Alfonso VIII of Castile

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Alfonso VIII (November 11, 1155 – October 5, 1214); called the Noble or, in Spanish, el Noble; also known as He of Las Navas (El de las Navas); was the king of Castile and grandson of Alfonso VII.After having suffered a great defeat with his own army in 1195 at al-Arcos against the Almohades, he led the coalition of Christian princes and foreign crusaders who broke the power of the Almohades in the battle of the Navas de Tolosa in 1212. His reign saw the domination of Castile over León and, by his alliance with Aragon, he drew those two spheres of Christian Iberia into close connection.

His early life resembled that of other medieval kings. He succeeded to the throne as a child on the death of his father, Sancho. Though proclaimed king, he was regarded as a mere name by the unruly nobles to whom a minority was convenient. Since his mother was also dead, Alfonso did not have closer relatives than his uncle Ferdinand, king of Leon, who wanted power in Castile. The devotion of a squire of his household, who carried him on the pommel of his saddle to the stronghold of San Esteban de Gormaz, saved him from falling into the hands of the contending factions of Castro and Lara, or of his uncle Ferdinand of León, who claimed the regency.

The loyalty of the town of Ávila protected his youth. He was barely fifteen when he came forth to do a man's work by restoring his kingdom to order. It was only by a surprise that he recovered his capital Toledo from the hands of the Laras. His marriage with Eleanor of England (Sp: Leonora), daughter of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine (Aquitaine having old ties with Castile), brought him under the influence of the greatest governing intellect of his time. Alfonso VIII was the founder of the first Spanish university, the studium generale of Palencia, which, however, did not survive him.

During his reign, Castile annexed the province of Logroño.

In 1176, Alfonso married Leonora of England and Aquitaine. They had 12 children:

Berenguela, or Berengaria, Queen of Castile (1180-1246), betrothed to, not married to Conrad of Hohenstaufen, Duke of Swabia who was murdered , but later married Alfonso IX, King of León; succeeded her brother, Henry I
Sancho, prince of Castile (1181)
Sancha, princess of Castile (1182-1184)
Urraca, princess of Castile (1186-1220), married to Alfonso II of Portugal
Blanca, also known as Blanche of Castile, princess of Castile (1188-1252), married to Louis VIII of France
Ferdinand, prince of Castile (1189-1211), on whose behalf Diego of Acebo and the future Saint Dominic travelled to Denmark in 1203 to secure a bride<ref>M.-H. Vicaire, "Une ambassade dans les Marches" in Pierre Mandonnet, Saint Dominique: l'idée, l'homme et l'oeuvre (Paris: Desclée De Brouwer, 1938) vol. 1 pp. 89-98.</ref>
Mafalda, princess of Castile (1191-1204)
Henry, prince of Castile (1192 - 1190s)
Constance or Constanza, princess of Castile (1196 - late 1190s)
Eleonor or Eleanor, princess of Castile (1202-1244), married to James I of Aragon
Henry I of Castile (1204-1217) succeeded his father.
Constance or Constanza, princess of Castile (?-1243), abbess of Las Huelgas

Preceded by: Sancho III	King of Castile 1158–1214	Succeeded by: Henry I

[edit] Alfonso VIII in Literature

He was the subject for Lion Feuchtwanger's novel "Die Jüdin von Toledo (Spanische Ballade, Raquel, The Jewess of Toledo)in which the story narrates an affair with a jewish subject in medieval Toledo in a time when Spain was known to be the land of tolerance and learning for jews, christians and muslims (arabs, moors, etc.).