ALFONSO I, king of the ASTURIAS, called the CATHOLIC. — B. in 693, d. in 756, son of Peter, duke of Cantabria, he was the son-in-law of that Pelagius who at Covadonga began the reconquest of Spain, which had fallen under Saracen rule. Exploiting the divisions existing between Arabs and Berbers, he achieved military successes in Galicia, Cantabria, and even Castile, thus enlarging the small Christian kingdom, which at A.’s death at Cangas encompassed the coasts of Asturias, Santander, and part of Galicia, Burgos, and León.
BIBL.: A. Ballesteros, Historia de España y su influencia en la Historia universal, II, Barcelona 1920, pp. 184–86; B. Sánchez Alonso, Fuentes de la Historia española e hispano-americana, 2nd ed., Madrid 1927, nos. 821, 1020–24, 1085–87, 1102–1106.
Giuseppe M. Pou y Marti