ALFONSO II, king of ASTURIAS and LEÓN, called the Chaste. — B. in 759, d. in 842; son of Fruela, he fought successfully against the Moors, reaching, in extremely daring raids, as far as the walls of Lisbon. His dealings with Charlemagne and with his son Louis of Aquitaine, who had conquered and fortified the «Marca Hispania», were memorable. During his reign, the tomb of the apostle St James was discovered; for it he built the church of Iria, Compostella (v.).
BIBL.: A. Dozy, Recherches sur l'histoire et la littérature de l'Espagne pendant le moyen âge, 2nd ed., Leiden 1860, p. 138 ff. Giuseppe M. Pou y Marti