Individual

Go to List of Family Names Go to List of People    < Previous Next >

Birth:          1 Mar 1105 Toledo, Castile
Death:          21 Aug 1157 La Fresneda, Teruel, Aragon
Burial:         Cathedral of Toledo, Toledo, Castile

Notes
also King (Emperor) of Spain
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfonso_VII_of_Le%C3%B3n
Alfonso VII (1 March 1105 – 21 August 1157), born Alfonso Raimúndez, called the 
Emperor (el Emperador), became the King of Galicia in 1111[3] and King of León and 
Castile in 1126. Alfonso first used the title Emperor of All Spain, alongside his mother 
Urraca, once his mother vested him with the direct rule of Toledo in 1116. Alfonso 
later held another investiture in 1135 in a grand ceremony reasserting his claims to the 
Imperial title. He was the son of Urraca of León and Raymond of Burgundy, the first of 
the House of Ivrea to rule in the Iberian peninsula.

Alfonso was a dignified and somewhat enigmatic figure. His rule was characterised by 
the renewed supremacy of the western kingdoms of Christian Iberia over the eastern 
(Navarre and Aragón) after the reign of Alfonso the Battler. He also sought to make 
the imperial title meaningful in practice, though his attempts to rule over both Christian 
and Muslim populations was even less successful. His hegemonic intentions never 
saw fruition, however. During his tenure, Portugal became de facto independent, in 
1128, and was recognized as de jure independent, in 1143. He was a patron of poets, 
including, probably, the troubadour Marcabru.
Succession to three kingdoms[edit]

In 1111, Diego Gelmírez, Bishop of Compostela and the count of Traba, crowned and 
anointed[4] Alfonso King of Galicia in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.[5] He 
was a child, but his mother had (1109) succeeded to the united throne of León-
Castile-Galicia and desired to assure her son's prospects and groom him for his 
eventual succession. By 1125 he had inherited the formerly Muslim Kingdom of 
Toledo. On 10 March 1126, after the death of his mother, he was crowned in León 
and immediately began the recovery of the Kingdom of Castile, which was then under 
the domination of Alfonso the Battler. By the Peace of Támara of 1127, the Battler 
recognised Alfonso VII of Castile. The territory in the far east of his dominion, 
however, had gained much independence during the rule of his mother and 
experienced many rebellions. After his recognition in Castile, Alfonso fought to curb 
the autonomy of the local barons.

When Alfonso the Battler, King of Navarre and Aragón, died without descendants in 
1134, he willed his kingdom to the military orders. The aristocracy of both kingdoms 
rejected this. García Ramírez, Count of Monzón was elected in Navarre while Alfonso 
pretended to the throne of Aragón. The nobles chose another candidate in the dead 
king's brother, Ramiro II. Alfonso responded by occupying La Rioja, conquering 
Zaragoza, and governing the realms in unison. From this point, the arms of Zaragoza 
began to appear in those of León.

In several skirmishes, he defeated the joint Navarro-Aragonese army and put the 
kingdoms to vassalage. He had the strong support of the lords north of the Pyrenees, 
who held lands as far as the River Rhône. In the end, however, the combined forces 
of the Navarre and Aragón were too much for his control. At this time, he helped 
Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, in his wars with the other Catalan counties 
to unite the old Marca Hispanica.

Imperial rule[edit]

A vague tradition had always assigned the title of emperor to the sovereign who held 
León. Sancho the Great considered the city the imperiale culmen and minted coins 
with the inscription Imperator totius Hispaniae after being crowned in it. Such a 
sovereign was considered the most direct representative of the Visigothic kings, who 
had been themselves the representatives of the Roman Empire. But though appearing 
in charters, and claimed by Alfonso VI of León and Alfonso the Battler, the title had 
been little more than a flourish of rhetoric.

In 1135, Alfonso was crowned "Emperor of Spain" in the Cathedral of León.[6] By this, 
he probably wished to assert his authority over the entire peninsula and his absolute 
leadership of the Reconquista. He appears to have striven for the formation of a 
national unity which Spain had never possessed since the fall of the Visigothic 
kingdom. The elements he had to deal with could not be welded together. The 
weakness of Aragon enabled him to make his superiority effective. After Afonso 
Henriques recognised him as liege in 1137, Alfonso VII lost the Battle of Valdevez in 
1141 thereby affirming Portugal's independence in the Treaty of Zamora (1143).[7] In 
1143, he himself recognised this status quo and consented to the marriage of 
Petronila of Aragon with Ramon Berenguer IV, a union which combined Aragon and 
Catalonia into the Crown of Aragon.

War against Al-Andalus[edit]

Alfonso was a pious prince. He introduced the Cistercians to Iberia by founding a 
monastery at Fitero. He adopted a militant attitude towards the Moors of Al-Andalus, 
especially the Almoravids. From 1138, when he besieged Coria, Alfonso led a series of 
crusades subjugating the Almoravids. After a seven-month siege, he took the fortress 
of Oreja near Toledo and, as the Chronica Adefonsi Imperatoris tells it:

“ . . . early in the morning the castle was surrendered and the towers were filled with 
Christian knights, and the royal standards were raised above a high tower. Those who 
held the standards shouted out loud and proclaimed "Long live Alfonso, emperor of 
León and Toledo!" ” 

In 1142, Alfonso besieged Coria a second time and took it.[8] In 1144, he advanced 
as far as Córdoba. Two years later, the Almohads invaded and he was forced to 
refortify his southern frontier and come to an agreement with the Almoravid Ibn Ganiya 
for their mutual defence. When Pope Eugene III preached the Second Crusade, 
Alfonso VII, with García Ramírez of Navarre and Ramon Berenguer IV, led a mixed 
army of Catalans and Franks, with a Genoese–Pisan navy, in a crusade against the 
rich port city of Almería, which was occupied in October 1147. A third of the city was 
granted to Genoa and subsequently leased out to Otto de Bonvillano, a Genoese 
citizen. It was Castile's first Mediterranean seaport.[9] In 1151, Alfonso signed the 
Treaty of Tudilén with Ramon Berenguer. The treaty defined the zones of conquest in 
Andalusia in order to prevent the two rulers from coming into conflict. Six years later, 
Almería entered into Almohad possession. Alfonso was returning from an expedition 
against them when he died in pass of Muradel in the Sierra Morena, possibly at Viso 
del Marqués (Ciudad Real).[10]

Legacy[edit]

Alfonso was at once a patron of the church and a protector, though not a supporter 
of, the Muslims, who were a minority of his subjects. His reign ended in an 
unsuccessful campaign against the rising power of the Almohads. Though he was not 
actually defeated, his death in the pass, while on his way back to Toledo, occurred in 
circumstances which showed that no man could be what he claimed to be — "king of 
the men of the two religions." Furthermore, by dividing his realm between his sons, he 
ensured that Christendom would not present the new Almohad threat with a united 
front.

Family[edit]

In November 1128, he married Berenguela,[11] daughter of Ramon Berenguer III, 
Count of Barcelona. She died in 1149. Their children were:
1.Sancho III of Castile (1134–1158)
2.Ramon, living 1136, died in infancy
3.Ferdinand II of León (1137–1188)
4.Constance (c.1138–1160), married Louis VII of France
5.Sancha (c.1139–1179), married Sancho VI of Navarre
6.García (c.1142-1145/6)
7.Alfonso (c.1144-by 1149)

In 1152, Alfonso married Richeza of Poland, the daughter of Ladislaus II the Exile.[12] 
They had:
1.Ferdinand, (1153–1157)
2.Sancha (1155–1208), the wife of Alfonso II of Aragón.

Alfonso also had two mistresses, having children by both. By an Asturian noblewoman 
named Gontrodo Pérez, he had an illegitimate daughter, Urraca (1132–1164), who 
married García Ramírez of Navarre, the mother retiring to a convent in 1133.[13] Later 
in his reign, he formed a liaison with Urraca Fernández, widow of count Rodrigo 
Martínez and daughter of Fernando Garcés de Hita, an apparent grandson of García 
Sánchez III of Navarre, having a daughter Stephanie the Unfortunate (1148–1180), 
who was killed by her jealous husband, Fernán Ruiz de Castro.

Parents
DE BOURGOGNE Raymond (ABT 1070 - 24 May 1107)
ALFONSEZ OF CASTILE AND LEON Urraca (ABT 1082 - 8 Mar 1126)

Siblings
____ Alfonso VII "Pierre-Raimund" (1 Mar 1105 - 21 Aug 1157)

Marriage To DE BARCELONA Berengaria (Berenguela) Raimundo (ABT 1116 - 2 Feb 1149)
    m. Nov 1128 

Notes

Parents
BERENGER Raymond (Raimund) III (IV) "el Grande" (11 Nov 1082 - 19 Jun 1131)
DI GIEVAUDUN (MILHAUD) Douce (Dulce) Aldonza (1090 - 1127)

Children by DE BARCELONA Berengaria (Berenguela) Raimundo ABT 1116 - 2 Feb 1149
ALFONSEZ Sancho III "the Desired" (1134 - 31 Aug 1158)
ALFONSEZ Fernando II (1137 - 22 Jan 1188)
____ Sancha (ABT 1138 - 5 Aug 1177)
OF CASTILE Constance (ABT 1140 - 4 Oct 1160)

Marriage To OF POLAND (OF SILICIA) Richeza (Richilde) (Ryksa) (ABT 1138 - 16 Jun 1185)
    m. 1152 his 2d

Notes

Parents
____ Wladislav II "The Exile" (1105 - 30 May 1159)
OF AUSTRIA (BABENBERG) Agnes (ABT 1111 - 24 Jan 1163)

Children by OF POLAND (OF SILICIA) Richeza (Richilde) (Ryksa) ABT 1138 - 16 Jun 1185
____ Sancha (Sanchia) (21 Sep 1154 - 9 Nov 1208)

Produced by Fzip 1.7 6/20/2017