Who was King Alfonso VII of Léon and Castille?

On 1 March 1105 a prince was born in Caldas de Reis in Galicia, now a part 
of Spain. 




The Way To Power

1111, Diego Gelmírez, Bishop of Compostela and the count of Traba,
crowned and anointed Alfonso King of Galicia in the cathedral of Santiago
de Compostela. He was a child, but his mother had (1109)
succeeded to the united throne of León-Castile-Galicia and
desired to assure her son's prospects and groom
him for his eventual succession. 

By 1125 he had inherited the formerly Muslim Kingdom of Toledo.
On 10 March 1126, after the death of his mother, he was crowned in León
and immediately began the recovery of the Kingdom of Castile, which was
then under the domination of Alfonso the Battler. 

By the Peace of Támara of 1127, the Battler recognised Alfonso VII of Castile.
The territory in the far east of his dominion, however, had gained much
independence during the rule of his mother and experienced many rebellions.
After his recognition in Castile, Alfonso fought to curb the autonomy of the local barons.


Love and Marriage

In November 1128, he married Berenguela, daughter of Ramon
Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona.She died in 1149.
Their children were:

* Ramón, living 1136, died in childhood
* Sancho III of Castile (1134–1158)
* Ferdinand II of León (1137–1188)
* Constance (c. 1138–1160), married Louis VII of France
* Sancha (c. 1139–1179), married Sancho VI of Navarre
* García (c. 1142–1145/6)
* Alfonso (1144/1148–c. 1149)

In 1152, Alfonso married Richeza of Poland, the daughter of Ladislaus II the Exile.
They had 2 children:

* Ferdinand (1153–1157)
* Sancha (1155–1208), the wife of Alfonso II of Aragón.

Alfonso also had two mistresses, having children by both.
By an Asturian noblewoman named Gontrodo Pérez, he had an illegitimate
daughter, Urraca (1132–1164), who married García Ramírez of Navarre,
the mother retiring to a convent in 1133. 

Later in his reign, he formed a liaison with Urraca Fernández, widow
of count Rodrigo Martínez and daughter of Fernando García de Hita,
having a daughter, Stephanie the Unfortunate (1148–1180),
who was killed by her jealous husband, Fernán Ruiz de Castro.




Rule

When Alfonso the Battler, King of Navarre and Aragón, died without descendants
in 1134, he willed his kingdom to the Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller.
The aristocracy of both kingdoms rejected this. García Ramírez, Count of Monzón
was elected in Navarre while Alfonso pretended to the throne of Aragón.
The nobles chose another candidate in the dead king's brother, Ramiro II.
Alfonso responded by reclaiming La Rioja and "attempted to annex the district
around Zaragoza and Tarazona"

In several skirmishes, he defeated the joint Navarro-Aragonese army and
put the kingdoms to vassalage. He had the strong support of the lords north of
the Pyrenees, who held lands as far as the River Rhône. In the end, however, the
combined forces of the Navarre and Aragón were too much for his control. At this
time, he helped Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, in his wars with the
other Catalan counties to unite the old Marca Hispanica.

A vague tradition had always assigned the title of emperor to the sovereign
who held León. Sancho the Great considered the city the imperiale
culmen and minted coins with the inscription Imperator totius Hispaniae
after being crowned in it. Such a sovereign was considered the most direct
representative of the Visigothic kings, who had been themselves the
representatives of the Roman Empire. But though appearing in charters,
and claimed by Alfonso VI of León and Alfonso the Battler, the title had
been little more than a flourish of rhetoric.

On 26 May 1135, Alfonso was crowned "Emperor of Spain" in the
Cathedral of León. By this, he probably wished to assert his authority over
the entire peninsula and his absolute leadership of the Reconquista. He appears
to have striven for the formation of a national unity which Spain had never
possessed since the fall of the Visigothic kingdom. The elements he had to
deal with could not be welded together. The weakness of Aragon enabled
him to make his superiority effective. After Afonso Henriques recognised him
as liege lord in 1137, Alfonso VII lost the Battle of Valdevez in 1141 thereby
affirming Portugal's independence in the Treaty of Zamora (1143).

In 1143, he himself recognised this status quo and consented to the
marriage of Petronila of Aragon with Ramon Berenguer IV, a union which
combined Aragon and Catalonia into the Crown of Aragon.





War against Al-Andalus

Alfonso was a pious prince. He introduced the Cistercians to Iberia by
founding a monastery at Fitero. He adopted a militant attitude towards the
Moors of Al-Andalus, especially the Almoravids. From 1138, when he
besieged Coria, Alfonso led a series of crusades subjugating the Almoravids.
After a seven-month siege, he took the fortress of Oreja near Toledo and,
as the Chronica Adefonsi Imperatoris tells it:

In 1142, Alfonso besieged Coria a second time and took it. In 1144, he advanced as
far as Córdoba. Two years later, the Almohads invaded and he was forced to
refortify his southern frontier and come to an agreement with the
Almoravid Ibn Ganiya for their mutual defence. 

When Pope Eugene III preached the Second Crusade, Alfonso VII, with
García Ramírez of Navarre and Ramon Berenguer IV, led a mixed army of
Catalans and Franks, with a Genoese–Pisan navy, in a crusade against the
rich port city of Almería, which was occupied in October 1147.

A third of the city was granted to Genoa and subsequently leased out to
Otto de Bonvillano, a Genoese citizen. It was Castile's first Mediterranean
seaport. 

In 1151, Alfonso signed the Treaty of Tudilén with Ramon Berenguer.
The treaty defined the zones of conquest in Andalusia in order to prevent
the two rulers from coming into conflict. Six years later, Almería entered
into Almohad possession. 


Death


Alfonso was returning from an expedition when he died on 21 August 1157 in
Las Fresnedas, north of the Sierra Morena.





Legacy

Alfonso was at once a patron of the church and a protector, though not a supporter of,
the Muslims, who were a minority of his subjects. His reign ended in an
unsuccessful campaign against the rising power of the Almohads.
Though he was not actually defeated, his death in the pass, while
on his way back to Toledo, occurred in circumstances which showed
that no man could be what he claimed to be – "king of the men of the
two religions." Furthermore, by dividing his realm between his sons,
he ensured that Christendom would not present the new Almohad
threat with a united front.


Conclusion


King Alfonso VII of Léon and Castille had two successors: Sancho III who became
King of Léon and Ferdinand II who became King of Castille. 

If you are interested in the further history of Spain, check also the page: The Royal
History of Spain on top of this blog, or on this link





Source pictures: Wikipedia




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