General Notes

Alfonso II (b. 1152, Barcelona--d. 1196, Perpignan, Roussillon), count of Barcelona from 1162 and king of Aragon from 1164.

The son of RamÛn Berenguer IV, Alfonso succeeded his father as count of Barcelona and his mother as ruler of Aragon, thus associating the two countries under the house of Barcelona--a union that was destined to be permanent. Aragonese involvement in France became steadily greater during Alfonso's reign. Nevertheless, the conquest of Teruel (1171) opened the way for the conquest of Valencia; and, in 1179, the pact of Cazorla with his ally, Alfonso VIII of Castile, fixed the future zones of reconquest for the two countries. In his will Alfonso followed the Spanish custom of dividing his kingdom; Provence was thus lost to the Aragonese crown. [Encyclopaedia Britannica CD '97]