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Alfonso Viii

Statue of King Alfonso VIII in Madrid ( J. Villanueva , 1753 ).

Alfonso VIII was born on 11 November 1155 , died on 5 October 1214 , King of Castile and Toledo. He lost his two very young parents, King Sancho III of Castile and Blanche de Navarre, daughter of the King of Navarre Garca V Restaurateur says. He is the maternal grandfather of St. Louis.

He ascended the throne in 1158 at the age of three years from the death of his father King Sancho III. The child-king is now an issue between the two parties vying aristocratic power, Lara and Castro. His uncle, King of Leon Ferdinand II also claimed the regency, which led to a virtual civil war. Alphonse was saved by a squire of the royal family who took him in the fair cities of northern Castile, San Esteban de Gormaz and vila. He had to reclaim his kingdom by force from his adolescence. He regained the capital by surprise Toledo from the hands of Lara. To unify the Castilian nobility behind him, he revived the reconquista , he obtained from the Aragon a distribution to its advantage to reclaim land in the south of the Iberian Peninsula to the Treaty Cazola. He annexed the Rioja and led a large expedition of sovereign Hispanic in 1212. Expedition that led to the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa , which broke the power of Almohads.

Alfonso VIII was the founder of the first Spanish university studium generale of Palencia , who disappeared after his death. He also founded the Order of Alcntara.

He married in 1176 with Eleanor Plantagenet , daughter of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine , whose possessions were in the greatest ruler of the moment. They had twelve children: