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This article is about the King hero named Alfonso. For other units named King, see King. |
| “ | Rodrigo, if you have any loyalty left, you will save me from the Moors. Please cover my retreat to my camp to the west. | ” |
| —Dialogue in Black Guards | ||
Alfonso VI of Leon (c. 1040 - July 1, 1109), known in Age of Empires II: The Conquerors as King Alfonso, was King of Leon from 1071 to his death, and of Galicia and Castile from 1072. He was the king under which Leon reached its greatest extent, annexing or vassalizing almost the entire Iberian Peninsula around 1090, though he lost most conquests late in his reign due to the invasion of the Berber Almoravids. His main conquest (which he kept) was Toledo, the former capital of the Visigoths and traditional seat of the Catholic Church in Spain.
In The Conquerors, King Alfonso is a recurring antagonist and sometimes reluctant ally in the El Cid campaign. His villainy is even more pronounced than in the literary cycle as all of El Cid's rivals in Leon are combined into him, and his historical successes are attributed to El Cid. He appears directly as a hero King unit in the first and fourth scenarios, where the player must control him and ensure his survival to win. An enemy faction named after him also appears in the Battle Formations scenario of The Art of War. Like other Kings, Alfonso has no attack, but a fast movement speed and decent Line of Sight. As a hero, he cannot be converted and can regenerate health. He is also available in the Scenario Editor.
Trivia[]
- Alfonso's appearance in the original cutscenes in The Conquerors is similar to his depiction in the 1961 movie El Cid, including having a beard, yet his unit icon is clean shaven. Both are bearded in the Definitive Edition.
- Brother against Brother attributes the war to Alfonso ambitioning his brother's kingdom. In reality it was Sancho who rejected his father's will and overthrew his brother.
- The Enemy of my Enemy shows El Cid conquering Toledo, and Black Guards has him holding the fort in Aledo (or a siege based on it). Both were actually done by Alfonso VI without El Cid's involvement.
- Alfonso VI was the first king to title himself "Emperor of All Spain", going beyond previous kings who had claimed to be "emperors" in their own kingdom (like Castile, Leon, Navarre, etc) as a way to claim independence from Cordoba and the Franks. As a result, he was decisive in the evolution of the notion of Reconquista as a movement to restore the Christian Visigothic Kingdom which had covered the entire Peninsula (although the word didn't appear until centuries later). However, he also titled himself "Emperor of the Two Religions" because he didn't contemplate the idea of Muslims being expelled or forced to convert, unlike the Crusaders from elsewhere in Europe.
- Alfonso became the unwitting grandfather of Portugal when he restored the County of Portugal as a dowry for his illegitimate daughter Theresa in 1095. The son born of her marriage became the first King of Portugal, Afonso I, in 1139.
- Alfonso's reign coincided with increasing relationship and influence in Christian Spain from beyond the Pyrenees, like the arrival of the Cluniac Order, French and Burgundian settlers, merchants, and Knights; marriage alliances with France, Burgundy, Italy, and England; and the firm establishment of the St. James pilgrimage. At the same time, the annexation of Toledo and refugees fleeing the Almoravids helped the diffusion of Islamic and lost classical knowledge in the rest of Europe.
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