Individual Details
Alfonso XI "El Justiciero" King of Castilla y León
(11 Aug 1311 - 26 Mar 1350)
Alfonso was born on 11 August 1311, the son of Fernando IV, king of Castile and León, and Constance of Portugal. When his father died in 1312 his grandmother Maria de Molina became regent, and she ruled wisely until her death in 1322. Alfonso XI assumed the sovereignty in 1324 at the age of thirteen. A few years later he mounted a campaign against the Moors of Granada, culminating in the Battle of Salado on 30 October 1340, which inflicted enormous losses on them. It is said to have been the first battle in Europe at which cannon were used.
In 1325 Alfonso married Constanza Manuel de Castile, but this marriage was annulled two years later. In 1328 he married Maria of Portugal, daughter of Afonso IV 'o Bravo', king of Portugal, and Beatrice of Castile. However Alfonso's heart had already been won by Dona Eleonore de Guzmán, a young widow of noble birth and acknowledged to be the most beautiful woman in the kingdom, with intellectual abilities to match. She was to be queen of Castile in all but name throughout Alfonso's reign and bore the king a large family. Queen Maria was shamefully neglected and almost completely abandoned after giving birth to two sons, of whom only the younger survived. She bided her time and brooded on her revenge.
In 1330 Alfonso was the first European sovereign to found a royal order of chivalry, the Order of the Band. Intended to enhance his own reputation as a patron of the chivalrous ideal, the idea was soon copied by Edward III of England when he founded the Order of the Garter.
Alfonso XI won a great victory against the Moors at Tarifa in 1340 and next laid siege to Algeciras, which surrendered in March 1344. A ten-year truce was made between Granada and Castile, but Alfonso XI soon found a pretext to break it; he was besieging Gibraltar when the Black Death overtook his camp and he became one of its victims in March 1350.
No sooner was Alfonso XI dead than Eleonore was arrested on the queen's orders, conveyed to the castle of Talavera, and there strangled. At the same time all members of her family were subjected to a virulent persecution. Alfonso was succeeded by Pedro, his surviving son by Maria of Portugal, who ruled as Pedro 'the Cruel', king of Castile and León until his overthrow and death in 1369 at the hands of his half-brother Enrique de Trastamara, Alfonso's eldest son by Eleonore de Guzmán.
Source: Leo van de Pas
In 1325 Alfonso married Constanza Manuel de Castile, but this marriage was annulled two years later. In 1328 he married Maria of Portugal, daughter of Afonso IV 'o Bravo', king of Portugal, and Beatrice of Castile. However Alfonso's heart had already been won by Dona Eleonore de Guzmán, a young widow of noble birth and acknowledged to be the most beautiful woman in the kingdom, with intellectual abilities to match. She was to be queen of Castile in all but name throughout Alfonso's reign and bore the king a large family. Queen Maria was shamefully neglected and almost completely abandoned after giving birth to two sons, of whom only the younger survived. She bided her time and brooded on her revenge.
In 1330 Alfonso was the first European sovereign to found a royal order of chivalry, the Order of the Band. Intended to enhance his own reputation as a patron of the chivalrous ideal, the idea was soon copied by Edward III of England when he founded the Order of the Garter.
Alfonso XI won a great victory against the Moors at Tarifa in 1340 and next laid siege to Algeciras, which surrendered in March 1344. A ten-year truce was made between Granada and Castile, but Alfonso XI soon found a pretext to break it; he was besieging Gibraltar when the Black Death overtook his camp and he became one of its victims in March 1350.
No sooner was Alfonso XI dead than Eleonore was arrested on the queen's orders, conveyed to the castle of Talavera, and there strangled. At the same time all members of her family were subjected to a virulent persecution. Alfonso was succeeded by Pedro, his surviving son by Maria of Portugal, who ruled as Pedro 'the Cruel', king of Castile and León until his overthrow and death in 1369 at the hands of his half-brother Enrique de Trastamara, Alfonso's eldest son by Eleonore de Guzmán.
Source: Leo van de Pas
Events
| Birth | 11 Aug 1311 | Salamanca | |||
| Death | 26 Mar 1350 | Gibraltar |
Families
| Spouse | Eleonore de Guzmán (1310 - 1351) |
| Child | Fadrique Alfonso of Castilla (1334 - 1358) |
| Father | Fernando IV King of Castilla y León (1285 - 1312) |
| Mother | Constance of Portugal (1290 - 1313) |