• OTHER TITLES:
  Count of Boulogne
  
• BIOGRAPHY
  Afonso was born at Coimbra on 5 May 1210, the second son of Afonso II 'o Gordo', king of Portugal and Urraca of Castile; he succeeded his brother King Sancho II of Portugal in 1247.
  
  As the second son, Afonso was not expected to inherit the throne, which was destined to go to his elder brother Sancho. He lived mostly in France, where in 1235 or 1238 he married Mafalda de Dammartin, the heiress of Boulogne, in 1235 or 1238, thereby becoming count of Boulogne. In 1246 conflicts between his brother the king and the Church became unbearable. Pope Innocent IV ordered Sancho II to be removed from the throne and be replaced by the count of Boulogne. Afonso, of course, did not refuse the papal order and marched to Portugal. Since Sancho was not a popular king, the order was not hard to enforce; he was exiled to Castile and Afonso III became king in 1247.
  
  To ascend the throne he abdicated from the county of Boulogne, and later in 1253, without divorcing Mafalda, he married Beatriz of Castile, heiress of Alcozea, Salmeran and Vadesliras, daughter of Alfonso X, king of Castile and León, and his mistress Maria Guillen de Guzmán. After strong protests by Mafalda, Pope Alexander IV excommunicated both Afonso and Beatriz. The death of Mafalda in 1258 did not change matters, despite the fact that Afonso's second marriage had not been consummated while Mafalda was alive, Mass and other celebrations remained forbidden wherever the royal couple stayed. The marriage to Beatriz was only recognised by Pope Urban IV after representations were made in Rome by the bishops of Coimbra and Lisbon and the intercession of Louis IX, king of France, Thibaut, king of Navarre and Charles, count of Anjou.
  
  Afonso and Beatriz had four children, of whom only Diniz, the future Diniz 'o Lavrador', king of Portugal, would have progeny. Determined not to commit the same mistakes as his brother, Afonso III paid special attention to the views of the middle class, composed of merchants and small land owners. In 1254, in the city of Leiria, he held the first session of the Cortes, a general assembly comprising the nobility, the middles class and representatives of all municipalities. He also made laws intended to restrain the upper classes from abusing the least favoured part of the population. Remembered as a notable administrator, Afonso III founded several towns, granted the title of city to many others and reorganised public administration.
  
  Secure on the throne, Afonso III then proceeded to make war on the Muslim communities that still thrived in the south. In his reign the Algarve became part of the kingdom, following the capture of Faro
  
  Portugal thus becoming the first Iberian kingdom to complete its _Reconquista._
  
  Following his success against the Moors, Afonso III had to deal with a political situation arising from the borders with Castile. The neighbouring kingdom considered that the newly acquired lands of Algarve should be Castilian, not Portuguese, which led to a series of wars between the two kingdoms. Finally in 1267 a treaty was signed in Badajoz, determining that the southern border between Castile and Portugal should be the River Guadiana, as it is today.
  
  Afonso died on 16 February 1279 in Lisbon.