Alfonso II (Asturias)

Statue of Alfonso II in Madrid , José Oñate , 1750–53

Alfonso II , called the Chaste ( el Casto ) (* between 761 and 768 in Oviedo; † 842 ), was King of Asturias from 791 to 842 .

Alfons was the son of King Fruela I (757–768) and Queen Munia, who came from Álava . After his father's death, he was passed over to the throne because he was a minor. In 783 his aunt, Queen Adosinda (widow of King Silo ) wanted to put him on the throne, but Mauregato , a half-brother of Adosinda, was able to prevail instead . But in 790 King Bermudo I raised Alfonso co-ruler, and when Bermudo abdicated the following year, Alfonso came to power and was anointed king . It is the first attested church consecration in the Asturian Empire.

In the fight against the Moors, Alfons won at Lugo , advanced to the Tagus and briefly conquered Lisbon . Around 802 he was dethroned by a conspiracy and then held in a monastery for some time. In 808 at the latest, however, his supporters were able to bring him back to power. In the following years he successfully fought on against the Moors. He tried to strengthen the state by resorting to the Visigoth tradition (neo-Gothic). He raised Oviedo to the seat of a king and founded the pilgrimage site of Santiago de Compostela . He died in 842.

Alfons had no offspring. His lifelong chastity, praised by chroniclers and to which he owes his nickname, is probably related to the fact that he had found refuge in a monastery for a long time under King Mauregato and was influenced by monasticism there. With him, the line of the royal family descended from Alfonso I died out.

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

• Alexander Pierre Bronisch: Reconquista and Holy War. The interpretation of the war in Christian Spain from the Visigoths to the early 12th century . Münster 1998, ISBN 3-402-05839-1 , pp. 113-123, 347-357
• Paulino García Toraño: Historia de el Reino de Asturias . Oviedo 1986, ISBN 84-398-6586-4 , pp. 199-235
• Claudio Sánchez-Albornoz: Orígenes de la nación española . Volume 2, Instituto de Estudios Asturianos, Oviedo 1974, ISBN 84-00-04032-5 , pp. 483-717

Web links

Commons : Alfonso II de Asturias  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Remarks

1. ↑ For the place and time of birth see Bonnaz p. 181.
2. ↑ On these events and on the dating, see Bronisch pp. 347–359.
3. ↑ Bonnaz p. 199.

predecessor	Office	successor
Bermudo I.	King of Asturias 791–842	Ramiro I.