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The County of Coimbra (Old Galician: Comtato de Coimbra) was a political entity consisting of the lands of Coimbra, Viseu, Lamego and Santa Maria da Feira, in modern Portugal.
During the Visigothic Kingdom (from the 5th to the early 8th centuries, the County of Coimbra, with its seat in Coimbra (Emínio), was created by King Wittiza (c. 687 – probably 710) as a sub-county of his dominion and was established as a fief for his son Ardabast (Artabasdus), who became Count of the Christians of Coimbra. [1]
The first Muslim campaigns that occupied the Iberian Peninsula occurred between 711 and 715, with Coimbra capitulating to Musa bin Nusair in 714. Under the Umayyad state of Córdoba the city of Coimbra (Qulumriyah) maintained a significant Christian population (known as Mozarabs ), who were allowed to maintain their faith in exchange for paying the jizya (a tax levied on non-Muslims). [2] [3] The continued use of "Count" ( comes, a Roman court title) by the leaders of this community up to as late as 805 reflects the continuation of older Roman and Gothic administrative traditions in the city. [4] [5] [6] [7]
The County appears within the Kingdom of Asturias after the reconquest of the region, when the lands were granted to Hermenegildo Gutiérrez (878 – 920), [12] [13] who over the next four decades was largely responsible for the resettlement of the depopulated province. He and his immediate successors were counts, [14] [15] and held Coimbra, but were not explicitly counts of Coimbra, although they are sometimes referred to as such retrospectively.
The first nobleman specifically to be called count of Coimbra was Gonzalo Muñoz (959 – 981), [21] who was probably a scion of the family of Hermenegildo. Becoming count around 959, he was one of the most powerful noblemen in the western part of the kingdom until he rose in rebellion against King Bermudo II of León and was probably killed during the region's subjugation. The degree to which his successors were alienated from their monarch can be seen by the fact that after the region's recapture in 987 by the Moors of Abu Amir Al-Mansur, Gonzalo's sons joined that general in his sack of Santiago de Compostela in 997. [22] [23] [24]
The city of Coimbra was permanently secured by the Christians in 1064 after it had been taken by the troops of King Ferdinand I of León, led by the Mozarab Sisnando Davides, who would be named its count. [28] [29] [30] [31]
The County of Coimbra ceased to be an independent political entity in 1096 when it was incorporated in the territory of the Second County of Portugal during the latter's restoration under Henry of Burgundy. Subsequently it formed part of the newly-founded Kingdom of Portugal under Henry's son, Afonso I.
This is a historical timeline of Portugal.
Sisnando Davides was a Mozarab nobleman and military leader of the Reconquista, born in Tentúgal, near Coimbra. He was a contemporary and acquaintance of El Cid, but his sphere of activity was in Iberia's southwest.
Count of Atouguia was a Portuguese title of nobility created by a royal decree, dated from 17 December 1448, by King Afonso V of Portugal, and granted to D. Álvaro Gonçalves de Ataíde.
Rodrigo Velázquez was an important magnate of Galicia during the reigns of Ramiro II, Ordoño III, Sancho I, and Ramiro III. He used the title dux (duke), the highest in Galicia at the time, and he even treated diplomatically with the Caliphate of Córdoba. He has been implicated in factional fighting over the succession to the Leonese throne, but the major battle of his career was part of a private aristocratic feud.
Gonzalo Menéndez was a Count of Portugal in the Kingdom of León. He regularly carries the title count (comes), the highest in the kingdom, in surviving documents. He may have used the title magnus dux portucalensium. His name in contemporary records is usually spelled Gundisaluus Menendiz.
The County of Portugal refers to two successive medieval counties in the region around Guimarães and Porto, today corresponding to littoral northern Portugal, within which the identity of the Portuguese people formed. The first county existed from the mid-ninth to the mid-eleventh centuries as a vassalage of the Kingdom of Asturias and the Kingdom of Galicia and also part of the Kingdom of León, before being abolished as a result of rebellion. A larger entity under the same name was then reestablished in the late 11th century and subsequently elevated by its count in the mid-12th century into an independent Kingdom of Portugal.
Menendo González was a semi-autonomous Duke of Galicia and Count of Portugal (997–1008), a dominant figure in the Kingdom of León. He was the royal alférez, the king's armour-bearer and commander of the royal armies, under Vermudo II, and he continued to hold the position until his death. He became the tutor (1003) and ultimately father-in-law of Vermudo's successor, King Alfonso V. He maintained peaceful diplomatic relations with the Caliphate of Córdoba until 1004, after which there was a state of war.
Hermenegildo González or Mendo I Gonçalves was a Galician count in the 10th century Kingdom of León, tenente in Deza, and the ancestor of one of the most relevant Galaico-Portuguese lineages of the Early Middle Ages. He appears in medieval charters confirming as Ermegildus Gundisaluis.
Lucídio Vimaranes was the second count of Portugal within the Kingdom of Asturias, which was divided internally into several provinces called "counties". Portus Cale was one of these counties which was incorporated in the Kingdom as a new land conquered from the moors. Although Lucídio's parentage is not confirmed in any source, all historians agree that based on his uncommon patronymic, he was most probably the son of Vímara Peres.
Hermenegildo Gutiérrez, was a Galician noble who lived during the 9th and 10th centuries. As the Mayordomo mayor of King Alfonso III, he was an active member of the curia regia. His daughter Elvira, as the first wife of King Ordoño II, was queen consort of León.
Ero Fernández was a Galician magnate, count in Lugo, grandfather of St. Rudesind, and ancestor of several noble Galician and Portuguese lineages who married into the highest ranks of the nobility of the kingdoms of León and Castile.
Gonzalo Núñez I was an early member of the House of Lara, whom modern historians and genealogists agree is the first clearly identifiable member of this lineage. The House of Lara was a very prominent family of nobility in the kingdoms of Castile and León and several of its members played a prominent role in the history of medieval Spain. Possibly related to the Salvadórez, the sons of Salvador González and, by marriage, to the Alfonsos from Tierra de Campos and Liébana, as well as the Álvarez from Castile, Gonzalo was most probably a descendant of the Counts of Castile.
Hermenegildo Alóitez, was a magnate and member of the highest nobility of Galicia in the 10th century. His parents were Count Aloito Gutiérrez and Argilo Alóitez, daughter of Alóito and Paterna, the founders of the monastery of San Nicolao de Cis in the territory of Nendos, A Coruña.
Flávio Sisebuto or Flávio Sizibuto was a prominent figure in early 8th-century Iberian history, serving as a Judge of Coimbra and Count of the Christians of Coimbra during a crucial period of transformation as the Umayyad Caliphate consolidated control over the Al-Andalus. His life and role reflect the local governance structures that persisted under Muslim rule and the ways in which Christian communities organized themselves within a predominantly Islamic domain.
Gutier Menéndez (c. 865 – 934) was the most powerful Galician magnate of his time in the Kingdom of León. Related to the royal family through marriages, he acted as a powerbroker in the civil wars that followed the disputed succession of 925.
Arias Menéndez was the son of Hermenegildo Gutiérrez and Ermesenda Gatónez, daughter of count Gatón of Bierzo and Astorga.
Flávio Alarico, also known as Flávio Atanarico de Coimbra was a nobleman and 3rd Count of Coimbra. His title as Count of Coimbra positioned him as a significant figure in the region, as Coimbra became a key area in the Christian Reconquista and the eventual establishment of the Kingdom of Portugal.
Flávio Teodósio, also known as Flávio Thiodo or Flávio Teudo was a nobleman and 4th Count of Coimbra.
Teodorico de Coimbra, also known as Theodorico, was the 5th Count of Coimbra in the early 9th century.
Flávio Hermenegildo, also known as Flávio Hermenegildo Teudis, was the 6th Count of Coimbra.
