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| Ordoño IV | |
|---|---|
 Miniature from theTumbo A manuscript, c. 1129–1255 | |
| King ofLeón | |
| Reign | 958–960 |
| Predecessor | Sancho I |
| Successor | Sancho I |
| Born | c. 926 |
| Died | c. 962 or 963 Córdoba |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | Urraca Fernández |
| Dynasty | Astur-Leonese dynasty |
| Father | Alfonso IV of León |
| Mother | Onneca Sánchez of Pamplona |
| Religion | Chalcedonian Christianity |
Ordoño IV, calledthe Wicked orthe Bad (c. 926–Córdoba, c. 962 or 963) was theking of León from 958 until 960, interrupting the reign ofSancho the Fat for a two-year period.
He was the son ofAlfonso IV of León and his queen,Onneca Sánchez of Pamplona,[1] and nephew ofRamiro II of León and ofGarcía Sánchez I of Pamplona.
In 958, two years into the reign of Sancho I of León, he benefited from a rebellion of the nobility that would succeed in briefly placing him on the throne. The Leonese nobles, as well as the disaffected Galician and Castilian ones, had grown sick of the obese Sancho. He received particular help in this from his brother-in-law, countFernán González of Castile, whose daughter he married. However, count Fernán was defeated through aNavarrese and Umayyad alliance on Sancho's behalf in 960, and Ordoño was forced out.[2]Upon losing his throne, Ordoño fled first toAsturias, thenBurgos, where he abandoned his wife.[2] This lost him the support of Fernán González, who allied himself with García Sánchez I of Pamplona. The Castilian count sent Ordoño toGhalib al-Nasiri, commander of the 'Middle Frontier' inMedinaceli, from whom he was passed on to the court of thecaliph of Córdoba.[2] There he submitted and made a plea for aid. The caliph at first offered him help, but this led his rival Sancho likewise to offer his submission, thereby neutralizing any benefit to the caliph helping Ordoño, who died in Cordoba, still dethroned.
During the short period of his reign, he was married, for political reasons, toUrraca, daughter of Fernán González and formerly wife of his cousinOrdoño III of León. After Ordoño IV abandoned her, she would remarry toSancho II of Pamplona. According to chroniclerSampiro, she bore Ordoño IV two children, but their identity is not known with certainty. ChroniclerIbn Hayyan assigns him a son García, but given that Urraca had a son of that name, the future kingGarcía Sánchez II of Pamplona by her third husband, Ibn Hayyan may have mistaken this step-son for a son. Likewise, a minority of modern scholars suggested thatBermudo II of León was the son of Ordoño IV rather than ofOrdoño III of León, but a contemporary charter naming Bermudo's grandfather as Ramiro refutes this.
| Preceded by | King of León 958–960 | Succeeded by |
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