winter of discontent at the
hands of his brother, and then a glorious summer. Hence he was numbered
as Alfonso IV, while Sancho was considered simply an interloping and
eventually unsuccessful anti-King or sub-King. It has since become clear
that the two Alfonsos, the ones before and after Sancho, were different
men, and that Sancho too was king, if only briefly. They all deserve
numbers, but it would cause too much confusion now, so Alfonso Fruelaz and
Sancho Ordonez are simply refered to by name and patronymic, as would have
been the case in their own time, (when mentioned at all, their brief
reigns being historically irrelevant).
Navarre also played a significant role in the later succession. Ramiro II
ran his brother Alfonso IV into a monastery, and was powerful enough and
reigned long enough to pass the crown to his adult son Ordono III. On his
death, Alfonso's son Ordono married his cousin's widow and claimed power,
but Ordono III's half-brother Sancho used his mother's Navarre connections
to take over (Sancho's mother was sister of Alfonso IV's wife, and also
sister of the wife of Fernan Gonzalez of Castile [the maternal grandson of
the anti-King Ramiro, above] whose daughter would marry in succession
Ordonos III and IV, so this is very much an inter-family squabble writ
large). He passed the crown to his son Ramiro III, but then a faction of
the nobles backed the son of Ordono III, Vermudo, and he rode that faction
to power, eventually supplanting his cousin Ramiro.
Finally, through much of the 20th century, Vermudo III has been considered
a bastard. This was argued by Perez de Urbel based on the fact that he
didn't immediately succeed his father (but we have seen the lack of
significance in that), a vague reference to his son Alfonso V being called
son of a mule (whatever that means), and strongest, a relational statement
in which Vermudo calls a certain Count Gonzalo Betotez his "grandfather"
(male ancestor), while neither Ordono III nor his wife descend from the
Count. As it turns out, Vermudo's wife did, and no distinction would have
been made between his ancestors and his wife's, so this evidence too does
not hold. There is no reason not to see him as legitimate son, too young
or with insufficient power base to resist the claims of his step-father
and uncle.
taf