Oveco Núñez

A late tenth- or early eleventh-century representation of a bishop, from the Codex Emilianensis

Oveco Núñez (died 951) was the Bishop of León from 927, whose episcopate matches almost exactly the reign of Ramiro II (931–51). He witnessed three different donations to the monastery of Sahagún in 945, his name being recorded three different ways: Ovecco Munniz, Obeco Muniz, and Ovecus episcopus.^[1] He is sometimes confused with his contemporary bishop of the same first name: Oveco of Oviedo. His origins are obscure, but he was probably a member of the Vela family, a brother of Vermudo Núñez, and thus uncle of Fernando Vermúdez, who is known to have inherited property from Oveco.^[2] At some point Oveco led an expedition to the region around of Salamanca, there to found new villages (repoblación) and consecrate new churches. In 953 Ordoño III donated all the settlements and churches founded by Oveco and his fellows to the diocese of León.^[3]

Further reading

• Jaime de Salazar y Acha. 1985. "Una familia de la Alta Edad Media: Los Velas y su realidad historica". Estudios Genealógicos y Heráldicos. Asociación Española de Estudios Genealógicos y Heráldicos. Madrid.

Notes

1. ^ Cf. Foundation for Medieval Genealogy.
2. ^ As recorded in a document of 984 (cf. FMG).
3. ^ Claudio Sánchez-Albornoz (1934), Estampas de la vida en León durante el siglo X (Madrid), 61–62.