Alfonso de Aragon y Foix
Alfonso de Aragón y Foix , also called Alfonso I de Gandía el-Viejo (* probably 1332; † March 5, 1412 ) was the eldest son of Pedro, Infanta of Aragón , Count of Ribagorza , Ampurias and Prades , and Jeanne de Foix; he was thus a grandson of King Jacob (Jaime) II of Aragon and a cousin of King Peter (Pedro) IV of Aragon.
In 1355 he received the title of Count of Dénia . When the Castilian civil war between Peter the Cruel and Henry of Trastamara began in 1366 , in which Aragón supported Henry, he commanded the Catalan forces that Peter IV of Aragon had sent to dethrone Peter I of Castile . He led the soldiers to the south side of the river Júcar and thereby strengthened the defense of the city of Valencia against the attacks of the King of the Castilians. In 1367 he fought in the Battle of Nájera . After the death of Heinrich (1379), his support brought him through his son and successor John I of Castile in 1382 the title of Marqués de Villena and the office of Constable of Castile ( Condestable de Castilia ). However, the hostility of the Castilian nobility prevented him from holding out in this office for long. In 1381 he succeeded his father as Count of Ribagorza.
During the invasion of the Count of Armagnac he stood (now again in the service of Aragon) on the side of the Infante Martin , brother of King John I. When he succeeded King John I in 1395, he retained his powerful position; he took part in the Cortes of Saragossa in 1398, assisted in the coronation of the monarch the following year, and in 1399 was made Duke of Gandía . When the monarch died in 1410 with no surviving sons, he made claims to the succession, but died himself before the negotiators in the Caspe Compromise could make a choice.
From his marriage to Violante Eiximenis de Arenós, daughter of Gonzalo Ximénez and Timbor de Bellpuig, which he married in 1355, he had seven children, including:
- Alfonso el Joven († 1425), 2nd Duke of Gandía, Count of Ribagorza and Denia; ⚭ 1393 Infanta Maria of Navarre, daughter of Charles II , King of Navarre ( House of France-Évreux )
- Pedro, X 1385, 2nd Marquis de Villena; ⚭ 1378 Juana de Castilla, illegitimate daughter of Heinrich von Trastamara and Elvira de Vega ( House of Trastámara )
- Juana; ⚭ 1377 Juan Ramón Folch, 1st Conde de Cardona , † 1442 ( House Folch de Cardona )
- Leonor / Violante; ⚭ Jaime de Prades, Baron de Cáccamo, Connetable of Sicily (her cousin) ( House of Barcelona )
literature
- Detlev Schwennicke, European Family Tables Volume III.1 (1984) Plate 130
See also
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Aragon y Foix, Alfonso de |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Duke of Gandía, Count of Denia and Ribagorza |
DATE OF BIRTH | uncertain: 1332 |
DATE OF DEATH | March 5, 1412 |