Alfonso VI the Brave of León and Castile ~ King of Castile, León, and Navarre
M, (June 1040 - 1 July 1109)
| Father-Biological* | Ferdinand I the Great ~ King of Castile and León b. bt 1016 - 1018, d. 27 Dec 1065 |
| Mother-Biological* | Sancha of León b. 1013, d. 8 Nov 1067 |
- Family Lines
- Roy Line
Boudreau Line
Last Edited=28 Mar 2024
Alfonso VI of León and Castile
The monarch replaced the Mozarabic or Toledan rite with the Roman one. In this respect it is a common legend that Alfonso VI took Mozarabic and Roman breviaries and threw them into the fire. When only the Roman breviary burned, the king threw the Mozarabic one into the fire, thus imposing the Roman rite.
Alfonso VI, the conqueror of Toledo, the great Europeanizing monarch, saw in the last years of his reign how the great political work that he had carried started to be dismantled due to Almoravid attacks and internal weaknesses. Alfonso VI had fully assumed the imperial idea of León and his openness to European influence had made him aware of the feudal political practices which, in the France of his time, reached their most complete expression. In the conjunction of these two elements, Claudio Sánchez-Albornoz sees the explanation of the grant of the iure hereditario (sharing the kingdom between the two daughters and the son instead of bequeathing all to the only son, more typical of Navarrese-Aragonese tradition) of the Counties of Galicia and Portugal to her two Burgundian sons-in-law, Raymond and Henry. After a few years, that decision led to the independence of Portugal and the possibility of an independent Galicia under Alfonso Raimúndez, which ultimately did not materialize when the infante became King Alfonso VII of León.2" Alfonso was crowned the King of León in 1065.1,2 He and Agnes of Aquitaine ~ Queen of León and Castile were engaged in 1069.2 Alfonso was crowned the King of Castile in 1072.1,2
Alfonso VI the Brave of León and Castile ~ King of Castile, León, and Navarre married Agnes of Aquitaine ~ Queen of León and Castile, daughter of William VIII Duke of Aquitaine and Matilda, between 1073 and 1074.3,1,2 Alfonso VI the Brave of León and Castile ~ King of Castile, León, and Navarre and Jimena Muñoz were in a relationship that produced offspring after the death of Agnes. Jimena Muñoz was the "most noble" (nobilissima) concubine "derived from royalty" (real generacion), according to Bishop Pelagius of Oviedo.2,3
Alfonso VI the Brave of León and Castile ~ King of Castile, León, and Navarre, age 40, married Constance of Burgundy, age 35 , daughter of Robert III the Old ~ Duc de Bourgogne et Prince de France and Eleanor of Semur-en-Auxois, on 8 May 1081.3,1,2 He conquered Toledo and Madrid in 1085 and Lisbon in 1093.1 A contract for the marriage of Alfonso VI the Brave of León and Castile ~ King of Castile, León, and Navarre and Berta of Burgundy was signed on 25 November 1093.2
Alfonso VI the Brave of León and Castile ~ King of Castile, León, and Navarre married Berta of Burgundy, daughter of William II the Great ~ Comte de Bourgogne et Mâcon and Stephanie de Longwy, after 25 November 1093. They had no children together.3,1,2 Alfonso VI the Brave of León and Castile ~ King of Castile, León, and Navarre and Zaïda of Seville ~ Princess of Seville and Dania were in a relationship that produced offspring.
Alfonso VI the Brave of León and Castile ~ King of Castile, León, and Navarre married Beatrice of Aquitaine in 1108.3,1,2 Alfonso and Beatrice appeared together on 28 May 1108 in the Astorga Cathedral.2 Alfonso VI the Brave of León and Castile ~ King of Castile, León, and Navarre died on 1 July 1109 at Toledo, Castile–La Mancha, Spain, at age 69.1,4,2 He was buried at The Monastery of Sahagún, Sahagún, Castile and León, Spain. From Wikipedia:
The mortal remains of the king were deposited in a stone sepulcher, which was placed at the feet of the church of the Royal Monastery, until the reign of Sancho IV, who deemed it unseemly that his ancestor was buried at the foot of the temple and ordered the tomb to be moved inside and placed in the church's transept, near the tomb of Beatriz, Dowager Lady of Los Cameros and daughter of Infante Frederick of Castile who had been executed by orders of his brother, King Alfonso X the Wise in 1277.
The sepulcher that contained the remains of the king, now disappeared, was supported on alabaster lions, and was a large ark of white marble, eight feet long and four wide and tall, being covered by a smooth black lid. The tomb was usually covered by a silk tapestry, woven in Flanders, bearing the image of the king crowned and armed, with the representation of the arms of Castile and León on the sides, and a crucifix at the head of the tomb.[72]
The tomb that contained the remains of Alfonso VI was destroyed in 1810, during the fire at the Royal Monastery of San Benito. The mortal remains of the king and those of several of his wives were collected and preserved in the abbey chamber until 1821, when the monks were expelled, and were then deposited by the abbot Ramón Alegrías in a box, which was placed in the southern wall of the chapel of the Crucifix until January 1835, when the remains were collected again and placed in another box and taken to the archive where the remains of the wives of the sovereign were at that time. The purpose was to place all the royal remains in a new sanctuary that was being built at that time.[72] However, when the Royal Monastery of San Benito was dissolved in 1835, the monks delivered the two boxes with the royal remains to a relative of one of them, who kept it hidden until 1902, when these were discovered by Rodrigo Fernández Núñez, a professor at the Institute of Zamora Rodrigo.
The mortal remains of Alfonso VI are now in the Monastery of the Benedictine nuns of Sahagún, at the foot of the temple, in a smooth stone ark and with a cover of modern marble, and in a nearby sepulcher, equally smooth, lies the remains of several of the king's wives.1,2
The sepulcher that contained the remains of the king, now disappeared, was supported on alabaster lions, and was a large ark of white marble, eight feet long and four wide and tall, being covered by a smooth black lid. The tomb was usually covered by a silk tapestry, woven in Flanders, bearing the image of the king crowned and armed, with the representation of the arms of Castile and León on the sides, and a crucifix at the head of the tomb.[72]
The tomb that contained the remains of Alfonso VI was destroyed in 1810, during the fire at the Royal Monastery of San Benito. The mortal remains of the king and those of several of his wives were collected and preserved in the abbey chamber until 1821, when the monks were expelled, and were then deposited by the abbot Ramón Alegrías in a box, which was placed in the southern wall of the chapel of the Crucifix until January 1835, when the remains were collected again and placed in another box and taken to the archive where the remains of the wives of the sovereign were at that time. The purpose was to place all the royal remains in a new sanctuary that was being built at that time.[72] However, when the Royal Monastery of San Benito was dissolved in 1835, the monks delivered the two boxes with the royal remains to a relative of one of them, who kept it hidden until 1902, when these were discovered by Rodrigo Fernández Núñez, a professor at the Institute of Zamora Rodrigo.
The mortal remains of Alfonso VI are now in the Monastery of the Benedictine nuns of Sahagún, at the foot of the temple, in a smooth stone ark and with a cover of modern marble, and in a nearby sepulcher, equally smooth, lies the remains of several of the king's wives.1,2
See also.
Compeller's Notes:
Weis (1982) gives his birth date as 1030.4
Child of Alfonso VI the Brave of León and Castile ~ King of Castile, León, and Navarre and Jimena Muñoz
- Teresa Alfónsez of Castile and León+ (c 1080 - 1 Nov 1130)
Child of Alfonso VI the Brave of León and Castile ~ King of Castile, León, and Navarre and Constance of Burgundy
- Urraca la Temeraria ~ Infanta of Castile and León, Countess of Galicia+ (Apr 1079 - 8 Mar 1126)
Citations
- Stuart, Roderick W. Royalty for Commoners, The Complete Known Lineage of John of Gaunt, Son of Edward III, King of England, and Queen Philippa, Fourth Edition. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2002.
- Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Online https://en.wikipedia.org
- Evans, Charles. "The Princess Zaida", The American Genealogist volume 39 (1963).
- Weis, Frederick Lewis. Ancestral Roots of Sixty Colonists Who Came to New England Between 1623 and 1650, Fifth Edition. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1982.