ALFONSO III, king of León, the Great. — In 838, d. in 912, son of Ordoño I. Under him began the internal dissensions among the Christians, which were to delay for several centuries the complete reconquest of Spain. Nevertheless, A., having defeated the Galicians and the Alavesi and pacified the kingdom after the defeat inflicted upon him by the Biscayans, was able to devote himself to the happiness of his subjects, to the protection of learning, and chiefly to the war against the Saracens, wresting from them the cities of Viseu, Coimbra, Lamego, and others in Castile. He abdicated in 910, dividing the kingdom among his rebellious sons: García (León), Ordoño II (Galicia and Portugal), Fruela (Asturias).
BIBL.: A. Ballesteros, Historia de España y su influencia en la historia universal, II, Barcelona 1920, pp. 196-201.