Alfonso I

Alfonso I., son of Henry, Count of Portugal, and Teresa of Leon and Castile. Born 1094. On coming of age, having defeated his mother and Alfonso VIII. of Castile, he made Portugal independent. In 1139 he gained an overwhelming victory over the Moors at Ourique and was proclaimed king. Endeavouring to annex Spanish territory he was taken prisoner in 1167, and forced to cede all he had conquered. He died at Coimbra in 1185. Tradition asserts that he was a man of enormous stature.