García I of León

García I (c. 871 – 914) was the King of León from 910 until his death and eldest of three succeeding sons of Alfonso III the Great by his wife Jimena.

García I
18th-century statue in Madrid
King of León
Reign	910–914
Predecessor	Alfonso III
Successor	Ordoño II
Born	c. 871
Died	c. 914
Burial	Cathedral of San Salvador, Oviedo
Consort	Muniadona
Dynasty	Astur-Leonese dynasty
Father	Alfonso III of Asturias
Mother	Jimena of Pamplona
Religion	Chalcedonian Christianity
Signature

García took part in the government alongside his father until 909. In that year a conspiracy, in which García was implicated, was uncovered. Alfonso renounced the throne and divided the realm among his three sons. León went to García, Galicia to Ordoño, and Asturias to Fruela. Asturian primacy was nevertheless recognised.

García's reign saw the fortification of the Duero and the repopulation of Roa, Osma, Clunia, and San Esteban de Gormaz. During this period, the count of Castile, Gonzalo Fernández gained influence through these endeavours. At his death in Zamora in 914 he had no heirs and his kingdom passed to Ordoño.^[1]

García's wife, Muniadona, was said by Pelagius of Oviedo to have been daughter of Nuño Fernández, but this is chronologically impossible. Sánchez Albornoz suggested instead that she was daughter of Munio Núñez, the repoblador of Roa and Count of Castile.^[2] She may have been the same Muniadona later married to count Ferdinand Ansúrez of Castile.

References

1. Herbermann, Charles George (1913). The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church. Encyclopedia Press. p. 175.
2. An alternative has recently been suggested by Manuel Carriedo Tejedo making her daughter of Nuño, brother of Alfonso III, and hence her husband's first-cousin, and perhaps identical to the Muniadona who was wife Gonzalo Fernández of Castile and mother of Fernán González of Castile.

Preceded by Alfonso III

King of León 910–914

Succeeded by Ordoño II