Afonso Henriques (25 July 1109-6 December 1185) was King of Portugal from 26 July 1139 to 6 December 1185, preceding Sancho I. Afonso, of the House of Burgundy, achieved Portuguese independence from Leon and would double the size of the former County of Portugal with his conquests, including that of Lisbon in 1147. He waged war against the Moors for 46 years, ultimately dying in 1185 at the age of 76, having still been in command of armies by that age.
Biography[]
Afonso Henriques was born in Coimbra, Portugal on 25 July 1109, the son of Henry of Burgundy and Teresa of Leon. In 1112, at the age of three, Afonso Henriques became titular monarch of Portugal, part of the kingdom of Leon. The regency was assumed by his mother, who sent Afonso into exile and ruled with her lover, Fernando Perez de Trava, the count of Galicia. In 1128, he marched an army into Portugal and defeated the Galicians and his mother at the battle of Sao Mamede. Now in possession of the government, he took the title of king. Afonso aspired, above all, to independence from Leon.
Afonso in 1143
This goal inspired him to campaign against his Muslim neighbors, hoping that victories over the infidel would raise his prestige and win him the support of the papacy. In July 1139, Afonso defeated five Muslim rulers at the battle of Ourique. Almost everything is obscure about this triumph, which legend attributes to the intervention of Saint James. After the battle, Afonso's soldiers are said to have declared him King of Portugal, but the kingdom of Leon rejected this unilateral declaration of independence.
In 1147, Afonso exploited a stroke of fortune when a body of English, German, and Flemish knights, who had embarked by sea for the Second Crusade, took refuge from a storm at Porto. Afonso persuaded them to help him seize the Muslim city of Lisbon in return for plunder and land. A four-month siege ensued, after which the Muslim defenders of the city were starved into surrender and massacred.
The Tagus River marked the southern boundary of Afonso's realm for the rest of his life. In 1179, after many vicissitudes, Afonso at last gained the recognition of his independent kingdom by Pope Alexander III. A man of vigor, reputed to be a daunting opponent in face-to-face combat, he was still able to lead an army on campaign at the age of 75. He died at Coimbra in 1185 at the age of 76.