The 'Kingdom of Asturias' was the first
Christian political entity to be established in the
Iberian peninsula after the collapse of the
Visigothic Kingdom. This followed the defeat of
King Roderic at the
Battle of Guadalete and the subsequent
Islamic conquest of Hispania.
Historical evolution
Indigenous background of the Kingdom of Asturias
The birthplace of the Asturian kingdom was the western and central territory of the
Cantabrian Mountains, particularly the
Picos de Europa and the central area of Asturias. The main political and military events during the first decades of the kingdom's existence took place in this region. According to the descriptions of
Strabo,
Dio Cassius and other Graeco-Roman geographers, the lands of Asturias were inhabited in the beginning of the Christian era by several peoples, amongst whom the more important were: the ''Vadinienses'', who inhabited the Picos de Europa region and whose settlement gradually expanded southward during the first centuries of the modern era; the ''Orgenomesci'', who dwelled along the Asturian eastern coast; the ''Saelini'', whose settlement extended through the
Sella valley; the ''Luggones'', who had their capital in ''Lucus Asturum'' and whose territories stretched between the rivers Sella and Nalón; the ''Astures'' (in the strictest sense), who dwelled in inner Asturias, between the current councils of
Piloña and
Cangas del Narcea; and the ''Paesici'', who had settled along the coast of Western Asturias, between the mouth of the Navia river and the modern city of
Gijón.
Picture of ''l.lagu del Val.le'' (
Somiedo). They are shown the typical Asturian cottages, which were already in use in the time of the
AsturesClassical geographers give conflicting views of the ethnic description of the above mentioned peoples:
Ptolemy says that the Astures extended along the central area of current Asturias, between the Navia and Sella rivers, fixing the latter as the boundary with the Cantabrian territory. However, other geographers placed the frontier between the Astures and the
Cantabri more eastwards: Julius Honorius stated in his ''Cosmographia'' that the springs of Ebro river were located in the land of the Astures (''sub asturibus''). In any case, ethnic borders in the Cantabrian mountains were not so important at that time, as all the peoples of Northern Iberia had similar culture and habits.
This situation started to change during the Late
Roman Empire and the High
Middle Ages, when an Asturian identity started to develop gradually: The centuries-old fight against Romans,
Visigoths and
Vandals forged a common identity among the peoples of the Cantabrian mountains. Several archaeological digs in the ''castro'' of La Carisa (municipality of Lena) have found remnants of a defensive line whose main purpose was to protect the valleys of central Asturias from invaders who came from the Meseta through the Pajares pass: Scholars think that the construction of these fortifications reveals a high degree of organization and cooperation between the several Asturian tribes, in order to defend themselves from the southern invaders.
Carbon-14 tests have found that the wall dates from the period 675-725 AD, when two armed expeditions against the Asturians took place: One of them, headed by Visigothic king
Wamba; the other by Muslim governor
Musa bin Nusair, during the
Islamic conquest of Iberia.
The Asturian identity that was gradually forming led to the creation of the Kingdom of Asturias after
Pelayo's coronation and the victory over the Berbers in
Covadonga. The Chronica Albeldense, in narrating the happenings of Covadonga, stated: ''"Regnum Asturorum divina providencia exoritur"''.
Establishment
The kingdom was established by a nobleman,
Pelayo, who had returned to his country after the
Battle of Guadalete where he was elected leader of the
Astures and founded the Kingdom of Asturias. However, Pelayo's kingdom initially was little more than a banner for the existing guerilla forces.
Under his leadership, the attacks on the
Berbers increased. In
722 (or possibly in
724 or as early as
718), the
Emir sent a force led by
Munuza to quell this rebellion and establish
Moorish control of the region. This force was defeated in the valley of
Battle of Covadonga. The most commonly accepted hypothesis for this battle (epic as described by
Christian chronicles, but a mere skirmish in
Muslim texts) is that the Moorish column was attacked from the cliffs and then fell back through the valleys towards present day
Gijón, but was attacked whilst in retreat by the retinue and nearly destroyed. After this first battle, the Astures grew stronger. Once he had expelled the Moors from the eastern valleys of Asturias, Pelayo attacked
León, the main city in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula and secured the mountain passes, isolating the region from Moorish attack.
Pelayo continued attacking those Berbers who remained north of the Asturian Mountains until they withdrew. He then married his son
Favila to Duke
Peter of Cantabria’s daughter, a descendant of the former Astur dynasty.
Pelayo founded a dynasty in Asturias that survived for centuries and gradually expanded the kingdom's boundaries until all of northwest Iberia was included by roughly
775. The reign of
Alfonso II from
791-
842 saw further expansion of the kingdom to the south, almost as far as
Lisbon,
Portugal.
Kingdom of Asturias and contemporaneous states in year 814
Recognition
It was not until King
Alfonso II of Asturias (791-842) that the kingdom was firmly established with Alfonso's recognition as king of Asturias by
Charlemagne and the
Pope. He conquered
Galicia and the
Basques. During his reign, the holy bones of
St. James the Great were declared to be found in Galicia, at
Santiago de Compostela (from Latin campus stellae, literally "the field of the star"). Pilgrims from all over
Europe opened a way of communication between the isolated Asturias and the
Carolingian lands and beyond.
The first capital city was
Cangas de Onís. Then, in
Silo's time, it was moved to
Pravia. Alfonso II chose
Oviedo as the definite capital of the Kingdom. The kingdom was known as Asturias until
924, when it became the
Kingdom of León. It continued under that name until incorporated into the
Kingdom of Castile in
1230, after
Ferdinand III became joint king of the two kingdoms.
Religion
Remnants of Megalithic and Celtic Paganism
The yew tree links the present Asturians with their land, their ancestors, and the Ancient Religion.
Although the earliest evidences of Christian worship in Asturias date from the 5th century, evangelisation did not really make any substantial progress until the middle of the 6th century, when hermits like Santo Toribio de Liébana and monks of the San Fructuoso order settled gradually in the lands of the Cantabrian mountains and started to preach the Christian doctrine to the locals.
According to other scholars, ''deva'' is just a common Celtic word which means ''"goddess,"'' so it is possible that behind this name other divinities, like Briga and Navia, are hidden. In any case, Deva was a highly popular title in pre-Roman Asturias, and still today can be found in placenames like the Isle of Deva and the Güeyu of Deva well.
In the middle of the Sella valley (where
Cangas de Onís is located) there was a dolmen area, which dated back to the
megalithic era, and was built probably in the period 4,000 - 2,000 BC. In this place, particularly in Santa Cruz Dolmen, the ritual burials of the surrounding regions' chieftains were performed. Such practices survived the Roman and Visigothic conquests to a point that still in the 8th century king
Favila was buried there, in the same place were the corpses of ancient tribal leaders had their final rest. Although the Asturian monarchy fostered the christianization of this site (ordering the edification of a church), there are still today Pagan traditions linked with the Santa Cruz dolmen: It is said that ''
xanas'' (Asturian fairies) appear to visitors, and magical properties are ascribed to the soil of the place.
Adoptionism
The foundations of Asturian culture and that of Christian Spain in the High Middle Ages were laid during the reigns of
Silo and
Mauregato, when the Asturian kings submited to the authority of the
Ummayad emirs of the
Caliphate of Córdoba. The most prominent Christian scholar in the Kingdom of Asturias of this period was
Beatus of Liébana, whose works left an indelible mark in the Christian culture of the Reconquista.
Beatus was directly involved in the debate surrounding
adoptionism, which argued that
Jesus was born a man, and was adopted by God and acquired a divine dimension only after his
passion and
resurrection. Beatus refuted this theological position, championed by such figures as
Elipandus, bishop of
Toledo.
The adoptionist theology had its roots in Gothic
arianism, which denied the divinity of Jesus, and in
Greco-Roman paganism, with examples of heroes like
Herakles who, after their death attained the
apotheosis. Likewise, as Elipandus's bishopric of Toledo was at the time within the Muslim Caliphate of Cordoba, Islamic beliefs which aknowledged Jesus as a Prophet, but not as the Son of God, influenced the formation of adoptionism. However, the adoptionist theology opposed strongly by Beatus from his abbey in Santo Toribio de Liébana. At the same time, Beatus strengthened the links between Asturias,
Rome, and the
Carolingian Empire, and was supported in his theological struggle by the
Pope and by his friend
Alcuin of York, an Anglo-Saxon scholar who had settled among the Carolingian court in
Aachen.
'The Angel of the Fifth Trumpet': Example of a beati manucscript
The most trascendental works of Beatus were his ''Commentaries to Apocalypse'', which were copied in later centuries in manuscripts called ''beati'', about which the Italian writer
Umberto Eco said: ''"Their splendid images gave birth to the most relevant iconographic happening in the History of Mankind"''
[1]. Beatus developes in them a personal interpretation of the
book of Revelation, accompanied by quotes from the
Old Testament, the
Church Fathers and fascinating illustrations.
In these ''Commentaries'' a new interpretation of the apocalyptical accounts is given:
Babylon no longer represents the city of Rome, but Córdoba, seat of the Ummayad emirs of
Al-Andalus; the
Beast, once a symbol of the
Roman Empire, now stands for the Islamic invaders who in this time threatened to destroy Western Christianity and who made raids on the territories of the Asturian Kingdom.
In the prologue to the second book of the ''Commentaries'' is found
one of the best examples of a ''Mappae Mundi'' of the high medieval culture. The aim of this map was not to represent the world cartographically, but to serve as an illustration of the Apostles Diaspora in the first decades of Christianity. Beatus took data from the works of
Saint Isidore of Seville,
Ptolemy and the
Holy Scripture. The world was represented as a land disc sorrounded by the Ocean and divided in three parts: Asia (upper semicircle), Europe (lower left quadrant) and Africa (lower right quadrant). The Mediterranean Sea (Europe-Africa), the Nile River (Africa-Asia) and the Aegean Sea and the Bosphorus (Europa-Asia) were set as boundaries between the different continental masses.
Millenialism
Beatus was persuaded that the
Apocolypse described in the book of Revelation was imminent, which would be followed by 1,290 years of domination by the
Antichrist. Beatus followed the views of
Saint Augustine who's work,
the City of God influenced the ''Commentaries'' which followed the premise that the History of the World was structured in six ages: The first five ones extended between the creation of
Adam, and the Passion of Jesus, while the sixth, subsequent to Christ and contemporary to us, had to end with the unleashing of the happenings prophetized by the book of Revelation.
Millenialist movements were very common in Europe at that time: Between 760-780 a series of cosmics phenomenons caused panic among the population of
Gaul; John, a visionary monk, predicted the coming of the
Last Judgement during the reign of
Charlemagne. In this time appeared the Apocalypse of Daniel, a
Syriac text redacted during the rule of the empress
Irene of
Byzantium wherein wars between the
Arabs, the Byzantines and the Northern peoples were prophesized. These wars would end with the coming of the Antichrist.
Events taking place in Hispania (Islamic rule, the adoptionist heresy, the gradual asimilation of the
Mozarabic people...) were, for Beatus, signals of the imminent apocalyptic
aeon. As Elipandus describes in his ''Letter from the bishops of Spania to their brothers in Gaul'', the abbot of Santo Toribio went so far as to anounce to his countrymen the coming of the End of Time in the Easter of the year 800. On the dawn of that day, hundreds of peasants met arround the abbey of Santo Toribio, waiting terrified for the fullfilling of the prophecy. They remained in that place, without having had a bite to eat, during a day and half, until one of them, named Ordonius, exclaimed: ''"Let us eat and drink, so that if the End of the World comes we are full!"''.
The prophetic and millenialist visions of Beatus produced an enduring mark in the development of the Kingdom of Asturias: The ''Chronica Prophetica'', which was composed circa 880 AD, predicted the final fall of the
Emirate of Córdoba, and the conquest and redemption of the entire
Iberian peninsula by king
Alfonso III. Millenialist imagery is also reflected throughout the kingdom in the
Cruz de la Victoria icon -the major emblem of the Asturian kingdom- has its origins in a passage of the Revelation book in which
Saint John relates the following vision of the Parusia: He sees Jesus Christ seated in his Majesty, sorrounded by clouds and affirming: ''"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty"''
[2]. It is true that usage of the
labarum was not restricted to Asturias, and, moreover, dates back to the time of
Constantine the Great (who used this symbol during the battle of
Battle of the Milvian Bridge). But it was in Asturias where the Cruz de la Victoria attained a general use: In nearly every
Pre-romanesque church this icon is engraved
[3][4], often acompained with the expresion ''"Hoc signo tuetur pius, in hoc signo vincitur inimicus"''
[5], that became the royal motto of the Asturian monarchs.
El Camino de Santiago
Another of the major spiritual legacies of the Asturian Kingdom is the creation of one of the most important ways of cultural transmision in European history: The
Way of St. James. The first text which mentions St. James' preaching in Spain is the ''Breviarius de Hyerosolima'', a 6th-century document which stated that the Apostle was buried in an enigmatical place called ''Aca Marmarica''.
Saint Isidore of Seville supported this theory in his work ''De ortu et obitu patrium''. One hundred fifty years later, in times of Mauregato, the hymn ''O Dei Verbum'' rendered St. James as ''"the golden head of Spain, our protector and national patron"'' and a mention is made of his preaching in the Iberian Peninsula during the first decades of Christianity. Some attribute this hymn to Beatus, although this is still discussed by historians.
The legend of St. James gained support during the reign of
Alfonso II when the Galician herit Pelayo claimed to observe mysterious brightness during several nights over the wood of Libredón, in Iria Flavia diocese. Angelic songs accompained the lights. Impressed by this phenomenon, Pelayo appeared before the bishop of Iria Flavia, Teodomirus, who -after having heard the hermit- visited the location with his retinue. In the depths of the forest, it was found a stone sepulcre with three corpses, which were identified which those of
St. James, son of Zebedee, and his two disciples, Theodorus and Atanasius. According to the leyend, king Alfonso was the first pilgrim in coming to see the Apostle: During the travel he was guided at night by the
Milky Way, which from then on acquired in Spanish the name ''Camino de Santiago''.
The founding of St. James tomb was a formidable political success for the Kingdom of Asturias: Now Asturias could claim the honour of having a corpse of one of the apostles of Jesus, a privilege shared only with Asia (
Ephesus) where
Saint John was buried, and Rome, where the corpses of
Saint Peter and
Saint Paul rested. From this moment on,
Santiago de Compostela became one of the three sacred cities of Christianity, together with Rome and
Jerusalem. In later centuries, many Central European cultural influences travelled to Iberia through the Way of St. James, from the Gothic and Romanesque styles, to the Occitan lyric poetry.
However, the story of the ''discovery'' of the remains of the Apostle shows some enigmatic features. The tomb was found in a place used as a
necropolis since the Late Roman Empire, so it is posible that the corpse belonged to a prominent person of the area:
British historian
Henry Chadwick hypothesized the tomb of Compostela actually hold the remains of
Priscillian. Other scholars, like Constantino Cabal, highlighted the fact that several Galician places, such as Pico Sacro, Pedra da Barca (Muxía) or San Andrés de Teixido, were already in Pre-roman times draws for Pagan pilgrimage. Pagan beliefs held these places as the End of the World, and as entrances to the Celtic
Otherworld. After the discovery of Saint James' tomb, the gradual christianization of those routes of pilgrimage began.
Mythology
As the Chronicles of the Asturian kingdom were written a century and half after the battle of Covadonga, there are many sides of the first Asturian kings that remain shrouded in myth and legend.
Although the historicity of Pelayo is beyond doubt, the historical narrative describing him includes many folktales and legends. One of these asserts that prior to the Muslim invasion, Pelayo did a pilgrimage voyage to Jerusalem, the sacred city of Christianity. However, this no evidence exists to confirm this.
Ercina lake. According to the legend, under its waters a village -or perhaps a city- is hidden.
Likewise, it is also said that the ''Cruz de la Victoria'' was at first carved in an oak's log by a lightning strike
[6]. Two elements of major importance in the Asturian folklore entwine in this story: On the one hand, lightning was the ancient symbol of the
Astur (and
Celtic) god
Taranis and -in the Asturian mythology- it is thought to be forged by the
Nuberu, Lord of clouds, rain and wind. On the other hand, the Oak is the symbol of the Asturian royalty and in reliefs of the Abamia Church (where Pelayo was buried) leaves of that tree are shown.
Moreover, the Covadonga area is plenty of astonishing stories, like the one which states that -over the place where today Enol and Ercina lakes are situated- there was once a shepherd village that was visited by Hail Mary, who -disguised as a pilgrim- asked for food and for shelter in every house of that village. She was rudely rejected by every person, except for a shepherd who gave her a refuge and shared warmly all things that possessed. In punishment for their inhospitality, the following day a flood of divine origin devastated the population, which was completely covered by the waters, being the only exception the cottage of the good shepherd. In front of him, the mysterious guest started to cry, and her tears became flowers when they reached the floor. Then the shepherd realized that the pilgrim was actually the Virgin.
This is a Pan-celtic myth which is also found in other countries of the Atlantic Arch. In Galicia it is said that in the botton of the Antela lake there are remnants of the ancient population of Antiochia, which was vanished off the face of earth by a night deluge, in punishement for the sins of its inhabitantes. On the other coast of the Biscay Bay, in Brittany, there are traditions related with the
city of Ker-Ys, situated in the Douarnenez gulf, in lands claimed from the sea and protected by a
dam. The daughter of the king, Dahud, gave the keys of the city to
Satan, which had disguised himself as a beautiful prince: This resulted in the flooding of
Ys by the waters of the Ocean.
Illustration of Hezekiah's Canticle belonging to the book
Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. The Asturian monarchs often took the Jewish kings of the Old Testament as their models.
There are also myths about the Asturian Monarchy which are related to the Jewish and Christian traditions rather than to the Pagan ones: the ''Chronica ad Sebastianum'' tells that, when king
Alfonso I died an extraordinary event happened in the Court of Cangas. While the noblemen were holding a wake for him, there could be heard celestial canticles sung by angels. They recited the following text of the Book of Isaiah (who happened to be the same that was read by the
Mozarabic priests during the
Vigil of the
Holy Saturday):
This canticle was recited by
Hezekiah, king of Judah, after his recovery by Yahweh of a serious illness. In this verses, the King regreted with distress his departure to
sheol, the Jewish Underworld, a shady place where he would not see God nor men any more.
Eildon Hill, Scotland, last dwelling of King Arthur, who is one of the famous sleeping heroes of the European tradition.
In Asturias there are examples as well of the
Sleeping Hero myth. According to the tradition, it is still today possible to see king
Fruela walking around the ''Jardín de los Reyes Caudillos''
[7] (a part of the Oviedo Cathedral), and it is said that his grandson, the famous cavalier
Bernardo del Carpio, sleeps in a cave of the Asturian mountains. The story tells that one day a peasant lost one of his cows, and when he went into a cave to retrieve it, he heard a strong voice who declared to be Bernardo del Carpio, winner over the Franks in
Roncevaux[8]. After saying he had lived alone for centuries in that cave he asked the peasant: ''"Give me your hand, so that I can see how strong are men today"''. The shepherd, scared, gave him the horn of a cow, which, when caught by the giant, was immediately broken. The poor villager ran away terrified, but not without hearing Bernardo say: ''"Current men are not like those who helped me to kill Frenchmen in Roncevaux"''
[9][10].
The are evident parallelisms between these stories and those which sorround another medieval characters like
Barbarossa or
King Arthur. From the former it is said that he did not die, but retired to a cave in the
Kyffhäuser mountain, from where he will awake and restore Germany to its ancient greatness, when the ravens cease to fly around the mountain. King Arthur lives according many traditions in multiple hills and caves of the island of Great Britain. His most famous dwelling is the Eildon Hill (Scotland), where Arthur took refuge after the
battle of Camlann.
Legacy
The Kingdom of Asturias was, in its infancy, an indigenous reaction of
Astures and
Cantabri peoples to a foreign invasion. These people had fought the
Romans in the
Astur-Cantabrian Wars, and initially resisted
Romanisation. Although they preserved many characteristics of their pre-Roman culture, their
Celtic languages were later lost in favor of
Latin.
Church of Santa María del Naranco. Eastern façade. This is probably the finest example of Asturian architecture.
This kingdom is the birthplace of an influential European
medieval architectural style: Asturian
Preromanesque. This style of architecture was founded during the reign of
Ramiro I.
This small kingdom was a milestone in the fight against
Adoptionist heresy, with
Beatus of Liébana as a major figure. In the time of
Alfonso II, the shrine of
Santiago was "found." The pilgrimage to Santiago,
Camino de Santiago, was a major nexus within Europe, and many pilgrims (and their money) passed through Asturias on their way to Santiago de Compostela.
References
1. Umberto Eco wrote an essay about them, ''Beato di Liebana'' (1976)
2. Revelation, 1.8.
3. The ''Cruz de la Victoria'' engraved in stone
4. Pre-romanesque Museum of San Martín (Salas)
5. ''"With this sign thou shalt defend the pious, with this sign thou shalt defeat the enemy"''
6. ''"Simbología mágico-tradicional"'', Alberto Álvarez Peña, page 147.
7. ''Relatos legendarios sobre los orígenes políticos de Asturias y Vizcaya en la Edad Media'', Arsenio F. Dacosta, Actas del VII Congreso Internacional de la Asociación Española de Semiótica (Volumen II).
8. In Medieval Spain it was commonly thought that it was the Asturians or the Moors (and not the Basques), the ones who beat the Franks in this battle
9. Bernardo del Carpiu y otros guerreros durmientes Alberto Álvarez Peña
10. ''"Los maestros asturianos"'' (Juan Lobo, 1931)
See also
External links
★
Spanish Pre-Romanesque Art Guide; General Characteristics of the Asturian Art
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