Look at the portrait of King Alfonso II of Portugal (1185–1223), King of Portugal, depicted in a 16th-century miniature! Afonso was the second but eldest surviving son of Sancho I of Portugal and Dulce of Aragon. His father Sancho I and his grandfather Afonso I were mostly concerned with military issues either against the neighbouring Kingdom of Castile or against the Moorish lands in the south. Afonso did not pursue territory enlargement policies and managed to ensure peace with Castile during his reign. Despite this, some towns were conquered from the Moors by the private initiative of noblemen and clergy, as when Bishop Soeiro Viegas initiated the conquest of Alcácer do Sal. This does not mean that he was a weak or somehow cowardly man. The first years of his reign were marked instead by internal disturbances between Afonso and his brothers and sisters. King Afonso was buried originally at the Monastery of Santa Cruz in Coimbra where his body remained for nearly ten years. His remains were transferred subsequently to Alcobaça Monastery,[8] as he had stipulated in his will. He and his wife, Queen Urraca, were buried at its Royal Pantheon.
King Afonso in the Castilian manuscript Compendium of Chronicles of Kings, c. 1312–1325
