Alfonso I (Asturias) de Asturias
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Alfonso (Asturias) de Asturias (abt. 705 - abt. 757)

Alfonso (Alfonso I) "el Catolico, Rey de Asturias y Galicia" de Asturias formerly Asturias
Born about in Leon, Asturias, Spainmap
Ancestors ancestors
Son of and [mother unknown]
Husband of — married [date unknown] [location unknown]
Husband of — married [date unknown] [location unknown]
Descendants descendants
Died about at about age 52 in Cangas, Lugo, Galicia, Spainmap
Profile last modified | Created 21 Sep 2011
This page has been accessed 4,702 times.
European Aristocracy
Alfonso I (Asturias) de Asturias was a member of aristocracy in ancient Europe.
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Contents

Biography

Afonso I das Astúrias (? — 757) foi Rei das Astúrias e Duque da Cantábria desde 739, descendente do rei visigodo Recaredo. Alguns autores indicam que terá casado com Ermesinda, filha de Pelágio, tornando-se, portanto, seu genro e herdeiro do trono. Era herdeiro das terras na Cantábria por parte do seu pai, o Duque Pedro de Cantábria.

Afonso I autoproclama-se Rei das Astúrias, ao contrário de Pelágio e seu filho Fávila, e, com ele, retoma-se a Reconquista, aproveitando as guerras internas dos mouros. Anexa-se a Galiza em 740, Leão em 754. Governou durante 19 anos.

Descendência

De Ermesinda,
  • Fruela I das Astúrias
  • Vimarano, pai de Bermudo I das Astúrias
E de uma árabe, cujo casamento daria um filho bastardo:
  • Mauregato das Astúrias

Biography

Name

Name: Alfonso I /of ASTURIAS/. Source: #S994
Occupation: King of Asturias and Galicia (739-757)
Note: Ancestor of Eleanor of Castile, Queen of King Edward I.
  • Alfonso I of Asturias [1]
  • Alfonso I

Birth

He was born in Cantabria in 693 (Note this isn't the date we have above). [1]

He was the son of Peter of Cantabria[1]

As the son of Duke Peter of Cantabria, Alfonso held many lands in that region. [1]

739 Reign

He was King of Asturias from 739-757, preceding Favila and followed by Fruela I. He was a ruler of the Astur-Leonese dynasty.[1]

Alfonso I of Asturias, called the Catholic (el Católico), (c. 693 – 757) was the third King of Asturias, reigning from 739 to his death in 757. His reign saw an extension of the Christian domain of Asturias, reconquering Galicia and León.[1]

He succeeded his brother-in-law Favila, and was succeeded by his son, Fruela I. Alfonso's youngest son, Mauregatus, also became king, and his daughter Adosinda was consort to king Silo of Asturias. The dynasty started by Alfonso was known in contemporary Al-Andalus as the Astur-Leonese dynasty.[1]

Marriage

He married Ermesinda.[1]

He is said to have married Ermesinda, daughter of Pelagius, who founded Asturias after the Battle of Covadonga in which he reversed the Moorish conquest of the region. He succeeded Pelagius' son, his brother-in-law, Favila, on the throne after the latter's premature death.[1]

Whether Pelagius or Favila were ever considered kings in their own lifetime is debatable, but Alfonso certainly was. [1]

740 Conquest of Galicia

He began a lifelong war against the Moors. In 740, he conquered Galicia and in 754, León. He went as far as La Rioja. However, the few urban populations of these frontier regions fled to his northern dominions, leaving a depopulated buffer between the Christian and Muslim states.[1]

This created the so-called Desert of the Duero, an empty region between the River Duero and the Asturian Mountains. Alfonso intended it this way; he wished to leave such a zone where any invading army would find it too difficult to survive. Besides the martial, the demographic and cultural effects of this policy on later Asturian, Spanish and Portuguese history is large. It was over a hundred years before the region was repopulated (an event known as the Repoblación).[1]

The Arab writers speak of the kings of the northwest of Iberia as the Beni Alfons (descendants or House of Alfonso), and appear to recognize them as a Galician royal stock derived from Alfonso I. [1]

Shrine

Alfonso is credited with establishing the shrine of Our Lady of Covadonga, in commemoration of his father in law's victory at the Battle of Covadonga. He and his queen are interred there. Their epitaph reads:[1]

QVI YAZE EL CATOLICO Y SANTO REI DON ALONSO EL PRIMERO I SV MVJER DOÑA ERMENISINDA ERMANA DE DON FAVILA A QVIEN SVCEDIO. GANO ESTE REY MVCHAS VITORIAS À LOS MOROS. FALLECIO EN CANGAS AÑO DE 757." "Here lies the Catholic and Holy King Don Alfonso the First and his wife Doña Ermesinda, sister of Don Favila to whom he succeeded. This king won many victories against the Moors. He died in Cangas in the year 757

757 Death

He died in 757 in Cangas de Onís, Asturias. He was buried at Santa Cueva de Covadonga.[1]

Issue

Alfonso had four children. Three were through his marriage to Ermesinda, although Mauregatus was born to a Muslim slave, Sisalda.[1]

  1. Fruela I of Asturias (722-768): succeeded Alfonso as king (757-768).[1]
  2. Vimorano: assassinated in 765 by Fruela.[1]
  3. Adosinda: Queen consort of King Silo of Asturias (reigned 774-783)[1]
  4. Mauregatus of Asturias: Succeeded Silo as king (reigned 783-789).[1]

Alfonso, future King of Asturias and Galicia, was the son of Pedro, Duke of Cantabria[2].


  • VIIº) Pedro Balthes, duque de Cantabria en el 700. fué padre de:
VIIº.1] Fruela = sigue la línea genealógica.
VIIº.2] Alfonso Iº "el Católico", IIIº rey de Asturias y Galicia en 739-757; casó con doña Hermesenda, hija de doña Gaudiosa y del rey de Asturias Pelayo Iº (hijo del duque de Cantabria don Favila, hijo del rey Chindaswinto, hijo del rey Suintila Balthes, hijo éste del rey Recaredo Balthes)


Sources

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 Wikipedia: Alfonso I of Asturias Accessed June 30, 2018 jhd
  2. van de Pas, Leo and Fettes, Ian. "Genealogics." Profile name: Alfonso I 'el Catolico', King of Asturias & Galicia. [1] (Citing Ed. Schwennicke, Detlev. Europäische Stammtafeln.
  • Cawley, Charles. Medieval Lands: A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families. Hosted online by the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy (FMG), accessed 2022, Kings of Asturias.
  • BRANDÃO, Frei António. Monarquia Lusitana (Parte Terceira). Lisboa: Imprensa Nacional; Casa da Moeda, 1973. p. 129-137.




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Comments: 4

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De Asturias-19 and Asturias-10 appear to represent the same person because: intended to be the same person, the son, https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/De_Asturias-18 is illegitimate per Wikipedia citaion
posted by Robin Lee
His mother is also listed as one of his wives. I think Hermesinda de Cantabria de Asturias must be wife not mother based on bio and birth dates
posted by Tamara (Killian) Ledkins
edited by Tamara (Killian) Ledkins
Looking forward to the merge of these two profiles, and also the possibility of making this a bilingual profile with the first heading as =Biografía= and the Spanish version, followed by =Biography= and the English version, which I've pretty much done on the other profile based on Wikipedia.
posted by Jack Day
De CANTABRIA-8 and Asturias-10 appear to represent the same person because: Clear duplicates. Asturias-10 is probably the better LNAB
posted by Jack Day

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