Peter of Cantabria

Who was Peter of Cantabria?

Peter was the Duke of Cantabria. While various writers have attempted to name his parentage, early sources say nothing more specific than the chronicle of 'Pseudo-Alfonso': that he was "ex semine Leuvigildi et Reccaredi progenitus". He was the father of King Alfonso I and of Fruela of Cantabria, father of Kings Aurelius and Bermudo I.

According to the Muslim chroniclers, in the year 714, Musa ibn Nusair sacked Amaya, capital of Cantabria, for the second time. Peter, the provincial dux, led his people into refuge in the mountains and then joined with Pelayo of Asturias against the invaders. After the Battle of Covadonga, in which Pelayo defeated an invading force, it seems likely that Peter sent his son to the court of Pelayo at Cangas de Onís. It had been a Visigothic practice to send noble children to the royal court, this was thus a tacit admission of Pelayo's regality. According to the Crónica Albeldense, the territories of the two leaders were united by marriage between Peter's son Alfonso and Pelayo's daughter Ermesinda:

Adefonsus, Pelagi gener, reg. an. XVIIII. Iste Petri Cantabriae ducis filius fuit; et dum Asturias venir Ermesindam Pelagii filiam Pelagio proecipiente, accepit.