Wikipedia

Alfonso VI of León and Castile

Alfonso VI(c. 1040/1041[a]– 1 July 1109[2]), nicknamedthe Brave(El Bravo) orthe Valiant,was king ofLeón(1065–1109),[3]Galicia(1071–1109),[b]andCastile(1072–1109).

Alfonso VI
13th century miniature of Alfonso VI from theTumbo Acodex at theCathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
KingofLeón
First reign1065–1072
PredecessorFerdinand I
SuccessorSancho II
Second reign1072–1109
PredecessorSancho II
SuccessorUrraca
KingofGaliciaandPortugal
First reign1071–1072
(jointly withSancho II)
PredecessorGarcía II
SuccessorSancho II
Second reign1072–1109
PredecessorSancho II
SuccessorUrraca
KingofCastile
Reign1072–1109
PredecessorSancho II
SuccessorUrraca
Emperor of All Spain
Reign1077–1109
Coronation1077
PredecessorFerdinand I
SuccessorUrraca&Alfonso
King of Toledo
Reign1085–1109
SuccessorUrraca
Bornc. 1040 – 1041
Compostela,Kingdom of León
Died1 July 1109
Toledo,Kingdom of Toledo
Burial
Sahagún, León,San Mancio chapel in the royal monastery of Santos Facundo y Primitivo
SpousesAgnes of Aquitaine
Constance of Burgundy
Berta
Zaida (Isabel)(possibly his mistress)
Beatrice
Issue
more...
HouseJiménez
FatherFerdinand I of León
MotherSancha of León

After the conquest ofToledoin 1085, Alfonso proclaimed himselfvictoriosissimo rege in Toleto, et in Hispania et Gallecia(most victoriousking of Toledo,and ofSpainand Galicia).[5]This conquest, along withEl Cid's taking ofValenciawould greatly expand the territory and influence of the Leonese/Castilian realm, but also provoked anAlmoravidinvasion that Alfonso would spend the remainder of his reign resisting. The Leonese and Castilian armies suffered decisive defeats in the battles ofSagrajas (1086),Consuegra (1097)andUclés (1108),in the latter of which his only son and heir,Sancho Alfónsez,died, and Valencia was abandoned but Toledo remained part of an expanded realm that he passed to his daughter.

Life

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Birth and early years

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The son ofFerdinand I, King of León and Count of Castileand his wife, Queen Sancha, Alfonso was a "Leoneseinfante[prince] with Navarrese and Castilian blood ".[6]His paternal grandparents wereSancho Garcés III,king of Pamplonaand his wifeMuniadona of Castile,and his maternal grandparents wereAlfonso V of León(after whom he was probably named) and his first wifeElvira Menéndez.[7]

The year of Alfonso's birth is not recorded in the medieval documentation. According to one of the authors of theAnonymous Chronicle of Sahagún,who met the monarch and was present at his death, he died at age 62 after reigning 44 years.[c]This indicates that he was born in the second half of 1047[10]or in the first half of 1048.[11]Pelagius of Oviedowrote that Alfonso was 79 when he died, but that would place his birth around 1030, before his parents' marriage.[8]

According to theHistoria silense,the eldest child of Ferdinand I and Sancha, a daughter calledUrraca,was born when her parents were stillCount and Countess of Castile,so her birth could be placed in 1033–34.[12]The second child and eldest son,Sancho,must have been born in the second half of 1038 or in 1039.[1]The third child and second daughter,Elvira,may have been born in 1039–40,[1]followed by Alfonso in 1040–41,[1]and finally the youngest of the siblings,García,sometime between 1041 and 24 April 1043, the date on which King Ferdinand I, in a donation to theAbbey of San Andrés de Espinareda,mentions his five children.[1]All of them except Elvira signed a document in the monastery ofSan Juan Bautista de Coriason 26 April 1046.[1]

All the children of King Ferdinand I, according to theHistoria silense,were educated in theliberal arts,and the sons were also trained in arms, the "art of running horses in the Spanish usage", and hunting.[13]The clericRaimundowas in charge of Alfonso's early education. Once king, Alfonso appointed himBishop of Palenciaand referred to him asmagistro nostro, viro nobile et Deum timenti( "our master, a noble man who fears God" ).[13]Alfonso probably spent long periods inTierra de Campos,where, along withPedro Ansúrez,the son of Ansur Díaz and nephew of Count Gómez Díaz de Saldaña (both members of theBanu Gómezlineage), he learned the art of war and what was expected of a knight.[13]

Ascension to the throne

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As the second son of the king of León and count of Castile,[1][14]Alfonso would not have been entitled to inherit the throne.[6]At the end of 1063, probably on 22 December, taking advantage of the fact that numerousmagnateshad gathered inLeón,capital of the kingdom, for the consecration of theBasílica of San Isidoro,[15]Ferdinand I summoned aCuria Regiato make known his testamentary dispositions, under which he decided to distribute his patrimony among his children, a distribution that would not become effective until the death of the monarch[16]in order to prevent any disputes arising after his death:[17]

Political situation in the NorthernIberian Peninsulaaround 1065:
Garcia II´s domains (Galicia)
Badajoz, owing tribute to Garcia
Seville, owing tribute to Garcia
Alfonso VI's domains (León)
Toledo, owing tribute to Alfonso
Sancho II´s domains (Castile)
Zaragoza, owing tribute to Sancho

The historian Alfonso Sánchez Candeira suggests that the reasons leading King Ferdinand I to divide the kingdom (with Alfonso VI inheriting the royal title) are unknown, but the distribution was probably made because the king considered it proper that each son should inherit the region where he had been educated and spent his early years.[21]

Reign

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Consolidation of the throne (1065–1072)

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After his coronation in the city of León in January 1066, Alfonso VI had to confront the expansionist desires (although Alfonso would prove himself as having the same or more so) of his brother Sancho II, who, as the eldest son, considered himself the sole legitimate heir of all the kingdoms of their father.[3]The conflicts began after the death of their mother Queen Sancha on 7 November 1067,[22]leading to seven years of war among the three brothers. The first skirmish was theBattle of Llantada,[23]atrial by ordealin which both brothers agreed that the one who was victorious would obtain the kingdom of the defeated brother. Although Sancho II was the winner, Alfonso VI did not comply with the agreement; even so, relations between them remained cordial as evidenced by the fact that Alfonso was present at the wedding of Sancho II to an English noblewoman named Alberta on 26 May 1069. This was the same event where both decided to join forces to divide between themselves the Kingdom of Galicia that had been assigned to their younger brother García II.[citation needed]In the wake of the fratricidal war waged between the successors of al-Muzaffar, ruler of the taifa of Badajoz, upon the latter's death in 1068, Alfonso managed to exploit the situation in order to extract economic profit, even though the taifa nominally fell under García's sphere of influence.[24]

With the complicity of Alfonso VI, Sancho II invaded Galicia in 1071,[25]defeating their brother García II who was arrested inSantarémand imprisoned inBurgosuntil he was exiled to theTaifa of Seville,then under the rule ofAl-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad.After eliminating their brother, Alfonso VI and Sancho II titled themselves kings of Galicia and signed a truce.[26]

The truce was broken with theBattle of Golpejeraon 12 January 1072.[25]Although Sancho II's troops were victorious, he decided not to persecute his brother Alfonso, who was imprisoned in Burgos[27]and later transferred to the monastery of Sahagún, where his head was shaved and he was forced to wear achasuble.Thanks to the intercession of their sister Urraca, Sancho and Alfonso reached an agreement under which Alfonso VI was able to take refuge in theTaifa of Toledounder the protection of his vassalAl-Mamun,accompanied by his childhood friend, the faithful Pedro Ansúrez and his two brothers Gonzalo and Fernando.[28]

Alfonso VI, from his exile in Toledo, obtained the support of the Leonese nobility and his sister Urraca, who remained strong in the city of Zamora, a lordship that Ferdinand I had granted her previously.[29]When Urraca refused to exchange Zamora for other cities that Sancho had offered her in an effort to control the fortress of Zamora, "key to the future expansion south of theDuero",Sancho besieged the city.[29]However, during the siege, Sancho II was murdered. According to tradition, during the siege a nobleman named Vellido Dolfos appeared before the king, claiming to have changed his loyalty from Urraca to Sancho. Under the pretense of showing him the weak parts of the city's walls, Dolfos separated the king from his guard and killed him with a spear.[30]Although there is no clear evidence that Sancho II's death was due to treason rather than deceit, since Dolfos was Sancho II's enemy, his murder occurred in a warlike attack during the siege, not near the city walls, but rather in a nearby forest where Dolfos lured the Castilian king away from his armed protection.[26]The violent death of Sancho II, who had no descendants, allowed Alfonso VI to reclaim his throne as well as Sancho's and Garcia's original inheritances of Castile and Galicia, respectively.[26]

AlthoughRodrigo Díaz de Vivar(El Cid), thestandard-bearerand confidant of King Sancho II, was present at the siege of Zamora, the role he played in this event is not known. Neither can Sancho II's death be blamed on Alfonso VI, who, when his brother was killed, was in exile far from the events.[31]However, this did nothing to prevent speculation that Alfonso was somehow involved in Sancho's murder; despite a paucity of evidence, "minstrels and ballads filled this void with beautiful literary creations devoid of any historical reality".[31]

The lingering suspicion over this event would later become part of theLeyenda de Cardeña,a set of legendary narrative materials concerning El Cid which began to develop in the 13th century.[32]

According to legend, Alfonso VI was forced by El Cid to take an oath denying that he had been involved in his brother's death, thus giving rise to mutual distrust between the two men, despite Alfonso VI's efforts at rapprochement by offering his kinswomanJimena Díazto El Cid in marriage as well as the immunity of his patrimony. These events and their consequences would eventually come to be considered historical by many later chroniclers and historians; however, most modern historians deny that such an event ever took place.[33]

Thanks to Sancho II's death, García II could regain his own throne of Galicia; however, the following year, on 13 February 1073,[34][35]Alfonso summoned García to a meeting, whereupon he imprisoned his younger brother. Garcia was held at the castle of Luna for seventeen years, where he eventually died on 22 March 1090.[35]With his two brothers out of the way, Alfonso VI was able to secure the loyalty of both the high clergy and the nobility of his territories with ease; to confirm this, he spent the next two years visiting them.[34]

Territorial expansion (1072–1086)

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Now established on the Leonese throne, and with the title of "Emperor", a relic of theGothictradition, Alfonso VI spent the following fourteen years of his reign expanding his territories through conquests such as that ofUclésand the lands of the Banu Di-l-Nun family. In 1072 he entitled himselfrex Spanie.[36]

Alfonso in theLibro de las Estampas

In 1074, in alliance withAl-Mamun,ruler of the Taifa of Toledo, Alfonso waged an offensive against the Zirid ruler of theTaifa of Granada,Abd Allâh,taking the strategic fortress ofAlcalá la Real.[37]

Following the assassination ofSancho IV of Navarrein 1076, leaving only minor sons, the local Navarrese nobility divided over the succession to the Navareese crown. Alfonso VI had immediately taken possession of Calahorra and Najera, and also received the support of the nobility ofVizcaya-ÁlavaandLa Rioja,while the eastern nobility supportedSancho Ramírez of Aragon,who moved into the remainder of the kingdom.[38]After the two kings reached an accord, Sancho Ramírez was recognized as king of Navarre and Alfonso VI annexed the territories ofÁlava,Vizcaya,part ofGuipúzcoaandLa Bureba,adopting in 1077 the title ofImperator totius Hispaniae( "Emperor of all Spain" ).[39]

His great territorial expansion came at the expense of theTaifaMuslim kingdoms. Alfonso VI continued their economic exploitation by means of the system ofparias,and succeeded in subduing most of the Taifa kingdoms as his tributaries, enforced by the threat of military intervention. In 1074, he probably recovered payment of thepariasof Toledo, and the same year, helped by troops of that city, he cut down trees on the lands of theTaifa of Granada,which consequently also began to pay him taxes.[40]In 1076, the Emir of Zaragoza, who wished to seize Valencia without being disturbed by Alfonso VI, agreed to resume payment of theparias.[41]In 1079, he conqueredCoria.[42]

One of the initiatives of these years, known as the "Treason of Rueda", ended in failure. It took place in 1083 in the castle ofRueda de Jalón,when Alfonso VI received news that the governor of that stronghold, which belonged to the Taifa of Zaragoza, intended to surrender it to the Leonese king. The king's troops were ambushed when they entered the castle and several of the most important magnates of the kingdom were killed.[43][44]

In 1074, Alfonso VI's vassal and friend Al-Mamun, king of the Taifa of Toledo died of poisoning inCórdoba,and was succeeded by his grandson Al-Qádir, who asked for help from the Leonese monarch to end an uprising against him. Alfonso VI took advantage of this request to besiege Toledo, which finally fell on 25 May 1085. After losing his throne, Al-Qádir was sent by Alfonso VI as king of theTaifa of Valenciaunder the protection ofÁlvar Fáñez.To facilitate this operation and to recover payment of thepariasowed by the city, which had failed to pay him since the previous year, Alfonso VI besieged Zaragoza in the spring of 1086.[45]In early March, Valencia accepted the rule of Al-Qádir;Xàtivaresisted requesting the aid of the rulers of Tortosa and Lérida until he was forced to do so. Their raid of the region failed, and they withdrew under harassment by the troops of Fáñez.[40]

After this important conquest, Alfonso VI was entitledal-Imbraţūr dhī-l-Millatayn( "Emperor of the Two Religions" )and as a gesture to the important Muslim population of the city, he promised them, in addition to respecting their properties, the right to use the main mosque. This decision was later revoked by the newly appointedarchbishop of Toledo,Bernard of Sédirac,who took advantage of the king's absence from Toledo and with the support ofQueen Constance.[citation needed]

The occupation of Toledo—which allowed Alfonso VI to incorporate the title of King of Toledo with those he already used (victoriosissimo rege in Toleto, et in Hispania et Gallecia[5])—led to the taking of cities such asTalaveraand fortresses including the castle ofAledo.He also occupied Mayrit (nowMadrid) in 1085 without resistance, probably by capitulation. The incorporation of the territory situated between theSistema Centraland theTajoriver would serve as the base of operations for the Kingdom of León, from where he could launch more attacks against theTaifas of Cordoba,Seville,BadajozandGranada.[5]

Almoravid invasions (1086–1109)

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The conquest of the extensive and strategic Taifa of Toledo, the control of Valencia and the possession of Aledo, which isolatedMurciafrom the rest ofAl-Andalus,worried the Muslim sovereigns of theIberian Peninsula.[46]The military and economic pressure on the Taifa kingdoms led the rulers of the Taifas of Seville, Granada, Badajoz, and Almeria to seek help fromYusuf ibn Tashfin,theAlmoravidEmir who ruled the Maghreb.[47]At the end of July 1086, Almoravid troops crossed theStrait of Gibraltarand landed inAlgeciras.[48]

In Seville, the Almoravid army joined the troops of the Taifa kingdoms, and together they marched toExtremadura.There, on 23 October 1086,[49]they faced the troops of Alfonso VI (who had to abandon the siege of Zaragoza) in theBattle of Sagrajas.[50]Álvar Fáñez, who had been called from Valencia, came and joined the king's forces.[48]The battle ended with the defeat[51]of the Christian troops,[47]who returned to Toledo to defend themselves. The Emir, however, did not take advantage of the victory since he had to rush back to Africa because of the death of his son.[52]The defeat marked the beginning of a new era in the Iberian Peninsula that lasted about three decades, in which the military initiative was taken by the Almoravids and Alfonso VI had to remain on the defensive. Nevertheless, he was able to retain Toledo, the main target of the Almoravid attacks.[52]

Alfonso VI asked the Christian kingdoms of Europe to organize a Crusade against the Almoravids, who had recovered almost all the territories he had conquered, with the exception of Toledo, where the king remained strong. To reinforce his position, he reconciled withEl Cid,who came to Toledo in late 1086 or early 1087.[51]As a consequence of the serious defeat, the Andalusian taifas stopped paying theparias.[51]The Cid, however, succeeded in re-subjugating the rebel Taifas over next two years.[53]

Even though the crusade did not finally materialize, a large number of foreign knights came to the Iberian Peninsula. They includedRaymondandHenry of Burgundy,who married Alfonso VI's daughtersUrraca(1090) andTeresa(1094), respectively, which led to the establishment of theAnscaridandCapetiandynasties in the peninsular kingdoms.[54]Some of the crusaders unsuccessfully besiegedTudelain the winter of 1087, before withdrawing.[51][55]That same year, the king crushed a revolt in Galicia aimed at releasing his brother García II.[56]

In 1088 Yusuf ibn Tashfin crossed theStrait of Gibraltarfor the second time, but was defeated at the siege of Aledo and suffered the desertion of many of the rulers of the taifas. When the emir came again to the peninsula, he decided to depose all the taifa rulers and became the sole king of the entire Al-Andalus territory.[57]Thanks to the Muslim defeat in Aledo, Alfonso VI had been able to resume the collection of thepariasby threatening the ruler of the city that he would chop all the trees in the territory of Granada and then went to Seville to subjugate the city again.[58]Abdallah ibn Bulugginof Granada had distanced himself definitively from Yusuf ibn Tashfin and Alfonso VI promised to help him in exchange for his submission.[59]

In June 1090, the Almoravids launched a third attack, deposed the king of Granada, defeated the governor of Córdoba, and after the Battle ofAlmodóvar del Río,entered Seville and sent King al-Mutamid into exile.[49]In the second half of the year, all the southern taifas had been conquered by the Almoravids and Alfonso was not able to fulfill his promise to help the king of Seville.[57]The king suffered setbacks on all fronts: in the east he failed to seizeTortosadue to the late arrival of the Genoese fleet that was to take part in its capture; further south, Al-Qádir was deposed in a revolt; in the south, his relation with Zaida, daughter-in-law of the king of Seville failed to enhance his image as the champion of the Muslims of the peninsula against the Almoravids; and, finally, in the west, the alliance with the king of Badajoz did not stop the North Africans from conquering this territory.[60]As the price for this alliance, Alfonso VI had obtainedLisbon,Sintra,andSantarém,but lost them in November 1094 when his son-in-law Raymond of Burgundy, responsible for defending these cities, was defeated by the Almoravid army that had taken Badajoz shortly before.[60]The only good news for Alfonso VI was the recovery of Valencia in June by El Cid, who had defeated the Almoravid army that had advanced against him in theBattle of Cuarteon 21 October. This victory set the eastern border for about a decade.[60]

According to some historians, Alfonso VI later defeated a conspiracy of his sons-in-law Raymond and Henry who had plotted to divide the kingdom at his death.[61]To turn them against each other, he gave Henry and Teresa the government of theCounty of Portugal,[61]until then ruled by Raymond, which comprised the lands from theMinhoriver to Santarém, while the government of Raymond was limited to Galicia.[62]Other scholars, however, have shown that the pact could not have been made before 1103,[63][64]suggesting instead that Henry's appointment was made in response to the military defeat of 1094.

Signature of Alfonso VI, from a 1097 charter.

In 1097, there was a fourth Almoravid invasion.[61]Alfonso received the news when he was on his way to Zaragoza to assist his vassalAl-Mustain IIin his confrontation with KingPeter I of Aragon and Navarre.Once again, the Almoravid objective was Toledo,[61]and they defeated the Christian forces at theBattle of Consuegraon 15 August, thus confirming the decline of the reign of Alfonso VI that had begun in 1086 with the defeat at Sagrajas.

In 1099, the Almoravids conquered a large number of the castles that defended Toledo and the surrounding areas and, in the following year, they tried unsuccessfully to seize the city.[65]Henry of Burgundy, Alfonso's son-in-law, was in charge of defending Toledo since the king, at that time, was in Valencia inspecting its defenses. El Cid had died the previous year and his widow, Jimena, was governing the city.[65]

In 1102, Alfonso VI sent troops to help Valencia against the Almoravid threat.[65]The battle took place inCulleraand ended without a clear winner, although Valencia fell into Almoravid hands regardless because Alfonso decided it was too expensive to defend.[65]Alfonso VI supervised the evacuation of Valencia in March and April and set fire to it before leaving; in May, the Almoravids took possession of the remains.[65]The same year, he undertook the repopulation of Salamanca, which protected Coria, and Ávila, which defended the mountain pass that was more accessible from Guadarrama, trying to prepare for an eventual loss of Toledo.[66]To protect the area from the east, in 1104 he besieged and conqueredMedinaceli,a key location from which the region of Toledo could be attacked from the east along the valley of theJalón River.[67]In 1104, 1105, and 1106, the king made several incursions into Andalusian territory, reachingMálagain 1106, and returned with manyMozarabs,who settled in his kingdom.[67]

In 1108 the troops of the Almoravid Tamim, governor of Córdoba and son of Yusuf ibn Tashfin, attacked Christian territories, but this time the chosen city was not Toledo butUclés.[68][69]Alfonso VI was inSahagún,recently married, elderly and with an old wound that prevented him from riding. Álvar Fáñez, governor of the lands of the Banu Di-l-Nun, was the commander of the army. He was accompanied bySancho Alfónsez,the king's only son and heir.[68][69]The armies clashed in theBattle of Ucléson 29 May 1108 and the Christian troops suffered another defeat. The young Sancho Alfónsez, heir to the throne, was killed in battle. As a consequence, thereconquistacame to a 30-year standstill, and the County of Portugal eventually became an independent kingdom.[68][69]The military situation was also serious since the Almoravids almost immediately seized the entire defensive border of the Tagus valley fromAranjueztoZoritaand there were uprisings of the Muslim population in this region.[68]

Succession crisis

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Alfonso VI, already old, had to deal with the problem of his succession.[70]Berta had died without giving him an heir at the end of 1099; shortly after, Alfonso married Isabel who gave him two daughters, but no sons.[71]To further complicate the situation, in March 1105 his grandsonAlfonso Raimúndez,son of Urraca and Raymond of Burgundy, was born,[71]a possible contender to the throne in detriment to Sancho Alfónsez, the king's son with Zaida.[71]Montenegro thinks that Alfonso VI legitimized Sancho probably coinciding with the meeting of a council inCarrión de los Condesin January 1103 because from that date onwards, Sancho began to confirm royal charters before his brothers-in-law Raymond and Henry of Burgundy.[72]In May 1107, Alfonso imposed the recognition of Sancho as heir, despite the probable opposition of his daughters and sons-in-law,[71]in the course of aCuria Regiaheld in León.[73]The situation improved for the king with the death of Raymond of Burgundy in September and the agreement with Urraca so that she remained as sovereign Lady of Galicia,[74]except in the case of remarrying since, in that case, Galicia would pass to her son.[75]

The death of Sancho in the Battle of Uclés on 29 May 1108 left Alfonso VI without his only male heir. He then chose his eldest legitimate daughter Urraca as his successor, but decided to marry her to his rival and famous warrior KingAlfonso I of Aragon and Navarrein the autumn of 1108.[68]Although the marriage was celebrated at the end of the following year, it did not lead to the expected stability, but to a long civil war that lasted eight years.[76]

Death and burial

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Alfonso VI died inToledoon 1 July 1109.[2]The king had come to the city to try to defend it from an imminent Almoravid attack.[76]His body was taken to the locality ofSahagún,and was buried in the Royal Monastery of San Benito, thus fulfilling the wishes of the monarch.[2]The mortal remains of the king were deposited in a stone sepulchre, which was placed at the feet of the church of the Royal Monastery, until the reign ofSancho IV,who deemed it unseemly that his ancestor was buried at the foot of the temple and ordered the tomb to be moved inside and placed in the church's transept, near the tomb of Beatriz, Dowager Lady of Los Cameros and daughter of InfanteFrederick of Castilewho had been executed by orders of his brother, KingAlfonso X the Wisein 1277.[77]

The sepulchre that contained the remains of the king, now having disappeared, was supported on alabaster lions, and was a large ark of white marble, eight feet long and four wide and tall, being covered by a smooth black lid. The tomb was usually covered by a silk tapestry, woven inFlanders,bearing the image of the king crowned and armed, with the representation of the arms of Castile and León on the sides, and a crucifix at the head of the tomb.[77]

The tomb that contained the remains of Alfonso VI was destroyed in 1810, during the fire at the Royal Monastery of San Benito. The mortal remains of the king and those of several of his wives were collected and preserved in the abbey chamber until 1821, when the monks were expelled, and were then deposited by the abbot Ramón Alegrías in a box, which was placed in the southern wall of the chapel of the Crucifix until January 1835, when the remains were collected again and placed in another box and taken to the archive where the remains of the wives of the sovereign were at that time. The purpose was to place all the royal remains in a new sanctuary that was being built at that time.[77]However, when the Royal Monastery of San Benito was dissolved in 1835, the monks delivered the two boxes with the royal remains to a relative of one of them, who kept it hidden until 1902, when these were discovered by Rodrigo Fernández Núñez, a professor at the Institute of Zamora Rodrigo.[77]

The mortal remains of Alfonso VI are now in the Monastery of the Benedictine nuns of Sahagún, at the foot of the temple, in a smooth stone ark and with a cover of modern marble, and in a nearby sepulchre, equally smooth, lie the remains of several of the king's wives.[2]

Wives, concubines and issue

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According to BishopPelagius of Oviedo,contemporary of the king, in hisChronicon regum Legionensium( "Chronicle of theKings of León"), Alfonso VI had five wives and two concubinesnobilissimas(most noble). The wives were, according to the bishop, Agnes, Constance, Berta, Isabel, and Beatrice and the concubines Jimena Muñoz and Zaida.[e]Some chroniclers from north of the Pyrenees report an earlier espousal, to a daughter ofWilliam the Conqueror,King of EnglandandDuke of Normandynamed Agatha.

Agatha of Normandy (?)

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Several northern sources report that Alfonso was affianced to Agatha, the daughter ofWilliam the Conqueror,King of EnglandandDuke of Normandy,an arrangement negotiated in 1067.[79]She is said to have been sent to Iberia, but to have died before the marriage could take place. There is scholarly dispute over whether Alfonso was the Iberian king involved, and if so, whether the daughter of William involved was Agatha or a different daughter, Adelaide.[f]

Agnes of Aquitaine

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In 1069, the betrothal withAgnes,daughter of DukeWilliam VIII of Aquitaine,was signed.[40][85]At the time, she was barely 10 years old and so it was necessary to wait until she reached age 14 for the official wedding, which took place in late 1073 or early 1074. She appears in royal diplomas until 22 May 1077; from that date, the king appears alone in the documentation.[86]

Agnes is said to have died on 6 June 1078,[86]On the other hand,Orderic Vitalis,anEnglish chroniclerof the 12th century, said that the marriage of Agnes and Alfonso VI had been annulled in 1080 for reasons of consanguinity, and that Agnes was remarried in 1109 to CountElias I of Maine.[87]

Reilly suggests that the marriage had been annulled in 1077, probably because of the lack of children.[54]However, Gambra disagrees and believes that there are no reliable sources to support this assertion. In addition to being implied by Orderic, the alleged repudiation appears only in a volume ofL'art de vérifier les datesand, according to Gambra, "it is impossible, in the absence of better references, to grant credit to the assertion of Agnes' repudiation".[88][g]In addition, he indicates thatLucas de Tuy,in hisChronicon mundi,indicates that the Queen was buried inSahagún.Finally, he points out that "If such an important event had taken place, it would not make much sense [...] that Alfonso VI immediately married another princess who was a member of Agnes' family".[88]Agnes and the king's next wife, Constance, were cousins in the third degree, both of them descendants ofWilliam III, Duke of Aquitaine.[90]Salazar y Acha concludes that Orderic is in error, and that it was Beatrice, the last wife of Alfonso VI, who as his widow married the Count of Maine.[91]

Epitaph of Jimena Muñoz, Alfonso's mistress and progenitor of the first Portuguese royal line.

Jimena Muñoz

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After the death of Agnes, the king had an extra-marital relationship withJimena Muñoz,"most noble" (nobilissima) concubine "derived from royalty" (real generacion), according to Bishop Pelagius of Oviedo. They had two illegitimate daughters born between 1078 and 1080:[54][92]

Constance of Burgundy

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At the end of 1079 Alfonso VI marriedConstance of Burgundy,[94]with whom he appears for the first time in royal charters on 8 May 1080.[95]She was the childless widow of Count Hugues III ofChalon-sur-Saôneand daughter of DukeRobert I of Burgundyand his first wife, Hélie de Semur-en-Brionnais,[96]and great-granddaughter of KingHugh Capetof France.[54][95]She was also the niece of AbbotHugh of Cluny[97]and aunt of Henry of Burgundy.[98]From this union, which lasted until Constance's death in 1093,[61][h]six children were born, but only one reached adulthood:[101]

Zaida

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Bishop Pelagius of Oviedo mentionsZaidaas one of the king's two concubines and says that she was the daughter ofAl-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad,ruler of theTaifa of Seville.In fact, she was his daughter-in-law, married to his son Abu Nasr Al-Fath al-Ma'mun, ruler of theTaifa of Córdoba.[103][104]In March 1091, the Almoravid army besieged the city of Córdoba. Zaida's husband, who died during the siege on 26–27 March, sent his wife and children toAlmodóvar del Ríoas a precautionary measure. After becoming a widow, Zaida sought protection at the court of the Leonese king and she and her children converted to Christianity; she was baptized with the name "Isabel" and became the king's concubine.[105]They had one son:

In the chronicleDe rebus Hispaniae,by the Archbishop of Toledo,Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada,Zaida is counted among the wives of Alfonso VI, but theChronica Naierensisand theChronicon mundiindicate that Zaida was a concubine and not the wife of Alfonso VI.[108]

According to Jaime de Salazar y Acha, followed by other authors, among them, Gonzalo Martínez Diez, they married in 1100, and with this ceremony their son was legitimised and declared heir of the Kingdoms of León and Castile.[109][110][71]For Salazar y Acha, Zaida and the fourth wife of Alfonso VI, Isabel, are the same person, "despite of the impotent efforts of later historians to try to prove that she was not the Moor Zaida",[111]and, accordingly, she would also be the mother of Elvira and Sancha Alfónsez.[112]He supports this based on several arguments, including the turnaround time between the last appearance of Bertha and Isabel's first charter as Alfonso's wife, much shorter than the interval preceding his other remarriages presumed to have involved international diplomacy, which Salazar y Acha argues indicates that Isabel was ready to hand rather than being a foreign princess.[109]Likewise, he argues, shortly after the marriage of the king with Isabel his son Sancho begins to confirm royal charters and, if Isabel and Zaida were not the same person, the new queen would not have allowed the new protagonism of Sancho in detriment of her possible future sons.[113]He also cites a charter from the cathedral of Astorga dated 14 April 1107 where Alfonso VI grants somefuerosand actscum uxore mea Elisabet et filio nostro Sancio(with my wife Isabel and our son Sancho).[113]This is the only document where Sancho is referred to as "our son", since in others he only appears as the king's son even though Queen Isabel also confirms the charters.

Reilly follows Bishop Pelagius in distinguishing the mistress Zaida (baptized Isabel) from the Isabel whom Alfonso married in 1100, but argues that to reinforce the position of his son Sancho, the king annulled his marriage to Queen Isabel in March 1106 and remarried to the boy's mother Zaida/Isabel.[71][114]The hypothesis that Alfonso VI had married Zaida was rejected byMenéndez PidalandLévi-Provençal.[115]

On 27 March 1106, Alfonso VI confirmed a donation to the monastery of Lorenzana:(...)eiusdemque Helisabeth regina sub maritali copula legaliter aderente,an unusual formula that confirms a legitimate marriage.[116]Salazar y Acha and Reilly interpret this quote as proof that the king had married Zaida, thus legitimising their son and the relationship of concubinage.[117][118]Gambra, however, disagrees and says that it is "an extremely weak argument, starting with the documentary reference, which is scarcely significant. Its character is rather ornamental and literary."[117]Montaner Frutos also says that this hypothesis is "unlikely and problematic" since it was not necessary for the king to marry Zaida to legitimize his son and that, furthermore, the French Isabel died in 1107 according to her epitaph.[119]Montaner Frutos also mentions a donation from Queen Urraca years later, in 1115, when she donated properties to Toledo Cathedral and only mentions one Isabel as the king's wife.[i]

Berta

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On 25 November 1093 Alfonso VI contracted a third marriage with Berta,[61][j]although in a document dated 13 April 1094 she is not mentioned as would have been the custom at that time.[122]For onomastic reasons, the genealogistSzabolcs de Vajaysuggested that she was a member of theHouse of Savoy,daughter of CountAmadeus II of Savoy,niece ofBertha of Savoy(wife ofHenry IV, Holy Roman Emperor), great-granddaughter ofBertha of Milanand first-cousin of anotherBertha(who married KingPeter I of Aragon and Navarre).[123]Her presence in court was first recorded on 28 April 1095.[122][k]She died between 17 November 1099, when she confirms a royal diploma for the last time, and 15 January 1100 when the king appears alone in a donation to theCathedral of Santiago de Compostela.[124][125]On 25 January 1100, the king made a donation to the monastery of Sahagún in memory of his deceased wife.[126]There was no issue from this marriage.[71][127]

Isabel

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Alfonso VI's penultimate marriage was in early 1100 to Isabel[128]and "the cause of controversy during centuries has been whether this Isabel was the same person as the Arab Muslim Princess Zaida or a different individual".[129]Alfonso and Isabel appear together for the first time on 14 May 1100 although the diploma is considered suspicious, and the second time in that same year at an unspecified date.[130]Isabel's last mention in royal diplomas was on 8 and 14 May 1107 and she probably died in the middle of that year.[131]She is, according to Salazar y Acha, Zaida, who after her baptism was called Isabel. If not identical to Zaida, her origin is uncertain. Bishop Pelagius of Oviedo does not refer to her origin nor does he draw any link between mistress Zaida and wife Isabel. Lucas de Tuy in the 13th century, based on the epitaph of Isabel, makes her daughter of King Louis of France, who at that time would have to beLouis VIalthough this seems to be chronologically impossible. Reilly considers that she was probably of Burgundian origin,[132]although this does not appear in the documentation.[130]Two daughters were born from this union:

Beatrice

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Alfonso VI married his fifth wife, Beatrice, probably in the first months of 1108.[79][134]Both appear together for the first time on 28 May 1108 inAstorga Cathedraland then in two other royal charters: on 1 January 1109 in the Cathedral of León and for the last time on 25 April of the same year inOviedo Cathedral,[134]about three months before the death of the king. According to Bishop Pelagius of Oviedo, once a widow, Beatrice returned to her homeland.[79]Salazar y Acha suggests that she was the daughter ofWilliam VIII, Duke of Aquitaineand his third wifeHildegarde of Burgundy,[135]and that she remarriedElias I, Count of Maine.[91][136]

Legacy

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In the cultural field, Alfonso VI promoted the safety of theCamino de Santiagoand promoted theCluniac Reformsin the monasteries of Galicia, León and Castile. In the spring of 1073, he made the first concession of a Leonese monastery to the Order of Cluny.[40]

The monarch replaced theMozarabic or Toledan ritewith the Roman one. In this respect it is a common legend that Alfonso VI took Mozarabic and Roman breviaries and threw them into the fire. When only the Roman breviary burned, the king threw the Mozarabic one into the fire, thus imposing the Roman rite.[citation needed]

Alfonso VI, the conqueror of Toledo, the great Europeanizing monarch, saw in the last years of his reign how the great political work that he had carried started to be dismantled due to Almoravid attacks and internal weaknesses. Alfonso VI had fully assumed the imperial idea of León and his openness to European influence had made him aware of the feudal political practices which, in the France of his time, reached their most complete expression. In the conjunction of these two elements,Claudio Sánchez-Albornozsees the explanation of the grant of theiure hereditario(sharing the kingdom between the two daughters and the son instead of bequeathing all to the only son, more typical of Navarrese-Aragonese tradition) of the Counties of Galicia and Portugal to her two Burgundian sons-in-law, Raymond and Henry. After a few years, that decision led to the independence of Portugal and the possibility of an independent Galicia under Alfonso Raimúndez, which ultimately did not materialize when theinfantebecame King Alfonso VII of León.[citation needed]

Family tree

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Sancha
of Aybar		Sancho III
of Pamplona		Muniadomna
of Castile		Alfonso V
of León
Ramiro I
of Aragon		García Sánchez III
of Pamplona		Ferdinand I
of Castile & León		Sancha
of León		Bermudo III
of León		Robert I
of Burgundy		Helie
of Semur		Saint Hugh
of Cluny
Sancho V
of Pamplona & Aragon		Sancho IV
of Pamplona		Urraca
of Zamora		Sancho II
of Castile		Elvira
of Toro		Constance
of Burgundy		Alfonso VI
of León & Castile		Jimena
Muñoz		García II
of Galicia		Henry
of Burgundy
Alfonso I
of Pamplona & Aragon		Urraca
of León		Raymond
of Burgundy		Zaida
of Seville		Elvira
of León		Raymond IV
of Toulouse		Teresa
of Portugal		Henry
of Burgundy
Sancho
Alfonso
Raimúndez

Notes

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  1. ^Alfonso was the fourth child and had already been born by April 1043 when his father made a donation and mentions all of his five children.[1]
  2. ^Rege domno Adefonso, qui regebat Castella et Legione et tota Gallecia,[4]
  3. ^Some sources give the age in theChronicle of Sahagúnas 72, which would place his birth in 1037.[8][9]
  4. ^"Despite being the eldest son, Sancho received, in terms of territory, the smallest part, a very mutilated Castile, while León —to which the royal title was attached— with the most extensive lands, was assigned to the second of the brothers, Alfonso, as if he was the favorite child".[20]
  5. ^Hic habuit quinque uxores legitimas: primam Agnetem; secundam Constanciam reginam, ex qua genuit Urracam reginam, coniugem comitis Raimundi, de qua ipse genuit Sanciam et Adefonsum, regem; tertiam Bertam, Tuscia oriundam; quartam Elisabeth, ex qua genuit Sanciam, coniugem comitis Roderici et Geloiram, quam duxit Rogerius, dux Siciliae; quintam Beatricem, quae mortuo eo, repedavit in patriam suam.[78]
  6. ^William of Poitiersrelates that two brothers, Iberian kings, were competitors for the hand of a daughter of William, which led to a dispute between them.[80]Some historians have identified these asSancho II of Castileand his brotherGarcía II of Galicia,and the bride as Sancho's documented wife Alberta, who bears a non-Iberian name.[81]The anonymousvitaof Count Simon of Crépy instead makes the competitors Alfonso VI andRobert Guiscard,whileWilliam of MalmesburyandOrderic Vitalisboth show a daughter of William to have been betrothed to Alfonso "king of Galicia" but to have died before the marriage. In hisHistoria Ecclesiastica,Orderic specifically names her as Agatha, "former fiancee of Harold".[80][81]This conflicts with Orderic's own earlier additions to theGesta Normannorum Ducum,where he instead named Harold's fiance as William's daughter, Adelidis.[82]Recent accounts of the complex marital history of Alfonso VI have accepted that he was betrothed to a daughter of William named Agatha,[80][81][83]while Douglas dismisses Agatha as a confused reference to known daughter Adeliza.[84]Elisabeth van Houtsis non-committal, being open to the possibility that Adeliza was engaged before becoming a nun, but also accepting that Agatha may have been a distinct daughter of William.[82]
  7. ^Reilly bases his assumption onHistoire des comptes de Poitou,vol. II, pp. 307–308 by Alfred Richard who, besidesL'Art de vérifier les dates,also refers to theChronique de Saint Maixent,but this work, according to Gambra, "does not mention the repudiation or the alleged second marriage of Agnes".[89]
  8. ^The last royal diploma confirmed by Constance is dated 2 September 1093 and she would have died between that date and the following 25 October when the king appears alone in the documentation.[99][100]
  9. ^... sicut eam habuerunt et tenuerunt regine uxores patris mei, scilicet, Berta, Isabel atque Beatrix et sicut ego illam inueni et possedi post dicessum patris mei.[120]
  10. ^Salazar y Acha only mentions that the wedding took place before 28 April 1095.[121]
  11. ^In 1096, both confirm a sale made by Ero Rodríguez to theMonastery of San Martín de Xubia:Regnante rex Adefonsus in Toleto et coniuge sua de genere francorum.
  12. ^Along with her husband, Count Rodrigo, they donated to the Monastery of Santa Maria de Piasca their monastery of San Mamés in April 1122, calling herselfprolis filia regis Adephonsus.On 10 May 1125, Count Rodrigo appears, without Sancha, with his daughtersqua abuit de mea mulier infante domna Sanchia, filia regi imperatori Adefonsi(whom I had from my wife, Infanta Sancha, daughter of the king-emperor Alfonso). Count Rodrigo was already married to his second wife, Estefanía Ermengol in July 1135.[133]

References

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  1. ^abcdefgSánchez Candeira 1999,p. 227.
  2. ^abcdElorza et al. 1990,pp. 54–55.
  3. ^abMartínez Díez 2003,p. 35.
  4. ^Serrano 1910,p. 18.
  5. ^abcVicente Cascante, Ignacio (1956).Heráldica general y fuentes de las armas de España(in Spanish). Salvat. p. 344.
  6. ^abcMartínez Díez 2003,p. 19.
  7. ^Martínez Díez 2003,pp. 20–25.
  8. ^abReilly 1989,p. 20.
  9. ^Salvador Martínez 1992,p. 29.
  10. ^Salazar y Acha 1993,p. 303.
  11. ^Martínez Díez 2003,p. 21.
  12. ^Sánchez Candeira 1999,p. 226.
  13. ^abcSánchez Candeira 1999,p. 228.
  14. ^Miranda Calvo 1976,p. 112.
  15. ^Sánchez Candeira 1999,p. 229.
  16. ^Martínez Díez 2003,pp. 30–33.
  17. ^abcSánchez Candeira 1999,p. 230.
  18. ^Martínez Díez 2003,pp. 31–33.
  19. ^Martínez Díez 2003,p. 31.
  20. ^abcdMartínez Díez 2003,p. 33.
  21. ^abcSánchez Candeira 1999,p. 231.
  22. ^Martínez Díez 2003,p. 36.
  23. ^Martínez Díez 2003,pp. 36–37.
  24. ^Ayala 2013,pp. 229–230.
  25. ^abMartínez Díez 2003,p. 38.
  26. ^abcReilly 1989,p. 9.
  27. ^Martínez Díez 2003,p. 39.
  28. ^Martínez Díez 2003,pp. 40–41.
  29. ^abMartínez Díez 2003,p. 41.
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  31. ^abMartínez Díez 2003,p. 44.
  32. ^Peña Pérez, F. Javier (2003). "Los monjes de San Pedro de Cardeña y el mito del Cid".Memoria, mito y realidad en la historia medieval[Memory, Myth and Reality in Medieval History](PDF).Logroño: Instituto de Estudios Riojanos. pp.340–343.ISBN84-95747-55-3.
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  34. ^abReilly 1992,p. 74.
  35. ^abMartínez Díez 2003,p. 49.
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  37. ^Ayala 2013,p. 230.
  38. ^Martín Duke.
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  42. ^Guichard 1989,p. 496.
  43. ^Martínez Díez 2007,pp. 134–137.
  44. ^Montaner Frutos 1998,pp. 32–38.
  45. ^Reilly 1992,pp. 86–87.
  46. ^Reilly 1992,p. 87.
  47. ^abGuichard 1989,p. 500.
  48. ^abReilly 1992,p. 88.
  49. ^abHuici Miranda 1954,p. 42.
  50. ^Reilly 1992,pp. 88, 110.
  51. ^abcdHuici Miranda 1954,p. 41.
  52. ^abReilly 1992,p. 89.
  53. ^Huici Miranda 1954,p. 49.
  54. ^abcdefghijReilly 1992,p. 90.
  55. ^Reilly 1992,pp. 89–90.
  56. ^Reilly 1992,pp. 90–91.
  57. ^abReilly 1992,p. 91.
  58. ^Huici Miranda 1954,p. 45.
  59. ^Huici Miranda 1954,pp. 45–46.
  60. ^abcReilly 1992,p. 92.
  61. ^abcdefReilly 1992,p. 93.
  62. ^Martínez Díez 2003,pp. 170–171.
  63. ^David 1948,pp. 275–276.
  64. ^Bishko 1971,pp. 155–188.
  65. ^abcdeReilly 1992,p. 94.
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  67. ^abReilly 1992,p. 95.
  68. ^abcdeReilly 1992,p. 97.
  69. ^abcGuichard 1989,p. 528.
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  71. ^abcdefgReilly 1992,p. 96.
  72. ^Montenegro 2010,pp. 377 and 383.
  73. ^Montenegro 2010,pp. 387.
  74. ^Martínez Díez 2003,p. 172.
  75. ^Reilly 1992,pp. 96–97.
  76. ^abReilly 1992,p. 98.
  77. ^abcdArco y Garay 1954,pp. 193–195.
  78. ^Salazar y Acha 1993,p. 301.
  79. ^abcSalazar y Acha 1993,p. 332.
  80. ^abcSalazar y Acha 1993,pp. 307–8.
  81. ^abcReilly 1989,p. 47.
  82. ^abvan Houts 2004.
  83. ^Canal Sánchez-Pagín 1991,pp. 12–14.
  84. ^Douglas 1964,pp. 393–395.
  85. ^Salazar y Acha 1993,pp. 308–309.
  86. ^abSalazar y Acha 1993,p. 309.
  87. ^Vitalis 1854,p. 276, no.5.
  88. ^abGambra 1997,p. 451.
  89. ^Gambra 1997,p. 451, n. 62.
  90. ^Salazar y Acha 1993,p. 318, n. 65.
  91. ^abSalazar y Acha 1993,p. 329.
  92. ^abcSalazar y Acha 1993,pp. 310–311.
  93. ^Salazar y Acha 1993,p. 310.
  94. ^abMontenegro 2010,p. 370.
  95. ^abSalazar y Acha 1993,p. 316.
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  97. ^Montenegro 2010,p. 374.
  98. ^Mattoso 2014,p. 28.
  99. ^Gambra 1997,p. 468.
  100. ^Salazar y Acha 1993,pp. 316–317.
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  108. ^Pallares Méndez & Portela 2006,p. 19.
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  110. ^Martínez Díez 2003,p. 121.
  111. ^Salazar y Acha 1993,pp. 323–324.
  112. ^Salazar y Acha 1993,p. 324.
  113. ^abSalazar y Acha 2007,p. 228.
  114. ^Reilly 1989,pp. 364–365.
  115. ^Gambra 1997,p. 475.
  116. ^Salazar y Acha 1993,pp. 324–325.
  117. ^abGambra 1997,p. 475, n.153.
  118. ^Montaner Frutos 2005,p. 299.
  119. ^Montaner Frutos 2005,p. 300.
  120. ^Montaner Frutos 2005,p. 301.
  121. ^Salazar y Acha 1993,p. 333.
  122. ^abGambra 1997,p. 470.
  123. ^Vajay 2007,pp. 341–342.
  124. ^Gambra 1997,pp. 471–472.
  125. ^Salazar y Acha 1993,p. 323.
  126. ^Gambra 1997,p. 94.
  127. ^Salazar y Acha 1993,pp. 322–323.
  128. ^Reilly 1992,p. 33.
  129. ^Salazar y Acha 2007,p. 227.
  130. ^abGambra 1997,p. 473.
  131. ^Gambra 1997,p. 474.
  132. ^Reilly 1989,pp. 322–323.
  133. ^abcSalazar y Acha 1993,p. 334.
  134. ^abGambra 1997,p. 476.
  135. ^Salazar y Acha 1993,pp. 329 and 333.
  136. ^Martínez Díez 2003,p. 167.

Bibliography

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Further reading

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Alfonso VI of León and Castile
Born:1047Died:19 June/1 July 1109
Regnal titles
Preceded by King of León
1065–1072 		Succeeded by
Preceded by King of Galicia
1071–1072
withSancho II
Preceded by King of León,
CastileandGalicia
1072–1109 		Succeeded by
Preceded by King of Toledo
1085–1109
Vacant
Title last held by
Ferdinand I 		— TITULAR —
Emperor of All Spain
1077–1109 		Succeeded by
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