Editing Alfonso V of León

{{Short description|King of León from 999 to 1028}}
{{Infobox royalty
| type         = monarch
| name         = Alfonso V
| image        = Alfonso V of León.jpg
| caption      = Alfonso V in the ''[[Libro de las Estampas]]''
| succession   = [[List of Leonese monarchs|King]] of [[Kingdom of León|León]]
| reign        = 999&ndash;1028
| coronation   = 
| predecessor  = [[Bermudo II of León|Bermudo II]]
| successor    = [[Bermudo III of León|Bermudo III]]
| spouse       = [[Elvira Menéndez (died 1022)|Elvira Menéndez]]<br />[[Urraca Garcés (queen)|Urraca of Pamplona]]
| issue        = [[Bermudo III of León]]<br />[[Sancha of León]]<br />[[Jimena of León]]
| house        = [[Astur-Leonese dynasty]]
| house-type   = Dynasty
| father       = [[Bermudo II of León]]
| mother       = [[Elvira of Castile, Queen of León|Elvira García of Castile]]
| birth_date   = {{circa|994}}
| birth_place  = 
| death_date   = 4 July/7 August {{Death year and age|1028|994}}
| death_place  = [[Viseu]], [[County of Portugal|Portugalia]]
| burial_place = [[Basilica of San Isidoro]]
| religion     = [[Chalcedonian Christianity]]
}}
'''Alfonso V''' (c. 994{{snd}}7 August 1028), called '''the Noble''', was [[List of Leonese monarchs|King of León]] from 999 to 1028. Like other kings of León, he used the title [[emperor]] ({{Lang|lt|[[Imperator totius Hispaniae]]}}) to assert his standing among the Christian [[Iberian Peninsula#Pre-modern Iberia|rulers of Spain]].{{sfn|Sánchez Candeira|1951|p=16|ps=. In a letter to king [[Sancho III of Navarre]], the Catalan bishop [[Abbot Oliva|Oliva of Vic]] called Alfonso ''imperator''. A document of the monastery of [[Celanova]] (1007) also refers to Alfonso V as ''rex imperator''.}} He succeeded his father, [[Bermudo II of León|Bermudo II]], in 999.{{Sfn|Fernández del Pozo|1999|p=7}} His mother [[Elvira of Castile, Queen of León|Elvira García]] and count [[Menendo González]], who raised him in [[Galicia, Spain|Galicia]],{{Sfn|Fernández del Pozo|1999|p=7, 24, and 27}} acted as his co-regents. Upon the count's death in 1008, Alfonso ruled on his own.{{Sfn|Martínez Díez|2007|pp=592–593,650}}

==Reign==
Alfonso began the work of reorganizing the Christian kingdom of the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula after a most disastrous period of civil war and Arab inroads.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Alphonso|display=Alphonso s.v. Alphonso V.|volume=1|page=734}}</ref> Enough is known of him to justify the belief that he had some of the qualities of a soldier and a statesman.<ref name="EB1911" />

His name and that of his wife are associated with the grant of the first franchises of [[León, León|León]] (1017).{{Sfn|Fernández del Pozo|1999|p=109}} On Wednesday, 7 August 1028, Alfonso V was killed by an arrow while besieging the Muslim-occupied town of [[Viseu]].{{Sfn|Fernández del Pozo|1999|pp=8 and 223–226}}{{Sfn|Martínez Díez|2007|p=155}} King Alfonso was buried next to his first wife Elvira, according to his wishes, at the Church of Saint John the Baptist and San Pelayo which later changed its name to the [[Basilica of San Isidoro]] when the latter [[Isidore of Seville|saint's]] remains were transferred from [[Seville]].{{Sfn|Fernández del Pozo|1999|p=223 and 226}} The following epitaph was carved on his tomb:
 
{{quote|''H. IACET ADEFONSUS QUI POPVLATIT LEGIONEM...ET DEDIT BONOS FOROS ET FECIT / ECCLESIAM HANC LVTO ET LATERE. HABVIT PRAELIA CUM / SARRACENIS, ET INTERFECTUS, EST SAGITTA APUD VISEUM / PORTUGAL FUIT FILIUS VEREMUNDI ORDONII / OBIIT ERA M SEXAGESIMA QUINTA III NAS M.''{{Sfn|Fernández del Pozo|1999|p=100|ps=. Translation: "H[ere] lies Alfonso, who [re-]populated León ... and gave good laws and made / this church of clay and brick. He had battles with / the Saracens, and was killed with an arrow before Viseu / [in] Portugal[.] He was the son of Vermudo Ordóñez . . ."}}}}

==Family==
Alfonso first married [[Elvira Menéndez (died 1022)|Elvira Menéndez]] in 1013, daughter of his tutor Menendo González at whose house he was raised as a child. They had two children:{{Sfn|Fernández del Pozo|1999|p=214}}
*[[Sancha of León]], married [[Ferdinand I of León and Castile]]
*[[Bermudo III of León]] ({{circa|1015}}–1037)

After Elvira's death on 2 December 1022,{{Sfn|Fernández del Pozo|1999|p=218}} Alfonso married [[Urraca Garcés (queen)|Urraca Garcés]], sister of King [[Sancho III of Pamplona]].{{sfn|Sánchez Candeira|1951|p=34}} Before this marriage took place, the king of Pamplona had sent Ponce, abbot at the Monastery of San Pedro de Tavèrnoles, later [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oviedo#Leadership|bishop of Oviedo]], and a nobleman named Garcia, to intercede before [[Abbot Oliba]], bishop of [[Vic, Spain|Vic]], in favor of the marriage of his sister Urraca to the king of León, despite the impediments of consanguinity. Although Bishop Oliba did not authorize the marriage, describing it as ''incesti connubii'' in a letter dated 11 May 1023,{{Sfn|Martínez Díez|2007|pp=122–123}} the royal wedding was celebrated between the date of the bishop's letter and 13 November 1023 when Alfonso V and his new wife, who confirms as ''Urraka regina'', appear together for the first time in a charter in the [[Cathedral of León]].{{Sfn|Fernández del Pozo|1999|p=218}}{{Sfn|Martínez Díez|2007|pp=123 and 155}}

Urraca and her mother [[Jimena Fernández]] made a donation on 26 September 1028 to the [[Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela]] confirming as ''Scemena regina simulque et filia mea Urraca Regina (...) genitoris nostri Fredenandus Ueremudiz et domna Geloria'', and a few years later, King Bermudo III on 6 August 1031 referred to his step-mother as ''Urraca regina Garseani regis filia''.

Alfonso and Urraca had one daughter, who was named [[Jimena of León|Jimena]] as attested in a charter dated 22 December 1036 in a donation made by Muniadona and her son Fernando Gundemáriz, son of [[Gundemaro Pinióliz]], whom she confirms as Jimena, daughter of King Alfonso.{{Sfn|Fernández Conde|Torrente Fernández|2007|p= 198}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cite journal| last1 = Fernández Conde|first1 = Francisco Javier| last2 =Torrente Fernández |first2= Isabel|title = Los orígenes del monasterio de San Pelayo (Oviedo): aristocracia, poder y monacato)| year = 2007|journal = Territorio, Sociedad y Poder, Work de Estudios Medievales|number = 2|pages = 181–202|publisher = Universidad de Oviedo|location = Oviedo|language= es| issn = 1886-1121|url =http://digibuo.uniovi.es/dspace/bitstream/10651/28808/2/Origenes9421-15496-1-SM.pdf}}
* {{cite book|last =  Fernández del Pozo|first = José María|title = Alfonso V (999–1028) y Vermudo III (1029–1037)| publisher= La Olmeda|year = 1999|location = Burgos|language=es|isbn =84-89915-07-5}} 
* {{cite book| last = Martínez Díez| first = Gonzalo|title = Sancho III el Mayor Rey de Pamplona, Rex Ibericus| year = 2007| publisher = Marcial Pons Historia| location = Madrid| language = es|isbn = 978-84-96467-47-7}}
*{{cite journal |last=Sánchez Candeira |first=Alfonso |year=1948 |volume=8 |issue=30 |title=Sobre la fecha de la muerte de Alfonso V de León |journal=Hispania |publisher = Instituto de Historia, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas|pages=132–35|issn = 1988-8368}}
*{{cite book |last=Sánchez Candeira |first=Alfonso |year=1951 |url=http://bibliotecadigital.jcyl.es/i18n/consulta/registro.cmd?id=6460 |title=El "regnum-imperium" leonés hasta 1037 |series=Monografias de ciencia moderna,27 |publisher = CSIC. Escuela de Estudios Medievales| location=Madrid|oclc =3565604 }}
{{commons category|Alfonso V of León}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[Astur-Leonese dynasty]]|circa|994|4 July/7 August|1028}}
{{s-reg}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Bermudo II of León|Bermudo II]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Leonese monarchs|King of León]]|years=999&ndash;1028}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Bermudo III of León|Bermudo III]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Leonese monarchs}}
{{Galician monarchs}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alfonso 05 Of Leon}}
[[Category:11th-century Leonese monarchs]]
[[Category:10th-century Leonese monarchs]]
[[Category:Monarchs killed in action]]
[[Category:Spanish military personnel killed in action]]
[[Category:Medieval child monarchs]]
[[Category:990s births]]
[[Category:1028 deaths]]
[[Category:Burials in the Royal Pantheon at the Basilica of San Isidoro]]
[[Category:Deaths by arrow wounds]]
[[Category:Astur-Leonese dynasty]]