47277578. King Alfonso VIII of Castile & 47277579. Queen Eleanor Plantagenet
11/11/1155, Alphonse born in Soria, Castile, heir & s/o 94555156.
Sancho III of Castile & 94555157. Blance of Navarre.
1156, Alfonso’s mother died.
1158, Alfonso succeeded his father and proclaimed King.
1160, At the battle of Lobregal, the contending sides of the
family fought with the Castro side victorius over the Lara side. Alfonso was
put in the custody of the Lara village of Avila. By invitation of the Castro’s,
Fernando II of Leon garrisoned troops in Toledo and collected its revenues
until 1166.
10/13/1162, Eleanor born in Domfront, Normandy, France, d/o 47277568.
King Henry II & 47277569. Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine. [Baptized by
Henry, the Cardinal Legate.]
1163, Fernando had Manrique Perez de Lara bring his nephew
Alfonso to him at Soria.
1164, Sancho VI of Navarre in vaded the Rioja of Castile and
issued fueros [laws] there.
1166, The Castilian bishops intervened and supported Alfonso
VIII and the Laras.
1166-1168, Alfonso and his regent defeated the Castros in a
series of campaigns.
3/27/1168, Alfonso granted the castle of Chillon and its
mercury mine to the Order of Calatrava and Count Nuno Perez de Lara.
1168 at Sahagun, Alfonso VIII of Castile made a peace
agreement with Alfonso II of Aragon.
3/1/1169, Alfonso granted and estate at Villasequilla to
Gonzalo de Maranon.
11/1169, Alfonso achieved majority and began his reign.
1170, Alfonso, age 15, assumed the duties of King. Through
deliberations of the Cortes held at Burgos, it was decided that Alfonso should
seek a wife. Eleanor was chosen to get King Henry’s support in recovering lands
from Navarre. Eleanor’s dower included those conquered lands.
1170, Eleanor with her mother at court in Bourdeaux when an
embassay arrived to request her marriage to Alfonso.
1170, Eleanor traveled to Spain accompanied by the
Archbishop of Toledo, the Archbishop of Bourdeaux, and numerous other bishops,
with many nobles from Aquitaine, Bretagne, Normandy and England.
[––Alfonso––] & [––Eleanor––]
8/1170, King Alfonso met his bride, Leonor, in Taragona
where he had been negotiating with the King of Aragon.The ceremony of betrothal
lasted the month of September. Alfonso and Leonor then traveled to Burgos and
on to the capital of Toledo. [In Toledo thay stayed in the royal palaces of the
Tower of St. Romain, or the Standard of the Crown, but they preferred to summer
in the city of Burgos.]
1170, By the Treaty of Zaragoza, the kings of Castile and
Aragon promised to cooperate against all Christians except the King of England.
(S) War and Peace, Souza, 2008, P202.
1171, Alfonso and King Alfonso II of Catalonia & Aragon
founded the city of Teruel.
1172, Alfonso began minting new coins using captured Muslim
gold called “maravedi”. (S) Traders and Muslims in Spain, Constable, 1996, P50.
6/1172, Alfonso defended the Castilian stronghold of Huete,
between Madrid and Cuenca, against a 7-week siege of an Almohad army from
Seville. (S) Spain, 1157-1300, Linehan, 2011.
2/1173, King Alfonso with Leonor attend the court of his
father-in-law King Henry at Montferrand in Auvergne.
1173, King Alfonso began a war with Navarre to recover lands
lost in 1164.
1174, Alfonso confirmed royal privileges of his predecessors
to the city of Toledo in order to encourage people to move to the city. (S)
Mozarabs in Medieval and Early Modern Spain, Hitchcock, 2008, P89.
1175, Alfonso granted Fernando Martin control of several
royal fortresses.
8/1176, Alfonso VIII rewarded Rodrigo Gustioz for giving him
a horse during the campaign to conquer Leguin near Pamplona. (S) Aristocracy in
12th Century Leon and Castile, Barton, 2002, P106.
[––Alfonso & Eleanor––]
10/1176 at Toledo, Eleanor married Alphonse VIII, King of
Castile. [14 was considered the age of maturity for females.]
1/1177, The kings of Castile, Leon, and Aragon agreed by the
treaty of Tarazona to cooperate in campaigns against the Muslims. They began
with a siege of Cuenca.
3/15/1177, Alfonso requested his father-in-law, King Henry,
negotiate a peace agreement between him and the King of Navarre.
6/23/1177, During the siege of Cuenca, Alfonso granted half
a fish pond at Medino to Pedro Gutierrez.
9/21/1177, Alfonso captured the city of Cuenca by siege.
1/1178, Alfonso VIII held a curia at Burgos.
1178, Alfonso II of Aragon and Alfonso VIII of Castile
signed the 1st of two treaties of Cazola. The first treaty dealt
with the boundary between Castile and Aragon.
3/20/1179, Alfonso VIII placed the first stone of the
buildings of Huerta in the presence of Count Pedro de Molina. (S) Cantar de Mio
Cid, Duggan, 2008, P84.
4/5/1179, Alfonso signed the treaty of Cazola with King
Alfonso II of Aragon, in which the zones of expansion of Navarre, Leon,
Portugal, and Aragon were defined. (S) War and Peace, Souza, 2008, P203.
1180, Leonore gave birth to a son, Sancho, who died an
infant.
1180, Alfonso VIII founded the city of Plasencia after
capturing the land from the Moors. (S) Fodor’s Spain, 2011, P215.
1181, Alfonson and Leonor were in Segovia where daughter
Berengaria was born. [King Henry sent Leonor clothes, plates and silver vases.]
Aft. 7/26/1181, Queen Eleanor received some gifts from her
father King Henry II. (S) Court, Household, and Itinerary of King Henry II,
Eyton, 1878, P240.
1182, Alfonso invaded Andalusia, besieged Cordova and Fxija,
and garrisoned the castle of Setefilla above Seville. (S) History of the
Crusades, Setton, 1975, P421.
1183, Fernando II of Leon [Alfonso’s uncle] and Alfonso VIII
met and ratified the Treaty of Fresno-Lavandera. (S) Curia and Cortes in Leon
and Castile, Procter, 2010, P51.
1184, Alfonso VIII recaptured Alarcon in a 9-month siege.
The army commander, Matinez de Ceballos, who scaled the walls using daggers,
became the hereditary governor. (S) Companion Guide to Madrid, Oliver, 2002,
P333.
1185, “Yo Alfonso, por la gracia de Dios rey de Castilla y
de Toledo, juntamente con mi jujer la reina dona Leonor y con nuestro hijo el
infante don Fernando, hago esta carta de concesion …”. (S) Las Senoras de
Valfermoso, Pinedo, 1996, P56.
1186, Alfonso started to unite the Castilian nobility
against the moslem Almohads.
1187 in Castile, Eleanor founded a Cistercian nunnery at Law
Huelgas.
4/23/1188,Daughter Berenguela pledged to Konrad von
Hohenstaufen, Duke of Swabia, s/o Emperor Frederic Barbarossa.
1188, At court at Toledo, Konrad was knighted by King
Alfonso. Alfonso IX, s/o Ferdinand of Leon, now King of Leon, was also knighted,
returning homage to King Alfonso. Queen Leonor was present at the ceremony.
1189, Alfonso again attacked western cities and Seville.
7/6/1189, Richard I succeeded Henry II as King of England.
[Richard I being Eleanor’s brother; H.II her father.]
6/21/1190, “Alphonso” bestowed Fontevraud abbey an annual
grant of 100 marks gold, given in the presence of “my wife, Queen Eleanora, and
Ferdinand, my son”. [Fontravaud a Norman abbey, and the burial place of the
early Plantagenet monarchs – Leonor’s ancestors.]
1191, Alfonso II of Aragon joined forces with Sancho VI of
Navarre against Alfonso VIII of Castile. [Alfonso IX of Leon supported the
pact.]
1193, Alfonso VIII gave Alarcos, a small unwalled village
south of Toledo, to the order of Calatrava. (S) Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval
Warfare, V1, 2010, P16.
1194, Alfonso IX of Leon made peace with Alfonso VIII of
Castile at the treaty of Tordehumos.
1194, Alphonsi and Leonor made a grant to the Cistercian
monastery of St. Peter’s de Gumiel.
6/1195, From Seville, Muslim general Al-Mansur proclaimed a
Jihad against the Christians.
7/19/1195, Alfonso defeated at the battle of Alarcos in the
hill country outside Toledo. Alfonso lost thousands of soldiers to the great
Moor general al-Mansur. Alfonso, with the few Spainsh survivors, fled northeast
through Ciudad Real to the fortress at Calatrava. [Alfonso was outnumber by as
much as 10 to 1.]
8/15/1196, Alfonso recovered Plasencia after the Caliph’s
departure. (S) Latin Chronicle of the Kings of Castile, O’Callaghan, 2002, P30.
1197, The fortress at Calatrava fell to the Moors. Alfonso
had to accept a unfavorable peace agreement.
8/1197, Alfonso VIII of Castile present when Pedro II of
Aragon extended protection to Huerta.
12/1197, Alphonso and Leonor attended the wedding of
daughter Berenguela in Valladolid, Castile-Leon, Spain.
1198, Alfonso ceased hostilities against Al-Manssor in order
to defend himself against the forces of the Leonese and Navarrese.
5/20/1198, Pedro II of Aragon allied with Alfonso VIII by
the Treaty of Calatayud. (S) Cantar de Mio Cid, Duggan, 2008, P78.
1198, King Pedro and King Alfonso attacked Sancho VII of
Navarre.
5/27/1199, John, Leonor’s brother, crowned king of England,
succeeding Richard I.
1200, Alfonso denounced the truce of 1197.
1200, While Sanco VII was out of Navarre, Alfonso attacked
and captured Vitoria. (S) Cantar de Mio Cid, Duggan, 2008, P78.
1200, Alfonso and Leonor visited by Leonor’s mother, the
Queen-mother of England, to arrange the marriage of their daughter Blanche to
King Philip’s son Louis. [Part of a treaty by Leonor’s brother King John with
King Philip of France.]
1201, Alfonso founded the city of Laredo on the coast of the
Bay of Biscay.
7/25/2002, Alfonso granted land to Diego de Villar.
1202-1203, Alfonso and King John were in conflict over
Leonor’s dowery of Gascony given by her father. Queen Leonor was given letters
of safe conduct by King John to visit England. [In England, Leonor negotiated
an initial agreement over Gascony.]
1204, The kings of Castile, Navarre, and Aragon entered in
another peace agreement.
1204, Alfonso invaded Gascony after the death of Eleanor’s
mother, and King John’s refusal to give up her dower-held lands. Alfonso
captured Bayonne.
1204, Daughter Berenguela’s marriage declared unlawful by
the Pope. Berenguela returned to Castile-leon with her infant sons Ferdinand and
Alphonso.
12/8/1204, Alfonso wrote his will naming his son Fernando as
his successor; and leaving multiple castles to his grandson Fernando.
1205, A charter of the dukes of Gascony “when King John was
at war with Alphonso, King of Castile, for the province of Gascony.”
3/26/1206, By the treaty of Cabreros, the marriage of
Alphonso IX of Leon and their daughter Berenguela ended with recognition of
their grandson Fernando as Alfonso’s heir. Berenguela returned to the court in
Castile with her sons.
1206, King John recaptured Gascony.
1/1207, Alfonso held court at Toledo in which the
proceedings were recorded in the vernacular [instead of Latin]. (S) Sapin,
1157-1300, Linehan, 2011.
1207, By treaty, Alfonso VIII obtained disputed lands with
Navarre.
1208, Alfonso founded the first Spanish university, at
Valladolid. (S) The Rosary Magazine, V9, 1896, P287.
1209, Alfonso with the Kings of Leon, Navarre and Aragon met
at Alfaro and entered into a league against the infidels. Every knight was
ordered to take what was only necessary and meet at Talavera. Alfonso’s son
Ferdinand took a large body of troops and ravaged Andalusia, defeating multiple
forces.
10/14/1209, Leonor and Berenguela traveled to meet their son
Ferdinand at Madrid. While there, Ferdinand developed a violent fever and died.
1209-10, Alfonso, facing an enemy with superior numbers,
wrote a letter to King Philip Augustus of France requesting help. Alfonso also
sent the Archbishop of Toledo to the Pope asking permission to declare a
general crusade against the Moors in Spain – and consent was given.
1210, Alfonso attacked multiple fortresses in Moorish
territory and returned to Toledo with a large bounty.
1211, Pope Innocent III, at the request of Alfonso VIII,
sent letters to the Spanish archbishops offering that anyone dying while on
crusade would have all their sins forgiven.
1211-12, Alfonso toured Italy, Germany and France recruiting
forces for the crusade [with the Pope’s approval.]
2/1212, The crusading forces began to assemble at Toledo –
the only city large enough to support the arriving army. The Archbishop of
Narbonne brought a large contingent of French knights. Many members of the
Knights Templar, the Hospitallers, and newly established Knights of St. James
joined the forces.
6/20/1212, Alfonso at the head of 10,000 horsemen and
100,000 foot soldiers left Toledo.
1212, After some initial successes, some of the forces left
over disputes about the distribution of the bounty. Alfonso himself had
renounced any right to the spoils of the crusade. King Sancho of Navarre
arrived with his forces reinforcing the remaining army.
7/14/1212, with the help of locals to bypass a bottleneck in
the mountains guarded by the Moors, Alfonso’s forces met the Moorish forces on
the plains of las Navas. Alfonso would not attack on a Sunday [the next day],
and held off until Monday.
7/16/1212, Alfonso lead a coalition of Castillian forces as
crusaders defeating the Almohads at the battle of Navas de Tolosa; the
beginning of the restoration of the Iberian peninsula to Christanity. The
coalition included King Sancho VII, “the Strong”, of Navarre, and Pedro II of
Aragon, Alfonso’s grandson. Alfonso, in a letter to the Pope, estimated 100,000
Moors were killed, while he lost 25,000. [According to records of the
Archbishop of Toledo, Alfonso was determine to win or die in battle – he did
not want to leave a second time in defeat. Alfonso led the decisive charge.]
1212, Alfonso, having returned to Toledo, ordained a day of
thanksgiving to be celebrated each year on the anniversary of the battle to be
called the Triumph of the Holy Cross.
2/1213, Alfonso took to the field again in battle against
remaining Moorish forces.
1213-14, Alfonso founded the Spanish university at Palencia.
7/16/1213, Alfonso and Leonor in Toledo for the 1st
celebration of the Triumph of the Holy Cross.
1213-14, Alfonso was stymied from taking the field by a
9-month drought which limited food for an army. Alfonso and Leonor opened the
royal castles to the starving people of Toledo.
1214, Alfonso and Leonor, with son Henry, daughters Berenguela
and Leonor, and grandsons Ferdinand and Alfonso, left for a trip to Portugal to
visit their daughter, the Queen.
10/6/1214, Alfonso died at Gutierre-Munoz during the trip.
Alfonso was buried at Huelgas, Burgos.
[––Eleanor––]
10/1214, Leonor named regent during the minority of her son
Henry.
10/31/1214, 25 days after Alfonso died, Leonor died; buried with
Alphonso at the Cistercian nunnery.
(S) The Lives of the Princesses of England, V1, Green, 1850.
(S) Medieval Iberia, Gerli, 2003. (S) The Cantar de Mio Cid, Duggan, 2008. (S)
Aristocracy in 12th Century Leon and Castile, Barton, 2002.
Family notes:
·
There are over 1000 documents existant from the
reign of Alfonso VIII.
Children of Alfonso and Eleanor:
i. Queen Berenguela of Castile (23638789), born 1/1181 in
Spain.
1217, with the death of her brother Henry, Berenguela,
eldest daughter, renounced her right to the throne to her son Ferdinand.
ii. Queen Urraca of Castile, born 1186 in Castile.
1206, Urraca married Alfonso II of Portugal.
3/26/1212, Alfonso became King of Portugal.
11/3/1220, Urraca died.
3/25/1223, Alfonso died in Coimbra.
ii. Queen Blanch of Castile (47277625), born 3/4/1188 in
Castile.
iii. Ferdinand of Castile, born 11/29/1189 at Cuence,
Spain.
12/8/1204, King Alfonso wrote his will naming his son
Fernando as his successor; and leaving multiple castles to his grandson
Fernando.
10/14/1209, Ferdinand died of a fever, returning from a
military campaign against the Muslims; buried at the monastery of St Mary’s in
Huelgas, Burgos.
10/14/1211, Fernando’s son Fernando died.
iv. Queen Eleanor of Castile, born ~1191 in Castile.
1221, Eleanor, about age 30, married to King James I of
Aragon, age 10.
By 1235, King James divorced Eleanor.
v. Henry of Castile, born 4/14/1204 at Cuence, Spain.
8/1217, Henry died in Placentia when a tile falling from the
roof of a house killed him.
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