Alphonso II. was born in 1152, and in 1163 succeeded his father, Raymondo V., as count of Barcelona, his mother, Petronilla, daughter of Ramiro II., king of Aragon, at the same time resigning that kingdom to him. He was frequently at war with Raymondo of Toulouse, and also directed an expedition against the Almohades, from which the invasion of Aragon by Sancho of Navarre recalled him. He assisted Alphonso of Castile against Cuença, for which service he was relieved from doing homage to Castile. He died in 1196. He was a patron of the troubadours, and wrote some poems in the Provençal language.
Alphonso III., the son of Pedro III., was born in 1265, and in 1285, on the death of his father, being absent in Majorca on an expedition against his uncle Jayme, assumed the title of king without taking the oaths of adherence to the articles to which his predecessors had subscribed. When he returned in 1286, however, he was compelled to go through the usual coronation ceremony. In 1287 he signed the Privilege of Union, which permitted his subjects to have recourse to arms to defend their liberties, and invested the justizero with the power of citing the king himself to appear before the Cortes. Alphonso's chief wars were with Jayme of Majorca, Sancho of Castile, and the pope. He died in 1291.
Alphonso IV., son of Jayme II., was born in 1299, and ascended the throne in 1327. During almost the whole of his reign he was occupied in war with the Genoese about the possession of Corsica and Sardinia. He died in 1336.
Alphonso V. of Aragon, I. of Sicily and Sardinia, and latterly I. of Naples, was born in 1385, and succeeded his father, Fernando the Just, as king of Aragon and of Sicily and Sardinia, in 1416. In 1420 Joanna I. of Naples offered to make Alphonso her successor if he would assist her against Louis of Anjou. This he did; but, owing to misunderstandings, the queen revoked her adoption of Alphonso in 1423, making Louis of Anjou her heir. Recalled to Spain immediately after by an attack made by the Castilians upon his hereditary kingdom, he left his brother Pedro as his lieutenant at Naples, which he had taken by storm the year before. On his way to Spain he captured, but generously refrained from pillaging, Marseilles, a city belonging to his rival the duke of Anjou. After restoring peace at home, Alphonso again turned his attention to Naples, where his cause now appeared to be hopeless. Louis of Anjou died in 1434, and Queen Joanna the following year, leaving Naples to Louis's brother René, who had in his possession the whole kingdom except a few fortresses which still held out for Alphonso. In the same year (1435) Alphonso laid siege to Gaeta, but the siege was raised, and Alphonso himself taken prisoner by Philippe Maria Visconti, duke of Milan. Visconti, however, being greatly pleased with the high character and noble appearance of Alphonso, soon released him, and even made him his ally. Immediately on recovering his liberty, Alphonso made a third attempt upon the kingdom of Naples. The issue of the war at first was doubtful, but latterly the arms of Alphonso were nearly everywhere victorious. He laid siege to Naples, and after an obstinate resistance captured it in 1442. The States-General were then convoked, and solemnly proclaimed Alphonso king; his election being sanctioned by Pope Eugenius IV., who had previously promised that honour to René. Alphonso now fixed his residence at Naples, and devoted himself chiefly to the improvement of his kingdom; although he was also frequently involved in the wars and disputes of the Italian princes. He died at Naples on the 27th June 1458; and was succeeded in his kingdoms of Aragon and of Sicily and Sardinia by his brother John, and in that of Naples by his natural son Ferdinand. Alphonso was undoubtedly one of the best monarchs of his name. His bravery and generalship fitted him for the warlike enterprises he had to undertake; and it is evident that, from his generous and humane disposition, as well as from his love of literature and encouragement of law and justice, his rule would have been equally successful had it been his lot to live in more peaceful times.
4th,—Portugal.—Alphonso I., Enriquez, son of Henry of Burgundy, count of Portugal, and Teresa of Castile, was born at Guimaraens in 1094. He succeeded his father in 1112, and was placed under the tutelage of his mother. When he came of age he was obliged to wrest from her by force that power which her vices and incapacity had rendered disastrous to the state. Being proclaimed sole ruler of Portugal in 1128, he defeated his mother's troops near Guimaraens, making her at the same time his prisoner. He also vanquished Alphonso Raymond of Castile, his mother's ally, and thus freed Portugal from dependence on the crown of Leon. Next turning his arms against the Moors, he obtained, on the 26th July 1139, the famous victory of Ourique, and immediately after was proclaimed king by his soldiers. Not satisfied with this, however, he assembled the Cortes of the kingdom at Lamego, where he received the crown from the archbishop of Braganza; the assembly also declaring that Portugal was no longer a dependency of Leon. Alphonso continued to distinguish himself by his exploits against the Moors, from whom he wrested Santarem in 1146, and Lisbon in 1147. Some years later he became involved in a war that had broken out among the kings of Spain; and in 1167, being disabled during an engagement near Badajoz by a fall from his horse, he was made prisoner by the soldiers of the king of Leon, and was obliged to surrender as his ransom almost all the conquests he had made in Galicia. In 1184, in spite of his great age, he had still sufficient energy to relieve his son Sancho, who was besieged in Santarem by the Moors. He died shortly after, in 1185. Alphonso was a man of gigantic stature, being 7 feet high according to some authors. He has long been regarded as a saint by the Portuguese, who reverence him both on account of his personal character and as the founder of their kingdom.
Alphonso II., “The Fat,” was born in 1185, and succeeded his father, Sancho I., in 1211. He was engaged in war with the Moors, and gained a victory over them at Alcazar do Sal in 1217. He also endeavoured to weaken the power of the clergy, and to apply a portion of their enormous revenues to purposes of national utility. Having been excommunicated for this by the pope (Honorius III.), he promised to make amends to the church; but he died in 1223 before doing anything to fulfil his engagement. Alphonso framed a code which introduced several beneficial changes into the laws of his kingdom.
Alphonso III., son of Alphonso II., was born in 1210, and succeeded his brother, Sancho II., in 1248. Besides making war upon the Moors, he was, like his father, frequently embroiled with the church. In his reign Algarve became part of Portugal. Alphonso died in 1279.
Alphonso IV. was born in 1290, and in 1325 succeeded his father, Dionis, whose death he had hastened by his intrigues and rebellions. Hostilities with the Castilians and with the Moors occupied many years of his reign, during which he gained some successes; but by consenting to the barbarous murder of Iñez de Castro, who was secretly espoused to his son Pedro, he has fixed an indelible stain on his character. Enraged at this barbarous act, Pedro put himself at the head of an army, and devastated the whole of the country between the Douro and the Minho before he was reconciled to his father. Alphonso died almost immediately after, on the 12th May 1357.
