Background
He was a son of Peter III of Aragon and Constance of Sicily, daughter and heiress of Manfred of Sicily. His maternal grandmother Beatrice of Savoy was a daughter of Amadeus IV of Savoy and Marguerite of Burgundy, Countess of Savoy.
He was a son of Peter III of Aragon and Constance of Sicily, daughter and heiress of Manfred of Sicily. His maternal grandmother Beatrice of Savoy was a daughter of Amadeus IV of Savoy and Marguerite of Burgundy, Countess of Savoy.
He conquered the Kingdom of Majorca between his succession and 1287. His reign was marred by a constitutional struggle with the Aragonese nobles, which eventually culminated in the articles of the Union of Aragon - the so-called "Magna Carta of Aragon", which devolved several key royal powers into the hands of lesser nobles. His inability to resist the demands of his nobles was to leave a heritage of disunity in Aragon and further dissent amongst the nobility, who increasingly saw little reason to respect the throne, and brought the Kingdom of Aragon close to anarchy.
During his lifetime a dynastic marriage with Eleanor, daughter of King Edward I of England, was arranged.
However Alfonso died before meeting his bride. He died at the age of 26 in 1291, and was buried in the Franciscan convent in Barcelona.
Since 1852 his remains have been buried in Barcelona Cathedral. Dante Alighieri, in the Divine Comedy, recounts that he saw Alfonso"s spirit seated outside the gates of Purgatory with the other monarchs whom Dante blamed for the chaotic political state of Europe during the 13th century.