It arose within the Kingdom of Asturias following the reconquest of the region, when the lands were granted to Hermenegildo Gutiérrez, who over the next four decades was largely responsible for the resettlement of the depopulated province. He and his immediate successors were counts, 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, 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 when, following the region's recapture in 987 by the Moors of Al-Mansur, Gonzalo's sons joined that general in his sack of Santiago de Compostela in 997.
The city of Coimbra was permanently secured by the Christians in 1064, having been taken by the troops of King Ferdinand I of León, led by the mozarabSisnando Davides who would then be named its count.
It ceased to be an independent political entity when it was incorporated in the territory of the Second County of Portugal at the time of the latter's restoration in 1096 under Henry of Burgundy, and subsequently formed part of the newly founded Kingdom of Portugal under Henry's son, Afonso I.
List of counts
Statue of Martin Muñoz, last Count of Coimbra (before integration in County of Portucale), at the Bridge of San Pablo, Burgos.
Alfonso III, called the Great, was the king of León, Galicia and Asturias from 866 until his death. He was the son and successor of Ordoño I. In later sources he is the earliest to be called "Emperor of Spain." He was also titled "Prince of all Galicia".
This is a historical timeline of Portugal.
This is a historical timeline of Portugal.
Ordoño II was a king of Galicia from 910, and king of Galicia and León from 914 until his death. He was an energetic ruler who submitted the kingdom of Leon to his control and fought successfully against the Muslims, who still dominated most of the Iberian Peninsula. His reign marked the tactical and smooth transition of the regnum Asturum to the regnum Legionis, with the royal headquarters already established in the city of León.
BermudoII, called the Gouty, was first a rival king in Galicia (982–984) and then king of the entire Kingdom of León (984–999). His reign is summed up by Justo Pérez de Urbel's description of him as "the poor king tormented in life by the sword of Almanzor and in death by the vengeful pen of a bishop," Pelagius of Oviedo, half of whose Chronicon covers the reign of Bermudo and is highly critical of the king. He accuses Bermudo of imprisoning Bishop Gudesteus of Oviedo in the 990s and blames the attacks of Almanzor on Bermudo's sins.
Mumadona Dias, or Muniadomna Díaz, was a Galician noble and Countess of Portugal, who ruled the county jointly with her husband from about c. 920 and then on her own after her husband's death around 950 until her death in 968. Celebrated, rich and the most powerful woman in the Northwest of the Iberian peninsula, she has been commemorated by several Portuguese cities.
SisnandoDavides 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.
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.
Nuno Mendes or Nuño Menéndez was the last count of Portugal from the family of Vímara Peres. The son of Count Mendo Nunes, his desires for greater autonomy for Portugal led him to face King Garcia II of Galicia. On 18 February 1071 he fought in the Battle of Pedroso, near the Monastery of São Martinho de Tibães, and his defeat and death led the winning Garcia II to call himself King of Galicia and Portugal. The County of Portugal was then subsumed into the crowns of Galicia and León until regranted by King Alfonso VI of León and Castile a quarter-century later.
Mendo Nunes (Spanish: Menendo Núñez; was a Count of Portugal from the family of Vímara Peres as the son of Nuno Alvites and Ilduara Mendes.
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. Upon the death of his father, King Alfonso III of Asturias entrusted him with the government of the county jointly with Count Hermenegildo Gutiérrez who was succeeded by his son Gutier Menéndez. In the 11th-century, his great-grandson Count Alvito Nunes, initiated a second period in which the family governed the County of Portugal after succeeding Count Menendo González, son of Count Gonzalo Menéndez.
Hermenegildo Gutiérrez, was a distinguished 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.
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.
The Banu Gómez were a powerful but fractious noble family living on the Castilian marches of the Kingdom of León from the 10th to the 12th centuries. They rose to prominence in the 10th century as counts in Saldaña, Carrión and Liébana, and reached their apogee when, allied with Córdoba warlord, Almanzor, their head, García Gómez, expelled king Vermudo II of León and briefly ruled there. He would reconcile with the royal family, but launched two subsequent rebellions. On his death, the senior line of the family was eclipsed, but a younger branch would return to prominence, producing Pedro Ansúrez, one of the premier noblemen under king Alfonso VI and queen Urraca in the late 11th and early 12th centuries. The family would be portrayed in the Cantar de Mio Cid as rivals and antagonists of the hero, El Cid, and their rebellions would serve as a basis for the legend of Bernardo del Carpio.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Portugalportal 
