Alfonso I of Asturias

Alfonso I († 757) with the later surnamed the Catholic was 739-757 King of the Kingdom of Asturias, as its actual creator, he is often regarded. He was the son of dux ( " duke " ) Peter of Cantabria and son of the first king (or prince ) of the Asturian kingdom, Pelayo. His wife was called Ermesinda. As Pelayo's son and successor Fáfila 739 on the hunt was killed, Alfons, who had already proven itself militarily Pelayo, was elected king.

Alfons used skillfully the opportunity that presented itself to him as the rule of the governor of Al -Andalus by the Berber revolt of 741 and a general drought had weakened 748-753. So he could expel the Arabs from Galicia 750 and 753 to force their retreat from Astorga. Some of his campaigns ranged up to Porto and Braga. He took a number of towns and villages in the valleys of the Douro and Miño and the Ebro; the Moorish inhabitants he slew. References of the late 9th century, according to Alfonso led through systematic relocation and devastated as part of a scorched-earth policy wide areas, whose Christian inhabitants he led away. To what extent he actually created a strategic devastation belt between his kingdom and the Moorish territory is disputed.

Alfons had a son Fruela, who became his successor ( King Fruela I ), a subsidiary Adosinda, who married the future King Silo, and an illegitimate son Mauregato who attained the kingship in 783. A brother of Alfonso I. called Fruela (Spanish Fruela Pérez ) was the progenitor of another line of the royal family, which included several later kings. Alfons to have his brother Fruela Pérez even elevated to co-regent.

Source expenditure

• Yves Bonnaz ( eds): Chroniques asturiennes. Editions du CNRS, Paris, 1987, ISBN 2-222-03516-3 ( Latin text of the main sources with French translation and detailed commentary )
• Juan Gil Fernández ( eds.): Crónicas Asturianas. Oviedo, 1985, ISBN 84-600-4405- X ( Latin text and Spanish translation )