ALFONSO III, king of LEÓN, the GREAT. — Born in 838, died in 912, son of Ordoño I. Under his rule began the internal dissensions among the Christians that were to delay the complete reconquest of Spain by several centuries. Nevertheless, A., having defeated the Galicians and the Alaveses and pacified the kingdom after the defeat inflicted upon him by the Biscayans, was able to devote himself to the prosperity of his subjects, to the protection of the sciences, and chiefly to the war against the Saracens, taking from them the cities of Viseu, Coimbra, Lamego, and others in Castile. He abdicated in 910, dividing the kingdom among his rebellious sons: Garcia (León), Ordoño II (Galicia and Portugal), Fruela (Asturias).
BIBL.: A. Ballesteros, Historia de España y su influencia en la historia universal, II, Barcellona 1920, pp. 196–201. Giuseppe M. Pou y Marti