Alfonso VII (León)

Alfonso VII

Alfonso VII , "the emperor", (born March 1, 1105 in Caldas de Reyes , † August 21, 1157 in La Fresneda ) was from 1111 King of Galicia and from 1126 King of León and Castile . On May 26, 1135, Alfons was crowned Emperor of all Spain ( Imperator totius Hispaniae ) in the cathedral of León .

Life

Alfonso VII was the son of Urraca of León , daughter of Alfonso VI. , and her first husband, Count Raymond of Burgundy . He should be his grandfather Alfons VI. follow as king in Castile and León. But he was confined to Galicia by Urraca's second husband, Alfonso I of Aragon , whose crown he received in 1111. But when Urraca got into an argument with her husband, she influenced the Castilian nobility to rise and proclaim Alfonso king (1122).

After a protracted war, which his mother Urraca had already started in 1114, Alfonso asserted himself against his stepfather and kept Castile, Leon, Asturias and Galicia in the partition in 1127 ; he ceded only his share in Navarre to Aragon. When his stepfather died in 1134, Alfons quickly prevailed. Afterwards Alfonso ordered the state and fought happily against the Moors , so in 1134 in alliance with Aragon and Navarre. Coria was recaptured in 1142 and two years later, with the conquest of Cordoba, another phase of success in the fight against the Moors began, because shortly afterwards (1147) the Muslims also lost Calatrava and Almería . However, the North African Almohads conquered Córdoba, Coria and also Almería - but ultimately only temporarily - back again. In most of his campaigns, Alfonso VII was also supported by smaller troops from the other Christian princes of Spain. The division of the estate he decreed among his sons Sancho III. (Castile) and Ferdinand II (León) divided Spain again.

Alfonso VII was buried in the Cathedral of Toledo .

progeny

In 1128, Alfons married Berenguela of Barcelona , daughter of Raimund Berengar III. , Count of Barcelona. She died in 1149. Alfons had the following children with her:

• Sancho III. (1134–1158), King of Castile
• Ferdinand II (1137–1188), King of León
• Sancha (1137–1179), ∞ Sancho VI. , King of Navarre
• Konstanze (1140–1160), ∞ Louis VII , King of France

After the death of his first wife, Alfonso married Richeza , the daughter of Wladyslaw II , Senior Duke of Poland, in 1152 . With her he had a daughter, Sancha (1155–1208), ∞ Alfonso II , King of Aragon .

Alfons also had an illegitimate daughter, Urraca , ∞ García IV. , King of Navarre.

literature

• Maurilio Pérez González: Crónica del Emperador Alfonso VII. Universidad de León 1997, ISBN 84-7719-601-X .
• Bernard F. Reilly: The Kingdom of León-Castilla Under Queen Urraca, 1109-1126. Princeton University Press 1982, ISBN 978-0691053448 .
• Bernard F. Reilly: The Kingdom of León-Castilla Under King Alfonso VI, 1065-1109. Princeton University Press 1988, ISBN 978-0691055152 .
• Bernard F. Reilly: The Kingdom of León-Castilla Under King Alfonso VII, 1126-1157. University of Pennsylvania Press 1998. ISBN 978-0812234527 .

Web links

Commons : Alfons VII (León)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

predecessor	Office	successor
Urraca	King of Castile 1126–1157	Sancho III.
Urraca	King of León 1126–1157	Ferdinand II.