Fernán González

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Statue of Fernán González at the Arco de Santa María in Burgos

Fernán González (* around 910 in Lara de los Infantes , † June 970 in Burgos ) was the first count of Castile to be independent from the Kingdom of León .

biography

Life

Fernán was the son of Gonzalo Fernández de Burgos , Count of Burgos and Castile and his wife Muniadona. Numerous traditions concerning Fernán González show traits of legend; What is certain, however, is that he united Castile, which was divided into numerous counties, under his rule in the middle of the 10th century. He established ties to the kingdom of Navarre, east of Castile, and married Sancha, sister of the King of Navarre Sancho I. Garcés . Attempts at independence from the sovereignty of Léon were initially unsuccessful.

After a failed uprising, together with Count Diego Muñoz von Carrón and Saldaña, who belonged to the Beni Gómez family, he was even briefly imprisoned in Cirueña in 944 . However, by the end of 945 at the latest, he was reinstated by King Ramiro II of León in his count's rights and Fernán's daughter Urraca with Ramiro's son, the future King Ordoño III. married. Ordoño, however, disowned his wife after her father Fernán had allied himself with the Navarre King Sancho I. Through the policy of changing alliances with the neighbors Léon and Navarra, Fernán managed to achieve extensive independence of the county of Castile from the Kingdom of León and to bequeath the county to his son García Fernández . With the help of León he succeeded in pushing the Moors back to the Duero border. Mention should also be made of his involvement in the resettlement ( repoblación ) of deserted and largely deserted areas between the Christian and Islamic domains . Around the year 940, for example, the area around Haza south of the Duero and the city of Sepúlveda even further south were repopulated, but a few decades later they were briefly recaptured by the Muslim military leader Almansor .

Sarcophagus of Fernán González in Covarrubias

death

Fernán González died in Burgos in 970; his body was buried in the monastery of San Pedro de Arlanza , which was dissolved in the course of the dissolution of the monasteries ( disamortization ) in 1835. His simple sarcophagus is now in the collegiate church of San Cosme y San Damián in Covarrubias , the "cradle of Castile".

family

Fernán married in 932 Sancha Sánchez (* after 900; † 952/955), a daughter of the Navarre King Sancho I Garcés and widow of King Ordoño II of León. They had seven children

  • Gonzalo Fernández (* before 935/938; † after 959) ∞ (before 959) Fronilde Gómez († 1009), daughter of the Castilian Count Gómez Díaz
  • Sancho Fernández (* before 935/38, † after 956)
  • Munio Fernández (* before 941; † after 968), monk in Cadeña.
  • García Fernández († 995), Count of Castile ∞ (958/961) Ava of Ribagorza , daughter of Raymond II, Count of Ribagorza
  • Fronilde Fernández († after 1014) ∞ Rodano Díaz († after 1014), Count in Asturias de Santillana
  • Muniadomna Fernández († before 1015)
  • Urraca Fernández († after 1007) ∞ I (after 944) King Ordoño III. of León (* around 926; † 956) ∞ II (before 958) King Ordoño IV. of León (* 926; † 962) ∞ III King Sancho II Garcés of Navarre (* 938; † 994)

In his second marriage, Fernán married Urraca before 955. Her origin is not certain, she was probably a daughter of King García I Sánchez of Navarre. The couple had two children.

  • Toda Fernández
  • Pedro Fernández

Poema de Fernán González

In the Poema de Fernán González - a heroic poem - written around 1250 in the monastery of San Pedro de Arlanza, the deeds of Fernán are described. The poem served as the basis for numerous popular adaptations of the Fernán material.

literature

Web links

Commons : Fernán González  - collection of images, videos and audio files
predecessor Office successor
Gutier Núñez Count of Castile
931–944 		Ansur Fernández
Ansur Fernández Count of Castile
945–970 		García Fernández
personal data
SURNAME Fernán González
BRIEF DESCRIPTION first Count of Castile to be independent from León
DATE OF BIRTH 10th century
PLACE OF BIRTH Lara de los Infantes
DATE OF DEATH June 970
Place of death Burgos