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Born Ramon Berenguer, he ascended the united thrones of Aragon ( 1164) and Barcelona (1162) as Alfonso, changing his name in compliment to the Aragonese, to honor King Alfonso I of Aragon. He was the first ruler to be both king of Aragon and count of Barcelona. He was also Count of Provence from 1181 to 1185.
For most of his reign he was allied with King Alfonso VIII of Castile, both against
Navarre and against the MoorishMoors is used in this article to describe the medieval Muslim inhabitants of al-Andalus and the Maghreb, whose culture is often called "Moorish". For other meanings look at Moors (Meaning) or Blackamoors. The name derives from the ancient Berber tribe of taifaThe term taifa in the history of Iberia refers to an Islamic independent city-state, region or kingdom, formed in Al-Andalus after the collapse of the Umayyad caliphate or Cordoba. There are two periods of taifas. Taifa kings competed among themselves, no kingdoms of the south. In his ReconquistaThe Reconquista ( Spanish and Portuguese for reconquest was the conquest of the Moorish kingdoms of Spain and Portugal by Christian rulers, culminating on January 2, 1492 when Ferdinand and Isabella, Los Reyes Catolicos ("The Catholic Monarchs"), expelled effort Alfonso pushed as far as TeruelTeruel is a city in Aragon, Spain, the capital of the province of the same name. It has a famous cathedral in the Mudejar style. There is a very small statue of a bull, called Torico ('little bull'), located in the Carlos Castell Square (known as Torico S, conquering this importantstronghold on the road to ValenciaThis article is about the original city in Spain called "Valencia". For other uses of the name, see Valencia (disambiguation). Valencia ( Spanish: Valencia /ba'lenθja/; Valencian: Valencia /v'lεnsj/) is a medium-sized port city (the third la in 1171Events Saladin abolishes the Fatimid caliphate, restoring Sunni rule in Egypt. The Lord Rhys agrees to negotiate with Henry II of England. Construction of the Cathedral of Saint Sabino in Bari is completed. Serbian ruler Stefan Nemanja begins sole reign.. The same year saw him capturing
Caspe .Apart from common interests, kings of Aragon and Castile were united by a formal bond of vassalage the former owed to the latter. Besides, on January 18January 18 is the 18th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 347 days remaining (348 in leap years) Events 300-1899 350 General Magnentius deposes Roman Emperor Constans, proclaims himself Emperor. 474 Leo II becomes briefly Byzantine emper 1174Events Vietnam is given the official name of Annam by China. Henry II of England acknowledges Rosamund Clifford as his mistress. Revolt of 1173-1174 against Henry II of England ends with defeat of the rebels. William I of Scotland is captured by Henry II in
Saragossa Alfonso married infanta Sancha of Castile, sister of the Castilean king.Another milestone in this alliance was a formal treaty the two kings concluded at Cazorla in 1179, delineating zones of conquest in the south along the watershed of rivers Júcar and Segura. Southern areas of Valencia including Denia were thus secured to Aragon.
During his reign Catalonian influence north of the Pyrenees reached its zenith. His realms incorporated not only Provence, but also counties of Cerdanya and Roussillon (inherited in 1172). Béarn and Bigorre paid hommage to him in 1187. Alfonso's involvement in the affairs of Languedoc, which will cost the life of his successor, Peter II of Aragon, for the moment proved highly beneficial, strengthening Catalonian trade and stimulating emigration from the north to colonise the newly reconquered lands in Aragon.
King Alfonso died in 1196. He was a noted poet of his time and a close friend of King
Richard the Lionheart