Afonso III

Background

On May 5, 1210, Alfonso was born in Coimbra, the second son of Alfonso II and Urraca.

Career

In 1227 he went to France, where he fought as a vassal of Louis IX against Henry III of England.

While Alfonso was in France, a struggle developed in Portugal between his older brother King Sancho II and the Church hierarchy. When Pope Innocent IV directed the Portuguese in 1245 to select a worthier king, the ambitious Alfonso was summoned, and he arrived in Lisbon in early 1246. Alfonso controlled only southern Portugal, and the civil war which broke out soon after his arrival was more hard-fought than his forces had anticipated. But the strong Castilian support desired by Sancho failed to materialize, and he abandoned hope of retaining his crown. Retiring to Toledo, Sancho died there in 1248.

To consolidate his rule over the divided kingdom, the usurper, who was declared king Alfonso III, launched a campaign to free southern Portugal from the Moslems. Faro fell in 1249, and the rest of the Algarve was secured for Portugal according to the terms of a 1253 pact with Alfonso X of Castile.

He confiscated the lands of Sancho's partisans and favored his own supporters with grants of land and money.

In 1254 Alfonso called the Cortes of Leiria, the first Portuguese parliament to include the third estate (commoners). The Cortes approved a number of fiscal reforms which the King had proposed. Throughout his reign Alfonso cultivated the support of the townsmen by protecting them against abuse of power by nobles and clergy.

Following his success against the Moors, Afonso III had to deal with a political situation concerning the country's borders with Castile. The neighbouring kingdom considered that the newly acquired lands of the Algarve should be Castilian, not Portuguese, which led to a series of wars between the two kingdoms. Finally, in 1267, the Treaty of Badajoz (1267) was signed in Badajoz, determining that the southern border between Castile and Portugal should be the River Guadiana, as it is today.

Afonso died in Alcobaça, Coimbra or Lisbon, aged 68.

Achievements

• The Portuguese king Alfonso III completed the conquest of Portugal from the Moslems and presided over the country's first parliaments.

Religion

Even though he owed his throne to the Pope, Alfonso was by no means a loyal servant of the Church. He opposed the Church's attempts to broaden the authority of the ecclesiastical courts, and he strove to preserve his traditional right to select bishops. Finally, in September 1275, the Pope ordered Alfonso to abide by the promise to obey Church authority that he had made in order to secure papal recognition of his status as Portuguese monarch. The King did not comply and was excommunicated; he maintained his political strength, however, until the end of his reign. He was reconciled on his deathbed to the Church.

Personality

The hostility shown to him by supporters of his brother accentuated Alfonso's less noble characteristics—his overweening ambition, his lack of scruples, and his taste for vengeance.

Connections

Afonso's first wife was Matilda II, Countess of Boulogne, daughter of Renaud, Count of Dammartin, and Ida, Countess of Boulogne. They had no surviving children. He divorced Matilda in 1253 and, in the same year, married Beatrice of Castile, illegitimate daughter of Alfonso X, King of Castile, and Mayor Guillén de Guzmán.

Father:

Afonso II

( was born in Coimbra on 23 April 1185 and died on 25 March 1223 in the same city)

Mother:

Urraca of Castile

1186/28 May 1187 – 3 November 1220)

Spouse:

Beatrice of Castile

(1242/1244 – 27 October 1303)

Spouse:

Mahaut or Matilda II of Boulogne

(202 - January 1259)

Brother:

Sancho II

(8 September 1209 – 4 January 1248)

Daughter:

Constança (Constance)

(1266- 1271)

Daughter:

Leonor Afonso

(c. 1250- 1291)

Daughter:

Leonor Afonso

(1259)

Daughter:

Urraca Afonso

(c.1260-1290)

Daughter:

Blanche of Portugal

(25 February 1259 in Santarém, – 17 April 1321 in Burgos)

Daughter:

Infanta Maria of Portugal

(Coimbra, 21 November 1264 – Coimbra, 6 June 1304)

Daughter:

Infanta Sancha of Portugal

She was a Portuguese infanta (princess), daughter of King Afonso III of Portugal and his second wife Beatrice of Castile.

Son:

Afonso of Portugal

(Lisbon, 8 February 1263 – Lisbon, 2 November 131)

Son:

Denis

( 9 October 1261 in Lisbon – 7 January 1325 in Santarém)

Son:

Henrique Afonso

Natural son; Married to Inês (last name unknown).

Son:

Afonso Dinis

(c. 1260- a. 1310)

Son:

Vicente (Vincent)

(1268- 1271)

Son:

Gil Afonso

(1250- 31 December 1346)

Son:

Fernando

(1260- 1262)

Son:

Fernando Afonso

Natural son; Knight of the Order of the Hospital.

Son:

Rodrigo Afonso

(fl. late 15th century)

References

• History of Portugal