The battle of Aguioncha (c. 966): the first Galician civil war

One of the most singular documents in the Celanova cartulary is the will of Odoino, drawn up in the year 982. It speaks of a clash between "Gallecos" a century and a half before the birth of the Kingdom of Portugal, and places its climax in A Limia ^[1].

The document: Odoino’s will

Odoino is the monk who owned the church of Santa Comba de Bande, which holds the remains of St Torquatus, and its territory. He donates them to the monastery of San Rosendo, founded shortly before. In the document he explains why he held those possessions and adds other details in an almost novelistic tone ^[1]. His story inspired the novel by Antonio Rodríguez Baixeiras, A historia de Odoyno: a primeira novela galega (2015) ^[1].

The two counts

At that time, King Ramiro III of León, a minor, had jurisdiction over all Gallaecia, but several counties had formed within it ^[1]:

• Rodrigo Velázquez, the most powerful of the counts of the territory of present-day Galicia, son of the noble owners of the town of Verín, a supporter of the kings of León.
• Gonzalo Menéndez, Count of Coimbra, son of the powerful Muniadona Díaz, abbess of Guimarães, and possibly the Galician noble who poisoned Sancho I of León, father of Ramiro III. The future King Bermudo II was brought up in his house.

Perhaps the possession of Santa Comba de Bande and its lands in the Limia valley was among the reasons for the rivalry, but it was clear that they defended different monarchical interests ^[1].

The battle

The climax of the confrontation was fought at the foot of Mount "Aquilunchas" (Aguioncha), in the parish of Feás, in Calvos de Randín, on a date close to the year 966. Rodrigo came out "half-dead" and fled to seek refuge with Bishop Rosendo at Sabucedo, probably Sabucedo de Montes (Cartelle), although it could also be San Salvador de Sabucedo, in Porqueira ^[1].

Wounded but not defeated, some time later he gathered an army that laid waste Odoino’s lands, to the point that Odoino had to beg him for mercy ^[1].

Significance

The combatants were the most powerful nobles of the Kingdom of Galicia, and they even sent emissaries to win the favour of Al-Hakam II, second Umayyad caliph of Córdoba and arbiter of power relations in the Peninsula ^[1]. That is why the episode is considered the first Galician civil war.

Further reading

• Rodríguez Baixeiras, Antonio: A historia de Odoyno: a primeira novela galega, Noia, 2015.
• Isla Frez, Amancio: Ejército, sociedad y política en la Península Ibérica entre los siglos VII y XI, Madrid, 2010.

Links

• History of A Limia
• Calvos de Randín
• Prehistory and castros
• Origins of Limia names

Sources

1. «La primera guerra civil gallega. Batalla de Aguioncha (siglo X)», Vía Lethes. https://vialethes.es/guerra-civil-gallega