| Alfonso VIII | |
|---|---|
 | |
| King of Castile and Toledo | |
| Reign | 31 August 1158 – 5 October 1214 |
| Predecessor | Sancho III |
| Successor | Henry I |
| Born | 11 November 1155 Soria |
| Died | 5 October 1214 (aged 58) Gutierre-Muñoz |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | |
| Issue among others... | |
| House | Castilian House of Ivrea |
| Father | Sancho III of Castile |
| Mother | Blanche of Navarre |
Alfonso VIII (11 November 1155[2] – 5 October 1214), called the Noble (El Noble) or the one of Las Navas (el de las Navas), was King of Castile from 1158 to his death and King of Toledo.[3][4] After having suffered a great defeat with his own army at Alarcos against the Almohads in 1195,[5] he led the coalition of Christian princes and foreign crusaders who broke the power of the Almohads in the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212, an event which marked the arrival of a tide of Christian supremacy on the Iberian Peninsula.[6]
His reign saw the domination of Castile over León and, by his alliance with Aragon, he drew those two spheres of Christian Iberia into close connection.
- ^ Pérez Monzón 2002, pp. 23–24, 27.
- ^ Anales Toledanos
- ^ Roth 1994, p. 128.
- ^ Titles of the European kings
- ^ Vann 2003, p. 62.
- ^ Rogers 2010, p. 28.