| Alfonso VIII | |
|---|---|
 | |
| King of Castile andToledo | |
| Reign | 31 August 1158 – 5 October 1214 |
| Predecessor | Sancho III |
| Successor | Henry I |
| Born | 11 November 1155 Soria |
| Died | 5 October 1214(1214-10-05) (aged 58) Gutierre-Muñoz |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | |
| Issue among others... | |
| House | Castilian House of Ivrea |
| Father | Sancho III of Castile |
| Mother | Blanche of Navarre |
Alfonso VIII (11 November 1155[2] – 5 October 1214), calledthe Noble (El Noble) orthe one of Las Navas (el de las Navas), wasKing of Castile from 1158 to his death andKing of Toledo.[3][4] After having suffered a great defeat with his own army atAlarcos against theAlmohads in 1195,[5] he led the coalition of Christian princes and foreign crusaders who broke the power of the Almohads in theBattle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212, an event which marked the arrival of a tide of Christian supremacy on theIberian Peninsula.[6]
His reign saw the domination ofCastile overLeón and, by his alliance with Aragon, he drew those two spheres of Christian Iberia into close connection.
Alfonso was born toSancho III of Castile andBlanche, inSoria on 11 November 1155.[7] He was named after his grandfatherAlfonso VII of León and Castile, who divided his kingdoms between his sons. This division set the stage for conflict in the family until the kingdoms were re-united by Alfonso VIII's grandson,Ferdinand III of Castile.[8]
His early life resembled that of other medieval kings. His father died in 1158. Though proclaimed king when only two years of age,[6] Alfonso was regarded as merely nominal by the unruly nobles to whom a minority was convenient. Immediately, Castile was plunged into conflicts between the various noble houses vying for ascendancy in the inevitable regency. The devotion of a squire of his household, who carried him on thepommel of his saddle to the stronghold ofSan Esteban de Gormaz, saved him from falling into the hands of the contending factions.[9] The noble houses ofLara andCastro both claimed the regency, as did the boy's uncle,Ferdinand II of León. In 1159 the young Alfonso was put briefly in the custody ofGarcía Garcés de Aza, who was not wealthy enough to support him. In March 1160 the Castro and Lara met at theBattle of Lobregal and the Castro were victorious, but the guardianship of Alfonso and the regency fell toManrique Pérez de Lara.
Alfonso was put in the custody of the loyal villageÁvila. At barely fifteen, he began restoring his kingdom to order. It was only by surprise that he recovered his capitalToledo from the hands of the Laras.[9]
During the regency, his uncleSancho VI of Navarre took advantage of the chaos and the king's minority to seize lands along the border, including much ofLa Rioja. In 1170, Alfonso sent an embassy toBordeaux toHenry II of England andEleanor of Aquitaine to seek the hand of their daughterEleanor.[10] The marriage treaty helped provide Alfonso with a powerful ally against his uncle. In 1176, Alfonso asked his father-in-law to arbitrate the disputed border territories. While Alfonso received back much that had been taken from him, he had to pay significant monetary compensation.[10]
In 1186, he recovered part ofLa Rioja from theKingdom of Navarre.[citation needed]
In 1187, Alfonso negotiated withFrederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, who was seeking to marry his sonConrad to Alfonso's eldest child and heiress,Berengaria. In April 1188, they agreed on a treaty inSeligenstadt, which made clear that she was the heiress of Castile after any sons of Alfonso and that Conrad would only co-rule as her spouse. That became relevant in her ultimate succession to the throne even though the marriage to Conrad was never consummated and later annulled. The treaty also documented traditional rights and obligations between the sovereign and the nobles in Castile. In July 1188, Alfonso convened his court inCarrión de los Condes to allow the nobles to review and ratify the treaty. At that court, Alfonso knighted both Conrad andAlfonso IX of León, who would ultimately marry Berengaria. The younger Alfonso had come to seek the support and acknowledgement of his ascent to the throne of León from his older cousin. The elder Alfonso granted that in exchange for acknowledgement that the king of Castile was overlord of the king of León.[11]
The relationship between the cousins Alfonso continued to be filled with conflict. In 1194, the papal legate negotiated a treaty between them to temporarily end the conflict. However, after Castile was defeated at theBattle of Alarcos, the younger Alfonso seized the opportunityto again attack his cousin. Castille defended itself with papal support. A more lasting peace was achieved finally by the older Alfonso's daughter Berengaria marrying the younger Alfonso in 1197.[12] The annulment of this marriage by the pope drove the younger Alfonso to again attack his cousin in 1204, but treaties made in 1205, 1207, and 1209 each forced him to concede further territories and rights.[13][14] The treaty in 1207 is the first existing public document in theCastilian dialect.[15]
Around 1200 when his brother in lawJohn was on the English throne, Alfonso began to claim thatGascony was part of Eleanor's dowry, though there was nothing in the marriage treaty to indicate this. In 1205, he invaded, hoping to make good on his claim. By 1208, he gave up on the venture, though his heirs would come back to this claim generations later.[16]
In 1174, he cededUclés to theOrder of Santiago and afterwards this became the order's principal seat. From Uclés, he began a campaign which culminated in theConquest of Cuenca in 1177.[17] The city surrendered on 21 September, the feast ofSaint Matthew, ever afterwards celebrated by the citizens of the town.
Alfonso took the initiative to ally all Christian kingdoms of the peninsula—Navarre,León,Portugal, andAragon—against theAlmohads. By theTreaty of Cazola of 1179, the zones of expansion of each kingdom were defined.
After foundingPlasencia (Cáceres) in 1186, he embarked on a major initiative to unite the Castilian nobility around the Reconquista.
In 1195, after the treaty with the Almohads was broken, he came to the defence ofAlarcos on the riverGuadiana, then the principal Castilian town in the region. At the subsequentBattle of Alarcos, he was roundly defeated by the caliphAbu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur. The Almohads quickly commenced the reoccupation of the surrounding territory, withCalatrava falling first. For the next seventeen years, the frontier between Moor and Castilian was fixed in the hill country just outside Toledo.
Finally, in 1212, through the mediation ofPope Innocent III, a crusade was called against the Almohads. Castilians under Alfonso, Aragonese and Catalans underPeter II, Navarrese underSancho VII, and Franks under the archbishop of Narbonne,Arnaud Amalric, all flocked to the effort. The military orders also lent their support. Calatrava first, then Alarcos, and finallyBenavente were captured before a final battle was fought atLas Navas de Tolosa nearSanta Elena on 16 July. The caliphMuhammad al-Nasir was routed and Almohad power broken.[6]
Alfonso was the founder of the first Spanish university, astudium generale atPalencia, which, however, did not survive him.[9] His court also served as an important instrument for Spanish cultural achievement. Alfonso and his wife Eleanor of England were the first to make theAlcázar of Segovia as their residence when this fortress was still at its early stages.
Alfonso died atGutierre-Muñoz[18] and was succeeded by his surviving son,Henry I.
Alfonso was the subject forLion Feuchtwanger's novelDie Jüdin von Toledo (The Jewess of Toledo), in which is narrated an affair with a Jewish subject in medieval Toledo in a time when Spain was known to be the land of tolerance and learning for Jews, Christians, and Muslims. The titular Jewish woman of the novel is based on Alfonso's paramour,Rahel la Fermosa.[19] Scholars continue to debate the historical truth of this relationship.[20] The 1919 filmThe Jewess of Toledo byFranz Höbling is also based on this relationship.[21]
WithEleanor of England,[22] Alfonso had 11 children:[23]
| Name | Birth | Death | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Berengaria | Burgos, 1 January/ June 1180 | Las Huelgas near Burgos, 8 November 1246 | Married firstly inSeligenstadt on 23 April 1188 with DukeConrad II of Swabia, but the union (only by contract and never solemnized) was later annulled. Married inValladolid between 1/16 December 1197 with KingAlfonso IX of León as his second wife.[24] After their marriage was dissolved on grounds of consanguinity in 1204, she returned to her homeland and became regent of her minor brother King Henry I. Queen of Castile in her own right after the death of Henry I in 1217, quickly abdicated in favor of her sonFerdinand III of Castile who would re-unite the kingdoms of Castile and León. |
| Sancho | Burgos, 5 April 1181 | 26 July 1181 | Heir of the throne since his birth, died aged three months. |
| Sancha | 20/28 March 1182 | 3 February 1184/ 16 October 1185 | Died in infancy. |
| Henry | 1184 | 1184? | Heir of the throne since his birth, died either shortly after being born or in infancy. His existence is disputed among sources. |
| Urraca | 1186/ 28 May 1187 | Coimbra, 3 November 1220 | Queen ofAfonso II of Portugal |
| Blanche | Palencia, 4 March 1188 | Paris, 27 November 1252 | Married toLouis VIII of France |
| Ferdinand | Cuenca, 29 September 1189 | Madrid, 14 October 1211 | Heir of the throne since his birth. On whose behalfDiego of Acebo and the futureSaint Dominic travelled toDenmark in 1203 to secure a bride.[25] Ferdinand was returning through the San Vicente mountains from a campaign against the Muslims when he contracted a fever and died.[26] |
| Mafalda | Plasencia, 1191 | Salamanca, 1204 | Betrothed in 1204 to Infante Ferdinand of Leon, eldest son of Alfonso IX and stepson of her oldest sister. |
| Eleanor | 1200[27] | Las Huelgas, 1244 | Married inÁgreda on 6 February 1221 withJames I of Aragon. |
| Constance | c. 1202[27] | Las Huelgas, 1243 | A nun at the Cistercian monastery of Santa María la Real atLas Huelgas in 1217, she became known as the Lady of Las Huelgas, a title shared with later royal family members who joined the community.[27] |
| Henry | Valladolid, 14 April 1204 | Palencia, 6 June 1217 | Only surviving son, he succeeded his father in 1214 aged ten under the regency firstly of his mother and later his oldest sister. He was killed when he was struck by a tile falling from a roof. |
Through his daughters, Berengaria and Blanche, he was the grandfather of two monarchs who becamesaints of the Roman Church.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Alphonso s.v.".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 735.Alfonso VIII of Castile Cadet branch of theHouse of Ivrea Born: 11 November 1155 Died: 5 October 1214 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | King of Castile 1158–1214 | Succeeded by |
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