The legend rests on a narrative of annual tribute of one hundred virgin maidens paid by the Christian kingdom of Asturias to the Muslim emirate of Córdoba.
[2] However, practices such as Mauregato's, who forged amicable relationships with the Moors, and who allowed intermarriages between the Moors and the Asturias, where these exogamous marriages served to create a "network of social affection" among different kinships, despite being in line with "fundamental role" of contemporary in the medieval world as "peaceweaving instruments" and Christian ideology, was never accepted by the Church.
[2] Though propagation of the legend was not limited to chronicles, Lucas of Tuy, writing in 1236 described how Mauregatus "gave many high-born and also low-born maidens [to the Saracens] in marriage due to an agreement with the Saracens so that he might be at peace with them," adding a "sinister spin" to the story through subsequent chapters.
Bermudo was succeeded by Alfonso II, nicknamed "the Chaste", who fully rejected the tribute and had to deal with military consequences.
The Moorish rulers were reportedly scared, by the growing military strength of the northern Christians, into giving up demands for the tribute.