Ordoño IV of León

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Ordoño IV, called the Wicked or the Bad (c. 926–Córdoba, 962), son of Alfonso IV of León and nephew of Ramiro II, was the king of León from 958 until 960, interrupting the reign of Sancho the Fat for a two year period. He was aided in acquiring the throne by Fernán González, count of Castile, whose daughter he married, for the Leonese nobles, as well as the disaffected Galician and Castilian ones, had grown sick of the obese Sancho. They were defeated, however, through Navarrese intervention in 960.

Upon losing his throne, he fled first to Asturias, then Burgos, where he abandoned his wife and lost the support of the Castilian count, and finally to the court of the caliph of Córdoba, where he pleaded for aid, but the caliph treated him in a manner corresponding to his own pathetic grovelling and his pleas were unanswered at his death, still dethroned. From these final two acts of his life he receives his nickname.

During the short period of his reign, he was married, for political reasons, to Urraca, daughter of Fernán González. She bore him no children.

[edit] References

• Genealogy trees are here and here.
• Spanish language articles are here, here, and here.
• See also here.

Preceded by Sancho I

King of León 958–960

Succeeded by Sancho I