Nuno Mendes

Nuno Mendes or Nuño Menéndez (died 18 February 1071) was the last count of Portugal of the House of Vímara Peres. The son of Count Mendo Nunes (Menendo Núñez), his pursuit of greater autonomy for Portugal brought him into conflict with King García II of Galicia.

Nuno Mendes succeeded his father, Mendo Nunes, as Count of Portugal and continued the efforts of the Portuguese nobility to maintain the county's autonomy. His opposition to García II culminated in the Battle of Pedroso on 18 February 1071, where Nuno Mendes was defeated and killed. His death ended the male line of the House of Vímara Peres, and García II subsequently took control of the County of Portugal.

Biography A patron of the Monastery of Guimarães, he first appears in the curia regis of King Ferdinand I of León in 1059, and with the title of count for the first time in 1070 when he appears confirming a donation made by King Garcia II.

He married Goncina with whom he appears on 17 February 1071 making a donation to the Monastery of Santo Antonino de Barbudo of some properties in Luivão (Lage, Vila Verde), confirming as Ego comes Nunus Menendiz et uxor mea comitissa domna Goncina ("I, Count Nuno Menéndez and my wife Countess dona Goncina"). Map of the Iberian Peninsula in 1085, showing the Battle of Pedroso . On 18 February 1071 he fought in the Battle of Pedroso, near the Monastery of São Martinho de Tibães, and his defeat and death led the winning Garcia II to call himself King of Galicia and Portugal. The County of Portugal was then subsumed into the crowns of Galicia and León until regranted by King Alfonso VI of León and Castile a quarter-century later.

He owned properties in Braga (Nogueira, Santa Tecla, Dadim, Barros and Gualtar) and Porto (Cerqueda) which were probably confiscated after his defeat and given later by King Alfonso VI of León to his son-in-law Sisnando Davides. Although the battle of Pedroso has been mistakenly dated in January of that year, as mentioned in the Chronica Gothorum, this donation proves that the battle took place in February rather than in January.

Marriage and issue Nuno Mendes married Goncina and had at least one daughter, named Loba "Aurevelido" Nunes. Loba married Sisnando Davides, and with him had Elvira Sisnandes (whose husband Count Martim Moniz succeeded Sisnando as Count of Coimbra).

Nuno Mendes could also have been the father of Count Gómez Núñez and his brother Count Fernando.