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Birth:          13 Aug 1311 Salamanca, Spain
Death:          26 Mar 1350 Gibraltar
Burial:         Capillade Los, Seville, Seville

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfonso_XI_of_Castile
Alfonso XI of Castile (13 August 1311 – 26/27 March 1350), called the Avenger (el 
Iusteçero),[1] was the king of Castile, León and Galicia. He was the son of Ferdinand 
IV of Castile and his wife Constance of Portugal. Upon his father's death in 1312, 
several disputes ensued over who would hold regency, which were resolved in 1313.

Once Alfonso was declared adult in 1325, he began a reign that would serve to 
strengthen royal power. His achievements include solving the problems of the Gibraltar 
Strait and the conquest of Algeciras.
Life[edit]


 


 Alfonso XI of Castile attacks the Muslim Moors led by Muhammed IV, Sultan of the 
emirate of Granada
Alfonso XI was the son of King Ferdinand IV of Castile and Constance of Portugal. His 
father died when Alfonso was one year old. His grandmother, María de Molina, his 
mother Constance, his granduncle Infante John of Castile, Lord of Valencia de 
Campos, son of King Alfonso X of Castile and uncle Infante Peter of Castile, Lord of 
Cameros, son of King Sancho IV assumed the regency. Queen Constance died first on 
18 November 1313, followed by Infantes John and Peter during a military campaign 
against Granada in 1319, which left Dowager Queen María as the only regent until her 
death on 1 July 1321.

After the death of the infantes John and Peter in 1319, Philip (son of Sancho IV and 
María de Molina, thus brother of Infante Peter), Juan Manuel (the king's second-
degree uncle by virtue of being Ferdinand III's grandson) and Juan el Tuerto (his 
second degree uncle, son of John of Castile who died in 1319) split the kingdom 
among themselves according to their aspirations for regency, even as it was being 
looted by moors and the rebellious nobility.

As soon as he took the throne, he began working hard to strengthen royal power by 
dividing his enemies. His early display of rulership skills included the unhesitant 
execution of possible opponents, including his uncle Juan el Tuerto in 1326.[2]

He managed to extend the limits of his kingdom to the Strait of Gibraltar after the 
important victory at the Battle of Río Salado against the Marinid Dynasty in 1340 and 
the conquest of the Kingdom of Algeciras in 1344. Once that conflict was resolved, he 
redirected all his Reconquista efforts to fighting the Moorish king of Granada.

He is variously known among Castilian kings as the Avenger or the Implacable, and as 
"He of Río Salado." The first two names he earned by the ferocity with which he 
repressed the disorders caused by the nobles during his long minority; the third by his 
victory in the Battle of Río Salado over the last formidable Marinid invasion of the 
Iberian Peninsula in 1340.

Alfonso XI never went to the insane lengths of his son Peter of Castile, but he could 
be bloody in his methods. He killed for reasons of state without any form of trial. He 
openly neglected his wife, Maria of Portugal, and indulged a scandalous passion for 
Eleanor of Guzman, who bore him ten children. This set Peter an example which he 
failed to better. It may be that his early death, during the Great Plague of 1350, at the 
Fifth Siege of Gibraltar, only averted a desperate struggle with Peter, though it was a 
misfortune in that it removed a ruler of eminent capacity, who understood his subjects 
well enough not to go too far.

Marriage and issue[edit]

Alfonso XI first married Constanza Manuel in 1325, but had the union annulled two 
years later. His second marriage, in 1328, was to Maria of Portugal, daughter of 
Alfonso IV of Portugal.[3] They had:
Ferdinand (Valladolid, 1332–1333);
Peter of Castile (1334–1369), King of Castile.

By his mistress, Eleanor of Guzman, he had ten children:
Pedro Alfonso (1330–1338), Lord of Aguilar de Campoo
Sancho Alfonso (1331–1343), 1st Lord of Ledesma
Henry II of Castile (1333–1379) King of Castile (1369-1379);
Fadrique Alfonso (1333–1358), Henry's twin brother, he was Master of the Order of 
Santiago and Lord of Haro;
Fernando Alfonso (1336–c. 1350), 2nd Lord of Ledesma;
Tello Alfonso (1337–1370), Lord of Aguilar de Campoo
Juan Alfonso (1341–1359), Lord of Badajoz and Jerez de la Frontera;
Juana Alfonso, (born 1342), Lady of Trastámara due to her marriage in 1354 to 
Fernando Ruiz de Castro. The marriage was annulled and in 1366 she married Felipe 
de Castro;
Sancho Alfonso (1343–1375), 1st Count of Alburquerque
Pedro Alfonso (1345–1359)

After Alfonso's death, his widow Maria had Eleanor arrested and later killed.[4]

Appearance[edit]

"...King Alfonso was not very tall but well proportioned, and he was rather strong and 
had fair skin and hair."[5]

Parents
SANCHEZ Fernando IV (6 Dec 1285 - 7 Sep 1312)
DINISEZ Constanca (3 Jan 1290 - 18 Nov 1313)

Siblings
FERNANDEZ Alfonso XI (13 Aug 1311 - 26 Mar 1350)

Marriage To AFFONSEZ Maria (9 Feb 1313 - 18 Jan 1357)
    m. 1328 

Notes

Parents
DINISEZ Affonso IV "the Brave" (8 Feb 1291 - 28 May 1357)
SANCHEZ Beatrix Sancha (8 Mar 1293 - 25 Oct 1359)

Children by AFFONSEZ Maria 9 Feb 1313 - 18 Jan 1357
ALFONSEZ Pedro I "the Cruel" (30 Aug 1334 - 22 Mar 1369)

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