lfonso I, Port. Afonso Henriques, 1111?-1185, first king of Portugal, son of Henry of Burgundy. After his father’s death (1112), his mother, Countess Teresa, ruled the country of Portugal with the help of her Spanish favorite, Fernando Pérez, until in 1128 young Alfonso, allying himself with discontented nobles, took power and drove her into Leon with Pérez (Alfonso did not, despite the popular legend, put her in chains at Guimarãis). Beginning as little more than a quasi-independent guerrilla chief, Alfonso spent his life in almost ceaseless fighting against the kings of Leon and Castile and against the Moors to increase his prestige and his territories. In 1139 he defeated the Moors in the battle of Ourique (fought not at Ourique, but at some undetermined place). In 1147 he took Santarém by surprise attack and, with the help of the English, Flemish, and German crusaders, captured Lisbon. Styling himself king after 1139, he put (1143) his lands under papal protection, and Alfonso VII of Castile recognized the title, which was confirmed (1179) by Pope Alexander III. Alfonso’s son Sancho I ascended an established throne. [The Illustrated Columbia Encyclopedia, 1969]

Alfonso I (El Conquistador, ‘the Conqueror’) (1110-85), earliest king of Portugal, was the son of Henry of Burgundy, conqueror and first count of Portugal. He died at Coimbra. [World Wide Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1935]

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