Quick Facts
Byname:
Alfonso The Catholic
Spanish:
Alfonso El Católico
Born:
693?
Died:
757, Cangas, Galicia
Title / Office:
king (739-757), Asturias
Britannica AI Icon
Adding us as a Preferred Source tells Google you trust our content, so our articles show up more often in your Google Search, Discover feed, and AI Overviews.
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

Alfonso I

king of Asturias
Also known as: Alfonso el Católico, Alfonso the Catholic

Alfonso I (born 693?—died 757, Cangas, Galicia) was the king of Asturias from 739 to 757, probably the son-in-law of the first Asturian king, Pelayo. The rebellion of the Berber garrisons in Islāmic Spain (741) and the civil strife there that followed gave him the opportunity to incorporate Galicia into his kingdom. He also campaigned far to the south of the Asturian mountains, but lack of manpower made it impossible to exert permanent control on the plains and, in his time, a wide, largely uninhabited no-man’s-land came into being between Asturias and the settled territories of the emirate of Córdoba.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Discover the fascinating events that shaped the world, straight from our editors.
By clicking “Sign Up”, you consent to the Britannica Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.