Alfonso XI of Castile

Alfonso XI of Castile, known as «the Justiciero» (Salamanca, August 13, 1311-Gibraltar, March 26, 1350), was King of Castile, great-grandson of Alfonso X "el Sabio".

After his father, Fernando IV, died in 1312, a multitude of disputes developed between various aspirants to hold the regency, resolved in 1313. The infantes Juan, the king's great-uncle, and Pedro, the king's uncle, formed a regency, and Guardianship was assumed by his mother Constanza, until her death on November 18, 1313, and later by his grandmother María de Molina. In 1319, as a consequence of a military campaign against Granada, the aforementioned tutors don Juan and don Pedro died, leaving María de Molina as sole regent until her death on July 1, 1321. After the death of the aforementioned tutors in 1319, the infante Felipe —son of Sancho IV of Castile and María de Molina and therefore brother of the deceased infante Pedro— don Juan Manuel —second uncle of the king for being the grandson of Fernando III— and Juan de Haro "el Tuerto" —son of the deceased tutor Juan and second uncle of the king - divided the kingdom on the occasion of his aspirations to the regency, while it was sacked by the Moors and rebellious nobles. Alfonso, once declared of legal age in 1325, assumed the throne, achieving during his reign the strengthening of royal power, solving the problems of the Strait of Gibraltar and the conquest of Algeciras.

Biography

Statue of Alfonso XI in Algeciras.

Regency (1312-1325)

Son of Ferdinand IV of Castile and Constanza of Portugal and grandson of María de Molina, who held the regency during Alfonso's minority, since he ascended the throne of Castile and León when he was one year old. His paternal grandmother María de Molina and widow of the monarch Sancho IV was the main regent or tutor during her grandson's minority, during which she had to deal with the struggles between the infantes Pedro, her own son, and Juan, uncle of Ferdinand IV. These conflicts explain why separate Cortes were convened in 1318 in the kingdoms of Castilla, in Valladolid, and León, in Medina del Campo. A year later there was a major offensive against the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada, which ended in a disastrous defeat for the Castilians and the death of the infants Pedro and Juan. Her grandmother María de Molina died on June 21, 1321, and she was replaced by, among other personalities, the noble writer Juan Manuel.

His minority was very negative in terms of abuses by the powerful and nobles with respect to the people, as expressed in the Chronicle of Alfonso XI. These events and the influence of his grandmother María de Molina made him a monarch very committed to justice and compliance with the laws, with which he earned his nickname.

Strengthening of royal power

Alfonso XI assumed full royal power in 1325, when he was not yet fourteen years old. As soon as he assumed royal power, he began laborious work to strengthen royal power by dividing his enemies. He exerted great energy to keep the nobility under control, since he took power, not caring in many cases to achieve this submission resorting to the execution of the nobles or even murders and ambushes, as happened with Juan de Haro el Tuerto, in the city of Toro in 1326, instilling a justified terror in the nobles that was able to reflect the Romancero, for example in "Don García de Padilla / that one who God forgive...".

In 1331, Alfonso de la Cerda paid homage to Alfonso to settle his claims to the Castilian and Leonese throne. In 1332 he knew how to put down, with the help of his subjects, the revolt that Juan Manuel and Alfonso IV of Portugal made against him. These events made him neglect the Reconquest, losing Gibraltar.

Battles against Muslims

Alfonso XI and his nobles. Book of the Coronation of the Kings of Castile.

Alfonso XI acted aggressively against the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada, which at that time was collaborating with the Marinid Sultanate of North Africa. The monarch reached some agreements with the Crown of Aragon such as the Pact of Ágreda and the Pact of Tarazona in 1328 to jointly attack the Muslims, although they did not have positive results. Both Alfonso and Abul-Hasán sent an important naval contingent to the Strait of Gibraltar, since they knew perfectly well the importance of this geographical point in their claims to conquest. Alfonso obtained the help of the Aragonese, and the Muslim, of the Genoese. His first notable victory, with the help of the Aragonese, occurred in 1330 with the capture of Teba, to which the Marinids responded by conquering Gibraltar three years later, taking advantage of internal disputes. One of his great victories, under the command of Alonso Jofre Tenorio was the battle of Salado against the Benimerines in 1340, after which he ordered the construction of a royal palace in Tordesillas, later converted into the monastery of Santa Clara. At the end of that year he surrounded Alcalá la Real, which he managed to take on 15 August 1341, without Yusuf I, nor his vizier Ridwan being able to supply it or break the siege. The general of the African "defenders of the faith", Ozmín, tried to lead the Christian troops into a trap, but the master of Santiago did not fall into it and on August 15, 1341 Alcalá had to surrender. Days later Priego de Córdoba, Carcabuey, Rute and the Matrera tower would do so. Those expelled from Alcalá were settled in Moclín to maintain their desire for revenge. The military successes continued, due to the fact that Alfonso XI obtained a new victory in the battle of the Palmones river and, the most relevant, the conquest of the relevant Plaza del Reino de Algeciras in 1344 after a long siege, for which the Granada emir Yusuf I paid 12,000 gold doubles as outcasts. Alfonso tried on several occasions to conquer Gibraltar without success, although his victories allowed him to recover trade between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean for the Crown of Castile.

Hundred Years War

Alfonso XI managed to remain neutral during the Hundred Years' War, the great struggle that would confront the kingdoms of England and France for decades. Castilla took advantage of the English prohibition on selling wool in the cities of Flanders to export its own raw material from various Castilian cities such as Burgos, which led to a great growth in foreign trade and the establishment of Castilian colonies in cities such as Bruges.

It is also known that among his hobbies was hunting, having the town of Valporquero in León as his usual place to go hunting, next to its caves. During his reign the so-called Libro de la Montería de Alfonso XI was written, since its authorship is debated. Alfonso XI is credited with a love song addressed to Leonor de Guzmán.^{[citation required]}

Legislation and Justice

One of the most important aspects of his interest was to modernize and legally unify his kingdom in the face of the problems caused by the application of the very diverse ancient jurisdictions, in front of the royal laws, in addition to the concern, to a large extent, for the strict compliance with justice, and for that reason his nickname of "the Justiciero", reflecting his image as a legislator and jurist king.

The greatest legislative achievement of his reign was reflected in the Ordenamiento de Alcalá, of 1348. While Alfonso X himself had tried to impose the royal unitary application above local ordinances, through the Siete Partidas, without succeeding, Alfonso XI cautiously managed to put the Ordenamiento into force, based on them, but with some nuances so that they were not rejected. These ordenamientos were so successful that they were in in force until the XIX century, when the Civil Code was promulgated.

In the order of Alcalá, an order of priority of legal sources was established, where in the first place would be the laws contained in the Ordenamiento itself, followed by those corresponding to the council privileges and finally, those contained in Headings.

Death and burial

Sarcophagus of Alfonso XI in the Royal Colegiata of San Hipólito in Córdoba.

He died at the site of Gibraltar victim of the black plague, on the night of March 25 to 26, Thursday and Friday of Holy Week in 1350, being the only king of Europe (besides Queen Margaret I of Denmark) who died for this reason. His body was later taken to Seville and in 1371 transferred to the Royal Chapel of the Cathedral of Córdoba, where he remained for more than three hundred years, in the company of his father Fernando IV, also buried there.

On August 8, 1736, the remains of Fernando IV and Alfonso XI were transferred to the Royal Collegiate Church of San Hipólito in that city, founded by Alfonso XI in 1343 to commemorate the Battle of Salado. The mortal remains of both Monarchs rest in red marble sarcophagi, built in 1846.

Marriage

Alfonso XI married his cousin María de Portugal in the summer of 1328 in the town of Alfayates and, once the ceremony was over, the bride and groom headed for Fuenteguinaldo. They reciprocally handed over various castles and fortresses. However, the monarch had met a year earlier in Seville, after a military campaign in Olvera, Leonor de Guzmán, an Andalusian noblewoman from whom he never separated until her death and in whose chronicle describes it as:

It was, very rich and very fixed owner, and it was in fermosura the most betting muger that avian in the King.

Chronicle of Alfonso XI

The initial absence of children until around 1333 in the royal marriage was detrimental to Queen Maria of Portugal, who was excluded from playing a more active role and relegated to the Monastery of San Clemente, where her remains currently rest. Over the years Leonor became the king's main advisor, making her one of the most powerful women in Europe and de facto queen of Castile. After the death of Alfonso XI in 1350, Eleanor fell into disgrace and was finally assassinated by Pedro I and María of Portugal, although her own son Enrique II managed to avenge her eighteen years later after killing Pedro I and establishing himself as King of Castile, inaugurating the Trastámara dynasty.

Offspring

After a first unconsummated marriage, and later annulled, with Constanza Manuel, daughter of Don Juan Manuel, he married on June 24, 1328 in Alfaiates (Portugal) with his first cousin María de Portugal, daughter of Alfonso IV of Portugal, from which he had two children:

Genealogy of the Kings of Castile, Peter I the Cruel and Henry II of Trastamara

• Fernando (1332–1333), died before he was one year old.
• Pedro I de Castilla (1334–1369), nicknamed the Cruel for their detractors and the Justice by his supporters, killed by his half brother Henry II, Count of Trastámara.

From the year 1331/1332 he had ten children with Leonor de Guzmán:

• Pedro de Aguilar (1331/1332–1338), I señor de Aguilar de Campoo, Liébana and La Pernía and the villas of Orduña, Paredes de Nava, Baena, Luque and Zuheros and the biggest chancellor of Castilla.
• Sancho Alfonso de Castilla (1332/1333–1342), called "the Mudo", I lord of Ledesma, Béjar, Granadilla, Montemayor, Galisteo, Salvatierra and other places, for a short period of time, lord of Cabrera and Ribera, and alferez of the king.
• Enrique II de Castilla (1333/1334–1379), twin of the following, lord of the county of Noreña, count of Trastámara, lord of Lemos and Sarria, in Galicia, and the towns of Cabrera and Ribera, founder of the House of Trastámara.
• Fadrique Alfonso de Castilla (1333/1334–1358), the twin of the former, master of the Order of Santiago, lord of Haro, greater advance of the border of Andalusia and king's major waiter; of whom the admirals of Castile-duques de Medina de Rioseco (Casa de Enríquez) descended, he was the first of the brothers who was killed by order of Peter;
• Fernando Alfonso de Castilla (1334–1350), I lord of Ledesma, Haro, Béjar, Granadilla, Montemayor, Galisteo, Salvatierra and other places.
• Tello de Castilla (1337–1370), I señor de Aguilar de Campoo, Castañeda, Berlanga, Monteagudo and consort of Lara and Vizcaya, and of whom the Marquess de Aguilar de Campoo descend;
• Juan Alfonso de Castilla (1340–1359), I lord of Jerez de los Caballeros and later of Ledesma, Salvatierra, Montemayor, Miranda, Galisteo and Granadilla, ordered him to kill his half brother Pedro I of Castile;
• Juana Alfonso de Castilla (1342-after 1376), I Sra de Medina de Rioseco, Tordehumos, Paredes de Nava and other places, married in first nupcias with Fernán Ruiz de Castro and in second with Felipe de Castro;
• Sancho de Castilla (1342–1374), I conde de Alburquerque and I señor de Ledesma, Haro, Briones, Belorado, Cerezo, Alba de Liste, Medellín, Tiedra and Montalbán. It happened to his brother Tello as king Henry II of Castile's elférez, who was his brother in 1371;
• Pedro Alfonso de Castilla (1345–1359), ordered him to kill his half brother Pedro I of Castile.

Biography

He was this king Don Alfonso not very great of body; but of good size, and of good strength, and white, and blond, and frank, and mighty, and vicious in wars.

Ancestors

Additional bibliography