Ordoño Ramírez

Ordoño Ramírez, called "the Blind" (c. 981–before 1024) was the son of King Ramiro III of León and Sancha Gómez, grandson of Sancho I of León and Queen Teresa Ansúrez and, on the maternal side, of Gómez Díaz, Count of Saldaña and Countess Muniadona Fernández.

Biography

Appearing in medieval charters from 1014 until 1017 when he confirms two diplomas issued by King Alfonso V of León, Ordoño spent his life in Asturias. According to medievalist Margarita Torres, the conflicts between king Bermudo II of León and the Banu Gómez clan could have been due to the latter’s defense of Ordoño’s stronger claims to the throne, being the nephew of the new head of this powerful family, García Gómez, who succeeded his father Gómez Díaz as Count of Saldaña.[1]

He died between 1017, the last time that he appears in the documentation, and before 31 March 1024, the date on which his wife Cristina, declaring herself a widow, makes a donation for the founding of the Monastery of Cornellana.[2]

Marriage and issue

He married probably shortly after 1000 and before 1016 infanta Cristina Bermúdez,[3] daughter of Bermudo II of León and Velasquita Ramírez. This marriage was most likely planned by Velasquita and Ordoño's grandmother Teresa Ansúrez, both of whom were secluded in the Monastery of San Pelayo in Oviedo.[1] The descendants of Ordoño and Cristina gave rise to the Ordóñez lineage, the most important one in 11th–century Asturias. They were the parents of:[3]

The children of Ordoño and Cristina, as mentioned by Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada in his chronicle on Bermudo II, coincide with the information reflected in various charters from several monasteries in Asturias and from the Cathedral of Oviedo.[8]

References

Bibliography