Portal:Christianity/Selected biography/November 2006

  Pelagius of Asturias was the founder of the Kingdom of Asturias, ruling from 718 until his death. He is credited with beginning the Christian Reconquista or reconquest of the Iberian peninsula (modern Portugal and Spain) from the Moors.

Pelayo was a nobleman of high birth in the Visigothic kingdom that held power in Hispania from the early fifth century until its defeat by the Moors at the Battle of Guadalete in 711. He escaped capture at the Guadalete River, where he may have been one of the bodyguards of Roderic, the Visigothic king. Pelayo returned to his native Asturias (in the northern part of modern day Spain) and became the leader of a rebellion against Munuza, the Moorish governor of the area.

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