Alfonso Froilaz

Alfonso Froilaz , the hunchback , was King of León (925) and of Galicia (925–926).

Live and act

Alfonso Froilaz was the son of King Fruela II of Asturias and León and his wife Nunilo Jimena. After his father's death he was apparently proclaimed king by his supporters; however, the tradition on this is uncertain. Accordingly, shortly after the accession to the throne, a controversy broke out with the sons of Fruela's brother and predecessor as King of León Ordoño II , Sancho I , Alfonso IV and Ramiro II . The background was that the father of Fruela and Ordóñez ( Alfons III ) had inherited his kingdom separately, and Fruela was initially only king of Asturias and after Ordoños II's death in 914 he had succeeded him in León. Ordoño's sons now saw themselves as legitimate heirs to the throne, since Fruela had usurped the throne of León. They succeeded in suppressing the claims of Alfonso Froilaz with the force of arms and with the support of the influential King of Navarre Sancho I. Garcés . King of León was now Alfonso, the second son of Ordoños II, who was married to a daughter of Sancho I. Garcés and ruled as Alfonso IV.

After his defeat, Alfonso Froilaz fled to Asturias and is also known as King of Galicia. However, Galicia was claimed by Sancho Ordóñez, the firstborn Ordoños II., Who claimed the title of King of Galicia in the course of an agreement with his brothers. Sancho I was married to the Galician nobleman Goto Núñez and therefore had large parts of the Galician nobility on his side. Alfonso Froilaz was also ousted from this claim to the throne.

He eventually fled to Asturias, from where he maintained his claim to the throne, especially after Alfonso IV abdicated in León in 931 and retired to a monastery while his brother Ramiro II took the throne. In the fighting of 931 Alfonso Froilaz was captured with his brothers in Asturias by Ramiro II, who blinded them and imprisoned them in monasteries. Alfonso Froilaz died a few years later in the monastery of Ruiforco . The exact year of his death is not known.

Some sources state that the future King Ordoño IV of León was his son. However, there is no definite evidence that Alfonso Froilaz had any offspring; Ordoño IV is usually considered the son of Alfonso IV.

In the official census of the kings of León, Alfonso Froilaz, who would have been Alfonso IV , is not taken into account because his cousin of the same name prevailed in the controversy for the throne.

See also

• House of Asturias

Web links

• C. Santos de la Mota, Un reinado de tan sólo unos meses ( Memento of September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), article in a special edition of the daily El Diario de León (2004), accessed on August 5, 2006.

predecessor	Office	successor
Fruela II.	King of León 925	Alfons IV