The royal line begun by Pelayo that ruled Asturias and then León, giving the Reconquista its first monarchy and, through marriage and succession, the later kings of Castile and León.
The House of Asturias is the royal line that began with Pelayo's revolt and grew into the first Christian monarchy of the Reconquista. Its kings ruled Asturias from the eighth century and then, as the realm expanded and its centre shifted south, the Kingdom of León.
Strictly, it was less a single dynasty than a continuous monarchy: Pelayo's direct male line ended within two generations, and the crown passed to Alfonso I through marriage to Pelayo's daughter Ermesinda. Later medieval and modern writers nonetheless treated the Asturian and Leonese kings as one founding house.
Through the kings of León the line continued into the central Middle Ages, and by inheritance and marriage its blood ran into the royal houses of Castile and León. Medieval rulers across Christian Iberia traced their legitimacy back to Pelayo and the Asturian kings.
The dynasty's enduring emblem is the Cross of Victory, associated with Pelayo's banner at Covadonga and preserved as a jewelled cross in Oviedo, which remains the heraldic symbol of Asturias.