Alfonso X, El Sabio (The Wise), of Castile

ALFONSO X, el Sabio (the Wise), of CASTILE. - Born in 1221 and died in 1284, he succeeded his father Ferdinand III the Saint in 1252. Military concerns and political struggles marred his reign: his imperial aspirations, poorly tolerated at home (of his ill-fated candidacy, he retained only the memory in that title of rex electus Romanorum, with which he naively adorned himself), brought him bitter disappointments; internally, his peace was disturbed by the insubordination of the nobility, stirred by unbridled ambitions, which he