ALPHEUS, (Ἀλφειός), the chief river of Peloponnesus, now called Rufia or Rouphi. Its sources are in the mountains of Arcadia, to the east of Megalopolis. Being fed by a great number of small streams, it becomes navigable, and traversing Elis, empties itself into the Ionian sea. At several points in its course it runs in a subterranean channel. This fact probably gave rise to the well-known myth which represents Alpheus, the river-god, as passing under the sea to the nymph Arethusa, who had been changed into a fountain in the island of Ortygia. Milton in his Arcades thus alludes to the story—
| “That renowned flood, so often sung, |
| Divine Alpheus, who by secret sluice |
| Stole under seas to meet his Arethuse.” |
ALPHONSO, Alfonso, Alonzo, Affonso, or Ildefonso. This name, so famous in the annals of the Spanish peninsula, has been borne by no fewer than twenty-two of its sovereigns—viz., by ten of the Asturias and Leon, one of Castile when separate from Leon, five of Aragon, and six of Portugal.
1st, Asturias and Leon.—Alphonso I., surnamed “The Catholic,” King of the Asturias, the son of Pedro, duke of Biscay, was born in the year 693. On the death of Favila, the son of Pelayo, Alphonso, who had married Ormisinda, the daughter of the latter, was proclaimed king of Asturias. During his whole reign he was engaged in almost perpetual conflicts with the Moors, and is said to have wrested Leon, Galicia, and Castile from their hands. His zeal for the church, displayed in endowing and repairing monasteries and churches, gained for him his surname of “The Catholic.” Alphonso died at Cangas in 757, and was succeeded by his son Fruela I.
Alphonso II., surnamed “The Chaste,” King of the Asturias, the son of Fruela I., was but a child when his father was assassinated in 768, and consequently his claims to the throne were passed over in favour of Aurelio, who was probably a cousin of Fruela. Alphonso was invested with regal authority by Silo, the successor of Aurelio; on whose death, in 783, he became sole ruler. He was afterwards dethroned by his uncle Mauregato, and was compelled to retire into Biscay. Mauregato, after a reign of about five years, was succeeded by Bermudo, who, in 791, took Alphonso as his partner on the throne. Bermudo reigned for only about four years longer. A rebellion of many of the chief nobles in 802 compelled Alphonso to surrender his throne for the third time; but he was soon afterwards restored, mainly through the assistance of Theudius, one of his most faithful followers. In addition to having to defend himself against these internal dissensions, Alphonso was during the greater part of his reign at war with the Moors, obtaining, among other successes, a signal victory over Mohammed, governor of Merida, in 830. Alphonso died in 843, in the city of Oviedo, which he had greatly adorned and made the capital of his kingdom. He had some years previously abdicated in favour of Ramiro, son of Bermudo. His surname of “The Chaste” has been connected by some with the legend that he refused to pay the Moors their tribute of a hundred Spanish virgins, but is rather to be ascribed to his vow to preserve an absolute continence.
Alphonso III., surnamed “The Great,” King of the Asturias, was born in the year 848, and succeeded his father Ordono I. in 866. In the following year, Fruela, count of Galicia, disputed Alphonso's right of succession, and forced him to retire to Alava; but Fruela's tyranny so exasperated the people that he was assassinated before he had been a year in power, and they gladly recalled Alphonso to the throne. Other conspiracies marked the beginning of Alphonso's reign, but he soon felt himself tolerably secure at home, and turned his arms against the Moors. By 901, the year in which he gained a splendid victory at Zamora, he had, it is said, extended his empire to the banks of the Guadiana, and had, by founding and fortifying cities, made good his hold over a large part of the conquered territory. But Alphonso's victories abroad were greatly neutralised by discontent among his own subjects, who found it difficult to bear the heavy war taxes that had been imposed upon them. There was a rising under Ano in 885, and another under Witiza in 894; and in 907 a more formidable insurrection broke out, headed by Garcia, the king's eldest son. Garcia was defeated and taken prisoner; but as the greater part of the nation sided with the queen in demanding that he should be released, Alphonso, either wishing to prevent a civil war, or thinking that his cause was hopeless, resigned his crown to his son in 901. After his abdication, Alphonso, offering his services to his son in the true spirit of the age, led an expedition against the Moors, in which he gained fresh victories. He died towards the end of the same year (901). He was the last monarch who bore the title King of Asturias, his successors being called kings of Leon, from the new capital of the kingdom. It was in his reign that the counts of Navarre became independent. There is still extant a Latin chronicle, treating of the history of Spain from the Moorish invasion down to the death of Ordono, which is usually attributed to Alphonso.
Alphonso IV., “The Monk,” King of Leon, succeeded Fruela II., his uncle in 924. On the death of his wife, about six years afterwards, he resigned his crown to his brother Ramiro, and retired into a cloister; but soon growing weary of monastic life, he made an attempt to resume the sceptre. He was, however, taken prisoner at Leon, and confined in the monastery of St Julien, where he died, probably about two and a half years after.
Alphonso V. succeeded his father Bermudo II. in 999, being then about five years of age. Gonsalez, count of Galicia, and his wife, were, by appointment of Bermudo II., guardians of the young king; and on arriving at manhood he married their daughter Elvira. The regency is remarkable for the defeat and death of the famous Moor Almausur in 1002—a success that led ultimately to the conquest of Cordova by the Christians. Alphonso himself made war upon the Moors, recapturing Leon and other places that had been lost during his minority. Alphonso died at the siege of Viseo in 1028. He was succeeded in the kingdom of Leon by his son Bermudo III., while the hitherto dependent countship of Castile became a separate kingdom under the sovereignty of Sancho el Mayor, king of Navarre, and husband of the eldest daughter of the late count.
