Veremondo de Cantabria

Coronation
 Predecessor
 Dynasty
 Died
 Burial

**Saint Veremondo I** (*Veremondo de Cantabria*; 1 January 740 - 14 February 804), also known as **Veremondo the Right-Believing** and **Veremondo of Asturias** was King of Asturias from his coronation by the Bishop of Santandar in 771 until his death 804. He became King after succeeding the short reigning King Aurelius. Veremondo rose to the throne after the unexpected death of Aurelius in December 770, and would reign the north Iberian Kingdom into the new century. The reign of King Veremondo has been noted as having heralded in a new era for Christians in the north of the Iberian peninsular. Under Veremondo's reign, the forces of Asturias in addition to those of the Holy Roman Empire under Emperor Charlemagne succeeded in retaking the territory of Portucale from the Umayyads in 793. Under Veremondo the role of the Roman Catholic Church would increase owing to the pious Veremondo's faith, which led to his wife, Queen Munia being installed as Regent various times throughout the year while he secluded himself in prayer. King Veremondo was known as a patient and tolerant man, only moved to anger as a result of rebellions. Indeed the King himself notably never ordered a death sentence on any notable figure during his reign - the only death in custody during his reign was of a peasant rebel leader in the oubliette of the royal castle. Among King Veremondo's feats was the construction of the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral Cathedral in Coruna in 800. Veremondo was a much loved and respected King, who was mourned considerably after his death. In 808 Pope Marinus would beatify King Veremondo as Saint Veremondo 'the Right-Believing' owing to the confirmation of a miracle when Veremondo via the use of prayer lifted a weight off a man.

## History

### **Rise to Power**

Born in 740 as the son of Fruela of Cantabria, the Duke of Cantabria. The second son of Fruela, Veremondo was not expected to inherit the throne, yet by 768 he was the heir apparent after his brother Aurelius rose to the throne. Aurelius, unmarried and childless was expected to marry into the House of Karling, and was betrothed to the sister of Charlemagne. Aurelius would dramatically and unexpectedly die on 1 December 770. Legend has it that the King was approached by an attractive young women who offered to spend the night with him. The King agreed yet was soon confronted with the fact that the 'woman' was in fact Satan, who challenged him to a game of chess. The cynical Aurelius laughed this off and was then struck by an 'unknown compelling force' which caused his death in the early hours of the morning of the 1 December 770. Within a year Veremondo would be crowned King by the Bishop of Santander on the 13 May 771.

### **Early Reign**

Veremondo's early reign was dominated with spats with the council of his brother Aurelius, made up of many loyalists to his brother who were resistant to a new monarch. Over time, with the use of patronage and granting of new titles, he was able to win over the council, which he would fill with his own supporters as his brother's supporters either died or retired. The birth of his firstborn, a daughter by the name of Carmen, May 772 would result in a new departure with the Church of Rome. Requesting his daughter be christened by Pope Stephen III, he was given an assurance that this would occur, but only if all episcopal appointments were to be made by the Papacy itself, as opposed to the Asturian government. Veremondo, a devout Catholic, happily agreed to this demand and saw his daughter christened several weeks after her birth in June 772. During the initial period of his reign, the fear of an invasion by the Umayyad Caliphate forced Veremondo to push for increases in taxation across the board so as to build a sizeable war chest in the event of a Unmayyad invasion. The betrothal of his late brother to a member of the Karling dynasty, the ruling family in Francia headed by Charlemagne, ensured that the two nations would begin a longstanding friendship and alliance. This alliance would effectively dissuade any Moorish invasion for several decades, which ensured that King Veremondo's war chest would grow to a staggering size by the 790s when a war finally was declared. Indeed it is claimed that by the end of his reign, King Veremondo was among the wealthiest rulers in Europe with a treasury several times larger than that of the Holy Roman Emperor himself.

In 782 the peasantry of the west of Asturias, primarily based in the province of Santiago, protesting high taxation, would rise up under the leadership of Cassius, a charismatic farmer who lead a peasant army of around two thousand men on the Asturian capital. Veremondo, a generally forgiving man was incensed by this and raised his levies and headed his army against the peasant forces, who they would meet in battle in late 782 near A Coruña. The peasantry was crushed and soon after Cassius was apprehended and brought before King Veremondo. Veremondo, despite being incensed at the rebellion, refused to execute the rebel leader, but he did order him to be immediate imprisoned in the oubliette, where he would die within a year. This is the only notable death to occur as a result of King Veremondo's orders. The swiftness of his dealing with the peasant revolt would dissuade a rising by the gentry in 788, who were demanding the shifting of succession laws towards gavelkind, owing to their discomfort at being locked out of the process and by the fact that the King's preferred successor was a female.

### **Reconquista**

On the urging of his ally, Emperor Charlemagne of the Holy Roman Empire, Veremondo would launch the reconquest of Portucale from the Muslim infidels. Despite declaring the war, Veremondo was eager to call for aid and assistance from his Holy Roman ally, who was much obliged to give it. According to court chronicles, Veremondo was a competent and effective administrator, yet he was also known to dither when it came to conflicts, constantly underestimating his own abilities and those of his army. After word came that Holy Roman troops, headed by Charlemagne himself had crossed the border into Barcelona, Veremondo led his assembled army of around five thousand men to besiege large settlements in Portucale. Gaining some assistance of Holy Roman troops, who folded into the Asturian army, under Veremondo's command. The Christian forces were divided into three. The bulk of the Holy Roman forces besieged much of the east of Umayyad controlled Iberia, while a sizeable portion defended Asturian territory from Umayyad attacks. The rest, including the vast majority of the Asturian army besieged the west of the country, where the contested territory was located. The decisive blow came at the Battle of Evora in 794, which saw the combined Christian forces defeat a Muslim force in a closely fought battle. Soon after this the Umayyad defence folded and a hitherto close fought war began to lean far more heavily towards the Christian forces. Indeed by the end of the year the conflict was so decisively in the favour of the Christians, that King Veremondo's peace offer was accepted by the Umayya

ds soon after it arrived. This conflicted represented the first occasion in decades, and indeed during Veremondo's reign that territory had been reconquered from the Muslim infidels by the Catholic Kingdom of Asturias, representing a major victory for Christendom in the region and a vindication of Veremondo's stockpiling of ducats over the prior two decades. Indeed the Asturian economy and treasury were hardly hit by the conflict, despite much of its income being diverted towards the conflict - this is a testament to the leadership of King Veremondo before and during the conflict.

### **Later Reign**

After consolidating his control over the conquered territories of Portucale and usurping titles from the local Umayyad bureaucrats and lords, Veremondo sought to ensure the Catholic faith had a foothold in the new territories. Sending his court chaplain and various high ranking religious officials to the newly conquered territories, Veremondo began a process of re-christianistation of these formerly Muslim lands. This process was generally successful, in part due to Veremondo's tolerant attitude to the conquered Muslims who now found themselves a minority in their homeland. The new Catholic state faith in these regions was demonstrated with the construction of various churches and cathedrals in the conquered lands, which complemented the construction of the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in 800 in Galicia, to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the birth of Christ. During this time the heretical Lollard faith would emerge in the province of Santiago, which threatened the position of the local Catholic Church. Acting on the advise of his council and advisers, the King ordered the hunting of heretics who were to be made to convert, by force in necessary. This represented one of the only instances when Veremondo's tolerance did not show. Veremondo was known of his tolerance for religious minorities, namely Jews and Muslims, yet his tolerance ended when it came to the question of Christian heresies. Veremondo's bid to avoid the spread of the Lollard heresy in retrospect was a rather timid affair, especially compared to the approach of his successor and daughter, Carmen, who would successfully wipe the Lollard faith from Asturias during her reign.

Starting in 798 and lasting until 801, the Asturian Kingdom, and in particular the royal household, was rocked by an internal schism which would become known as the 'Succession Crisis'. The crisis' roots went back several years to the birth of Veremondo's second child, Aloito, a son. Owing to the Asturias' succession law being one of an elective absolute monarchy, it was generally assumed that the King's successor would be his favoured child and firstborn, Carmen. Indeed this was felt exceedingly likely owing to Aloito being a particularly unwell child, who would suffer from cancer in the latter period of his life. The birth of two further sons would seemingly complicate succession laws in the Kingdom. The King's youngest son, Monnio de Cantabria, was removed from succession owing to his intentions to become a monk. With this and the death of Aloito in 794 from abdominal cancer, it was apparent that only Froila or Carmen would succeed the King. Carmen, despite being married and with a child, was pushed aside by succession laws which favoured a younger male sibling who was married over an older female sibling. Froila's expected rule was seen as quite likely when his wife became pregnant in 800 with a daughter. Froila would however fall ill and die shortly after the birth of his daughter, thus leaving Carmen as the heir apparent to Veremondo. Veremondo's favouring of a female heir is considered strange for the time period, though it is thought that this was as a result of the weak willed nature of his sons compared to his opinionated and intelligent daughter. Indeed court chronicles written after the King's death note that Prince Froila was noted for his timid nature and inability to wield a sword correctly, as opposed to the effective melee skills of his sister. The death of Froila in 801 would end the crisis period.

### **Death & Beatification**

Well into his seventh decade, Veremondo was known for having surprisingly resilient health. The King, known for his temperate approach to alcohol and food, was in good health until just before his death, which occurred as a result of a series of health ailments. Veremondo would die in the early hours of the morning of the 14th February 804 in Queen Munia's arms. King Veremondo was a widely loved and respected King who was mourned considerably after his death. Veremondo was known as a pious and deeply religious man who lived a simple life compared to many contemporary European monarchs. Several years after his death Veremondo would be beatified by Pope Marinus as a Saint. This occurred as a result of his well-known piety as well as an event that occurred while the King was on his way to attend an event in Galicia. Seeing a peasant man trapped below a large rock that had fallen from a nearby rock-face, the King halted his procession and went over to the man and prayed for his survival. Soon after this the boulder cracked in an unnatural manner, and enabled the man to emerge unscathed from the ordeal. This 'Miracle of Galicia' became a popular anecdote about the late King soon after he died and was written about extensively in subsequent chronicles and accounts of his life. The date of Saint Veremondo's feast is the 29th July, the date of the supposed miracle occurring.

### **Family and children**

Edward married his wife Munia of Asturias in 769. Munia, the widow of his cousin and predecessor as King Fruela I the Cruel. Munia, who had been taken by Fruela I after an uprising of the Basques, as his *prize* and who bore him a son, Alfonso. After Fruela's death in 768 she was married to Veremondo, a marriage with more love in it than her previous marriage. The marriage would lead to four children being born. The eldest and the sole daughter, Carmen was born in May 772. She was followed in quick succession over the coming eight years by three brothers, Aloito, Froila and Monnio. Aloito would die of abdominal cancer aged 19 in August 794. Monnio was cut out of inheritance due to his becoming a a monk in the 790s, which ensured that the succession would come down to either Carmen or Froila. Carmen, who was widely seen as her father's favourite child by virtue of being the sole female and the first born, was nominated by her father as his successor upon coming of age at sixteen in 788. Carmen would soon after marry Prince Eudokimos of the Byzantine Empire, an alleged homosexual known for his ill temper and gluttonous tendencies. Despite this the union would result in a single child, a daughter, Winidilda in March 790, effectively ensuring the maintenance of the the de Cantabria family. Prince Froila's marriage in 798 would, as virtue of Asturian succession laws, place him as the heir apparent, much to his father's consternation. Veremondo likely favoured the physical and mentally stronger Carmen over her less able brother. News of Froila's wife's pregnancy in 800 seemingly confirmed that Veremondo's eldest would be cut out of the inheritance. Soon after the birth of the child, a daughter, Froila would succumb to health problems and would die of food poisoning, thus shifting the inheritance of the crown back to Carmen, much to Veremondo's obvious joy.

An urban legend in Spain persists that the preserved head of Saint Veremondo was actually severed shortly after his embalming and death by his daughter, Queen Carmen. Legend has it that the new Queen entered the royal crypt late at night and severed it with one clean sweep with a Scimitar that he had gained in the Portucales Reconquista War. The preserved head was then carried in a silk bag by Carmen until her death, as a religious relic, especially after his beatification. The head, which is used on the town crest of Santander, is currently in possession of the Spanish National Museum, and proves to be one of the most popular exhibits among native and foreign visitors alike.