General Notes

Name Suffix:<NSFX> Of Castile & Leon
1  NAME Alfonso VIII //, King of Castile
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4  TEXT Feb 24, 2001
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1  NAME /Alfonso/ VIII
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4  TEXT Mar 3, 2002
1  BIRT
2  DATE 1155
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4  TEXT Feb 24, 2001
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1  DEAT
2  DATE 1214
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4  TEXT Feb 24, 2001
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4  TEXT Mar 3, 2002
1  DEAT
2  DATE 6 OCT 1214
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1  _FA2
2  PLAC Tolosa forever tipped the Iberian scales in favor o
f the Christians.
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4  TEXT Feb 24, 2001
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1  _FA4
2  PLAC Led the coalition against the Moorish Almohades.
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4  TEXT Feb 24, 2001
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[]
[823441.GED]
1156
1155-1214.  Son of Sancho III of Castile; king of Castile(1
166-1214).  After a chaotic minority, Alfonso assumed contr
olof his kingdom in 1166 and married Eleanor, daughter of H
enry IIof England, in 1169.  He received the reversion of G
ascony andas her dowry, but in 1204 on the death of Eleano
r of Aquitainehad to claim it by force, later losing it t
o King John ofEngland.  He endowed the royal abbey of Las H
uelgas, nearBurgos, in 1187, at his wife's request; the abb
ey was also to betheir royal mausoleum.  In 1195 Alfonso wa
s defeated by theMoors at Alarcos, and Castile was invade
d by the armies ofneighbouring Leon and Navarre, but he fou
ght back and forcedtheir leaders to terms.  In 1212 he le
d Leon and Navarre to agreat victory over the Moors at La
s Navas de Tolosa.
Alfonso VIII
b. 1155
d. Oct. 6, 1214, Burgos, Castile
byname EL DE LAS NAVAS (SPANISH: HE OF LAS NAVAS), king of
Castile from 1158, son of Sancho III, whom he succeeded when
three years old.
Before Alfonso came of age his reign was troubled by intern
al
strife and the intervention of the kingdom of Navarre in
Castilian affairs. Throughout his reign he maintained a clo
se
alliance with the kingdom of Aragon, and in 1179 he conclud
ed
the Pact of Cazorla, which settled the future line of
demarcation between Castile and Aragon when the reconques
t of
Moorish Spain was completed. From 1172 to 1212 he was engag
ed in
resistance to the Moorish Almohad invaders, who defeated hi
m in
1195. In the same year the kings of Leon and Navarre invaded
Castile, but Alfonso defeated them with the aid of King Pet
er II
of Aragon. In 1212 Alfonso secured a great victory at Las N
avas
de Tolosa over the Almohad sultan and thereby broke Almohad
power in Spain. (See Navas de Tolosa, Battle of Las.)
SOURCE: "Alfonso VIII" Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
<http://members.eb.com/bol/topic?idxref=105962>
Weis' "Ancestral Roots. . ." (110:27), (113:27). Stuart's
"Royalty For Commoners" (83:27) says he was called "the Nob
le"
and was King of Castile 1148/1214, Toledo, & Extramadura; t
he
victor of los Navas de Toleso, which forever tipped the Ibe
rian
scales in favor of the Christians.
Alfonso VIII (1155-1214), king of Castile (1158-1214); he
succeeded to the throne on the death of his father, Sanch
o III.
Troubled by interference from Navarre in his youth, he later
allied Castile with Aragn, forming a connection that was
eventually to become the basis for the unification of Spain
. He
also established Castilian dominance over Len. In 1170 he
married Eleanor, daughter of King Henry II of England. Fro
m the
1170s, he resisted encroachments by the Almohads, Muslim
invaders from northern Africa. Defeated by the Muslim caliph
Yakub al-Mansur at Alarcos in 1195, Alfonso and his allie
s won a
major victory over the Muslim commander al-Nasir at Navas de
Tolosa in 1212.
Source: "Alfonso VIII," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 98 Encyclop
edia.
(c) 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation.
Ancestral File Number:<AFN> 8XJ4-NT