List of monarchs of León


In the reign of Ordoño I of Asturias, the kingdom began to be known as that of León. In 910, an independent Kingdom of León was founded when the king of Asturias divided his territory amongst his three sons.
Below follows a list of monarchs of León. It is, in part, a continuation of the list of Asturian monarchs.

Monarchs of León

[Astur-Leonese dynasty]

[Jiménez Dynasty]

PictureNameBirthReignDeathNotes
Ferdinand I the Great10171037–24 December 106524 December 1065Husband of Sancha of León, sister of Bermudo III, then King of León. During a war between Ferdinand and Bermudo, Bermudo was killed without children, leading to Ferdinand being made king of León as husband to Bermudo's sister.
Ferdinand had previously been made Count of Castile in 1029, having been nominated by his father Sancho III of Navarre.
During his life, Castile was elevated to the status of kingdom, and having reduced Navarre to vassalage, Ferdinand took the title of Emperor of All Spain.
On his death, Ferdinand attempted to divide his realms between his three sons, with oldest son Sancho receiving Castile, middle son Alfonso receiving León, and Galicia elevated as a separate kingdom for his youngest son Garcia.
Alfonso VI
before June 104024 December 1065 – January 107229 June/1 July 1109Son of Ferdinand I, who ruled Castile as well as León, and was self-declared Emperor of Spain.
Ferdinand did not pass both of his kingdoms on to Sancho but on his death gave instructions to divide the kingdoms among his sons, with Sancho receiving Castile, Alfonso receiving León, and Galicia elevated as a separate kingdom for Garcia. But it did not go well. In 1071, Garcia's kingdom of Galicia was attacked, conquered, and divided between his brothers, and in 1072, Alfonso's kingdom of León was attacked and conquered by Sancho.
Sancho II1036/1038January 1072 – 6 October 10726 October 1072Oldest son of Ferdinand I, who ruled León and Castile, and brother to his predecessor, Alfonso VI.
Ferdinand on his death had divided his kingdoms among his three sons Sancho, Alfonso, and Garcia. This division did not endure, as they immediately went to war with each other, first Sancho and Alfonso against Garcia, then Sancho against Alfonso, with Sancho victorious and king of all of the realms left by his father. Sancho did not enjoy his conquests long, however, as in that same year, he was assassinated.
Alfonso VI
before June 10406 October 1072 – 29 June/1 July 110929 June/1 July 1109Son of Ferdinand I, brother of his predecessor Sancho II.
After Sancho was assassinated, His deposed brothers Alfonso and Garcia both attempted to return and reclaim their father's kingdoms. As it happened, this only worked out for Alfonso, who captured and imprisoned Garcia, taking all three kingdoms under Alfonso's control. Alfonso also seems to have adopted the title Emperor of All Spain, sometimes used by his father.
Urraca10821109 – 8 March 11268 March 1126Daughter of Alfonso VI, and sister to Sancho Alfónsez. Urraca came to the throne on the death of her father, his having been pre-deceased by Sancho in 1108.
As Alfonso was king of Castile as well as León, he passed both kingdoms to Urraca. An attempt to create a dynastic unity with neighboring Aragon by a marriage with its king, Alfonso VI of Aragon, spectacularly failed. Not only was the marriage childless, Alfonso actively waged war on his wife. Urraca did seem to sometimes use the title Empress of All Spain.

House of Ivrea / Burgundy">House of Ivrea">House of Ivrea / Burgundy

The follow dynasts are descendants, in the male line, of Urraca's husband, Raymond of Burgundy.

[House of Trastámara]

Henry II, the founder of the Trastámara dynasty was installed after victory in the Castilian Civil War. Under the Trastámaras, as with the late kings of the House of Ivrea/Burgundy, Castile and León were governed together, constituting the core of the Crown of Castile.
PictureNameBirthReignDeathNotes
Henry II13 January 13341369–137929 May 1379Illegitimate son of Alfonso XI and his mistress Eleanor de Guzmán. Also half-brother to Peter. Peter's unpopularity led to Henry's successful rebellion against him in the Castilian Civil War, beginning in 1366 and ending in 1369 with Henry on the throne.
John I24 August 13581379–13909 October 1390Eldest son of Henry II. A dynastic challenge by John of Gaunt, son-in-law of Peter I, was resolved by marriage, with John I's son Henry taking John of Gaunt's daughter Catherine as his wife and queen.
Henry III the Infirm4 October 13791390–14061406Eldest son of John I. He was age 11 on ascension, but after an unstable regency, took power while still only 13.
John II6 March 14051406–145420 July 1454Eldest son of Henry III. He was a minor on ascension, and so placed under a regency. From 1406, his mother Catherine and uncle Ferdinand I of Aragon were co-regents until his death in 1416. From then his mother alone until her death in 1418.
Henry IV the Impotent5 January 14251454–147411 December 1474Eldest son of John II. Henry was childless except for a single daughter, Joanna, who was widely regarded as illegitimate. Henry was forced in 1464 to declare his half-brother Alfonso as his heir. Alfonso's death, however, meant that his heir designate would be his half-sister, Isabella I.
Isabella I the Catholic22 April 14511474–150426 November 1504Half-sister of Henry IV. Her succession was disputed by partisans of Henry's daughter Joanna, resulting in the War of the Castilian Succession, which lasted until 1479, with the resolution in Isabella's favor.
Isabella's husband Ferdinand, ruled with her as co-monarch of Castile, while on his ascension to the Crown of Aragon, she ruled as co-monarch of Aragon.
Ferdinand V the Catholic 10 March 14521474–150423 January 1516Co-monarch through his wife Isabella. In 1479, Ferdinand succeeded his father to the Crown of Aragon, uniting the realms by marriage, laying the foundation for the modern nation of Spain.
On Isabella's death, as she was succeeded by their daughter Joanna I and her husband Philip I. Ferdinand, no longer king, then left the Castile and returned to Aragon.
But after her husband Philip's death in 1506, Joanna proved unable to rule, and Ferdinand was recalled, after which he governed Castile as her regent until his death in 1516.
Joanna the Mad6 November 14791504–155512 April 1555In name, with her husband Philip I. From 1506 to 1516, she was under two regencies: Archbishop Cisneros and her father Ferdinand V. In 1516, her son Charles I, had himself crowned co-monarch. From 1508 onwards she was kept confined, with no public life, much less power, first by her father, then her son.

[House of Habsburg]

Under the Hapsburgs, León continued to be governed as part of the Crown of Castile, as under the Trastámaras.
PictureNameBirthReignDeathNotes
Philip I the Handsome July 22, 14781504–1506September 25, 1506jure uxoris king ruling on behalf of his wife, Joanna I. As the oldest son of Mary of Burgundy, Philip also inherited the titles of Lord of the Netherlands and Duke of Burgundy on his mother's death in 1482.
Charles I the Emperor24 February 15001516–155621 September 1558Son of Philip I and Joanna I. In 1516 he was made co-monarch with his mother, becoming sole monarch of Castile on her death in 1555.
Charles also inherited the titles Lord of the Netherlands and Duke of Burgundy on his father's death in 1506, King of Aragon on the death of his maternal grandfather Ferdinand II in 1516, and Archduke of Austria on the death of his paternal grandfather Maximilian I in 1519. In 1519, he was also elected to the non-hereditary position of Holy Roman Emperor.
Governing such a vast and disparate set of realms proved exceedingly difficult. In Castile, his rule was challenged in 1520-1522 by the broadly-based Revolt of the Comuneros, and in neighboring Aragon in 1519-23 by the Revolt of the Brotherhoods. Both were overcome by a combination of force and compromise.
After a long reign Charles abdicated in 1556, dividing his lands between his son Philip II and his younger brother Ferdinand, who inherited the rest.
Charles died in 1564.
80pxPhilip II21 May 15271556-159813 September 1598Son of Charles I. Through his father's abdication, he inherited not only the lands of the Crown of Castile but also those from the Crown of Aragon,, the Duchy of Milan, as well as the titles of Lord of the Netherlands and Duke of Burgundy.
His rule in the Netherlands was challenged by a powerful rebellion, leading to the establishment of the Dutch Republic in 1579 and the Eighty Years' War, which expanded to include multiple other wars, ending only with Spanish recognition of Dutch independence in 1648.
In 1580, during a succession crisis in the Kingdom of Portugal when there was no obvious heir to the throne, Philip invaded and was made king that same year. Through his marriage to Mary I of England in 1554, Philip was nominal King of England until her death, but he never exercised any power there.
80pxPhilip III14 April 15781598-162131 March 1621Son of Philip II. Philip III became heir to the crown after the death of his older brother, Carlos, who died insane and in captivity in 1568.
80pxPhilip IV8 April 16051621-166517 September 1665Oldest son of Philip III.
A revolt against Philip in Portugal led to Portugal's regaining its independence in the Portuguese Restoration War, from 1640-1668.
80pxCharles II6 November 16611665-17001 November 1700Oldest surviving son of Philip IV. His reign was marked by his life-long ill-health and he died childless, leading to the War of the Spanish Succession, from 1701 to 1714.