Predecessor Sancho I Role King of Portugal Name Afonso of | Consort Urraca of Castile Successor Sancho II | |
Reign 26 March 1212 – 25 March 1223 Burial Santa Cruz Monastery, Coimbra, District of Coimbra, Portugal Issue
among others... Sancho II
Afonso III
Leonor, Queen of Denmark
Fernando, Lord of Serpa Died March 25, 1223, Coimbra, Portugal Spouse Urraca of Castile, Queen of Portugal (m. 1206) Children Afonso III of Portugal, Sancho II of Portugal, Fernando, Lord of Serpa, Eleanor of Portugal, Queen of Denmark Parents Sancho I of Portugal, Dulce of Aragon Grandchildren Denis of Portugal, Blanche of Portugal Similar People Sancho I of Portugal, Afonso III of Portugal, Sancho II of Portugal, John I of Portugal, Afonso V of Portugal | ||
Afonso II ([ɐˈfõsu]; English: Alphonzo), or Affonso (Archaic Portuguese), Alfonso or Alphonso (Portuguese-Galician) or Alphonsus (Latin version), nicknamed "the Fat" (Portuguese o Gordo), King of Portugal, was born in Coimbra on 23 April 1185 and died on 25 March 1223 in the same city. He was the second but eldest surviving son of Sancho I of Portugal by his wife, Dulce, Infanta of Aragon. Afonso succeeded his father on 27 March 1211.
Contents
Reign
As a king, Afonso II set a different approach of government. Hitherto, his father Sancho I and his grandfather Afonso I were mostly concerned with military issues either against the neighbouring Kingdom of Castile or against the Moorish lands in the south. Afonso did not pursue territory enlargement policies and managed to insure peace with Castile during his reign. Despite this, some towns, like Alcácer do Sal in 1217, were conquered from the Moors by the private initiative of noblemen. This does not mean that he was a weak or somehow cowardly man. The first years of his reign were marked instead by internal disturbances between Afonso and his brothers and sisters. The king managed to keep security within Portuguese borders only by outlawing and exiling his kin.
Since military issues were not a government priority, Afonso established the state's administration and centralized power on himself. He designed the first set of Portuguese written laws. These were mainly concerned with private property, civil justice, and minting. Afonso also sent ambassadors to European kingdoms outside the Iberian Peninsula and began amicable commercial relations with most of them.
Other reforms included the always delicate matters with the pope. In order to get the independence of Portugal recognized by Rome, his grandfather, Afonso I, had to legislate an enormous number of privileges to the Church. These eventually created a state within the state. With Portugal's position as a country firmly established, Afonso II endeavoured to weaken the power of the clergy and to apply a portion of the enormous revenues of the Roman Catholic Church to purposes of national utility. These actions led to a serious diplomatic conflict between the pope and Portugal. After being excommunicated for his audacities by Pope Honorius III, Afonso II promised to make amends to the church, but he died in Coimbra on 25 March 1223 before making any serious attempts to do so.
King Afonso was buried originally at the Monastery of Santa Cruz in Coimbra where his body remained for nearly ten years. His remains were transferred subsequently to Alcobaça Monastery, as he had stipulated in his will. He and his wife, Queen Urraca, were buried at its Royal Pantheon.
Marriage and descendants
In 1206, he married his fourth cousin Infanta Urraca of Castile, daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castile and Eleanor of England, both being descendants of King Alfonso VI of León. The offspring of this marriage were:
Out of wedlock, he had two illegitimate sons: