Alfonso III of Portugal

King of Portugal

Elisabeth of Hohenstaufen

(m. 1242 d. 1250)

Urracca of Combria

(His death)

Constance of Portugal

Ferdinand of Portugal

Eleanor of Portugal

Sanchia of Portugal

Manuel of Portugal

Beatrice of Portugal

Isabella of Portugal

**Alfonso III of Portugal** (February 17, 1183 - August 8, 1259) was King of Portugal as the eldest son of Sancho III of Portugal and his first wife Matilda of Boulogne, he was heir apparent from birth and was raised in Lisbon, when he was 12, he was betrothed to his 16 year old cousin Maria of Brandenburg , but he waited until he was 18, to marry Maria when she was 28. They shared a happy marriage which they had 5 children. Upon his father's death, he became King of Portugal and Galicia and his now Queen was crowned the day after. He was known for his love of music and poetry through-out his reign, and he was seen as a peaceful king giving Portugal a peaceful kingdom for once, after his wife's death, he remarried Elisabeth of Hohenstaufen whom Alfonso's son and heir Denis despised and moved to Viseu with Alfonso's other daughter Eleanor of Portugal to not see Elisabeth. Elisabeth and Alfonso had a happy marriage, and had 1 child named Sanchia of Portugal before she died, after Denis famously had her stabbed to death. He remarried his wife's lady-in-waiting Urracca of Combria which they also shared a happy marriage and had 3 children, Manuel, Beatrice and Isabella he died of hay fever and he was succeeded by his son who proved to be a huge disaster to the Kingdom of Portugal.

## Early Life

### Childhood

Alfonso Manuel Ferdinando Peter of Portugal was born on February 17, 1183 as the eldest son and child of Sancho the Great (Sancho III of Portugal) and his first wife Matilda of Boulogne. He was named for his great-great grand-father 'Afonso the Founder.' He was set to inherit Portugal, one year after his birth, his younger sister Constance of Portugal was born, and his father invaded the Kingdom of Galicia, and Alfonso was named Infante of Galicia, when he was 3, his father named him Prince of Portugal which was the standard title of the Portuguese heir apparent. As heir, he was a valuble prize in marriage. When he was 4, his mother died of yellow fever, and his father remarried Constance de Molína, whom Alfonso had a good relationship with unlike most princes who had step-mothers at the time. He though never met his half-siblings as his father feared there would be a route of jealousy if Alfonso was to meet his younger half-siblings. Alfonso though was close to his younger sister Constance.

### Education

Alfonso was home-schooled by his tutor Lord Pierso Santós y Igorós, a Portuguese nobleman, Alfonso learned Latin and Catalan, Lord Pierso also educated Alfonso in reading and writing, along with math, history, science, and warfare. He was considered smart for his age which attracted many courtly woman to him.

### Betrothal

When Alfonso was 12, his father betrothed him to his 16 year old 1st cousin Maria of Brandenburg, he was related to her through Alfonso's grand-aunt Berengaria of Castile who was the sister of Alfonso's paternal grand-mother Urracca of Castile. He met his cousin 3 weeks after the betrothal in Lisbon, Alfonso was not used to seeing someone like Maria, Maria was tall with fair skin, with red hair, freckles and blue eyes, she looked more like a German then a Portuguese, Alfonso was darker skinned, green eyed, black haired, and was tall, though not as tall as his betrothed. He was distant to his future wife during there early meetings, and often kept her away from court as she was very unpopular, Alfonso's potenial bride was often left in the company of nuns. The marriage was scheduled for when Alfonso was 18 and Maria was 28, the 2 became closer over the waiting years before the marriage.

### Crusades

Alfonso was not known for his crusades like the other European rulers as he found little interest in warfare, this greatly alarmed his crusading father who dragged Alfonso on the 13th Crusade with him, Alfonso much perfered listening to poetry and music which his father thought was to femimen for a prince, Alfonso then became much more of a crusader after he attended the 13th Crusade, much to his father's joy. He continued to attend crusades with his father.

## Marriage

When Alfonso turned 18, he married Maria of Brandenburg in a public ceremony, the marriage was very controversial as Maria was a German, and many Portuguese did not like the idea of a German acting as a future Queen, nobles of the Portuguese court mocked her and called her a Viking, though Maria does not appear to have Viking ancestory. People also did not like the fact if Alfonso and Maria were to have a child, that the child would look more Germanic then Portuguese, but Maria did show good faith to the Portuguese which earned her more sympathy, though people still disliked her. During the first year of there marriage, Alfonso's wife gave birth to a daughter named Blanca, whom Alfonso named after his grand-aunt Berengaria, much to his father's disapointment who wanted to name the child Catherine. A year later his wife gave birth to a son named Denis, who was named Duke of Braganza as he was the son of the Prince of Portugal, Alfonso and Maria had 3 more children, Constance, Ferdinand, and Eleanor of Portugal.

## King of Portugal

While Alfonso and his wife were in Tomar, Portugal, his father and step-mother were on tour in Lisbon when Sancho caught yellow fever from a mere mosquito, when Alfonso heard of his fathers severe illness, he threw a party in the Castle of Guimarães while the nobles where baffled, his father died after a few hours while Alfonso was still in the Castle of Guimarães, he was crowned King the following evening, he was crowned King of Portugal and Galicia, and his wife was crowned the day after the Lisbon. Now King, he named his 6 year old son Denis, Prince of Portugal, which was an upgrade from his title which was Duke of Braganza. His wife and Queen became more popular as Queen and they became more closer, Alfonso also had a good relationship with his brother-in-law Fredrick II of Brandenburg.

### Early Tenure

Alfonso's first act as King was to promote popular Portuguese generals. But Alfonso had another problem, his father's former advisors saw Alfonso as a weak king and tried to control him, but Alfonso had none of it, he fired all the advisors, ceased there wealth, and kicked them out and replaced his advisors with his half-siblings Ferdinand, and his 2 illegitimate half-siblings, he also added his former teacher to his council, but compared to the other Portuguese kings, he had a very small council. His wife also became an advisor later on. His popularity grew after he launched an invasion into Ceuta, while his wife persumed the role of regent, when his son turned 13, he became concerned with his son's love of violence and warfare, he tried to get his son interested in music, but his son demanded for Alfonso to let him join Alfonso's army, Maria of Brandenburg also convinced Alfonso to allow him to join, at last Alfonso agreed, only if he only was allowed to tour until he was 15, as he did not wan't to lose his son, his son demanded again to have actual rights to fight, Alfonso fought back by removing Denis from the line of succession and replacing him with his younger brother Ferdinand of Portugal, but he eventually switched Denis back as Prince of Portugal in an agreement is which Denis could fight in the army when he is 15.

### Mid Tenure

Alfonso's son joined the Portuguese army at 15 and became a successful general in both the Brandenburg and Portuguese army's, Alfonso did join crusades, but was scared his sons would die if they attended battles. His son married and had children, his son and his sons wife lived a happy marriage in Braganza. Alfonso's wife's health began to fail, when his son was 41, Alfonso turned 59, and his wife died at age 70 of yellow fever, Alfonso was devastated, but his advisors advised him to remarry, but his son who had recently joined the council hated the idea of having a step-mother, and advised his father not to remarry, as he did not wanna risk being murdered by his step-mother to make way for her own children to succeed, but Alfonso remarried Elisabeth of Swabia who was known as Elisabeth of Hohenstaufen, who was a great-great-grand daughter of Fredrick Barbarossa, Elisabeth was 19 at the time of the marriage when Alfonso was by now 60 and his son 43. Elisabeth and Alfonso's son Denis hated each other, which led to Denis removing himself from the Portuguese court, and lived in Viseu with his sister Eleanor of Portugal.

### Second Marriage

Alfonso got used to having the German Elisabeth as his first wife was a German. They had a good relationship, and the marriage produced 1 child, Sanchia of Portugal, whom Alfonso adored, Denis however was very weary of Elisabeth, and Eleanor of Portugal advised Denis to get rid of the new Queen, he wanted to poison her, but he knew Elisabeth would not trust a drink Denis sent her, so Denis hired a assassin to murder Elisabeth and Denis's father, so Denis could become King, the assassin successfully stabbed Elisabeth to death, but Denis successfully managed to escape by a secret door under his bed. Alfonso never forgave Denis and kicked him out of the council, but he was to afraid to displace his violent and blood-thirsty from the line of succession, Denis lived with his wife in Sintra Castle in Portugal. He buried his Queen in Jerónimos Monastery, his 9 year old daughter Sanchia was heart-broken.

### Third Marriage

After the murder, Alfonso replaced Denis with his other son Ferdinand whom he made Archbishop of Lisbon. The council advised Alfonso to again remarry, Alfonso thought 2 marriages was enough, but after a vote, Alfonso decided to remarry his wife's best friend Urracca of Combria who he crowned Queen the day after the marriage. Denis did attempt to murder Urracca, but both hitmans were caught and publically executed in Lisbon. They had 3 children, Manuel, Beatrice, and Isabella. When Alfonso's daughter Sanchia was 13, in 1255 Alfonso married her to the King of Denmark.

## Death

Alfonso and Urracca had a calm and peaceful marriage, when Alfonso was 76, he fell very ill with hay fever after a severe allergic reaction, Denis however was cheering with his piers in Braganza, Alfonso granted his son Manuel the peerage of "Duke of Silves" before he died in the company of his wife and some of his grand-children, he was buried in Jerónimos Monastery between his 2 queens Maria of Brandenburg and Elisabeth of Hohenstaufen. His son became known as Denis the Mad for his cruelty and later mental illness that affected him, while his son Manuel began attempted sieges to claim Portugal. Alfonso is still buried in Jerónimos Monastery.