Diogo Fernandes (count)

For other people named Diego Fernández, see Diego Fernández (disambiguation).

Diogo Fernandes (d. before 1 December 928),[1] (Diego Fernández in Spanish) was a count in the Kingdom of León whose filiation has not been documented although, from his patronymic, it is known that his father was named Fernando,[2] and that he was possibly from Castile.[3] He is the ancestor of many of the important 10th and 11th-century noble families in the County of Portugal and in the Kingdom of León.[4] Although the relationship has not been documented, some authors believe that Diego could have been the brother of Count Ero[5][6] and of Godesteu Fernández who married his niece, Gugina Ériz, daughter of his supposed brother, Ero.[7][8]

Biographical sketch

View of Viseu, the city where King Ramiro II of León established his court

Diogo arrived at the county of Portugal near the end of the 9th-century, accompanying, according to Sampiro, Infante Bermudo Ordóñez, the son of Ordoño I of Asturias, who after rebelling against his brother King Alfonso III, fled to Coimbra where he lived and died shortly before 928.[9] Count Diego appears for the first time in medieval charters on 28 April 909, confirming a donation made by King Alfonso III.[9] He was also a member of the curia regis of King Ordoño II of León and of his successor Fruela II.[10] He accompanied King Ramiro II when he established his court in Viseu and his last appearance was on 23 February 926 when he confirmed a donation made by this monarch to Hermenegildo González and his wife Mumadona, Diogo's daughter.[11]

Marriage and issue

He married Onecca, who due to confusion with a descendant is often mistakenly called Onega Lucides and made to be daughter of Lucídio Vimaranes, son of Vímara Peres. Onecca could have been a member of the royal house of Pamplona because of the Navarrese, rather than Galician, origin of her name and that of her son Jimeno and some of her descendants.[12] She could have been the daughter of Leodegundia, supposed daughter of King Ordoño I of Asturias, who would have married a prince of Pamplona, based on a document where King Ramiro II of León calls Mumadona Dias his aunt.[3] Onecca appears in December 928 making a donation to the Monastery of Lorvão with her four children, Munia, Ledegundia, Ximeno, and Mummadomna, who confirm the donation, also confirmed by Hermenegildo González, the husband of Mumadona, and Rodrigo Tedoniz, probable husband of Leodegundia Díaz. Onecca made the donation for the soul of Veremudo dive memorie who has been confused with King Bermudo II of León but refers to Bermudo Ordoñez, son of Ordoño I who lived in the County of Portugal and would have been the brother of Leodegundia, who could have been Onecca's mother.[13]

The children of this marriage were:

References

Bibliography