Historical Figures Codexery

Afonso I of Portugal

First king of Portugal, founder of the kingdom and key figure in the Reconquista.

Dom Afonso I, also called Afonso Henriques, was the first king of Portugal, reigning from 26 July 1139 until his death on 6 December 1185.[1] He is nicknamed "the Conqueror", "the Founder", and "the Great" by the Portuguese.[1] In Portugal, Afonso I is regarded as a national hero and the person who established the country.[2]

Quick Facts

Reign
26 July 1139 – 6 December 1185
Coronation
25 July 1139
Successor
Sancho I
Birth name
Alfonso Enriques
Born
1106, 25 July 1109, August 1109 or 1111
Birthplace
Guimarães (some argue Viseu)
Died
6 December 1185 (aged c. 73–79)
Place of death
Coimbra, Portugal

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Afonso's birthplace is disputed among scholars, with Viseu, Coimbra, and Guimarães all proposed by different historians.[3] His birth year is uncertain, with evidence suggesting 1106, 1109, or 1111.[1][4] Afonso conquered Santarém and Lisbon from the Moors in 1147.[2] He built several monasteries, notably the Alcobaça Monastery, and granted privileges to religious orders.[2]

He died on 6 December 1185, shortly after the failed Almohad siege of Santarém.[2] Afonso overcame the troops of his mother and her ally, Count Fernando Pérez de Traba of Galicia, at the Battle of São Mamede near Guimarães in 1128, and subsequently assumed control of the County of Portucale.[5] During a 1169 engagement near Badajoz, Afonso was captured by soldiers of King Ferdinand II of León and was forced to surrender nearly all the conquests he had made north of the Minho River as his ransom.[2]

What the cited sources add

A 2007 biography by historian José Mattoso, published by Temas e Debates, covers Afonso's life and reign.[6][3] Mattoso's analysis of contemporary chancery documents indicates that Afonso's most likely tutor was Ermígio Moniz, not the traditionally claimed Egas Moniz.[7][6] The traditional birthplace of Guimarães remains widely accepted in popular conscience despite scholarly challenges.[3] Recent architectural and archaeological evidence has cast doubt on the traditional site of Afonso's baptism in Guimarães.[8]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Afonso I of Portugal" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Or also Affonso (Archaic Portuguese-Galician) or Alphonso (Portuguese-Galician) or Alphonsus (Latin version), sometimes rendered in English as Alphonzo or Alpho; Congress, "Afonso I, King of Portugal, 1109?–1185", id.loc.gov; "Afonso I king of Portugal", Encyclopedia Britannica; Costa, "Corografia portugueza, e descripçam topografica do famoso reyno de Portugal", Deslandes, 1706 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Afonso I of Portugal" (CC BY-SA 4.0) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Afonso I of Portugal" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mattoso 2014, p. 26–27 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Afonso I of Portugal" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Estefânio, "A data de nascimento de Afonso I", Medievalista, July 2010; Estefânio, "De novo a data e o local de nascimento de Afonso I", Medievalista, January 2016 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Afonso I of Portugal" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Medieval Iberia: An Encyclopedia", Routledge, 4 December 2013 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Open Library record, ISBN 9789727599110 ("D. Afonso Henriques"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Afonso I of Portugal" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mattoso, "João Soares Coelho e a gesta de Egas Moniz. In Portugal Medieval: Novas Interpretações", Imprensa Nacional – Casa da Moeda, 1985, p. 409–435; Mattoso, "D. Afonso Henriques", Temas e Debates, 2007, p. 35–38 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Afonso I of Portugal" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Álvaro, "Batismo de Dom Afonso Henriques por São Geraldo, Arcebispo de Braga", Museu de Alberto Sampaio, 1600s; Cunha, "Primeira [-segunda] parte, da historia ecclesiastica dos arcebispos de Braga, e dos Santos, e Varoes illustres, que florecerão neste arcebispado. Por dom Rodrigo da Cunha arcebispo, & senhor de Braga, primàz das (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Afonso I of Portugal (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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