Ramiro II of León

Ramiro II (c. 900–951), son of Ordoño II of León, took the crown in 931 after his brother Alfonso IV abdicated. His marriage to Urraca Sánchez secured an alliance with Pamplona.

A commander whom the Moors called the Devil for his ferocity, he led a León–Pamplona coalition to a decisive victory over the caliph Abd al-Rahman III at Simancas in 939, then pushed the frontier from the Duero to the Tormes and repopulated the border strongholds.

In his final years he lost Pamplona's support, and Count Fernán González of Castile briefly gained de facto independence. He died on 1 January 951, leaving his sons Ordoño III and Sancho I.