lfonso X, king of Leon and Castile (1226-84), surnamed "the Wise," or "the Astronomer," succeeded Ferdinand III, his father (1252). He was successful in his wars with the Moors, and his victories over them enabled him to unite Murcia with Castile. He was a patron of literature; completed the codification of laws, Leyes de las Partidas, which in 1501 became the universal law of the land. To improve the Ptolemaic tables he assembled at Toledo upward of fifty of the most celebrated astronomers of that age, who prepared the Alfonsine Tables. By his command the first complete history of Spain was written in the Castilian tongue, and the Old Testament was translated into Spanish. [World Wide Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1935]

Alfonso X (Alfonso the Wise), 1221-84, Spanish king of Castile and Leon (1252-84), son and successor of Ferdinand III, whose conquests of the Moors he continued, notably by taking Cádiz (1262). His mother, Beatriz, was a daughter of Emperor Philip of Swabia and a granddaughter of Isaac II, the Byzantine emperor. On the death (1256) of Conrad IV and of William, count of Holland, Alfonso was elected by a faction of German princes as antiking to Richard, earl of Cornwall, and (after 1272) to Rudolf of Hapsburg. Because of papal opposition and Spanish antagonism, he did not go to Germany, however, and in 1275 he renounced his claim. In his domestic policy, his assertion of authority led to a rebellion of the nobles. He debased the coinage, thus adding to the general discontent. After the death (1275) of his eldest son, Ferdinand, while fighting the Moors, civil war for the succession broke out between Ferdinand’s children and Alfonso’s second son, who eventually succeeded him as Sancho IV. Sancho’s partisans in the cortes at Valladolid even declared Alfonso deposed (1282). The king died while the dynastic dispute was still unsettled. Alfonso stimulated the cultural life of his time. Under his patronage the schools of Seville, Murcia, and Salamanca were furthered, and Moslem and Jewish culture flowed into Western Europe. He was largely responsible for the Siete Partidas, a compilation of the legal knowledge of his time; for the Alfonsine Tables in astronomy; and for other scientific and historical works. A collection of poems, Songs to the Virgin, in Galician, is attributed to him. See study by E. E. S. Proctor (1951). [The Illustrated Columbia Encyclopedia, 3rd ed., 1969]

Alfonso X, called The Wise (1226?-84), king of León and Castile (1252-82), son of Ferdinand III, whom he succeeded. His reign was turbulent, marked by fighting with the Moors, a series of civil wars, and an extended but unsuccessful attempt on his part to gain the crown of the Holy Roman Empire. He was deposed in 1282, after an insurrection led by his son Sancho IV, and died a fugitive at Seville. Alfonso promulgated the law code known as Las Siete Partidas (The Seven Parts). Himself a poet and author, he greatly stimulated the intellectual life of his time. A famous set of planetary tables, still known as the Alphonsine Tables, was prepared under his direction in 1252. [Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia]

Back