, Afonso Iii Of Portugal

Afonso III (Portuguese pronunciation: [?''fõsu]; rare Englishalternatives: Alphonzo or Alphonse), or Affonso (Archaic Portuguese),Alfonso or Alphonso (Portuguese-Galician) or Alphonsus (Latin), theBolognian (Port. o Bolonhês), King of Portugal (5 May 1210 in Coimbra –16 February 1279 in Alcobaça, Coimbra or Lisbon) was the first to use thetitle King of Portugal and the Algarve, from 1249. He was the second sonof King Afonso II of Portugal and his wife, Urraca of Castile; hesucceeded his brother, King Sancho II of Portugal, who was removed fromthe throne on 4 January 1248.

As the second son of King Afonso II of Portugal, Afonso was not expectedto inherit the throne, which was destined to go to his elder brotherSancho.

He lived mostly in France, where he married Matilda, the heiress ofBoulogne, in 1238, thereby becoming Count of Boulogne.

In 1246, conflicts between his brother, the king, and the church becameunbearable. Pope Innocent IV then ordered Sancho II to be removed fromthe throne and be replaced by the Count of Boulogne. Afonso, of course,did not refuse the papal order and marched to Portugal. Since Sancho wasnot a popular king and the order was not hard to enforce; he was exiledto Castile, where he lived in Toledo, where he died. Until his brother''sdeath, and his eventual coronation, Afonso retained and used the title ofVisitador, Curador e Defensor do Reino (Overseer, Curator and Defender ofthe Kingdom).

In order to ascend the throne he abdicated his rights to the county ofBoulogne in 1248.

In 1253, he divorced Matilde, in order to marry Beatrice of Castile,illegitimate daughter of Alfonso X, King of Castile, and Mayor Guillén deGuzmán (Maria de Guzman).

Determined not to commit the same mistakes as his brother, Afonso IIIpaid special attention to what the middle class, composed of merchantsand small land owners, had to say. In 1254, in the city of Leiria, heheld the first session of the Cortes, a general assembly comprising thenobility, the middle class and representatives of all municipalities. Healso made laws intended to restrain the upper classes from abusing theleast favored part of the population. Remembered as a notableadministrator, Afonso III founded several towns, granted the title ofcity to many others and reorganized public administration.

Afonso showed extraordinary vision for the time. Progressive measurestaken during his kingship include: representatives of the commons,besides the nobility and clergy, were involved in governance; the end ofpreventive arrests such that henceforward all arrests had to be firstpresented to a judge to determine the detention measure; and fiscalinnovation, such as negotiating extraordinary taxes with the mercantileclasses and direct taxation of the Church, rather than debasement of thecoinage. These may have led to his excommunication by the holy see andpossibly precipitated his death, and his son Denis''s premature rise tothe throne at only 18 years old.

Secure on the throne, Afonso III then proceeded to make war with theMuslim communities that still thrived in the south. In his reign theAlgarve became part of the kingdom, following the capture of Faro.

Following his success against the Moors, Afonso III had to deal with apolitical situation arising from the borders with Castile. Theneighbouring kingdom considered that the newly acquired lands of theAlgarve should be Castilian, not Portuguese, which led to a series ofwars between the two kingdoms. Finally, in 1267, a treaty was signed inBadajoz, determining that the southern border between Castile andPortugal should be the River Guadiana, as it is today.

Afonso''s first wife was Matilda II, Countess of Boulogne, daughter ofRenaud, Count of Dammartin, and Ida, Countess of Boulogne. She had twosons (Roberto and an unnamed one), but both died young. He divorcedMatilda in 1253 and, in the same year, married Beatrice of Castile,illegitimate daughter of Alfonso X, King of Castile, and Mayor Guillén deGuzmán (Maria de Guzman).