King Alfonso of León V

  General Notes:

called the Noble, was King of León from 999 to 1028. He was the son of Bermudo II by his second wife Elvira García of Castile. The Abbot Oliva called him "Emperor of Spain".

Because of his youth at his father's death, his mother acted as a regent. She retired in 1007 and became a nun. He 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. Enough is known of him to justify the belief that he had some of the qualities of a soldier and a statesman.

His name, and that of his wife Elvira Mendes (sometimes Geloria Mendes), are associated with the grant of the first franchises of León (1017). He was killed by an arrow while besieging the town of Viseu in northern Portugal, then held by the Muslims.

Alfonso married Elvira Mendes of Portugal, daughter of Count Menendo González of Portugal and Toda, before 1010. (Elvira Mendes of Portugal was born circa 996 and died on 20 Dec 1022.)

Alfonso next married Urraca of Navarre, daughter of King García Sánchez II of Pamplona and Jimena Fernández.