Fruela I of Asturias

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Fruela I (or Froila I) (d. 768), called the Cruel, was the King of Asturias from 757 until his death, when he was killed by a bear while hunting. He was the eldest son of Alfonso I and continued the work of his father.

He suppressed an uprising of the Basques, from whom he took the noble Munia (or Munina), whom he later married. She later gave birth to Alfonso, later king also, and Jimena, supposed mother of the legendary hero of romance Bernardo del Carpio.

During his reign, the city of Oviedo was founded, on November 25, 761, when the Abbot Máximo and his uncle Fromestano erected a church in honour of Saint Vincent there. Under Fruela, good relations between the church and the king continued as in the reign of his father — Alfonso "the Catholic".

Fruela did not finish his reign happily. Having assassinated his brother Vimerano (this is the basis for his nickname), and with the nobles restless, he named as his successor Bermudo, son of Vimerano. Unfortunately a plot was formed against him, which ended with Fruela's assassination in Cangas de Onís, his capital, and his cousin Aurelius being raised to the throne instead.

The bodies of Fruela and his wife Munia are interred in the cathedral at Oviedo.