Alfonso I (Asturias)

Statue of Alfonso I, Madrid, Palacio Real

Alfonso I (* 693; † 757 ), later known as the Catholic, was king of the kingdom of Asturias from 739 to 757 , and he is often regarded as the real creator of the Empire . He was the son of the dux ("Duke") Peter of Cantabria and son-in-law of the first king (or prince) of the Asturian Empire, Pelayo . His wife was named Ermesinda . When Pelayo's son and successor Fafila had a fatal accident while hunting in 739, Alfons, who had already proven himself militarily under Pelayo, was elected king.

Alfons cleverly took advantage of the opportunity presented to him when the rule of the governors of Al-Andalus was weakened by the Berber revolt of 741 and a general drought of 748-753. In 750 he was able to drive the Arabs out of Galicia and in 753 force them to withdraw from Astorga . Some of his campaigns reached as far as Porto and Braga . He took a number of cities and towns in the valleys of the Duero , the Miño and the Ebro ; he had their Moorish inhabitants killed. According to sources from the late 9th century, Alfons carried out systematic resettlements and, as part of a scorched earth policy, devastated vast areas whose Christian residents he led away. To what extent he actually created a strategic belt of devastation between his empire and the Moorish area is controversial.

Alfonso had a son Fruela, who succeeded him (King Fruela I ), a daughter Adosinda , who married the later King Silo , and an illegitimate son Mauregato , who became king in 783. A brother of Alfonso I named Fruela (Fruela Pérez in Spanish) became the progenitor of another line of the royal family to which several later kings belonged. Alfons is said to have made his brother Fruela Pérez co-regent.

Source editions

• Yves Bonnaz (Ed.): Chroniques asturiennes . Éditions du CNRS, Paris 1987, ISBN 2-222-03516-3 (Latin text of the main sources with French translation and detailed commentary)
• Juan Gil Fernández (Ed.): Crónicas asturianas . Oviedo 1985, ISBN 84-600-4405-X (Latin text and Spanish translation)

literature

• Paulino García Toraño: Historia de el Reino de Asturias . Oviedo 1986, ISBN 84-398-6586-4 , pp. 83-93
• Claudio Sánchez-Albornoz: Orígenes de la nación española , Volume 2, Instituto de Estudios Asturianos, Oviedo 1974, ISBN 84-00-04032-5 , pp. 186–195, 223–275 (basic)

Web links

Commons : Alfonso I of Asturias  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

1. ↑ Bonnaz pp. 162–179 and map p. 177.
2. ↑ Bonnaz p. 160.

predecessor	Office	successor
Fafila	King of Asturias 739–757	Fruela I.