Mauregato (Asturias)

Mauregato on an illustration from 1788

Mauregato (* around 719 , † 788 ) was King of Asturias from 783 to 788 .

Life

Mauregato was the illegitimate son of King Alfonso I and a slave. Speculations tied to his name that his mother came from the Muslim ( Moorish ) sphere of influence, and reports from late, implausible sources that he came to power with Muslim support, are rejected by modern research.

After the death of Mauregato's childless predecessor Silo, his widow Adosinda wanted to put her nephew Alfonso II , the son of King Fruela I , on the throne. Alfonso II had previously been passed over to the throne because he was a minor. This plan failed because Mauregato took power. The Asturian chroniclers report nothing about Mauregato's government activity ; it is also unknown whether he was married and had offspring.

Legend of the Tribute of the Hundred Virgins

The legend according to which Mauregato submitted to the suzerainty of the Emir Abd ar-Rahman I and paid him tribute is an invention and has nothing to do with the historical Mauregato. Two 13th-century chroniclers, Lucas von Tui and Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada, claim that Mauregato delivered Christian virgins to Muslims to keep them happy. This accusation appeared as early as the middle of the 12th century in a forged royal charter, the Privilegio de los Votos , but at that time without naming Mauregato; the charter assumes several unnamed kings to have given the virgins to the Muslims as an annual tribute. In the second half of the 13th century, the material in the Poema de Fernán González was processed literary. As in the Privilegio de los Votos, there is talk of a hundred virgins. This is how the legend of the Tribute of the Hundred Virgins ( El tributo de las cien doncellas ) came about .

Source editions

• Yves Bonnaz (Ed.): Chroniques asturiennes . Éditions du CNRS, Paris 1987, ISBN 2-222-03516-3 (Latin text of the main sources with French translation and detailed commentary)
• Juan Gil Fernández (Ed.): Crónicas asturianas . Oviedo 1985, ISBN 84-600-4405-X (Latin text and Spanish translation)

literature

• Paulino García Toraño: Historia de el Reino de Asturias . Oviedo 1986, ISBN 84-398-6586-4 , pp. 175-193
• Claudio Sánchez-Albornoz: Orígenes de la nación española , Volume 2, Instituto de Estudios Asturianos, Oviedo 1974, ISBN 84-00-04032-5 , pp. 214–221, 353–365

Remarks

1. ↑ Sánchez-Albornoz p. 355; Bonnaz p. 187.
2. ↑ Sánchez-Albornoz pp. 358–365; García Toraño pp. 180-183.

predecessor	Office	successor
silo	King of Asturias 783–788	Bermudo I.