Alfonso VIII-Cuenca,Spain - Monarchs of the World on Waymarking.com

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Son of Sancho III "the Desired one", king of Castile, and of White Garcés of Pamplona,to the death of his father only counted three years of age, reason why Gutierre Fernández de Castro was designated like tutor and like regent to Manrique Pérez de Lara, to balance the powerful Castro and Lara families. However, a bloody rivalry arose between the two noble families. The Lara managed to seize the young king who was transferred to Haza, within their area of influence.
This rivalry led to a civil war and a period of uncertainty that was exploited by the neighboring kingdoms and so, in 1159, the Navarrese King Sancho VI seized Logroño and large areas of La Rioja, while the young Alfonso's uncle , the king leonés Fernando II, seized of the city of Burgos.
In 1160, the supporters of the Casa de Lara, led by Nuño Pérez de Lara, were defeated by the members of the Casa de Castro, led by Fernando Rodríguez de Castro el Castellano, at the Battle of Lobregal, fought in the vicinity of the Villabrágima, in the province of Valladolid.
The proximity of Fernando II, ally of the Castro, to the place where the Lara guard Alfonso VIII makes them transfer him to Soria where he will remain until 1162 when the Lara, harassed by Fernando who has conquered the cities of Segovia and Toledo, decide to give it to him his uncle, although prevented by the intervention of a hidalgo, who took the child from the royal palace, placing him in the custody of the loyal towns of northern Castile, first in the castle of San Esteban de Gormaz and then in Atienza and Avila, city ??that since then receives the honorary title of "Ávila del Rey" or "Ávila de los Leales" for the defense he made of the young monarch. Likewise, the stay of Alfonso in Atienza gave rise to the birth of the popular celebration of La Caballada, which is celebrated every year in this town on PentUpon reaching the age of majority in 1170, Alfonso VIII was proclaimed King of Castile in the Cortes that was convened in Burgos, after which his marriage was arranged with Leonor de Plantagenet, daughter of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine, who contributed as dowry the county of Gascony. His first goal as a monarch was to recover the lost territories during his minority. To do this, he joined forces with King Alfonso II el Casto. Together with the Aragonese monarch, Alfonso VIII attacked the Navarrese Sancho VI in 1173, managing to wrest from him the territories that he had taken during his minority. After that, he strengthened his alliance with Alfonso II by arranging his marriage with his aunt, Sancha de Castilla.
Pressed by the Almohads attacks, from 1174 had to yield to the military orders some territories until then of realengo for their better protection, like the towns of Maqueda and Zorita of the Canes to the Order of Calatrava, or the town of Uclés to the Order of Santiago, being since then Uclés the main house of this last military order. From this square an offensive against the Muslims begins, which culminates with the reconquest of Cuenca in 1177. The city surrendered on September 21, the feast of San Mateo, celebrated since then by the Cuencans.
Alfonso VIII was the founder of the first general Spanish study, the Studium generale de Palencia (germ of the university), which declined after his death. In addition, his court would be an important cultural instrument, which would welcome troubadours and sages, especially by the influence of his Gascon wife Leonor (sister of Ricardo Corazón de León).
In 1179 he signed with his ally the Aragonese king the Treaty of Cazola, by which both monarchs are divided on paper, since it had no real results, the territories of the Navarrese kingdom and also set the areas of conquest of Muslim territories that each monarch can undertake by varying the until then effective Treaty of Tudilén that had signed Alfonso VII de León and Ramón Berenguer IV of Barcelona. By the new Treaty of Cazola, the kingdom of Murcia -whose conquest corresponded to Aragon- passed to Castile and in return the Aragonese King Alfonso II was free of the vassalage that owed to Alfonso VIII.
On January 12, 1180, the king was in Carrión de los Condes, signing the Charter of Villasila and Villamelendro after the request made by the clerics of the aforementioned villas.
After founding Plasencia in 1186, and with the intention of uniting the Castilian nobility, he relaunched the Reconquista, recovered part of La Rioja that was in the hands of Navarre and reintegrated it into his kingdom. It establishes an alliance with all the Christian peninsular kingdoms -at that time, Portugal, León, Castile, Navarre and Aragon- to continue orderly conquering the lands occupied by the Almohads.
In 1188 he met in Carrión de los Condes with his cousin Alfonso IX, who had just succeeded his father Fernando II as king of León. Both monarchs sign a pact of goodwill that Alfonso VIII will soon break for, taking advantage of the weakness of the new king of León in his own kingdom, invade León and take over several towns, among which Valencia de Don Juan and Valderas, and which initiated a period of hostilities that would end on April 20, 1194 with the signing of the Treaty of Tordehumos, in which the Castilian king promised to return the conquered territories and the Leonese promised to marry the daughter of Alfonso VIII, Berenguela and, If Alfonso IX died without descendants, it was agreed that the kingdom of León would be annexed by Castile.
Alfonso VIII died from Sunday 5 to Monday, October 6, 12142 in a small village in the alfoz of the Community of Villa and Tierra de Arévalo, Gutierre-Muñoz, leaving record of it the Archbishop Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada. The king and his wife Leonor were buried in the Monastery of Santa Maria la Real de Las Huelgas in Burgos that he himself had founded.

Monarch Ranking: King / Queen Proper Title and Name of Monarch: Alfonso VIII de Castilla Country or Empire of Influence: King of Castilla Website for additonal information: [Web Link]

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