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{{short description|King of Portugal from 1211 to 1223}}{{redirect|Afonso II|the ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo|Afonso II of Kongo}}{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}

factoids

{{Sfn1735|p=132}}{{snd}}25 March 1223Sancho I of Portugal>Sancho ISancho II of Portugal>Sancho IIUrraca of Castile, Queen of Portugal>1206end=died}}

• Sancho II, King of Portugal
• Afonso III, King of Portugal
• Leonor, Queen of Denmark
• Fernando, Lord of Serpa{edih}| issue-link = Marriage and descendants| issue-pipe = among others...

Portuguese House of Burgundy>Burgundy| father = Sancho I of Portugal| mother = Dulce of Aragon| birth_name = Afonso Sanches| birth_date = 23 April 1185| birth_place = Coimbra, Kingdom of Portugal1223254df=y}}| death_place = Coimbra, Kingdom of PortugalAlcobaça Monastery{{Sfn>Caetano de Souzap=134}}}}Afonso II ({{IPA-pt|ɐˈfõsu|IPA}}; English: Alphonse; Archaic Portuguese: Affonso; Portuguese-Galician: Alfonso or Alphonso; Latin: Alphonsus; 23 April 1185{{Sfn|Caetano de Souza|1735|p=131}}{{snd}}25 March 1223), nicknamed the Fat (o Gordo) or the Leper (o Gafo), was the third king of Portugal and the second but eldest surviving son of Sancho I of Portugal and Dulce of Aragon. Afonso succeeded his father on 27 March 1211.{{Sfn|Caetano de Souza|1735|p=132}}{{Sfn|Carvalho Correia|2008|p=187}}

Reign

(File:Afonso II, 23-4-1185 - 25-3-1223, retrato anónimo (siglo XIII).jpg|thumb|left|Afonso II as depicted in a 13th-century manuscript.)As a king, Afonso II set a different approach of government. Hitherto, his father Sancho I and his grandfather Afonso I were mostly concerned with military issues either against the neighbouring Kingdom of Castile or against the Moorish lands in the south. Afonso did not pursue territory enlargement policies and managed to ensure peace with Castile during his reign. Despite this, some towns were conquered from the Moors by the private initiative of noblemen and clergy, as when Bishop Soeiro Viegas initiated the conquest of Alcácer do Sal. This does not mean that he was a weak or somehow cowardly man. The first years of his reign were marked instead by internal disturbances between Afonso and his brothers and sisters. The king managed to keep security within Portuguese borders only by outlawing and exiling his kin.Since military issues were not a government priority, Afonso established the state's administration and centralized power on himself. He designed the first set of Portuguese written laws. These were mainly concerned with private property, civil justice, and minting. Afonso also sent ambassadors to European kingdoms outside the Iberian Peninsula and began amicable commercial relations with most of them.Other reforms included the always delicate matters with the pope. In order to get the independence of Portugal recognized by Rome, his grandfather, Afonso I, had to legislate an enormous number of privileges to the Church. These eventually created a state within the state. With Portugal's position as a country firmly established, Afonso II endeavoured to weaken the power of the clergy and to apply a portion of the enormous revenues of the Catholic Church to purposes of national utility. These actions led to a serious diplomatic conflict between the pope and Portugal. After being excommunicated for his audacities by Pope Honorius III, Afonso II promised to make amends to the church, but he died in Coimbra on 25 March 1223{{Sfn|Caetano de Souza|1735|p=134}} before making any serious attempts to do so.EB1911, Alphonso, Alphonso s.v. Alphonso II., David, Hannay, David Hannay (historian), 1, 733, King Afonso was buried originally at the Monastery of Santa Cruz in Coimbra where his body remained for nearly ten years. His remains were transferred subsequently to Alcobaça Monastery,{{Sfn|Caetano de Souza|1735|pp=134–135}} as he had stipulated in his will. He and his wife, Queen Urraca, were buried at its Royal Pantheon.WEB,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160310172933weblink">weblink 2016-03-10, D. Afonso II, Mosteiro de Alcobaça, 5 February 2017, pt,

Marriage and descendants

In 1206, he married Urraca, daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castile and Eleanor of England. The couple were both descendants of King Alfonso VI of León.{{Sfn|Rodrigues Oliveira|2010|pp=99 and 101}} The offspring of this marriage were:

• Sancho II (8 September 1207{{snd}}4 January 1248), king of Portugal;{{Sfn|Rodrigues Oliveira|2010|p=102}}{{Sfn|Sotto Mayor Pizarro|1997|p=167}}
• Afonso III (5 May 1210{{snd}}16 February 1279), king of Portugal;{{Sfn|Rodrigues Oliveira|2010|p=102}}{{Sfn|Sotto Mayor Pizarro|1997|p=167-168}}
• Eleanor (1211–1231), queen of Denmark{{Sfn|Rodrigues Oliveira|2010|pp=102 and 210}}{{Sfn|Sotto Mayor Pizarro|1997|p=167}}
• Ferdinand (1218–1246),{{Sfn|Rodrigues Oliveira|2010|pp=102 and 110}} lord of Serpa{{Sfn|Sotto Mayor Pizarro|1997|p=167}}

Out of wedlock, he had two illegitimate sons:

• João Afonso (d. 9 October 1234), buried in the Alcobaça monastery;{{Sfn|Sotto Mayor Pizarro|1997|p=168}}
• Pedro Afonso (d. after 1249), who accompanied his brother King Afonso in the conquest of Faro in 1249. He had an illegitimate daughter named Constança Peres. {{Sfn|Sotto Mayor Pizarro|1997|p=168}}

Ancestry

{{ahnentafelalign=center|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;|boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;|1=1. Afonso II of Portugal|2=2. Sancho I of Portugal|3=3. Dulce of Aragon|4=4. Afonso I of Portugal|5=5. Matilda of Savoy|6=6. Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona|7=7. Petronilla of Aragon|8=8. Henry, Count of Portugal|9=9. Theresa, Countess of Portugal|10=10. Amadeus III, Count of Savoy|11=11. Mahaut of Albon|12=12. Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona|13=13. Douce I, Countess of Provence|14=14. Ramiro II of AragonAgnes of Aquitaine, wife of Ramiro II of Aragon>Agnes of Aquitaine}}

See also

• Timeline of Portuguese history (First Dynasty)
• Portugal in the Middle Ages
  • Portugal in the Reconquista
  • Siege of Alcácer do Sal

References

{{Reflist}}

Bibliography

• BOOK, Caetano de Souza, Antonio, Historia Genealógica de la Real Casa Portuguesa, I, 1735, Lisboa Occidental, na oficina de Joseph Antonio da Sylva, 978-84-8109-908-9, Lisbon, pt,weblink
• BOOK, Carvalho Correia, Francisco, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela: Servizo de Publicacións e Intercambio Científico, O Mosteiro de Santo Tirso de 978 a 1588: a silhueta de uma entidade projectada no chao de uma história milenária,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20131004215714weblink">weblink dead, 4 October 2013, 2008, Santiago de Compostela, 978-84-9887-038-1, pt,
• BOOK, Rodrigues Oliveira, Ana, Rainhas medievais de Portugal. Dezassete mulheres, duas dinastias, quatro séculos de História, PT, A esfera dos livros, Lisbon, 2010, 978-989-626-261-7,
• BOOK, Sotto Mayor Pizarro, José Augusto, Linhagens Medievais Portuguesas: Genealogias e Estratégias (1279–1325), Oporto, Doctorate thesis, author's edition, 1997, 10216/18023, pt,

{{Monarchs of Portugal}}{{Portuguese infantes}}{{House of Burgundy-Portugal}}{{Authority control}}