OTD May 5th.1210 King Alfonso III of Portugal
Alfonso was born on May 5th. 1210 in Coimbra, Portugal. Family His parents were King Alfonso II of Portugal and Urraca of Castile. His maternal grandparents were King Alfonso VIII of Castile and Eleanor of England. Alfonso had an older brother Sancho, who inherited the Portuguese throne after his father's death. Love and Marriage Alfonso had married to Matilda II, Countess of Boulogne. This couple had no children. They divorced in 1253. The same year Alfonso remarried Beatrice of Castile. His first wife protested this with the Pope. However the new royal couple stayed together and they would have children. He also had a lot of natural children. Reign In 1246, his brother, Sancho had a lot of conflicts with the church. Pope Innocent IV ordered Sancho II to be removed from the throne and replaced by his brother, Alfonso. Sancho died on January 4th. 1248 and Alfonso was ready to take the throne. Alfonso III paid special attention to the middle cla