Book Description

Excerpt from The Romance of History, Vol. 2 of 3: Spain 1158. Alonzo, or as Spanish historians call him, Alphonso, the Eighth, surnamed the Noble, was only three years old when his father, Sancho the Third, died. Some differences arose in Castile concerning the guardianship of the young king, between the powerful houses of Lara and Castro, which Don Fernando, king of Aragon, thought favourable to his project of uniting the two kingdoms. He entered the infant king's dominions, took possession of Burgos, and pursued the Laras, who had the king in their power, to Soria. Alonzo was saved and kept in safety in Avila, until his eleventh year, when he began to exercise his regal functions. 1170. Alonzo being of age, assembled the Cortes of the kingdom at Burgos - there the king was solemnly recognized, and a treaty entered upon concerning his marriage with Eleanor of England, daughter of Henry the Second. 1195. This year, on the 19th of July, a most sanguinary battle was fought at Alarcos, between the Moors and the Christians. - Yacub led the former; and though Alonzo and his knights fought gallantly, the day proved one of the most disastrous to the Christian name since the invasion of Tarif; the slaughter was great, especially amongst the Christians. Yacub entered Alarcos, Calatrava, and Guadalajara. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.