ALFONSO VIII., king of Castile and Leon, styled the Emperor. At the death of his mother, Queen Urraca, he became king in 1126. The misrule of that princess's government, and the wars which had devastated Castile during the latter part of the preceding reign, rendered the beginning of his own very stormy. Several places were held by his step-father, Alfonso VII., until they were subdued, but at last the two princes were reconciled, and Alfonso VIII. remained sovereign lord of Castile and Leon. About the year 1137 he was obliged to march an army into Galicia against the Count of Portugal, Alfonso Henriquez. Though the Portuguese had the advantage, Heuriquez Bued for peace, which Alfonso readily granted.
Iu 1140 he attempted to conquer Navarre, but failed. In his wars with the infidels, Alfonso was more successful. He obtained many signal victories over them, and advanced the Castilian frontiers to Andalusia, His last battle against the Almohades was undecisive; after which he returned towards Toledo, and died in his tent in August, 1157. At the close of his reign, the military order of Alcantara, to which Christian Spain owed so much, was instituted. He was succeeded in Castile by Sancho IIL, and in Leou by Fernando II.
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