Chapter Three. The Infantazgo in the Reign of Alfonso VIII

Abstract

This chapter looks at the Infantazgo during the reign of Alfonso VIII. Beginning as early as the tenth century, the royal women of León-Castile laid claim to a little-understood share of the crown's patrimony, known as the Infantazgo. These Infantazgo properties were usually a significant source of power and income; their possession appears to be a major factor in the unusual prominence of certain women in the Leonese-Castilian monarchy. Contrary to previous assumptions, the Infantazgo did not disappear in the mid-twelfth century. It was altered, certainly, by the upheavals that attended the partition of León and Castile in 1157. But it endured, to last through the reign of Alfonso VIII and well into the reign of his grandson, Ferdinand III. Eventually, of course, the Infantazgo's significance did fade, due to the changes of the mid-thirteenth century. Ferdinand III's unification of León and Castile radically altered the kingdom's axes of power. The old domains of the Infantazgo, especially those on the Leonese-Castilian border, lost some of their strategic and economic value as a result.