Ordoño Bermúdez


Ordoño Bermúdez or Ordoño Vermúdez was one of the sons that King Bermudo II of León had out of wedlock. Although the name of his mother is not known, she was probably a member of the nobility of Galicia as suggested in a document from the Monastery of Samos, where his descendants and those of the Vela-Ovéquiz family shared a common inheritance based on a linea consaguinitatis.

Biographical sketch

A relevant member of the curia regis until at least 1032, Ordoño first appears in medieval documentation in 1001 when he served as a witness in a legal dispute involving count Rodrigo Romániz and Jimena Jiménez. He started to confirm royal charters in 1024 as the mayordomo mayor of his brother King Alfonso V of León. After the king's death in Viseu in 1028, Ordoño appears in 1029 exercising the same function in the court of his nephew, King Bermudo III.

Marriage and issue

Ordoño married Fronilde Peláez, daughter of the rebellious count Pelayo Rodríguez and Gotina Fernández, daughter of Fernando Bermúdez de Cea. This marriage gave rise to the lineage of the Ordóñez, one of the most important ones in medieval Galicia. In 1042, Ordoño and Fronilde made a donation to the Monastery of Santa María Virgen in León, accompanied by the children who were still alive at that date who confirmed the charter as: Ueremundo Ordoniz, Sanctio Ordoniz et Fredenando Ordoniz et Xemena Ordoniz. The seven children born of this marriage were: