King Pelayo ASTURIAS

   Another name for Pelayo was ASTURIAS King.

   User ID: 154908690946.

   General Notes:

First King of ASTURIAS Reigned Abt 718-737.

BOOK
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1981, Vol VII, p839, Palayo: "Died Abt 737, first king of the Christian Kingdom of Asturias in northern Spain, with its capital at Cangas de Onis. Asturias survived the period of Moorish hegemony to become the spearhead of the Christian Reconquista in the later Middle Ages. Pelayo, who became a popular figure in Spanish legend and a symbol of Christian resistance, was probably a Visigothic noble, but little is known about his life."

The Story of Civilization, Will Durant, Vol IV, The Age of Faith, Bk IV, The Dark Ages, Chap XIX, The Decline of the West, Sec II, Spain, p458: "The Moslem invasion of 711 drove the unconquered Goths, Suevi, Christianized Berbers, and Iberian Celts into the Cantabrian Mountains of northwestern Spain. The Moors pursued them, but were defeated at Covadonga (718) by a small force under the Goth Pelayo, who thereupon made himself King of Asturias, and so founded the Spanish monarchy..."

The New Columbia Encyclopedia, 1975, p2093, Pelayo: "Died 737, first king (Abt 718-737) of Asturias. He was elected king by the tribesmen of Asturias and by Visigothic leaders who had escaped Tarik. His victory over the Moors at Covadonga sometime between 718 and 725 marked the beginning of Christian resistance to the Moorish conquerors. Accounts of Pelayo are largely legendary."

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1981, Macropaedia, Vol XVII, p407,Spain History of: "Christian resistance to the Muslim conquest began in the mountains of Asturias, where Visigothic nobles took refuge and joined the native mountaineers in opposing the invaders. Their leader was Pelayo (718-737), a Visigothiclord whose victory over the Muslims at Covadonga, around 722, later was hailed as the beginning of the Reconquista and the `salvation of Spain'."

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