Fruela I (died 768), called the Cruel, was the King of Asturias from 757 until his death, when he was assassinated. He was the eldest son of Alfonso I

Alfonso I of Asturias

Alfonso I , called the Catholic , was the King of Asturias from 739 to his death in 757.He was son of Duke Peter of Cantabria and held many lands in that region. He may have been the hereditary chief of the Basques, but this is uncertain...

 and continued the work of his father.

He suppressed an uprising of the Basques

Basque people

The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...

, from whom he took the noble Munia (or Munina), whom he later married. She is mother of Fruela's eventual successor, Alfonso

Alfonso II of Asturias

Alfonso II , called the Chaste, was the king of Asturias from 791 to his death, the son of Fruela I and the Basque Munia.He was born in Oviedo in 759 or 760. He was put under the guardianship of his aunt Adosinda after his father's death, but one tradition relates his being put in the monastery of...

. According to legend, she was also mother of Jimena, mother of the legendary hero of romance Bernardo del Carpio

Bernardo del Carpio

Bernald del Carpio, also Bernaldo del Carpio and Bernardo del Carpio, is a legendary hero of medieval Kingdom of Asturias, comparable to other legendary medieval Iberian heroes like El Cid.-The story:...

.

During his reign, the city of Oviedo

Oviedo

Oviedo is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city....

 was founded, on November 25, 761, when the Abbot Máximo and his uncle Fromestano erected a church in honour of Saint Vincent

Vincent of Saragossa

Saint Vincent of Saragossa, also known as Vincent Martyr, Vincent of Huesca or Vincent the Deacon, is the patron saint of Lisbon. His feast day is 22 January in the Roman Catholic Church and Anglican Communion and 11 November in the Eastern Orthodox Churches...

 there. Under Fruela, good relations between the church and the king continued as in the reign of his father — Alfonso "the Catholic".

Fruela did not finish his reign happily. Having assassinated his brother Vimerano (this is the basis for his nickname), and with the nobles restless, he named as his successor Bermudo

Bermudo I of Asturias

Bermudo I , called the Deacon or the Monk, was the King of Asturias from 788 or 789 until his abdication in 791. He was a son of Fruela, brother of Alfonso I, and a brother of Aurelius...

, son of Vimerano. Unfortunately a plot was formed against him, which ended with Fruela's assassination in Cangas de Onís

Cangas de Onis

Cangas de Onís is a municipality in the eastern part of the province and autonomous community of Asturias in the northwest of Spain. The capital of the municipality is also Cangas de Onís....

, his capital, and his cousin Aurelius

Aurelius of Asturias

Aurelius was the King of Asturias from 768 to his death.Born in León, he was the son of Fruela and nephew of Alfonso I of Asturias. He was thus a cousin of his predecessor Fruela the Cruel...

 being raised to the throne instead.

The bodies of Fruela and his wife Munia are interred in the cathedral of Oviedo.