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Regency and Personal Rule of Alfonso XI of Castile in the 1320s

Type Event Region Iberian Peninsula Time 1321–1330

In the 1320s the young King Alfonso XI of Castile passed from a contested regency to personal rule, overcoming magnate factions and continuing the wa…

Timeline

  1. 1321–1325Toledo · CastileThe regent queen María de Portugal and a council of nobles clashed over royal finances, fief distribution, and foreign policy. The power of the mighty magnate Prince Juan Manuel expanded until it nearly eclipsed the crown, while the young Alfonso XI struggled to maintain nominal rule amid the rivalries.
  2. 1325–1326Burgos · CastileIn 1325 the fourteen-year-old Alfonso XI, backed by the court and some nobles, declared his majority, formally ending the regency and beginning personal rule. He immediately set about reorganizing the privy council to free himself from Juan Manuel's control over decision-making.
  3. 1326–1330Granada frontier · AndalusiaAfter taking power, Alfonso XI repeatedly led armies against the Emirate of Granada; the siege of Granada in 1325–1326, though not fully successful, forced the Nasrid dynasty to sue for peace. Meanwhile the king gradually curtailed the military power of regional nobles and strengthened royal control over frontier defense and taxation.

Sources