Alfonso IX

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: IX Alfonso
• Birth: 1166
• Birth: 15 Aug 1171, Zamora, Leon, Spain
• Fact: Between 1188 and 1230, King of Leon
• Death: 1229

Notes:

Family History Records show their marriage was annuled. King of Leon 1188-1230.

Alfonso IX (August 15, 1171 ? September 23 or 24, 1230), first cousin of Alfonso VIII of Castile and numbered next to him as being a junior member of the family, is said by Ibn Khaldun to have been called the Baboso or Slobberer because he was subject to fits of rage during which he foamed at the mouth, was the king of LeÛn from the death of his father Ferdinand II in 1188 until his own death.

Alfonso was the only son of King Ferdinand II of LeÛn and Urraca of Portugal. Though he took a part in the work of the reconquest, this king is chiefly remembered by the difficulties into which his successive marriages led him with the pope. He was first married in 1191 to his cousin Teresa of Portugal, who bore him two daughters, and a son who died young.

The marriage was declared null by the pope, to whom Alfonso paid no attention till he was presumably tired of his wife. It cannot have been his conscience which constrained him to leave Teresa, for his next step was to marry Berenguela of Castile in 1197, who was his second cousin. For this act of contumacy the king and kingdom were placed under interdict.

The pope was, however, compelled to modify his measures by the threat that if the people could not obtain the services of religion they would not support the clergy, and that heresy would spread. The king was left under interdict personally, but to that he showed himself indifferent, and he had the support of his clergy. Berenguela left him after the birth of five children, and the king then returned to Teresa, to whose daughters he left his kingdom by will.

Alfonso's children by Teresa of Portugal were:

Sancha (c. 1192-1270)
Dulce, also called Aldonza (c. 1195-c.1243)
Fernando (1204-August 1214)
His eldest daughter, Sancha, was engaged to her cousin King Henry I of Castile, but Henry died in 1217 before the marriage could be solemnized. Wanting to disinherit his eldest son, Fernando, King Alfonso invited John of Brienne to marry his daughter Sancha and thus inherit the Leonese throne. However, Queen Berenguela convinced John of Brienne to marry one of her daughters instead. Though she was the nominal heiress on her father's death in 1230, Sancha was easily set aside by Berenguela and Fernando. Sancha became a nun at Cozollos, where she died in 1270; she was later beatified. Her sister Dulce-Aldonza spent her life with their mother in Portugal.

Alfonso married Berengaria Of CASTILE before 1190, and was divorced in 1204. Berengaria (daughter of Alfonso VIII "the Good" and Alianor Of ENGLAND) was born between 1171 and 1181 in Burgos, Castile,Spain; died on 08 Nov 1245 in Burgos, Castile,Spain. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Alfonso Lord Of MOLINA was born in 1205; died in 1272 in Salamanca, Spain.
2. Eleanora Of LEON was born between 1198 and 1199; died on 12 Nov 1210.
3. Berengaria Of LEON was born before 1204; died on 12 Apr 1237.
4. Constanza Of LEON was born in 1205; died on 07 Sep 1242.
5. Ferdinand III "The Saint" of CASTILE was born in 1200 in Near Salamanca; died on 30 May 1252 in Seville; was buried in Sevilla Cathedral.

Family/Spouse: Teresa Of PORTUGAL. Teresa (daughter of Sancho I King Of PORTUGAL and Dulce Of BARCELONA) was born in 1181; died in 1250. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Fernando Of LEON was born in 1204; died in 1214.
2. Dulce Of LEON was born after 1195; died after 1243.
3. Sancha Of LEON was born after 1192; died in 1270.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: Was the first King to use the royal symbol of the lion in a truly heraldic form.
• Fact: Between 1157 and 1188, King of Leon
• Fact: 1157, King of Galicia and Extremadura

Notes:

Family History records show their marriage was annuled.

Ferdinand married Urraca Of PORTUGAL between 1160 and 1165, and was divorced in 1175. Urraca (daughter of Affonso I and Matilde Of SAVOY) was born about 1150 in Portugal; died on 16 Oct 1188 in Valladolid, Spain; was buried in Monastery of Saint Juan Bautista of the Knights of St. John. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]