Gatón del Bierzo

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Count Gatón del Bierzo (* in the 9th century; † probably 866) was one of the first and among them the most famous Count of Bierzo . He played a leading role in the Reconquista and Repopulation (Repoblación) of Galicia , the Bierzos, Leóns and Zamoras .

origin

The most widely accepted reflections on Gatón's origin see him as the son of Ramiro I , second in line to the throne after his brother Ordoño I. Other authors see him as Ordoño's brother-in-law. He fathered six children, three of them from his first marriage to Egilo:

  • Bermudo Gatónez, Count of Torres
  • Hermesenda Gatónez ∞ Hermenegildo Gutiérrez (powerful Galician nobleman, majordomo of Alfonso III , Duke of Galicia and conqueror of Coimbra . Her daughter, Munia Elvira, became the wife of Ordoño II )
  • Savarico, Bishop of Mondoñedo .

Count Gatón in Reconquista and Repoblación

The Moorish invasion of the Iberian Peninsula plunged the Bierzo into a serious demographic and economic crisis, until in 850 Ordoño I. commissioned Count Gatón, because of his prestige, to recapture and repopulate the region. Castilians, Asturians and Mozarabs joined this company .

Starting from the northwest of the Bierzo (legend has him set out in Paraxis in the municipality of Balboa .) He undertook various military expeditions with the aim of controlling the areas of Bierzo, León and Zamoras . He achieved this goal for the Bierzo in full and in León and Zamora to a large extent.

He fulfilled his role in the repoblación of these regions, considering that he settled large parts of León and Zamora with Bercianos, the inhabitants of the Bierzo. In 854 he was entrusted with the repopulation of Astorgas , attested by a document from 878, which Gatón mentioned standing in front of the "populus de Bergido", the people of the Bierzo.

Later, other towns and villages were repopulated under his direction. If a group of the same origin settled down together, some of the place names still have the region of origin today: San Pedro Bercianos , Bercianos del Real Camino , Bercianos del Páramo (province of León); Bercianos de Vídriales , Bercianos de Valverde and Bercianos de Aliste (Zamora province).

Remarks

  1. ↑ represent u. a. by Sánchez Albornoz
  2. ↑ According to other sources, daughter of Bermudo Gatónez.
  3. ↑ Enrique Flórez: España Sagrada , Volume (Tomo) XVI
personal data
SURNAME Gatón del Bierzo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Count of Bierzo
DATE OF BIRTH 9th century
DATE OF DEATH uncertain: 866