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GARCIA OF CASTILE Elvira
Birth: ABT 978
Death: 1017
Burial: St. isidore de Leon
Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvira_of_Castile,_Queen_of_Le%C3%B3n
Elvira García (c.?978–1017), was Queen consort of Leon by marriage to King Bermudo
II, and co-regent of Leon jointly with Count Menendo González during the minority of
her son Alfonso V from 999 until 1008.
Life[edit]
Although the year of her birth is not documented, she must have been born shortly
before or after 978 since she does not appear with her older sisters, Urraca and Toda,
in the foundational charter of the Infantado of Covarrubias in November 24 of that
year.[1] Her husband, Bermudo II of León was her first cousin,[2] if Bermudo's debated
filiation as the son of Queen Urraca Fernández is correct.[a]
The marriage was celebrated near the end of November 991[3] and both appear
together confirming royal charters as of 992. The marriage, which took place after
Bermudo repudiated his first wife, Velasquita Ramírez between 988 and 991, sealed
an alliance between the Kingdom of León and the County of Castile which significantly
strengthened the Leonese crown.[2]
Bermudo II died in September 999. He was succeeded by his son, Infante Alfonso, a
minor, anointed king by October 13 of that year, under the tutorship of his mother,
Queen Elvira.[4] The document where Alfonso appears for the first time as King, was
confirmed by his mother, followed by count Menendus Gundisaluis comes (Count
Menendo González), Santius, dux, Garsea prolis (Sancho, duke, son of García, i.e.,
Sancho García, Elvira's brother, in addition to several bishops and magnates of the
realm.[5] In 1004, Count Sancho García, with the support of his sister Queen Elvira,
challenged Count Menendo's tutorship of his nephew, the young King Alfonso. To
avoid an armed conflict, both sought the arbitration of the Córdoban hajib al-Muzaffar
whose deputy, the qadi of the Mozarabic community of Córdoba, Asbag bin Abd Allah
bin Nabil, ruled in favour of Menendo who continued to be the king's tutor until his
death in October 1008, after which Alfonso ruled on his own.[6]
The good relations between Alfonso and his maternal uncle, Count Sancho García,
were broken in 1014 when a member of the Banu Gómez clan named Munio
Fernández, who seemed to count with King Sancho's support, rebelled against the
king. "This rupture coincided or rather gave rise to Queen Elvira's retirement in
Oviedo where she died in the autumn of 1017".[7] Elvira's presence is recorded for
the last time on August 18, 1017 with her son making a donation to the Cathedral of
Santiago de Compostela.[8] She was buried at the Pantheon of the Kings at the
Basilica of San Isidoro in León.[9]
Descendants[edit]
Elvira and Bermudo II had three children:
Alfonso V of León;
Sancha Bermúdez, who lived in Galicia;[10]
Teresa Bermúdez (died on April 25, 1039).[10] According to Bishop Pelagius of
Oviedo, after her father's death, her brother Alfonso gave her in marriage to
Almanzor.[10]The Arab Muslim historiographer and historian Ibn Khaldun wrote that in
993, King Bermudo sent his daughter Teresa to Almanzor who made her his slave,
freed her later and then married her.[10] Hence, according to both of these sources,
Teresa was given by her father or her brother to Almanzor and after being freed, she
returned to the Kingdom of León where she became a nun at the Monastery of San
Pelayo in Oviedo.[11] Modern historians question the veracity of these events and
believe that Teresa is confused with one of the daughters of King Sancho II of
Pamplona, called Urraca or Abda, who was given by her father to Almanzor in 983
since Teresa was not born until after 991, the year of her parent's wedding.[12]
Parents
FERNANDEZ DE LARA Garcia I (ABT 940 - 995)
DE RIBAGORZA Aba (Ava) (ABT 943 - AFT 995)
Siblings
GARCIA Sancho (ABT 965 - 5 Feb 1017)
GARCIA OF CASTILE Elvira (ABT 978 - 1017)
Marriage To ____ Vermudo (Bermudo) II "the Gouty" (ABT 953 - Sep 999)
m. Nov 991 his 2d
Notes
Parents
____ Ordono III (ABT 926 - 955)
PELAEZ Aragonta (Gontroda) (ABT 933 - )
Children by ____ Vermudo (Bermudo) II "the Gouty" ABT 953 - Sep 999
____ Alfonso V ( 994 - 7 Aug 1028)
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