ALFONSO V

born 1396 died June 27, 1458, Naples byname Alfonso the Magnanimous, Spanish Alfonso el Magnnimo king of Aragon (141658) and king of Naples (as Alfonso I, 144258), whose military campaigns in Italy and elsewhere in the central Mediterranean made him one of the most famous men of his day. After conquering Naples, he transferred his court there. born 994 died 1028 byname Alfonso The Noble, Spanish Alfonso El Noble king of Leon from 999 to 1028, son of Bermudo II. He came to the throne because the devastating campaigns of Almanzor (see Mansur, Abu 'Amir al-) had forced his father to accept Almanzor's de facto suzerainty over Leon. The Leonese were forced to take part in the Moorish campaign against the Catalans (1003) and to suffer other indignities and incursions. The political troubles continued until the fall of the caliphate (1031) relieved Leon of Islamic pressure, but Alfonso was soon faced by the growing power of Sancho III of Pamplona (Navarre). His marriage (1023/24) to Sancho's daughter Urraca ended this threat, and, in the last years of his life, he was able to undertake the reconquest of the Portuguese territories lost during Almanzor's time. He was killed at the siege of Viseu. Additional reading The fundamental work on Alfonso V the Magnanimous, although now somewhat outdated, is J. Ametller y Vinyas, Alfonso V de Aragn en Italia y la crisis religiosa del siglo XV, rev. ed., 3 vol. (190328). Also of value are C. Batlle, La ideologa de la Busca,' Estudios de Historia Moderna, 5:167195 (1955); Estudios sobre Alfonso el Magnnimo con motivo del quinto centenario de su muerte (1960); A. Gimnez Soler, Itinerario del rey don Alonso de Aragn el que gan Npoles (1909); J.M. Madurell Marimn (ed.), Mensajeros barceloneses en la corte de Npoles de Alfonso V de Aragn (1963); and A. Soria Ortega, Los humanistas de la corte de Alfonso el Magnnimo (1956).