King Alfonso of León IV

  General Notes:

Called the Monk, he was King of León from 925 (or 926) and King of Galicia from 929, until he abdicated in 931.

When Ordoño II died in 924 it was not one of his sons who ascended to the throne of León but rather his brother Fruela II of Asturias. The exact circumstances of the succession upon Fruela's death one year later are unclear, but apparently it was the son of Fruela, Alfonso Fróilaz, who became king. Sancho Ordóñez, Alfonso, and Ramiro, the sons of Ordoño II, claimed to be the rightful heirs and rebelled against their cousin. With the support of king Jimeno Garcés of Pamplona, they drove Alfonso Fróilaz to the eastern marches of Asturias, dividing the kingdom among themselves, Alfonso receiving the crown of León and his elder brother Sancho being acclaimed king in Galicia.

Alfonso IV resigned the crown to his brother Ramiro in 931 and went into a religious house. One year later he took up arms with Fruela's sons Ordoño and Ramiro against his own brother Ramiro, having repented of his renunciation of the world. He was defeated, blinded, and sent back to die in the cloister of Sahagún. By his wife Oneca, daughter of Sancho I of Pamplona, he had two children: Ordoño IV of León, and another son, Fruela, who was involved in a land dispute during the reign of Ramiro III of León.