Through the classic combination of military action, marital alliances and having a father who started the process off for him, Fernan Gonzales was able to unit the counties of Castile into one unit and become their first autonomous Count. This was in the mid 900s, so I’m picturing plenty of armour, well-trimmed beards and pennants fluttering above overly elaborate battleground tents. I might be romanticising slightly, but then, this is a guy who had an epic poem written about him in the 13th century so what’s the harm? As the Wikipedia entry for the poem states: ” the author was not well aware of the historical details.” If anyone wants to bust out their medieval Spanish skills, there’s a link to the poem below.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fern%C3%A1n_Gonz%C3%A1lez_of_Castile
https://web.archive.org/web/20080319131823/http://www.fjse.arrakis.es/fernan.htm
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