List of Castilian counts

Map (in Spanish) of the county of Castile at its greatest extent

This is a list of counts of Castile. The County of Castile had its origin in a fortified march on the eastern frontier of the Kingdom of Asturias. The earliest counts were not hereditary, being appointed as representatives of the Asturian king. From as early as 867, with the creation of the county of Alava, Castile was subdivided into several smaller counties that were not reunited until 931. In the later 10th century, while nominally in vassalage to the Kingdom of León, the counts grew in autonomy and played a significant role in Iberian politics, but the succession of a minor count in 1017 and his assassination in 1029 caused the county to fall back into the clutches of the Kingdoms of Pamplona and León, until in 1037, count Ferdinand, a Pamplona prince, killed Bermudo III of León and claimed his crown, in the process elevating Castile to royal status.

Counts of Castile

Elective Counts

• Rodrigo (860–873), briefly count of Alava
• Diego Rodríguez Porcelos (873–885)

Castile

(diminished territory)

• Munio Núñez of Castrogeriz (c.899–c.901), brother-in-law of García I of León
• Gonzalo Téllez (c.901–c.904), also count of Cerezo and Lantarón
• Munio Núñez of Castrogeriz (again, c.904–c.909)
• Gonzalo Fernández of Castile (c.909–915), cousin of Munio Núñez

Burgos

• Gonzalo Fernández of Castile (c.899–915)

His acquisition of Castile resulted in reunion of Burgos with Castile, the two titles being used interchangeably thereafter

Castile & Burgos

• Ferdinand Ansúrez (915–920), married Muniadona, widow of García I of León and sister of Munio Núñez.
• Nuño Fernández of Amaya (920–926), brother of Gonzalo Fernández
• Ferdinand Ansúrez (again, 926–c.929)
• Gutier Núñez (c.929–931), probably son of Nuño Fernández

Cerezo & Lantarón

• Gonzalo Téllez (c.897–913), also briefly count of Castile
• Ferdinand Díaz (913–c.921), son of Diego Porcelos
• Álvaro Herrameliz (c.921–931), also count of Alava, married Sancha, widow of Ordoño II of León and daughter of Sancho I of Pamplona

Alava

• Rodrigo (c.867–870), count of Castile
• Vela Jiménez (870–c.887), (said by some to have been brother of García Jiménez of Pamplona)
• Munio Velaz (c.887–c.921), son of Vela Jiménez
• Álvaro Herrameliz (c.921–931), also count of Cerezo and Lantarón

Beni Mamaduna

Following the appointment of Fernán González in 931 to succeed both Gutier Núñez and Álvaro Herrameliz, he reunited the divided counties of Castile, Burgos, Alava, Cerezo and Lantarón into what would become a single semi-autonomous hereditary county of Castile. Al Andalus sources referred to the family as the Beni Mamaduna, the descendants of Muniadona, mother of Fernán.

• Fernán González (931–970), son of Gonzalo Fernández, married Sancha Sánchez, widow of Álvaro Herrameliz
  • Ansur Fernández (944–947), son of Ferdinand Ansúrez, in opposition to Fernán González during the latter's rebellion, father-in-law of Sancho I of León
• García Fernández (970–995), son of Fernán González
• Sancho García (995–1017), son of García Fernández
• García Sánchez (1017–1029), son of Sancho García

Jiménez Dynasty

With the death of Garcia, Sancho III of Navarre, the feudal overlord, appointed his own son by Mayor, sister of Garcia Sánchez, as count.

• Ferdinand I the Great (1029–37), on acquisition of the Kingdom of León in 1037, he took the royal title

For Ferdinand and his successors, rulers of th Kingdom and Crown of Castile, see List of Castilian monarchs.

• List of Asturian monarchs
• List of Castilian monarchs
• List of Castilian consorts
• List of Leonese monarchs
• List of Navarrese monarchs
• List of Spanish monarchs

References

• Martínez Díez, Gonzalo (2005). El condado de Castilla, 711–1038: La historia frente a la leyenda. Marcial Pons Historia.