page_title: Kingdom of Asturias
section_title: Recognition and later solidification
hierarchical_section_title: Kingdom of Asturias / Recognition and later solidification
caption_attribution_description: English: Ramiro I of Asturias
context_page_description: The Kingdom of Asturias was a kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula founded in 718 by the Visigothic nobleman Pelagius. It was the first Christian political entity established after the Umayyad conquest of Visigothic Hispania in 718 or 722. That year, Pelagius defeated an Umayyad army at the Battle of Covadonga, in what is usually regarded as the beginning of the Reconquista.
  The Asturian kings were happy to make peace with the Muslims when it suited them, particularly if it left them free to pursue their other enemies, the Basques and rebels in Galicia. Thus Fruela killed 40,000 Muslims but also defeated the Basques and Galicians, and Silo made peace with the Muslims but not with the Galicians. Under King Alfonso II, the kingdom was firmly established with Alfonso's recognition as king of Asturias by Charlemagne and the Pope. He conquered Galicia and the Basques. During his reign, the holy bones of St James the Great were declared to be found in Galicia, in Compostela. Pilgrims from all over Europe opened a way of communication between the isolated Asturias and the Carolingian lands and beyond.
context_section_description: It was not until King Alfonso II (791–842) that the kingdom was firmly established, after Silo's subjugated Gallaecia and confirmed territorial gains in western Basque Country. Ties with the Carolingian Franks also got closer and more frequent, with Alfonso II's envoys presenting Charlemagne with spoils of war (campaign of Lisbon, 797). Alfonso II introduced himself as "an Emperor Charlemagne's man", suggesting some kind of suzerainty. During Alfonso II's reign, a probable reaction against indigenous traditions took place in order to strengthen his state and grip on power, by establishing in the Asturian Court the order and ceremonies of the former Visigoth Kingdom. Around this time, the holy bones of James, son of Zebedee were declared to have been found in Galicia at Iria Flavia. They were considered authentic by a contemporary pope of Rome. However, during the Asturian period, the final resting place of Eulalia of Mérida, located in Oviedo, became the primary religious site and focus of devotion.
  Alfonso II also repopulated parts of Galicia, León and Castile and incorporated them into the Kingdom of Asturia while establishing influence over parts of the Basques. The first capital city was Cangas de Onís, near the site of the battle of Cavadonga. Then in Silo's time, it was moved to Pravia. Alfonso II chose his birthplace of Oviedo as the capital of the kingdom (circa 789).
  Ramiro I began his reign by capturing several other claimants to the throne, blinding them, and then confining them to monasteries. As a warrior he managed to defeat a Viking invasion after the Vikings had landed at Corunna, and also fought several battles against the Moors.
  When he succeeded his father Ramiro, Ordoño I (850–66) repressed a major revolt amongst the Basques in the east of the kingdom. In 859, Ordoño besieged the fortress of Albelda, built by Musa ibn Musa of the Banu Qasi, who had rebelled against Cordoba and became master of Zaragoza, Tudela, Huesca and Toledo. Musa attempted to lift the siege in alliance with his brother-in-law García Iñiguez, the king of Pamplona, whose small realm was threatened by the eastwards expansion of the Asturian monarchy. In the battle that followed, Musa was defeated and lost valuable treasures in the process, some of which were sent as a gift to Charles the Bald of Francia. Seven days after the victory, Albelda fell and, as the chronicler records, "its warriors were killed by the sword and the place itself was destroyed down to its foundations." Musa was wounded in the battle and died in 862/3; soon thereafter, Musa's son Lubb, governor of Toledo, submitted himself to the Asturian king for the rest of Ordoño's reign.
  When Alfonso III's sons forced his abdication in 910, the Kingdom of Asturias split into three separate kingdoms: León, Galicia and Asturias. The three kingdoms were eventually reunited in 924 (León and Galicia in 914, Asturias later) under the crown of León. It continued under that name until incorporated into the Kingdom of Castile in 1230, after Ferdinand III became joint king of the two kingdoms.
caption: Ramiro I of Asturias
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