Editing Alfonso III of Aragon

{{short description|King of Aragon and Valencia from 1285 to 1291}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{infobox royalty
| name         = Alfonso III
| title        = 
| image        = Alfons III (cropped).jpg
| caption      = [[Miniature (illuminated manuscript)|Medieval miniature]] of Alfonso III, {{circa|1315–1325}}
| succession   = [[King of Aragon]] and [[King of Valencia|Valencia]]<br />[[Count of Barcelona]] 
| reign        = November 1285 – 18 June 1291<ref name=jones>{{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=Michael|editor1-last=McKitterick|editor1-first=Rosamond|editor1-link=Rosamond McKitterick|title=The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 6, C.1300-c.1415|date=2000|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0521362900|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LOS1c0w91AcC&q=Alfonso+III+of+Aragon|page=595}}</ref>
| coronation   = 2 February 1286, [[Valencia]]<br />9 April 1286, [[Zaragoza]]
| predecessor  = [[Peter III of Aragon|Peter III]]
| successor    = [[James II of Aragon|James II]]
| house        = [[House of Barcelona]]
| father       = [[Peter III of Aragon]]
| mother       = [[Constance II of Sicily]]
| birth_date   = 4 November 1265
| birth_place  = Valencia, [[Kingdom of Valencia]]
| death_date   = 18 June 1291 (aged 25)
| death_place  = [[Barcelona]], [[Principality of Catalonia]]
| burial_date  =
| burial_place = [[Barcelona Cathedral]]; prev. Convent de Sant Francesc, Barcelona
}}

'''Alfonso III''' (4 November 1265 &ndash; 18 June 1291), called '''the Liberal''' (''el Liberal'') and '''the Free''' (also "the Frank", from ''el Franc''), was king of [[Kingdom of Aragon|Aragon]] and [[Kingdom of Valencia|Valencia]], and count of [[Count of Barcelona|Barcelona]] (as {{lang|ca|'''Alfons&nbsp;II'''}}) from 1285 until his death. He conquered the [[Kingdom of Majorca]] between his succession and 1287.

==Life==
Alfonso was the son of King [[Peter&nbsp;III of Aragon]] and [[Constance of Sicily, Queen of Aragon|Constance]], daughter and heiress of King [[Manfred of Sicily]].{{sfn|Lodge|1924|p=278}}

Soon after assuming the throne, he conducted a campaign to reincorporate the [[Balearic Islands]] into the [[Crown of Aragon]], which had been lost due to the division of the realm by his grandfather, [[James&nbsp;I of Aragon]]. Thus in 1285 he declared war on his uncle, [[James&nbsp;II of Majorca]], and conquered both Majorca (1285) and Ibiza (1286), effectively reassuming suzerainty over the [[Kingdom of Majorca]]. He followed this with the conquest of [[Menorca]] – until then an autonomous [[Muslim]] state (Manûrqa) within the Kingdom of Majorca – on 17 January 1287, the anniversary of which now serves as Menorca's national holiday.

Alfonso initially sought to maintain Aragonese control over Sicily by supporting the claims of his brother James&nbsp;II to the island. However, he later retracted his support for his brother shortly before his death and instead tried to make peace with the [[Papal States]] and with [[Kingdom of France|France]].<ref name=jones/>

His reign was marred by a constitutional struggle with the Aragonese nobles, which eventually culminated in the articles of the [[Union of Aragon]] – the so-called "Magna Carta of Aragon", which devolved several key royal powers into the hands of lesser nobles. His inability to resist the demands of his nobles was to leave a heritage of disunity in Aragon and further dissent amongst the nobility, who increasingly saw little reason to respect the throne, and brought the Kingdom of Aragon close to anarchy.

During his lifetime a dynastic marriage with [[Eleanor of England (1269–1298)|Eleanor]], daughter of King [[Edward&nbsp;I of England]], was arranged. However, Alfonso died before meeting his bride, at the age of 25 in 1291, and was buried in the Franciscan convent in Barcelona; since 1852 his remains have been buried in Barcelona Cathedral.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The chronicle of San Juan de la Peña : a fourteenth-century official history of the crown of Aragon|last=Pedro IV, King of Aragon, 1319?-1387.|date=1991|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|others=Nelson, Lynn H. (Lynn Harry), 1931-|isbn=081223068X|location=Philadelphia|oclc=23179912}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=A history of medieval Spain|last=O'Callaghan, Joseph F.|date=1975|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=0801408806|location=Ithaca|oclc=1272494}}</ref>

==In culture==
[[Dante Alighieri]], in the ''[[Divine Comedy]]'', recounts that he saw Alfonso's spirit seated outside the gates of [[Purgatory]] with the other monarchs whom Dante blamed for the chaotic political state of [[Europe]] during the 13th century.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Purgatorio|last=Alighieri|first=Dante|year=1308–1321|isbn=1786648113|pages=115f|publisher=Flame Tree |oclc=1015805722}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book |title=The End of the Middle Age, 1273-1453 |first=Eleanor Constance |last=Lodge |publisher=Methuen & Company Limited |year=1924 }}

{{S-start}}
{{S-hou|[[House of Barcelona]]|c.|1265|18 June|1291|}}
{{S-reg}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Peter III of Aragon|Peter the Great]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[King of Aragon]] and [[King of Valencia|Valencia]]<br />[[Count of Barcelona]]|years=1285–1291}}
{{s-aft|rows=2|after=[[James II of Aragon|James the Just]]}}
{{s-break}}
{{s-bef|before=[[James II of Majorca|James the Prudent]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[King of Majorca]]<br /><small>''disputed with [[James II of Majorca|James the Prudent]]''</small>|years=1286–1291}}
{{s-end}}
{{Infantes of Aragon}}
{{Aragonese monarchs}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alfonso 03 Of Aragon}}
[[Category:1265 births]]
[[Category:1291 deaths]]
[[Category:13th-century Aragonese monarchs]]
[[Category:People from Valencia]]
[[Category:Counts of Barcelona]]
[[Category:Valencian monarchs]]
[[Category:House of Aragon]]
[[Category:Burials at Barcelona Cathedral]]
[[Category:People of the War of the Sicilian Vespers]]
[[Category:Aragonese infantes]]
[[Category:Sons of queens regnant]]