Fernando Ansúrez I

Who is Fernando Ansúrez I?

Fernando Ansúrez I was the Count of Castile in 929 and the earliest known member of the Beni Ansúrez family; his father, Ansur, is known only through his patronymic. He was also count of the Tierra de Campos, which was later formed into the County of Monzón for his son.

A certain Fernando is first mentioned in a charter to the monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña dated 13 November 917 as "count of Castile", possibly Fernando Ansúrez. According to Sampiro, Fernando was one of the counts of the region of Burgos, the chief city of Castile—the others being Nuño Fernández, Abolmondar Albo, and Diego Rodríguez—who were captured by Ordoño II on the river Carrión in the place called Tebulare or Tegulare and imprisoned them in León. This event is known as the Episodio de Tebular and it took place probably no earlier than the autumn of 921. The later chronicler Pelagius of Oviedo interpolated into Sampiro's account the words et erant ei rebelles in order to explain Ordoño's action, but this is conjecture, as is the modern suggestion that it is related to the defeat at the Battle of Valdejunquera. Two charters from Cardeña preserve the latest record of Fernando and the only record of him under the title Count of Castile; they date to 1 October and 24 November 929.