King of Portugal
Afonso III
(
Portuguese pronunciation:
[??fosu]
; rare English alternatives:
Alphonzo
or
Alphonse
), or
Affonso
(Archaic Portuguese),
Alfonso
or
Alphonso
(
Portuguese-Galician
) or
Alphonsus
(
Latin
),
the Boulonnais
(
Port.
o Bolonhes
),
King of Portugal
(5 May 1210 – 16 February 1279) was the first to use the title
King of Portugal and the
Algarve
, from 1249. He was the second son of King
Afonso II of Portugal
and his wife,
Urraca of Castile
; he succeeded his brother, King
Sancho II of Portugal
, who died on 4 January 1248.
[1]
Early life
[
edit
]
Afonso was born in
Coimbra
. As the second son of King
Afonso II of Portugal
, he was not expected to inherit the throne, which was destined to go to his elder brother
Sancho
.
[2]
He lived mostly in France, where he married Countess
Matilda II of Boulogne
in 1238, thereby becoming
count of Boulogne
,
Mortain
,
Aumale
and
Dammartin-en-Goele
jure uxoris
.
[3]
Reign
[
edit
]
In 1246, conflicts between his brother, the king, and the church became unbearable. In 1247,
Pope Innocent IV
ordered Sancho II to be removed from the throne and to be replaced by the Count of Boulogne. Afonso did not refuse the papal order and consequently marched to Portugal. Since Sancho was not a popular king the order was not hard to enforce, and he fled in exile to Toledo, Castile, where he died on 4 January 1248. Until his brother's death and his own eventual coronation, Afonso retained and used the title of
Visitador, Curador e Defensor do Reino
(Overseer, Curator and Defender of the Kingdom).
[4]
In order to ascend the throne Afonso abdicated his rights to the county of Boulogne in 1248. In 1253, he divorced Matilde in order to marry
Beatrice of Castile
, illegitimate daughter of
Alfonso X, King of Castile
, and
Mayor Guillen de Guzman
.
[5]
Determined not to make the same mistakes as his brother, Afonso III paid special attention to what the middle class, composed of merchants and small land owners, had to say. In 1254, in the city of
Leiria
, he held the first session of the
Cortes
, a general assembly comprising the nobility, the middle class and representatives of all
municipalities
. He also made laws intended to restrain the upper classes from abusing the least favored part of the population. Remembered as a notable administrator, Afonso III founded several towns, granted the title of city to many others and reorganized public administration.
[6]
Afonso showed extraordinary vision for the time. Progressive measures taken during his kingship include: representatives of the commons, besides the nobility and clergy, were involved in governance; the end of preventive arrests such that henceforward all arrests had to be first presented to a judge to determine the detention measure; and fiscal innovation, such as negotiating extraordinary taxes with the mercantile classes and direct taxation of the Church, rather than debasement of the coinage. These may have led to his excommunication by the Holy See and possibly precipitated his death, and his son
Denis
's premature rise to the throne at only 18 years old.
[7]
Secure on the throne, Afonso III then proceeded to make war with
the Muslim communities that still thrived in the south
. In his reign the
Algarve
became part of the kingdom, following the capture of
Faro
.
[8]
Final years and death
[
edit
]
Following his success against the Moors, Afonso III had to deal with a political situation concerning the country's borders with Castile. The neighbouring kingdom considered that the newly acquired lands of the Algarve should be Castilian, not Portuguese, which led to a series of wars between the two kingdoms. Finally, in 1267, the
Treaty of Badajoz (1267)
was signed in
Badajoz
, determining that the southern border between Castile and Portugal should be the River
Guadiana
, as it is today.
[9]
Afonso died in
Alcobaca
,
Coimbra
or
Lisbon
, aged 68.
Marriages and descendants
[
edit
]
Afonso's first wife was
Matilda II, Countess of Boulogne
, daughter of
Renaud, Count of Dammartin
, and
Ida, Countess of Boulogne
. They had no surviving children. He divorced Matilda in 1253 and, in the same year, married
Beatrice of Castile
, illegitimate daughter of
Alfonso X, King of Castile
, and
Mayor Guillen de Guzman
.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Ennes, Antonio (1876).
Historia de Portugal
(in Portuguese)
. Retrieved
17 April
2019
.
- ^
Espana Sagrada. Tomo XVII
(in Spanish). En la Oficina de Antonio Marin. 1763
. Retrieved
17 April
2019
.
- ^
Dinis (King of Portugal); Ferreira, Manuel Pedro (2005).
Cantus Coronatus: 7 Cantigas d'El-Rei Dom Dinis: by King Dinis of Portugal
. Edition Reichenberger.
ISBN
9783937734095
.
- ^
Lumbreras, Joaquin (1841).
Libertades de la Iglesia espanola vindicadas contra la alocucion del beatisimo padre Gregorio XVI en el consistorio secreto de 1o de marzo de este ano
(in Spanish). Imprenta de la Viuda de Calero.
- ^
Catalogo historico y bibliografico de la Exposicion Internacional de Barcelona (1929-1930) - VOLUMEN I
(in Spanish). Madrid: Real Academia de la Historia. 1931.
ISBN
9788496849341
.
- ^
Fernando de Olaguer-Feliu Alonso (27 January 1998).
Arte medieval espanol hasta el ano 1000
(in Spanish). Encuentro.
ISBN
9788474904888
.
- ^
Jimenez, Manuel Gonzalez (1991).
Diplomatario Andaluz de Alfonso X
(in Spanish). El Monte, Caja de Huelva y Sevilla.
ISBN
978-84-87062-05-6
.
- ^
Wheeler, Douglas L.; Opello, Jr, Walter C. (10 May 2010).
Historical Dictionary of Portugal
. Scarecrow Press.
ISBN
9780810870758
.
- ^
Perez-Embid, Florentino (1975).
La frontera entre los reinos de Sevilla y Portugal
(in Spanish). University of Michigan: Ayuntamiento, Delegacion de Cultura, Seccion de Publicaciones.
ISBN
9788450066029
.
- ^
Rodrigues Oliveira, Ana (2010).
Rainhas Medievais de Portugal
. Lisbon: A Esfera dos Livros. pp. 138?148.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Rodrigues Oliveira, Ana (2010).
Rainhas Medievais de Portugal
. Lisbon: A Esfera dos Livros. pp. 138?139.
Afonso III of Portugal
Born:
5 May 1210
Died:
16 February 1279
|
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Preceded by
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King of Portugal
1248?1279
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Succeeded by
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Preceded by
as sole ruler
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Count of Boulogne
1238?1253
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as sole ruler
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* also an infante of Castile and Leon, Aragon, Sicily and Naples
,
§
also an infante of Spain and an archduke of Austria
,
#
also an infante of Spain
,
‡
also an imperial prince of Brazil
,
¶
also a prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duke in Saxony
,
?
also a prince of Braganza
,
¤
title removed in 1920 as their parents' marriage was deemed undynastic
,
?
claimant infante
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Children
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- Urraca Henriques, wife of Bermudo Perez de Traba
- Sancha Henriques, Lady of Braganza
- Teresa Henriques
- Henrique Henriques
- Afonso Henriques
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- Sancho had no children; he was deposed in 1247 and died the following year.
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- Constance, Queen of Castile
- Afonso IV
- Infante Afonso, Lord of Leiria
- Infanta Maria, Lady of Meneses and Orduna
- Infanta Isabel, Lady of Penela
- Infanta Constanca
- Infanta Beatriz, Lady of Lemos
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- Notes
- 1
the descendants of King Peter I and Ines de Castro's children were recognized as legitimate and were Infantes and Infantas
- 2
also an
Infante of Castile
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