Mon arbre généalogique

There are two contradictory theories about the origin of the family Named for convenience by the name 'Vela'. The first is based on a supposed descent from the Jiménez family of the kings of Pamplona. Salazar Acha recounts[1306] the legend that a "conde Vela" was expelled by Fernán González Conde de Castilla, took refuge in León, and that his three sons were the murderers of García Sánchez Conde de Castilla after he arrived in León for his marriage to the daughter of King Alfonso V. Salazar emphasises that the story is first related in the 13th century Chronicon Mundi of Lucas de Tuy and the subsequent work of Archbishop don Rodrigo Ximénez de Rada[1307], and that this "conde Vela" may have been a literary amalgam of several historical figures. Nevertheless, as shown below, a possible family group of seven brothers and sisters (Vela Núñez being the oldest) can be reconstituted from documentary evidence from the records of the monastery of Sahagún dated from 945 onwards. Salazar suggests "Vélaz" as the patronimic of the father of this family on the assumption that the eldest son would have been named after his paternal grandfather in line with contemporary practice[1308]. According to Europäische Stammtafeln[1309], Vela was the son of MUNIO Vélaz Conde de Álava, of the royal family of Navarre. Salazar finds this an attractive possibility, and highlights the onomastic similarities between the two families and the absence of chronological obstacles, while recognising the complete absence of documentary proof. There is also a curious echo of the historical legend concerning the family's background[1310].

The other theory, supported by many scholars[1311], is that Vela Núñez and his siblings were the children of NUÑO Ordóñez, son of Ordoño I King of Asturias. This is seen by some as a more convincing explanation for the family's influence at the court of León during the second half of the 10th century, and of the royal and nobles marriages made by the daughters of the family.

There is no proof either way. To the extent that onomastics can play a part in the debate, the absence of the typically Leonese names Alfonso, Ordoño and Ramiro in the Vela family may be significant, as well as the fact that the name Vela is evidently not one which came from the royal family of León.

At a later date, the family apparently based themselves in Galicia, where the brothers Vela and Rodrigo Ovéquiz supported the deposed García King of Galicia in a rebellion in 1087 which started in Santiago de Compostela and spread to Lugo which the rebels captured. The documentation of the cathedral of Lugo specifies that the father of the brothers was conde Oveco Vermúdez of Galicia.