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Alfonso XI (11 August 131126 March 1350), called the Avenger (''el Justiciero''), was King of Castile and León. He was the son of
Ferdinand IV of Castile Ferdinand IV of Castile (6 December 1285 – 7 September 1312) called the Summoned (''el Emplazado''), was King of Castile and King of León, León from 1295 until his death. Ferdinand's upbringing and personal custody was entered to his mother ...
and his wife
Constance of Portugal Constance of Portugal (pt: ''Constança''; 3 January 1290 – Sahagún, 18 November 1313; ), was Queen of Castile by her marriage to Ferdinand IV. She was the eldest child and only daughter of King Denis of Portugal and his wife Elizab ...
. Upon his father's death in 1312, several disputes ensued over who would hold regency, which were resolved in 1313. Once Alfonso was declared an adult in 1325, he began a reign that would serve to strengthen royal power and became known for his victory in the Battle of Rio Salado. While leading a
siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...
against Yusuf I in
Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...
, he died of the plague.


Life


Minority

Born on 13 August 1311 in
Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...
, he was the son of King
Ferdinand IV of Castile Ferdinand IV of Castile (6 December 1285 – 7 September 1312) called the Summoned (''el Emplazado''), was King of Castile and King of León, León from 1295 until his death. Ferdinand's upbringing and personal custody was entered to his mother ...
and
Constance of Portugal Constance of Portugal (pt: ''Constança''; 3 January 1290 – Sahagún, 18 November 1313; ), was Queen of Castile by her marriage to Ferdinand IV. She was the eldest child and only daughter of King Denis of Portugal and his wife Elizab ...
. His father died when Alfonso was one year old. His grandmother,
María de Molina María Alfonso Téllez de Meneses (c. 1265 – 1321), known as María de Molina, was queen consort of Kingdom of Castile, Castile and Kingdom of León, León from 1284 to 1295 by marriage to Sancho IV of Castile, and served as regent for her min ...
, his mother Constance, his granduncle Infante John of Castile, son of King
Alfonso X of Castile Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, ; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, Kingdom of León, León and Kingdom of Galicia, Galicia from 1 June 1252 until his death in 1284. During the April 1257 Imperial election, election of 1 ...
and uncle Infante
Peter of Castile Peter (; 30 August 133423 March 1369), called Peter the Cruel () or the Just (), was King of Castile and León from 1350 to 1369. Peter was the last ruler of the main branch of the House of Ivrea. He was excommunicated by Pope Urban V for h ...
, son of King Sancho IV assumed the regency. His mother died first on 18 November 1313, followed by Infantes John and Peter during a military campaign against
Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...
in 1319 at the Disaster of the Vega, which left Dowager Queen María as the only regent until her death on 1 July 1321. Alfonso inherited the throne at a time of instability within the region, decline in populations, reductions in the royal treasury and increasingly ambitious regents caused numerous problems during his young reign. After the death of the Infantes John and Peter in 1319,
Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...
(son of Sancho IV and María de Molina, thus brother of Infante Peter),
Juan Manuel Don (honorific), Don Juan Manuel (5 May 128213 June 1348) was a Spanish medieval writer, nephew of Alfonso X of Castile, son of Manuel of Castile and Beatrice of Savoy (died 1292), Beatrice of Savoy. He inherited from his father the great Lordshi ...
(the king's second-degree uncle by virtue of being Ferdinand III's grandson) and Juan the One-eyed (his second-degree uncle, son of John of Castile who died in 1319) split the kingdom among themselves according to their aspirations for regency, even as it was being looted by Moors and the rebellious nobility. A 14th century chronicle mentioned his appearance as "...King Alfonso was not very tall but well proportioned, and he was rather strong and had fair skin and hair."


Majority

His effective reign began in August 1325 when he was sworn in as king as he was proclaimed to have reached the
age of majority The age of majority is the threshold of legal adulthood as recognized or declared in law. It is the moment when a person ceases to be considered a minor (law), minor, and assumes legal control over their person, actions, and decisions, thus te ...
in the Cortes of
Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...
. Following a ritual that took him to
Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city ...
and to the monastery of Las Huelgas in
Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populous municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of th ...
, his self-crowning took place in 1332. As soon as he took the throne, he began working hard to strengthen royal power by dividing his enemies. His early display of ruthless rulership skills included the unhesitant execution of possible opponents. Alfonso XI ordered the assassination of Juan the One-eyed in
Toro Toro may refer to: Places *Toro, Molise, a ''comune'' in the Province of Campobasso, Italy *Toro, Nigeria, a Local Government Area of Bauchi State, Nigeria *Toro, Shizuoka, an archaeological site in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan *Toro, Zamora, a ''m ...
in the 1326 feast of All Saints, along with two of the latter's knights, luring the former with promises of reconciliation. He managed to extend the limits of his kingdom to the Strait of Gibraltar after the important victory at the
Battle of Río Salado The Battle of Río Salado also known as the Battle of Tarifa (30 October 1340) was a battle between the armies of King Afonso IV of Portugal and King Alfonso XI of Castile against those of Sultan Abu al-Hasan 'Ali of the Marinids and Yusuf ...
against the
Marinid dynasty The Marinid dynasty ( ) was a Berbers, Berber Muslim dynasty that controlled present-day Morocco from the mid-13th to the 15th century and intermittently controlled other parts of North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) and of the southern Iberian P ...
in 1340 and the conquest of
Algeciras Algeciras () is a city and a municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Located in the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula, near the Strait of Gibraltar, it is the largest city on the Bay of G ...
in 1344. Once that conflict was resolved, he redirected all his
Reconquista The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...
efforts to fighting the Moorish king of Granada. During his reign a political reform in the municipal government took place, with the substitution of the ''concejos abiertos'' by the ''
regimiento The regimiento, cabildo de regidores or concejo cerrado ("closed council") was a system of local government established from the 14h century onwards in the Crown of Castile.; ; A feature of the progressive oligarchization of the form of government ...
s''. He fostered the issuance of '' cartas pueblas'' as strategy for the demographic strengthening in the borderland areas. He is variously known among Castilian kings as the Avenger or the Implacable, and as "He of Río Salado." The first two names he earned by the ferocity with which he repressed the disorders caused by the nobles during his long minority; the third by his victory in the
Battle of Río Salado The Battle of Río Salado also known as the Battle of Tarifa (30 October 1340) was a battle between the armies of King Afonso IV of Portugal and King Alfonso XI of Castile against those of Sultan Abu al-Hasan 'Ali of the Marinids and Yusuf ...
over the last formidable
Marinid The Marinid dynasty ( ) was a Berber Muslim dynasty that controlled present-day Morocco from the mid-13th to the 15th century and intermittently controlled other parts of North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) and of the southern Iberian Peninsula ...
invasion of the
Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...
in 1340. Alfonso XI never went to the extreme lengths of his son
Peter of Castile Peter (; 30 August 133423 March 1369), called Peter the Cruel () or the Just (), was King of Castile and León from 1350 to 1369. Peter was the last ruler of the main branch of the House of Ivrea. He was excommunicated by Pope Urban V for h ...
, but he could be bloody in his methods. He killed for reasons of state without any form of trial. He openly neglected his wife, Maria of Portugal, and indulged a scandalous passion for Eleanor of Guzman, who bore him ten children. Stricken with plague during the 1349–1350 siege of Gibraltar, Alfonso died in the night of 25–26 March 1350 (some sources put the date wrongfully at 27 March) becoming one of the most prominent victims of the
Black Death The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...
. The Castilian forces withdrew from Gibraltar, with some of the defenders coming out to watch. Out of respect, Alfonso's rival
Yusuf I of Granada Abu al-Hajjaj Yusuf ibn Ismail (; 29 June 131819 October 1354), known by the regnal name al-Muayyad billah (, "He who is aided by God"), was the seventh Nasrid ruler of the Emirate of Granada on the Iberian Peninsula. The third son of Ismail ...
ordered his army and his commanders in the border regions not to attack the Castilian procession as it traveled with the king's body to Seville.


Marriage and issue

Alfonso XI first married Constanza Manuel in 1325, but had the union annulled two years later. His second marriage, in 1328, was to his double first cousin Maria of Portugal, daughter of
Alfonso IV of Portugal Afonso IVEnglish: ''Alphonzo'' or ''Alphonse'', or ''Affonso'' (Archaic Portuguese), ''Alfonso'' or ''Alphonso'' (Portuguese-Galician languages, Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonsus'' (Latin). (; 8 February 129128 May 1357), called the Brave (), w ...
. They had: * Two sons buried with their mother in the Royal Monastery of San Clemente in
Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...
. One of them, the firstborn Fernando, died a few months after birth. *
Peter of Castile Peter (; 30 August 133423 March 1369), called Peter the Cruel () or the Just (), was King of Castile and León from 1350 to 1369. Peter was the last ruler of the main branch of the House of Ivrea. He was excommunicated by Pope Urban V for h ...
(1334–1369), King of Castile. By his mistress, Eleanor of Guzmán, he had ten children: * Pedro Alfonso (1331/1332–1338), 1st Lord of
Aguilar de Campoo Aguilar de Campoo () is a town and municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain located in the North of province of Palencia, autonomous community of Castile and León. The River Pisuerga flows through its historic centre. Its 2011 population was ...
; * Sancho Alfonso (1332/1333–1342), 1st Lord of Ledesma; *
Henry II of Castile Henry II (13 January 1334 – 29 May 1379), called Henry of Trastámara or the Fratricidal (''el Fratricida''), was the first List of Castilian monarchs, King of Castile and List of Leonese monarchs, León from the House of Trastámara. He became ...
(1333/1334–1379), King of Castile (1369–1379) * Fadrique Alfonso (1333/1334–1358), Henry's twin brother, he was Master of the
Order of Santiago The Order of Santiago (; ) is a religious and military order founded in the 12th century. It owes its name to the patron saint of Spain, ''Santiago'' ( St. James the Greater). Its initial objective was to protect the pilgrims on the Way of S ...
and 1st Lord of Haro; * Fernando Alfonso (1334–c. 1350), 2nd Lord of Ledesma; *
Tello Alfonso Tello Alfonso of Castile (1337 – October 1370) was the seventh of the ten illegitimate children of Alfonso XI of Castile and Eleanor of Guzman. He was a prince of Castile and First Lord of Aguilar de Campoo. In Spanish he is known as ''Tel ...
(1337–1370), 2nd Lord of
Aguilar de Campoo Aguilar de Campoo () is a town and municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain located in the North of province of Palencia, autonomous community of Castile and León. The River Pisuerga flows through its historic centre. Its 2011 population was ...
; * Juan Alfonso (1340–1359), 1st Lord of Jerez de los Caballeros; * Juana Alfonso (1342–after 1376), Lady of Trastámara due to her marriage in 1354 to Fernando Ruiz de Castro. The marriage was annulled and in 1366 she married Felipe de Castro; * Sancho Alfonso (1343–1375), 1st Count of Alburquerque; * Pedro Alfonso (1345–1359) After Alfonso's death, his widow Maria had Eleanor arrested and later killed.


Popular culture

He was depicted in the 1802 play '' Alfonso, King of Castile'' by the British writer Matthew Lewis. It was first staged at London's
Covent Garden Theatre The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...
with Charles Murray in the title role.Macdonald, David Lorne. ''Monk Lewis: A Critical Biography''. University of Toronto Press, 2000. p.156


Ancestry


References


Bibliography

* * Chapman, Charles Edward and Rafael Altamira, ''A history of Spain'', The MacMillan Company, 1922. * * * * * * * * * * * ''Medieval Iberia: an encyclopedia'', Ed. E. Michael Gerli and Samuel G. Armistead, Routledge, 2003. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alfonso 11 Of Castile 1311 births 1350 deaths 14th-century Castilian monarchs People from Salamanca Castilian House of Burgundy 14th-century deaths from plague (disease) Medieval child monarchs Castilian infantes