Alfonso VI of Castile

Alfonso VI
13th century miniature of Alfonso VI from the Tumbo A codex at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
Emperor of All Hispania
Reign	1077 – 1109
Coronation	1077
Predecessor	Ferdinand I
Successor	Urraca & Alfonso
King of León
Reign	1065 – 1072 1072 – 1109
Predecessor	Ferdinand I Sancho II
Successor	Sancho II Urraca
King of Castile
Reign	1072 – 1109
Predecessor	Sancho II
Successor	Urraca
King of Galicia and Portugal
Reign	1071 – 1072 (jointly with Sancho) 1072 – 1109
Predecessor	García II Sancho II
Successor	Sancho II Urraca
Born	c. 1040 – 1041 Compostela
Died	1 July 1109 Toledo
Burial	Sahagún, León, San Mancio chapel in the royal monastery of Santos Facundo y Primitivo
Spouses	Agnes of Aquitaine Constance of Burgundy Berta Isabel Beatrice
Issue	Urraca Sancho Alfónsez Infanta Sancha Elvira, Queen of Sicily Elvira, Countess of Toulouse Teresa, Countess of Portugal
House	Jiménez
Father	Ferdinand I of León
Mother	Sancha of León

Alfonso VI (c. 1040 – 1041 – 1 July 1109), nicknamed the Brave (El Bravo) or the Valiant, was the son of King Ferdinand I of León and Queen Sancha, daughter of Alfonso V and sister of Bermudo III. He became king of León (1065–72) and of Galicia (1071 – 1109), and then king of the reunited Castile and León (1072 – 1109).

After the conquest of Toledo in 1085, Alfonso proclaimed himself victoriosissimo rege in Toleto, et in Hispania et Gallecia (most victorious king of Toledo, and of Hispania and Galicia) The Battle of Sagrajas (1086) and the Battle of Uclés (1108), in which his only son and heir, Sancho Alfónsez died, constituted defeats for the Leonese and Castilian armies.

The son of Ferdinand I, King of León and Count of Castile and his wife, Queen Sancha, Alfonso was a "Leonese Infante with Navarrese and Castilian blood". His paternal grandparents were Sancho Garcés III, king of Pamplona and his wife Muniadona of Castile, and his maternal grandparents were Alfonso V of León (after whom he was probably named) and his first wife Elvira Menéndez.

The year of Alfonso's birth is not recorded in medieval documentation. A contemporary text of the anonymous Chronicler of Sahagún, who met the monarch and was present when he died, relates that he died at age 62 after reigning 44 years, indicating that he was born in the second half of 1047 or in the first half of 1048. Bernard F. Reilly says he died at age 72, which would place his birth in 1037.