attempted to displace his brother, and to resume his kingly functions, but without success. He died in confinement in 932.
ALFONSO V., king of Leon, son of Bermudo II., succeeded his father in 999, at the age of five years. The energetic regency of his mother Elvira, and afterwards his own vigorous policy, rescued Leon from the grasp of the Moors, who had nearly effected the conquest of the kingdom. He died of a wound received at the siege of Viseo in Portugal in 1028.
ALFONSO VI., king of Leon and I. of Castile, surnamed the Brave (el Bravo), was the second son of Ferdinand I., and ascended the throne in 1065. Sancho, his elder brother, at the same time assumed the government of Castile, and the younger brother Garcia, that of Galicia and part of Portugal. It was thus Ferdinand had allotted his estates, in the vain hope that his sons would respect each other's rights. Sancho invaded Castile, and having, by the assistance of the famous Cid (Rodrigo de Bivar), defeated Alfonso, sent him to a monastery. But the dagger of an assassin terminated the career of this conqueror of his family, and Alfonso was recalled. Hardly more scrupulous than his brother, shortly after his return he dethroned Garcia, and having thus reunited into one powerful monarchy the estates of his father, declared war against the Moors, from whom he wrested the city of Toledo in 1085. In the same year, Seville, Badajoz, and Saragossa became tributary to Leon; the kings of these important cities having unsuccessfully leagued themselves against the conqueror of Toledo. A year after, Yúsuf-ben-Tachefin arrived in the neighbourhood of Badajoz with a large army of Almoravides, and there Alfonso experienced a great defeat, which, but for the speedy recall of Yúsuf into Africa, would probably have cost him many of his conquests. The departure of Yúsuf was the signal for a renewal of dissensions in the Moorish camp, and Alfonso found no difficulty in protecting, and even extending his dominions, till 1108, when Ali invaded Spain at the head of a large army. The Leonese forces which encountered him at Uclés, were led by Don Sancho, eldest son of Alfonso, whose failing health prevented him from assuming the command in person, and here again the Almoravides were successful. But roused by the death of his son, who had fallen in the battle, Alfonso once more marshalled an army and drove the enemy into Andalusia. He died at Toledo in 1109, and was succeeded by his daughter Uracca.—J. S., G.
ALFONSO VII. of Leon. Some writers give this title to Alfonso I. of Aragon, the husband of Uracca, the daughter of Alfonso VI., who held the throne after her father's death. See Alfonso I. of Aragon and Navarre.
ALFONSO VIII. of Leon, called also VII. by those who do not include Alfonso I. of Aragon in this dynasty, is usually known as "Alfonso Raymond," and "the Emperor." He was the son of Raymond, count of Burgundy, and of the Princess Uracca, daughter of Alfonso VI., who, after Raymond's death, married Alfonso I. of Aragon. He succeeded on his mother's death in 1126 to the throne of Leon and Castile, notwithstanding the opposition of his stepfather. After the death of his stepfather, and the accession of Ramiro II. to the throne of Aragon, Alfonso invaded that territory and took possession of several fortresses which he would only restore as fiefs. The king of Navarre and the counts of Barcelona and Toulouse also paid him homage, and he was so elated by these successes that he assumed the title of emperor of Spain. His ambition was, however, but partially gratified, for he found all his efforts against the king of Portugal unavailing; that prince having allied himself with Garcia of Navarre, was able to humble Alfonso and assert his independence. Alfonso was distinguished for his achievements against the Moslem power; and the honour of removing the Christian frontier from the Tagus to the Sierra Morena is shared between him and Alfonso of Aragon. In 1157 he fought with but little success against the Almohades, and died when returning from the battle.—J. B.
ALFONSO I., king of Castile. See Alfonso VI. of Leon.
ALFONSO II., king of Castile. See Alfonso VIII. of Leon.
ALFONSO III., king of Castile, surnamed el Noble (the Noble), and el Bueno (the Good), succeeded his father Sancho III. at the age of three years. His minority was distracted by the feuds of two powerful families, who each claimed the regency of the kingdom; and also by the interference of his uncle, Fernando of Leon. On his marriage in 1170 to Eleanor, daughter of Henry II. of England, however, he was enabled, by the assistance of that monarch, to repress the disorders of his kingdom, and to turn its forces from intestine warfare to a crusade against the Moors. His first attempts in 1177 were successful, but in 1185 he was defeated by the Almohades at Sorillo, and in 1195, having rashly engaged Abu-Yusuf-Yakub on the plains of Alarcos, without waiting for his allies, the kings of Leon and Navarre, he suffered the loss of 20,000 infantry and all his cavalry. In 1212 Mohammed Anasir, Yakub's successor, invaded the southern provinces with an army, it was said, of 600,000 men. Alfonso and the kings of Leon and Navarre raised an immense army, marched southwards, and gave battle to the invader at the foot of the Sierra Morena. Alfonso commanded the centre of the Christian army, and experienced, in his attack on the centre of the enemy, a desperate resistance. The Castilians, obliged to give way, retreated in disorder; but mingling with the troops of Leon and Navarre, who had been successful in their assault on the enemy's flanks, they again advanced, and breaking through the terrible breastwork of spears that surrounded the African banner, they penetrated to the tent of Mohammed, who took horse only at the last moment, and fled to Seville. The Arabian historians assert, that of the 600,000 Africans whom Mohammed led to the plains of Tolosa, only 100,000 escaped. Alfonso survived this great victory only two years. He died October 6, 1214.—J. S., G.
ALFONSO IX., king of Leon, succeeded his father Ferdinand II. in 1188. In this reign the courts of Leon and Castile were frequently at variance, and more than once declared war against each other; but actual hostilities were prevented, either by the interference of the bishops of the two kingdoms, or by the necessity for combining all Christian forces against the Moors. Alfonso at length married his cousin Berengaria, daughter of the king of Castile; but this settlement of their disputes found no favour with the pope, who declared the marriage null, and solemnly laid both kingdoms under interdict till it should be publicly dissolved. Alfonso defied the papal bull for a time, but in 1204 consented to a divorce. Berengaria, after the death of her father, Alfonso III. of Castile, undertook the regency of that kingdom during the minority of Henry I., and after the death of that prince in 1217, had her son Ferdinand crowned in spite of the opposition of Alfonso, who endeavoured, but without effect, to gain possession of the strongholds of the kingdom. His reign was not without lustre. He made several successful inroads into the Mohammedan territories, and took some important fortresses. He died while on a pilgrimage to the shrine of Santiago de Compostella in 1230.—J. S., G.
ALFONSO X., king of Castile and Leon, surnamed el Sabio (the Learned), succeeded his father, Ferdinand III., in 1252. In 1255, on the death of William, count of Holland, Alfonso put forth claims to the crown of Germany, and in order to support these by sufficient largess began a system of oppressive taxation, which gave rise to the most formidable revolts in his kingdom. When drawing to a close, his reign was likewise distracted by a question of succession that arose out of the death of his eldest son Ferdinand. That prince left two sons, the eldest of whom, by the Roman law, which on this point was the opposite of the Visigothic, should have been declared Infante in preference to Sancho, second son of Alfonso; but a decision of the Cortes affirmed the superior claims of Sancho, and a civil war followed, in which the country suffered grievously, and Alfonso was drawn into the commission of a crime that has loaded his name with infamy—the murder of his brother Don Fadrique. Alfonso expired in 1284. Although a weak monarch, he laid his people under many obligations, by his efforts in behalf of science and literature; and his digest of laws, known as "Las siete Partidas;" his astronomical tables, almost the only ones in use at the beginning of the sixteenth century; and his "Cronica de Espana," one of the earliest national histories: are to be regarded as the works of a benefactor to his country. Spain owed to him also a translation of the Scriptures, and the restoration of the university of Salamanca.—J. S., G.
ALFONSO XI., king of Castile, succeeded his father Ferdinand IV. in 1312, at the age of two years. The brothers and uncles of his father contended for the regency, and rendered his minority one continued war of factions. On attaining his majority, however, Alfonso assumed the government, quickly repressed the disorders of his kingdom, and then crossed the southern frontiers to make war on the Moors. In conjunction with the king of Portugal, he destroyed a Mohammedan army of 200,000 men at the battle of Rio Salado, at which the victors
