Emperor Alfonso Castile SPAIN, VI

   Other names for Alfonso were CASTILE King, "The Valiant", SPAIN Emperor, LEON King and "El Bravo".

   Ancestral File Number: 9HM1-KC. User ID: 151278018-8026.

   General Notes:

"El Bravo", "The Valient", King of LEON Reigned 1065 Abdicated 1070, King of
CASTILE and LEON Reigned 1072-1109, Emperor of SPAIN Reigned 1077-1109.

Not Married Ximena Nunez De Guzman.

BOOKS
Kings and Queens of Europe, Genealogical Chart, Anne Taute and Romilly Squire, Taute, 1989: "Portugal Royalty: Henrique (Henry/Bourgogne) Died 1112, Mar Tarasia Died 1130 illegitimate daughter of Alfonso V King of Castilla & Leon... Alfonso VI, Son of Fernando I King of Castilla & Leon and Sancha Leon, King of Leon 1065-1070 (Abdicated) King of Castilla & Leon 1072-1109 Emperor of Espana c1077, Mar Constance Daughter of Robert of Bourgogne, Died 1109."

Wall Chart of World History,Edward Hull, 1988, Studio Editions, Castile 1072: "Alfonso, King of Castile 1072-1109..."

The Story of Civilization, Will Durant, Vol IV, The Age of Faith, Bk V, The Climax of Christianity, Ch XXV, The Recovery of Europe, Sec XIII, Portugal, p701: "In the year 1095 Count Henry of Burgundy, a crusading knight in Spain, so pleased Alfonso VI of Castile and Leon that the King gave him a daughter, Theresa, in marriage..."

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1981, Micropaedia, Vol I, p232, Alfonso VI of Castile and Leon: "Also called El Bravo, Born Bef June 1040, Died 1109 Toledo Spain, a king whose oppression of his Muslim vassals led to the invasion of Spain by an Almoravid army from North Africa (1086). His name is also associated with the national hero of Spain, Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar `El Cid'."

Encyclopaedia Britannica 1981 Macropaedia Vol I p484 Alfonso VI of Castile and Leon: "The Spanish Chrisian king Alfonso VI ruled over Leon from 1065 until his death in 1109 and over Castile from 1072. He is remembered for his relationship with Spain's national hero, Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar (el Cid), and because his oppressive policies toward his Muslim vassals led to the invasion of Spain by the Almoravids in 1086. But if his reign was politically unsuccess- ful, Alfonso VI carried out an important cultural task by Europeanizing his dominions. Alfonso married Constance of Burgundy, and influences from across the Pyrenees showed themselves in the introduction of the Romanesque style in art, the adoption of the Roman instead of the Mozarabic liturgy, the replace- ment of Visigothic by Carolingian script, and the energetic support that Alfon- so gave to Cluniac monasticism, as well as in his reconstruction and safeguard- ing of the pilgrim road to Santiago.
"Alfonso was born sometime before June 1040, the second son of King Ferdinand I and his wife Sancha; he was educated by Raimundo, later the bishop of Palencia and by Pedro Ansurez, the Count of Carrion. On his death in 1065, Ferdinand left to Alfonso the kingdom of Leon together with trubute paid by Muslim kingdom of Toledo. These possession aroused the envious hostility of Alfonso's elder brother, Sancho II, who had inherited the kingdom of Castile and the trubute of Saragossa. Alfonso was defeated by his brother in two battles; after the defeat at Llantada (1068) he managed to retain his kingdom, but after that at Golpejera (1072) he was captured and exiled, living for a short while at the court of his vassal Ma'mun, the Muslim king of Toledo. Soon Alfonso's sister Urraca stirred up a rebellion in Leon, and Sancho besieged her in the walled city of Zamora. During the siege, he was killed, perhaps at Urraca's instigation. She was clearly on Alfonso's side, and some modern hist- orians have even suggested that they had an incestuous relationship.
"With Sancho's death, Alfonso recovered his own kingdom of Leon and inherited (1072) thatof Castile. He also occupied Galicia, which Sancho had kept from their younger brother Garcia; Alfonso kept Garcia in prison until his death. A late story, in which it is alleged that Alfonso took an oath in St Gadea's Church, Burgos, that he had had no share in Sancho's murder, probably reflects Castilian reluctance to accept him as king.
"Alfonso's reign now entered on a perios of success. He seized Rioja and the Basque provinces and received the feudal homage of Sancho Ramirez for the region of Navarre to the north of the Ebro River.
"By 1077 he had assumed the title `Imperator Totius Hispaniae' or `Emperor of All Spain', in which role other Christian kings accepted him. He then began the conquest of Toledo and after a long siege, occupied it in May 1085. This was a vital conquest, which recovered for Christian Spain one of the most important historical, strategic, and cultural centres of the peninsula, one that had been in the possession of the Muslims since the early 8th century. Alfonso suffered a terrible defeat by the Muslim ruler al-Mu`tamid of Seville in alliance with Yusuf ibn Tashufin, the Almoravid (Berber) emir of North Africa and his Saharan tribes on October 23 1086 at Zallaqah, near Badajoz. Alfonso appealed for help to the rest of Christendom, and a small crusade was organized as result. The defeat at Zallaqah seriously lessened Alfonso's influence over the ta'ifah kingdoms. It also led to a reconciliation withRodrigo Diaz, the Cid. Their relationship had been difficult from the start, because the Cid had taken a prominent part in the campaigns of Sancho II against Alfonso (Battles of Llantada 1068, and Golpejera 1072). Alfonso entrusted the Cid withthe occupation and defense of eastern Spain, and Rodrigo carried out this task with great success.
"Between 1086 and 1109 Alfonso VI suffered constant defeat by the Almoravids;in the last battle, that of Ucles in 1108, he lost his only son,Sancho. It was charactieristic of his indomitable spirit that he at once arranged for his daughter, Urraca, to marry Alfonso I of Aragon so that the war against the Almoravids should be continued after his death, even though it meant that Leon and Castile would be ruled by an Aragonese prince. He died in Toledo in 1109."

ANCESTRAL FILE
Ancestral File Ver 4.10 9HM1-KC Alfonso VI CASTILE King, 8XQ3-M5 Alphonso VI CASTILE King Born 1030, 9GB6-7B Alfonse VI LEON & CASTILE King, EB Macro "Emperor of All Spain", EB Micro "El Bravo", Ancestral File Ver 4.11 9HM1-KC Alfonso VI "The Valient" King of CASTILE AND LEON Born Bef Jun 1040 Burgos Burgos Spain Mar 8 May1081 Constance Princes of GERMANY 9HM1-LJ Dijon Cote-d'Or France Died 29 Jun 1109 Toledo Toledo Spain.

PEDIGREE RESOURCE FILE
PRF Compact Disc #16 Pin #603341 Afonso.

   Marriage Information:

Alfonso married Duchess Constance De BURGUNDY, daughter of Duke Robert France BURGUNDY, I and Ella De Semur SEIGNEUR, on 8 May 1081 in Dijon, Cote-D'or, Bourgogne, France. (Duchess Constance De BURGUNDY was born about 1032-1046 in Dijon, Cote-D'or, Bourgogne, France and died in Jan 1092-1093.)

   Marriage Information:

Alfonso also married Ximena Nunez De GUZMAN, daughter of Nuno Rodrigues De GUSMAN. (Ximena Nunez De GUZMAN was born about 1032-1048 in Leon, Leon, Spain and died in 1128.)

   Marriage Information:

Alfonso also married Bertha De BURGUNDY before 25 Nov 1093 in Dijon, Cote-D'or, Bourgogne, France.

   Marriage Information:

Alfonso also married Princess Agnes AQUITAINE in 1096 in Toulouse, Haute Garonne, France. The marriage ended in divorce.

   Marriage Information:

Alfonso also married Princess Elizabeth Zayda Seville DENIA, daughter of Mohammed, about 1098-1099 in Denia, Alicante, Spain. (Princess Elizabeth Zayda Seville DENIA was born about 1066.)

   Marriage Information:

Alfonso also married Princess Beatrix AQUITAINE in 1108 in Toulouse, Haute Garonne, France.