King Alfonso II 'The Troubadour' of Aragon and Queen Sancha

[Marengo]

Alfonso II 'The Troubadour', King of Aragon, Count of Barcelona and the Provence (Sant Pere de Vilamajor, 1152 – Perpignan, 1196); married in Zaragossa on 18 January 1174 Princess Sancha of Castile (21 September 1154 or 1155 – Sijena, 9 November 1208)

Reign Aragon & Barcelona: 1162 - 1196

Reign Provence: 1167 - 1196

Dynasty: Barcelona

Predecessor Aragon: Queen Petronilla I of Aragon

Predecessor Barcelona: Count Ramon IV Berenguer of Barcelona

Predecessor Provence: Douce II, Count of Provence

Successor Aragon & Barcelona: King Pedro II of Aragon

Successor Provence: Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Provence

Children: Queen Constance of Hungary, later Queen of Germany, Italy and Sicily and Holy Roman Empress; Countess Eleonor of Toulouse; Princess Dolça of Aragon; Count Alfonso II of the Provence; Prince Fernando of Aragon, Abbot of Montearagon, and Prince Ramon Berenguer of Aragon

Parents Alfonso: Count Ramon IV Berenguer of Barcelona and Queen Petronilla I of Aragon

Parents Sancha: King Alfonso VII of Castile, Emperor of Spain and Princess Richeza of Poland

Siblings Alfonso: Queen Dulce of Portugal; Pedro, Count of Cerdanya, Carcassonne and Narbonne; Ramon Berenguer III (Pedro), Count of Provence and Sancho, Count of Provence, Regent of Aragon

Half Siblings Sancha: King Sancho III of Castile; King Fernando II of Leon; Queen Sancha of Navarre and Queen Constance of France

 

[Marengo]

Alfonso II (Aragon) or Alfons I (Provence and Barcelona) (1152 – 1196), called the Chaste or the Troubadour, was the King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona from 1162 until his death. He was the son of Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona and Petronilla of Aragon and the first King of Aragon who was also Count of Barcelona. He is thus sometimes called, especially by Catalan historians, the "count-king." He was also Count of Provence from 1167 when he unchivalrously wrested it from the heiress Douce to 1173 when he ceded it to his brother Berenguer.
Born Raymond Berengar (Ramon Berenguer), he ascended the united throne of Aragon and Barcelona as Alfonso, changing his name in deference to the Aragonese, to honour Alfonso I.
For most of his reign he was allied with Alfonso VIII of Castile, both against Navarre and against the Moorish taifa kingdoms of the south. In his Reconquista effort Alfonso pushed as far as Teruel, conquering this important stronghold on the road to Valencia in 1171. 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 18, 1174 in Saragossa Alfonso married Infanta Sancha of Castile, sister of the Castilian king.
Another milestone in this alliance was the Treaty of Cazorla the two kings 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 the counties of Cerdanya and Roussillon (inherited in 1172). Béarn and Bigorre paid homage to him in 1187. Alfonso's involvement in the affairs of Languedoc, which would 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.

Read the entire wikipedia article here.

 

[Marengo]

Infanta Sancha of Castile (September 21, 1154 or 1155 – November 9, 1208, Sijena) was the only child of King Alfonso VII of Castile by his second queen, Richeza of Poland, who was the daughter of Vladislav II, Duke of Silesia.
On January 18, 1174 in Saragossa she married King Alfonso II of Aragon. They had 9 children, but only seven would survive into adulthood

A patroness of troubadours such as Giraud de Calanson and Peire Raymond, the queen became involved in a legal dispute with her husband concerning properties which formed part of her dower estates. In 1177 she entered the county of Ribagorza and took forcible possession of various castles and fortresses which had belonged to the crown there.

Read the entire wikipedia article here.

 

[An Ard Ri]

Royal Anniversary - 25th of April 1196,Death of Alfonso II of Aragon

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Queen Sancha founded the convent for noble ladies, the Monastery of Santa Maria de Sigena at Sigena.

 

[Blog Real]

Statue of King Alfonso II of Aragon in Teruel.
https://www.esculturaurbanaaragon.com.es/pteruel14.htm