Alfonso VII (1 March 1105 – 21 August 1157), born Alfonso Raimúndez, called the Emperor (el Emperador), becomes the King of Galicia in 1111 and King of León and Castile in 1126.
Alfonso first uses the title Emperor of All Spain, alongside his mother Urraca, once his mother vests him with the direct rule of Toledo in 1116.
Alfonso later holds another investiture in 1135 in a grand ceremony reasserting his claims to the Imperial title.
He is the son of Urraca of León and Raymond of Burgundy, the first of the House of Burgundy to rule in the Iberian peninsula.
Alfonso is a dignified and somewhat enigmatic figure.
His rule is characterized by the renewed supremacy of the western kingdoms of Christian Iberia over the eastern (Navarre and Aragón) after the reign of Alfonso the Battler.
He also seeks to make the imperial title meaningful in practice, though his attempts to rule over both Christian and Muslim populations is even less successful.
His hegemonic intentions never see fruition, however.
During his tenure, Portugal becomes de facto independent, in 1128, and is recognized as de jure independent in 1143.
He is a patron of poets, including, probably, the troubadour Marcabru.
