1.
Imperator totius Hispaniae
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Imperator totius Hispaniae is a Latin title meaning Emperor of all Spain. In Spain in the Middle Ages, the emperor was used under a variety of circumstances from the ninth century onwards. It was primarily used by the Kings of León and Castile, the use of the imperial title received scant recognition outside of Spain and it had become largely forgotten by the thirteenth century. The analogous feminine title, empress, was frequently used for the consorts of the emperors. Only one reigning queen, Urraca, had occasion to use it, a surviving charter of 863 refers to Ordoño I as our lord, residing in the Asturias, qualifying him as a commanding prince. This residential form of title was preferred because the Asturian kingdom at this stage was not ethnically unified or well-defined. The first document, dated to 866 or 867, confirmed by Alfonso, who signs as I, Alfonso, of all Spain emperor, the other refers to him simply as Alfonso, Emperor of Spain. The forger may have borrowed these exalted titles from the chancery of Alfonso VI, the subscription lists of both these charters are compatible with the dates, and it has been suggested that the clauses referring to Alfonso as emperor are derived from authentic charters. A similarly grandiose title is given to Alfonso in the contemporary Chronica Prophetica, the authenticity of the letter is still debated. Besides the apocryphal charters, there are genuine, posthumous documents referring to Alfonso as emperor, in one that dates from 917, in the reign of his son Ordoño II of León, the king confirms as Ordoño, son of the Emperor Alfonso the Great. A document from 950 can also be cited that refers to Alfonso with the imperial title, the pertinent passage reads, They put in place a border with Gonzalo, son of our lord emperor Prince Alfonso. A royal diploma of 922, where Ordoño II refers to himself as emperor, is the first recorded instance of a Leonese king doing so, the charter reads, I, the most serene emperor Ordoño. Although he apparently avoided the imperial style himself, his subjects, private documents of his reign commonly refer to him as the great king, as in a document of 930. Contemporary documents of the reign of Ramiro III of León use the magnified titles basileus and magnus rex, the former is a Latinisation of the Greek for king and was the title employed by the Byzantine Emperors. To western European ears it had an imperial inflection, during the regency of Ramiros aunt, the nun Elvira Ramírez, the king confirmed a document of 1 May 974 as Flavius Ramiro, prince, anointed great basileus in the kingdom. I confirm with my own hand, Elvira, basilea, paternal aunt of the king. Its use in a document of the tenth century harkens back to Visigothic rule, a judicial document that emanated from the royal court in 976 refers to a certain royal servant as in the palace of the most lordly king–emperor. in obedient service to his most lordly emperor. In the first decades of the century, the Catalan Abbot Oliba referred to the kings of León, Alfonso V and Bermudo III
2.
Visigothic Kingdom
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The Visigothic Kingdom or Kingdom of the Visigoths was a kingdom that occupied what is now southwestern France and the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th to the 8th centuries. The Kingdom maintained independence from the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire, the kingdom of the 6th and 7th centuries is sometimes called the regnum Toletanum after the new capital of Toledo. The ethnic distinction between the indigenous Hispano-Roman population and the Visigoths had largely disappeared by this time, Liber Iudiciorum abolished the old tradition of having different laws for Romans and for Visigoths. Most of the Visigothic Kingdom was conquered by Arab Umayyad troops from North Africa in 711 AD and these gave birth to the medieval Kingdom of Asturias when a local landlord called Pelayo, most likely of Gothic origin, was elected Princeps by the Astures. The Visigoths also developed the influential law code known in Western Europe as the Liber Iudiciorum. From 407 to 409 AD, the Germanic Vandals, with the allied Alans and Suebi, crossed the frozen Rhine, for their part, the Visigoths under Alaric famously sacked Rome in 410, capturing Galla Placidia, the sister of Western Roman emperor Honorius. After he married Placidia, the Emperor Honorius enlisted him to provide Visigothic assistance in regaining nominal Roman control of Hispania from the Vandals, Alans and Suevi. In 418, Honorius rewarded his Visigothic federates under King Wallia by giving land in the Garonne valley of Gallia Aquitania on which to settle. This probably took place under hospitalitas, the rules for billeting army soldiers, the Visigoths with their capital at Toulouse, remained de facto independent, and soon began expanding into Roman territory at the expense of the feeble Western empire. Under Theodoric I, the Visigoths attacked Arles and Narbonne, but were checked by Flavius Aetius using Hunnic mercenaries, by 451, the situation had reversed and the Huns had invaded Gaul, now Theodoric fought under Aetius against Attila the Hun in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains. Attila was driven back, but Theodoric was killed in the battle, the Vandals completed the conquest of North Africa when they took Carthage on October 19,439 and the Suevi had taken most of Hispania. The Roman emperor Avitus now sent the Visigoths into Hispania, Theodoric II invaded and defeated the King of the Suevi, Rechiarius, at the battle on the river Orbigo in 456 near Asturica Augusta and then sacked Bracara Augusta the Suevi capital. The Goths sacked the cities in Spain quite brutally, they massacred a portion of the population and even attacked some holy places, theoderic took control over Hispania Baetica, Carthaginiensis and southern Lusitania. In 461, the Goths received the city of Narbonne from the emperor Libius Severus in exchange for their support. This led to a revolt by the army and by Gallo-Romans under Aegidius, as a result, Romans under Severus and the Visigoths fought other Roman troops, in 466, Euric, who was the youngest son of Theodoric I, came to the Visigothic throne. He is infamous for murdering his elder brother Theodoric II who had become king by murdering his elder brother Thorismund. Under Euric, the Visigoths began expanding in Gaul and consolidating their presence in the Iberian peninsula, Euric fought a series of wars with the Suebi who retained some influence in Lusitania, and brought most of this region under Visigothic power, taking Emerita Augusta in 469. Euric also attacked the Western Roman Empire, capturing Hispania Tarraconensis in 472, by 476, he had extended his rule to the Rhone and the Loire rivers which comprised most of southern Gaul
3.
Kingdom of Asturias
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The Kingdom of Asturias was a kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula founded in 718 by the Visigothic nobleman Pelagius of Asturias. It was the first Christian political entity established after the Umayyad conquest of Visigoth Hispania in 718 or 722 and that year, Pelagius defeated an Umayyad army at the Battle of Covadonga, in what is usually regarded as the beginning of the Reconquista. The Kingdom of Asturias transitioned into the Kingdom of León in 924, the kingdom originated in the western and central territory of the Cantabrian Mountains, part of the Gallaecia, particularly the Picos de Europa and the central area of Asturias. The main political and military events during the first decades of the kingdoms existence took place in the region. Ptolemy says that the Astures extended along the area of current Asturias. The gradual formation of Asturian identity led to the creation of the Kingdom of Asturias after Pelagius coronation, the Chronica Albeldense, in narrating the happenings of Covadonga, stated that Divine providence brings forth the King of Asturias. The kingdom was established by the nobleman Pelayo, possibly an Asturian noble, Pelayos kingdom was initially little more than a rallying banner for existing guerilla forces. In the progress of the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, however, in the northern mountains, urban centers were practically nonexistent and the submission of the country had to be achieved valley by valley. Muslim troops often resorted to the taking of hostages to ensure the pacification of the conquered territory. During the last phase of his campaign, he reached the northwest of the Peninsula. In the latter city he placed a small Berber detachment under a governor, Munuza, as guarantee of the submission of the region, some nobles – some argue that Pelayo was among them, had to surrender hostages from Asturias to Cordoba. The legend says that his sister was asked for, and a marriage alliance sought with the local Berber leader, later on, Munuza would try to do the same at another mountain post in the Pyrenees, where he rebelled against his Cordoban Arab superiors. The Berbers had been converted to Islam barely a generation earlier, however, the only near contemporary chronicler accounting for the events of the tme, the Christian Chronicle of 754, makes no mention of the incident. The identity of Pelayo, however, is still a subject. The leader of the Astures, whose origin is debated by historians, had at that time his home in Bres, there the locals were able to ambush the Muslim detachment, which was annihilated. The rest of its survivors continued south to the plains of Leon, under Pelayos leadership, the attacks on the Berbers increased. Munuza, feeling isolated in an increasingly hostile, decided to abandon Gijón. However, he was intercepted and killed by Astures at Olalíes and he then married his daughter, Ermesinda, to Alfonso, the son of Peter of Cantabria, the leading noble at the still-independent Visigothic dukedom of Cantabria
4.
Iberian Peninsula
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The Iberian Peninsula /aɪˈbɪəriən pəˈnɪnsjᵿlə/, also known as Iberia /aɪˈbɪəriə/, is located in the southwest corner of Europe. The peninsula is divided between Portugal and Spain, comprising most of their territory. With an area of approximately 582,000 km2, it is the second largest European peninsula, at that time, the name did not describe a single political entity or a distinct population of people. Strabos Iberia was delineated from Keltikē by the Pyrenees and included the land mass southwest of there. The ancient Greeks reached the Iberian Peninsula, of which they had heard from the Phoenicians, hecataeus of Miletus was the first known to use the term Iberia, which he wrote about circa 500 BC. Herodotus of Halicarnassus says of the Phocaeans that it was they who made the Greeks acquainted with. According to Strabo, prior historians used Iberia to mean the country side of the Ἶβηρος as far north as the river Rhône in France. Polybius respects that limit, but identifies Iberia as the Mediterranean side as far south as Gibraltar, elsewhere he says that Saguntum is on the seaward foot of the range of hills connecting Iberia and Celtiberia. Strabo refers to the Carretanians as people of the Iberian stock living in the Pyrenees, according to Charles Ebel, the ancient sources in both Latin and Greek use Hispania and Hiberia as synonyms. The confusion of the words was because of an overlapping in political, the Latin word Hiberia, similar to the Greek Iberia, literally translates to land of the Hiberians. This word was derived from the river Ebro, which the Romans called Hiberus, hiber was thus used as a term for peoples living near the river Ebro. The first mention in Roman literature was by the annalist poet Ennius in 200 BC. Virgil refers to the Ipacatos Hiberos in his Georgics, the Roman geographers and other prose writers from the time of the late Roman Republic called the entire peninsula Hispania. As they became interested in the former Carthaginian territories, the Romans began to use the names Hispania Citerior. At the time Hispania was made up of three Roman provinces, Hispania Baetica, Hispania Tarraconensis, and Lusitania, Strabo says that the Romans use Hispania and Iberia synonymously, distinguishing between the near northern and the far southern provinces. Whatever language may generally have been spoken on the peninsula soon gave way to Latin, except for that of the Vascones, the Iberian Peninsula has always been associated with the Ebro, Ibēros in ancient Greek and Ibērus or Hibērus in Latin. The association was so known it was hardly necessary to state, for example. Pliny goes so far as to assert that the Greeks had called the whole of Spain Hiberia because of the Hiberus River, the river appears in the Ebro Treaty of 226 BC between Rome and Carthage, setting the limit of Carthaginian interest at the Ebro. The fullest description of the treaty, stated in Appian, uses Ibērus, with reference to this border, Polybius states that the native name is Ibēr, apparently the original word, stripped of its Greek or Latin -os or -us termination
5.
Prince of Asturias
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Prince or Princess of Asturias, was the title of the heir of the Kingdoms of Castile and Leon and later the main title used by the heir of the Kingdom of Spain. According to the Spanish Constitution of 1978, Article 572, the title originated in 1388, when King John I of Castile granted the dignity – which included jurisdiction over the territory– to his first-born son Henry. The custom of granting titles to royal heirs had already been in use in the Kingdoms of Aragon, England. In 1705, with the advent of the House of Bourbon on the Spanish throne, from its origins, there have been buying and selling operations. These lordships were unique, they were territories that in remote times formed the Kingdom of Asturias, Henry, once King, ceded the counties to his illegitimate son Alfonso Enríquez. After two decades of conflicts of varying intensity, the arrived at a compromise through means of the marriage between Prince Henry and Catherine of Lancaster. On 8 July 1388 the Treaty of Bayonne was signed between John of Lancaster and King John I of Castile, establishing the final dynastic reconciliation after the assassination of King Peter I, the title was granted with a ceremony. Besieged by the Kings troops, he submitted to the arbitration of King Charles VI of France, the territory was subdued, and his royal status was confirmed. In the early days of its creation, the title of Prince of Asturias was not just an honorific title. The Prince ruled it in representation of the King and was able to appoint judges, mayors, in the periods in which no prince was proclaimed, the Principality did not disappear but was directly governed by the monarch, to whose treasury were sent the jurisdictional rents. With Prince John the title was added to a list of titles used by the Hispanic monarchy, the heir adding the titles of Prince of Asturias, Girona, Spain, and the New World. The imperialist aspirations are observed in the new title of the heir of the Catholic Monarchs, Prince of these Kingdoms, Prince of the Spains and the New World. The 16th and 17th centuries were characterized by conflicts between the King and the principality because of the titles and dignities granted and referring to the territory. Only during the reign of Philip IV was a proper ceremony introduced for the Princes oath as heir, another period for the title began at the beginning of the 19th century with the arrival of the constitutional regime. During discussions, some proposed that the Prince should be renamed of the Spains and not of Asturias, while others wanted him to use the dignity only after his oath. The project remained unchanged and was finally approved, however, the Royal Order of 25 March 1875 ratified the doctrine of 1850 by granting Infanta María Isabel Francisca de Asís the title of Princess of Asturias. The Royal Decree of 22 August 1880 tried to clarify all the confusion and established the titles and honors of the Prince and Infantes. The decree stated that any immediate successor, male or female, had to be granted the title.1 of the Constitution
6.
Silo of Asturias
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Silo was the king of Asturias from 774 to 783, succeeding Aurelius. He came to the throne upon his marriage to Adosinda, daughter of Alfonso I and he moved the capital of the Kingdom of Asturias from Cangas de Onís to Pravia, closer to the center of the kingdom. He was a contemporary of Abd al-Rahman I, Umayyad Emir of Córdoba, in Silos time, monarchs were apparently elected by the nobility as in the earlier Visigothic Kingdom. Monarchs were chosen from among a number of dynasties. Each of these leads to a somewhat different account of Silos accession to the throne. According to the Chronicon Albeldense, Silo kept peace with the Muslims ob causam matris, the meaning of this phrase has been debated by scholars. One could explain the inactivity of the Muslims with respect to the Kingdom of Asturias by the fact that Silos reign coincided with the intervention of Charlemagne in Spain in 778. Conversely, within the Kingdom of Asturias, during Silos reign Galicia rebelled for the second time, the chronicles do not elucidate the motives for the rebellion. The rebel army faced Silos troops in the Battle of Montecubeiro in what is now the Province of Lugo, the oldest known medieval written document in the Iberian peninsula dates from Silos reign. The Diploma del Rei Don Sílo dates from 23 August 775, in this contractual document of donation pro anima, Silo granted particular properties in the village of Tabulata in Lucis to a group of monks, with the intention that they would found a monastery. Upon ascending to the throne, Silo moved the capital from Cangas de Onís to Pravia, the region in which he was a local magnate, a landed aristocrat. The new capital had the advantage that Pravia, an ancient Roman settlement, was located in the valley of the Nalón River along the Roman road to Asturica Augusta. Furthermore, once Silo extended the frontiers of the realm to Galicia, Silo died in Pravia in 783. After his death, Silos widow Adosinda engineered the election of her nephew Alfonso, son of Fruela I, the adolescent was named governor of the Palatium Regis, roughly chancellor. The throne was seized by Mauregato, son of Alfonso I. Silo was entombed in the Church of San Juan Apóstol y Evangelista, Santianes de Pravia, the tomb believed to be his and Adosindas remains there to this day. Nonetheless, the Maestro Custodio is said to have stated that Silos remains were moved to the monastery of San Juan de las Dueñas in the city of Oviedo, and re-interred behind the main altar there
7.
Oviedo
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Oviedo is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality contains the city. Oviedo is located approximately 20 km to 25 km south of neighbouring cities Gijón and Avilés and its proximity to the ocean causes Oviedo to have a maritime climate, in spite of it not being located on the shoreline itself. The Kingdom of Asturias began in 720, with a Visigothic Aristocrat Pelagiuss revolt against the Muslims occupying most of Spain at the time, the Moorish invasion of the Iberian Peninsula in 711 took control of most of the peninsula until the revolt in the northern mountains by Pelagius. The resulting Kingdom of Asturias, located in a poor region of the peninsula, was largely ignored by the Muslims. In 720, the area where Oviedo was located was still uninhabited and it is said that two monks, Máximo and Fromestano, founded the city in 761. That settlement was soon to be completed with the construction of a church dedicated to Saint Vincent. Oviedo was established on a hillside, with no Visigothic or Roman foundation before it became an Asturian city. Following Pelagius, who died in 737, Alfonso I founded a dynasty that would last until 1037, the Asturian Kingdom was on hostile terms with southern Moorish Spain. In 794, Oviedo was sacked and pillaged by Caliph Hisham I in one of his numerous campaigns against the Christian kingdoms. King Alfonso I is said to have set in place the order of the Goths, as it had been in Toledo. The intention with Oviedo was to shape it into a city similar to that of Visigothic Toledo, once kings had settled in Oviedo, they adopted as much of the architectural style and imagery of Toledo. Even with this in mind, Oviedo did not necessarily resemble the old Visigothic capital in Toledo, the churches and buildings of Oviedo follow instead late provincial Roman tradition. Since Asturias at the time was a poor area of Spain the scale of the buildings is quite impressive. Oviedo’s rich architectural tradition began with King Fruela I, King Fruela I of Asturias, the fourth of the Asturian monarchs, was the first decided promoter of the city as may be witnessed by his construction of both a palace and a nearby church. This church was restored by Alfonso II. Also constructed during Alfonso IIs reign was the San Julian de los Prados church, Alfonso IIs successor, Ramiro I, continued Alfonso IIs construction streak. Ramiro I constructed two buildings, the Church Santa Maria del Naranco and San Miguel de Lillo, the Church Santa Maria de Naranco was likely to originally be Ramiro Is palace and later changed into a church
8.
Ramiro I of Asturias
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Ramiro I was King of Asturias from 842 until his death. He was son of King Bermudo I, and became king after a struggle for succession that followed the death of Alfonso II without issue and he was a contemporary of Abd ar-Rahman II, Umayyad Emir of Córdoba. During his turbulent reign, the chronicles relate that he had to fend off attacks from both Vikings and Moors, numerous important structures, such as his recreational palace Santa María del Naranco, were built during his reign in the estilo ramirense that prefigured Romanesque architecture. The death of King Alfonso II brought about a crisis in the Kingdom of Asturias. According to the Chronicle of Alfonso III, credited to Ramiros grandson, at the time of King Alfonsos death, Ramiro was outside of Asturias in Castile, where he was attending his own marriage ceremonies. Nepocian, comes palatii and the late kings son-in-law, challenged Ramiros succession in his absence, Ramiro sought support in Galicia, where he formed an army and advanced toward Oviedo. Nepotian awaited Ramiros advance at Cornellana, by the river Narcea where either Ramiro defeated him in the Battle of the Bridge of Cornellana or Nepotians troops fled without putting up a fight and he was pursued and captured by Counts Scipion and Sonna. After his capture, Nepotian was blinded and interned in a monastery, upon gaining the throne, Ramiro removed the system of election through which a faction of nobles had favored the succession of Nepotian. Early in his reign, Ramiro received word that Viking pirates were attacking along the Atlantic coast of France, the Vikings were mainly in search of navigable rivers and large cities to sack. Asturias lacked these, the chronicles of the era only to two minor attacks in Gijón and in A Coruña, both in 844. These attacks were confronted by troops sent by Ramiro, the Viking invaders, having failed to sack Asturias, later successfully attacked and sacked Lisbon and, still later, Cádiz and Seville. They then advanced into the interior of the Iberian peninsula and menaced Córdoba, Abd ar-Rahman II organized a large army to defeat the invaders and recapture Cádiz and Seville. According to legend, in 834 Ramiro defeated the Moors in the Battle of Clavijo, the date was later changed to 844 in order to accommodate the contradictions inherent to the story. The account of the came to the spotlight on a spurious charter forged in Santiago de Compostela in the early 12th century. Neither Asturian nor Arab chronicles of the period make any mention of such a battle and it is first mentioned in the chronicles of the Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada, 13th century archbishop of Toledo. This gave rise to the cult of Saint James in Iberia, in reality, Ramiros most important confrontation with the Muslim kingdoms of Iberia was not such a success. Emir Abd ar-Rahman II of Córdoba likewise had to face Viking invaders, as well as internal rebellions led by Musa ibn Musa, Ramiro took advantage of the temporary respite by repopulating the city of León. This particular attempt at repopulation was short-lived, Abd ar-Rahman II dispatched both the Vikings and the rebels, and in 846 sent an army led by his son, forcing the Christians to evacuate León, which the Muslims burned
