Looking back to Middle Ages, it is not rare we have to deal with certain social aspects that can be found, even in our present days, in to the popular imagination. The figure of knighthood, once worked in this blog throught the figure of Edward Woodville, and of the brave warrior are two of these. The King of Spain, though not emboding in his person the romantic qualities that could make him a knight, was in some matters one of his own. A devout Christian who fought away the Muslims for his faith, a king born to conquer, with ambitions to unify Spain way before Isabel I of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon.
So today we speak of this figure who attends by the name of Alfonso of the House Jiménez, son of Sancho Ramírez, who was King of Aragon and Navarre by the time of his birth. His mother is recorded to have been a woman known as Felicie de Soucy, and had two older brothers: Peter I of Aragon and Navarre, Ferdinand, who died in infancy, and a younger brother known as Ramiro, who would succeed Alfonso as Ramiro II.
What is known about his early life is that he spent it at the monastery of Siresa, where he learned to read, write and military arts. Next, already under the reign of his brother, Peter I, he participated "in the taking of Huesca (the Battle of Alcoraz, 1096), which became the largest city in the kingdom and the new capital. He also joined El Cid's expeditions in Valencia."
Upon the death of his niece and nephew, and soon of his own brother, Alfonso of Jiménez succeeded Peter as King Alfonso I. His reign is most remembered for militaries expeditions, as we can see below:
"His first four years as King of Aragon were spent in a state of almost constant warfare with the Islamic Kingdoms of Spain. In 1105 he conquered Ejea and Tauste and reinforced the Christian territories of Castellar and Juslibol; in 1106 he achieved a victory over al-Musta in of Zaragoza at Valtierra, and in 1107 he took Tamarite de Litera and Esteban de la Litera. Disputes over his claims to the four kingdoms in 1109 meant his conquests into Muslim territory were halted for several years, but by 1117 he was prepared to launch some of his most ambitious campaigns yet."
In his 30 years, or a little more than that, he was married to the ambitious Queen Urraca of Castile and León, with whom he would have a troubled and conflituous matrimony. As it happened to Henry II of England, if we can compare such stories, when he was married to Eleanor of Aquitaine, Alfonso I became a very powerful man, holding several titles thanks to the marriage as he styled himself "King and Emperor of Castille, Toledo, Aragón, Pamplona, Sobrarbe and Ribagorza in recognition of his rights as Urraca's husband (...)", which would be the cause of the conflits with Urraca as we can see below:
"He married Urraca, the heiress of Alfonso VI, the king of Leon and Castille. (...) This union ultimately failed for a variety of reasons, including interference from the church and political intrigues between the kingdoms, and Alfonso eventually gave up his claim to all but the Aragon throne in 1126."
"A passionate fighting-man (he fought twenty-nine battles against Christian or Moor), he was married (...) in 1109 to (...) Queen Urraca of Léon, widow of Raymond of Burgundy (...). The marriage had been arranged by her father Alfonso VI of Léon in 1106 to unite the two chief Christian states against the Almoravids, and to supply them with a capable military leader. But Urraca was tenacious of her right as queen regnant (...). Husband and wife quarrelled with the brutality of the age and came to open war, even placing Urraca under siege at Astorga in 1112."
And as said above, he was successful in such conflits thanks to his abilities as soldier. Nevertheless, the marriage with Urraca failed in producing an heir to this vast kingdom of his. Still, he continued to focus in his militaries expeditions against the moors, a mark of his reign. In addition to this, "Ibn al-Athir (1166-1234) describes Alfonso as a tireless soldier who would sleep in his armor without benefit of cover, who responded when asked why he did not take his pleasure from one of the captives of Muslim chiefs, responded that the man devoted to war needs the companionship of men not women."
Despite complications with Church, and with the Pope annuling his marriage to Urraca, Alfonso, nevertheless, continued to use his connections with her in order to keep the use of his styles, wishing to tie several kingdoms into one, though this would be successful with generations later only. Yet, upon the death of his wife, he ceased to style himself as emperor, but continued to fight away the moors and conquering cities, as we can see in the next paragraph:
"Over the next fifteen years his raids into Muslim territory continued, with more cities falling under his control. His success were complicated by disputes with leaders of the other Christian kingdoms in Northern Spain and France, which on several occasions forced him to abandon his campaigns to secure his own territory. His war effort depended on soldiers from other Christian kingdoms, which frequently pulled him out of the battle zoe to resolve political issues."
Finally, it was on the 8th day of September of 1134 that Alfonso the Battler died, months later after conquering Fraga with only 500 soldiers. His death resulted in a crisis, since his younger brother was tied to his vows, once he was a monk, and consequently some of his conquests were dissociated, though Aragon and Catalunia were united, whilst Aragon and Navarre were separated. As Ramiro, his brother, was a monk, another partisan came to succeed Alfonso, his name being Pedro de Altarés, the grandson of Alfonso's illegitimate uncle, but in the end all sides came to support Ramiro, who received permission to break his vows in order to keep the Aragonese nobility in order.
But Ramiro, who became Ramiro II, would not last much on his throne. He did marry and had a daughter, but he repudiated his consort and abdicated three years later, leaving to his son-in-law rule as Ramon Berenguer IV until his daughter Petronilla reached majority. But she too would eventually abdicate and it was not until Alfonso II came to rule that things started to stabilize, despite a pretender to his throne came to his reign claiming to be Alfonso I, but this said man, an imposter, ended hanged for treason.
Bibliography:
http://www.newhistorian.com/alfonso-battler-muslim-spain/2447/
http://www.liquisearch.com/alfonso_the_battler
http://www.liquisearch.com/imperator_totius_hispaniae/history/outside_of_le%C3%B3n_and_castile/alfonso_the_battler
http://www.liquisearch.com/alfonso_the_battler/death/pseudo-alfonso_the_battler
https://tenthmedieval.wordpress.com/tag/alfonso-the-battler/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfonso_the_Battler
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sancho_Ram%C3%ADrez
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petronilla_of_Aragon
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