Alfonso VII Raimúndez of León, King of Galicia, King of León and Castille

1105 - 1157  (52 years)

• Name	Alfonso VII Raimúndez of León
  Suffix	King of Galicia, King of León and Castille
  Born	01 Mar 1105	Caldas de Reis, Galicia, Spain
  Gender	Male
  Died	21 Aug 1157	Muradel Pass, Sierra Morena mountains, Spain
  Buried	Cathedral of Toledo, Toledo, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain
  	Grave location, biography, and historical portraits: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=88303926
  Notes	Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfonso_VII_of_Le%C3%B3n The son of Urraca of León and Raymond of Burgundy of the first of the House of Ivrea to rule in the Iberian peninsula, he became the King of Galicia in 1111 and King of León and Castile in 1126. Alfonso first used the title Emperor of All Spain, alongside his mother Urraca, once his mother vested him with the direct rule of Toledo in 1116. Alfonso was a dignified and somewhat enigmatic figure. He also sought to make the imperial title meaningful in practice, though his attempts to rule over both Christian and Muslim populations was even less successful. During his tenure, Portugal became de facto independent, in 1128, and was recognized as de jure independent, in 1143. He was a patron of poets, including, probably, the troubadour Marcabru. In 1111, Alfonso was crowned King of Galicia in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. He was a child, but his mother had in 1109 succeeded to the united throne of León-Castile-Galicia and desired to assure her son's prospects and groom him for his eventual succession. By 1125 he had inherited the formerly Muslim Kingdom of Toledo. On 10 March 1126, after the death of his mother, he was crowned in León and immediately began the recovery of the Kingdom of Castile, which was then under the domination of Alfonso the Battler, King of Navarre and Aragón. By the Peace of Támara of 1127, the Battler recognised Alfonso VII as King of Castile. This territory had gained much independence during the rule of his mother and experienced many rebellions. After his recognition in Castile, Alfonso fought to curb the autonomy of the local barons. In 1135, Alfonso was crowned "Emperor of Spain" in the Cathedral of León. By this, he probably wished to assert his authority over the entire peninsula and his absolute leadership of the Reconquest. He appears to strive for the formation of a national unity which Spain had never possessed since the fall of the Visigothic kingdom. Alfonso was a pious prince. He introduced the Cistercians to Iberia by founding a monastery at Fitero. He adopted a militant attitude towards the Moors of Andalusia and led a series of crusades subjugating the Moors. By 1144, he advanced as far as Córdoba. When Pope Eugene III preached the Second Crusade, Alfonso VII, with García Ramírez of Navarre and Ramon Berenguer IV, led a mixed army of Catalans and Franks, with a Genoese?Pisan navy, in a crusade against the rich Mediterranean port city of Almería, in Andalusia, which was occupied in October 1147. Six years later, Almería entered into Moorish possession again. Alfonso was returning from an expedition against them when he died in pass of Muradel in the Sierra Morena mountains. Alfonso was at once a patron of the church and a protector, though not a supporter of, the Moors, who were a minority of his subjects. His reign ended in an unsuccessful campaign against the rising power of the Muslim Almohads. Though he was not actually defeated, his death in the pass, while on his way back to Toledo, occurred in circumstances which showed that no man could be what he claimed to be, "king of the men of the two religions." Furthermore, by dividing his realm between his sons, he ensured that Christendom would not present the new Almohad threat with a united front. In November 1128, he married Berenguela, daughter of Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona. She died in 1149. Their children were: 1. Sancho III of Castile (1134-1158) 2. Ramon, living 1136, died in infancy 3. Ferdinand II of León (1137-1188) 4. Constance (c.1138-1160), married Louis VII of France 5. Sancha (c.1139-1179), married Sancho VI of Navarre 6. García (c.1142-1145/6) 7. Alfonso (c.1144-by 1149) In 1152, Alfonso married Richeza of Poland, the daughter of Ladislaus II the Exile. They had: 8. Ferdinand, (1153-1157) 9. Sancha (1155-1208), the wife of Alfonso II of Aragón. Alfonso also had two mistresses, having children by both. By an Asturian noblewoman named Guntroda Pérez, he had an illegitimate daughter, Urraca (1132-1164), who married García Ramírez of Navarre, the mother retiring to a convent in 1133. Later in his reign, he formed a liaison with Urraca Fernández, widow of count Rodrigo Martínez and daughter of Fernando Garcés de Hita, an apparent grandson of García Sánchez III of Navarre, having a daughter Stephanie the Unfortunate (1148-1180), who was killed by her jealous husband, Fernán Ruiz de Castro.
  Person ID	I36108	Master File
  Last Modified	16 Sep 2016

  
  

  Father	Raymond of Burgundy,   b. ca 1070, Besançon, County of Burgundy, France ,   d. 24 May 1107, Grajal de Campos, Provincia de León Castilla y León, Spain  (Age ~ 37 years)
  Mother	Urraca of León, Queen of León, Castile, and Galicia,   b. Apr 1079, Burgos, Provincia de Burgos, Castilla y León, Spain ,   d. 08 Mar 1126, Saldaña, Provincia de Burgos, Castilla y León, Spain  (Age ~ 46 years)
  Family ID	F14891	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Berenguela (Berengaria) of Barcelona, Queen of Castille, León and Galicia,   b. ca 1116, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain ,   d. 15 Jan 1149, Palencia, Castile and León, Spain  (Age ~ 33 years)
  Children	1. Ferdinand II of León,   b. ca 1137, Toledo, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain ,   d. 22 Jan 1188, Benavente, Zamora, Spain  (Age ~ 51 years)   2. Constance of Castile,   b. 1140, Spain ,   d. 04 Oct 1160, Paris, France  (Age 20 years)
  Last Modified	16 Sep 2016
  Family ID	F14889	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart