Alfonso XI | |
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Depiction in an illumination of Froissart's chronicles, c. 1410.
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King of Castile and León | |
Reign | 7 September 1313 – 26/27 March 1350 |
Predecessor | Ferdinand IV |
Successor | Peter |
Born |
Salamanca |
13 August 1311
Died | 26/27 March 1350 Gibraltar |
(aged 38)
Burial | Royal Collegiate Church of Saint Hippolytus |
Consort |
Constance of Peñafiel Maria of Portugal |
Issue among others... |
Peter of Castile Henry II of Castile |
House | Ivrea Burgundy |
Father | Ferdinand IV of Castile |
Mother | Constance of Portugal |
Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Signature |
Alfonso XI of Castile (13 August 1311 – 26/27 March 1350), called the Avenger (el Iusteçero), was the king of Castile, León and Galicia. He was the son of Ferdinand IV of Castile and his wife Constance of Portugal. Upon his father's death in 1312, several disputes ensued over who would hold regency, which were resolved in 1313.
Once Alfonso was declared adult in 1325, he began a reign that would serve to strengthen royal power. His achievements include solving the problems of the Gibraltar Strait and the conquest of Algeciras.
Alfonso XI was the son of King Ferdinand IV of Castile and Constance of Portugal. His father died when Alfonso was one year old. His grandmother, María de Molina, his mother Constance, his granduncle Infante John of Castile, Lord of Valencia de Campos, son of King Alfonso X of Castile and uncle Infante Peter of Castile, Lord of Cameros, son of King Sancho IV assumed the regency. Queen Constance died first on 18 November 1313, followed by Infantes John and Peter during a military campaign against Granada in 1319, which left Dowager Queen María as the only regent until her death on 1 July 1321.
After the death of the infantes John and Peter in 1319, Philip (son of Sancho IV and María de Molina, thus brother of Infante Peter), Juan Manuel (the king's second-degree uncle by virtue of being Ferdinand III's grandson) and Juan el Tuerto (his second degree uncle, son of John of Castile who died in 1319) split the kingdom among themselves according to their aspirations for regency, even as it was being looted by moors and the rebellious nobility.