Career
He was the son and successor of Ordoño I. In later sources he is the earliest to be called "Emperor of Spain." He was also titled "Prince of all Galicia" (Princeps totius Galletiae). Little is known about Alfonso except the bare facts of his reign and of his comparative success in consolidating the kingdom during the weakness of the Umayyad princes of Córdoba. He defeated a Basque rebellion in 867 and, much later, a Galician one as well.
He conquered Oporto and Coimbra in 868 and 878 respectively.
He ordered the creation of three chronicles which presented the theory that the kingdom of Asturias was the rightful successor of the old Visigothic kingdom. He built the church of Santo Adriano de Tuñón.
According to a letter of disputed authenticity dated to 906, the Epistola Adefonsi Hispaniae regis, Alfonso arranged to purchase an "imperial crown" from the cathedral of Tours. A year before his death, three of Alfonso"s sons rose in rebellion and forced him to abdicate, partitioning the kingdom among them.
The eldest son, García, became king of León.
The second son, Ordoño, reigned in Galicia, while the third, Fruela, received Asturias with Oviedo as his capital. Alfonso died in Zamora, probably in 910. His former realm would be reunited when first García died childless and León passed to Ordoño.
His death the next year initiated a series of internecine struggles that led to unstable succession for over a century.
