Alfonso VI

Timeline

1. c. 1040–1065Kingdom of León · Kingdom of LeónAlfonso VI was a son of Ferdinand I and Sancha of Zamora. He received a noble education at the court of León, learning arms and statecraft. His father divided the kingdom among three sons: Alfonso received León, his elder brother Sancho received Castile, and his younger brother García received Galicia.
2. 1065–1072León · Kingdom of LeónHis father Ferdinand I died in 1065 and Alfonso inherited the throne of León. His brother Sancho II, based in Castile, waged war against him; in 1072 Alfonso was captured after the Battle of Golmayo and forced into exile at the Muslim court of Toledo, under the protection of the Emir of Toledo al-Mamun. That same year Sancho was assassinated outside the walls of Zamora, allowing Alfonso to return.
3. 1072–1085León and Castile · León-CastileAfter the assassination of Sancho II, Alfonso VI inherited Castile and then annexed his brother García's Galicia, uniting the three kingdoms. He pressed the Muslim taifa states, extracting large gold tribute payments, and expanded contacts with the Franks, introducing Cluniac monastic reforms. The knight Rodrigo Díaz was at this time one of his leading generals.
4. 1085–1086Toledo · CastileIn May 1085 he captured Toledo, the Visigothic old capital and a major Muslim stronghold—the most symbolically significant victory of the Reconquista—earning him the title 'Emperor of All Spain' (Imperator totius Hispaniae). The fall of Toledo shocked the taifa kings, and al-Mu'tamid and others sought aid from the Almoravid dynasty of North Africa.
5. 1086–1109León and Castile · León-CastileIn the Battle of Sagrajas in October 1086, Alfonso VI was decisively defeated by the Almoravid army led by Yusuf ibn Tashfin, halting the Reconquista. He thereafter fought continuous wars against the North African powers, twice exiling the knight El Cid (1081 and 1089); El Cid died in Valencia in 1099. Alfonso VI held firm through repeated Almoravid invasions in his later years, dying of illness in 1109, with the unified Kingdom of León-Castile passing to his daughter Urraca.