Alfonso VIII of Castile

Alfonso VIII
Alfonso VIII
	Miniature detail of Alfonso VIII in the Tumbo menor de Castilla
King of Castile and Toledo
Reign	31 August 1158 – 5 October 1214
Predecessor	Sancho III
Successor	Henry I
Born	11 November 1155; Soria
Died	5 October 1214 (aged 58); Gutierre-Muñoz
Burial	Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas
Spouse	Eleanor of England (m. 1170)
Issue; among others...	Berengaria I the Great; Urraca, Queen of Portugal; Blanche, Queen of France; Ferdinand; Eleanor, Queen of Aragon; Henry I of Castile;
House	Castilian House of Ivrea
Father	Sancho III of Castile
Mother	Blanche of Navarre

Alfonso VIII (11 November 1155^[2] – 5 October 1214), called the Noble (El Noble) or the one of Las Navas (el de las Navas), was King of Castile from 1158 to his death and King of Toledo.^[3]^[4] After having suffered a great defeat with his own army at Alarcos against the Almohads in 1195,^[5] he led the coalition of Christian princes and foreign crusaders who broke the power of the Almohads in the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212, an event which marked the arrival of a tide of Christian supremacy on the Iberian peninsula.^[6]

His reign saw the domination of Castile over León and, by his alliance with Aragon, he drew those two spheres of Christian Iberia into close connection.

^ Pérez Monzón 2002, pp. 23–24, 27.
^ Anales Toledanos
^ Roth 1994, p. 128.
^ Titles of the European kings
^ Vann 2003, p. 62.
^ Rogers 2010, p. 28.

[FOOTNOTEPérez_Monzón200223–24,_27-1] Pérez Monzón 2002, pp. 23–24, 27.

[2] Anales Toledanos

[FOOTNOTERoth1994128-3] Roth 1994, p. 128.

[4] Titles of the European kings

[FOOTNOTEVann200362-5] Vann 2003, p. 62.

[FOOTNOTERogers201028-6] Rogers 2010, p. 28.

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