[[Image:Spain.Santiago.de.Compostela.Alfonso.II.jpg|thumb|250px|Statue of Alfonso II at [[Santiago de Compostela]].]]
'''Alfonso II''' ([[759]]-[[842]]), called '''the Chaste''', was the [[king of Asturias]] from [[791]] to his death, [[Alfonso I of Asturias|Alfonso I's]] reputed grandson, the son of [[Fruela I of Asturias|Fruela I]] and the [[Basque people|Basque]] Munia.

He was born in [[Oviedo]] in 759 or 760. He was put under the guardianship of his aunt [[Adosinda]] after his father's death, but one tradition relates his being put in the monastery of [[Samos]]. He was the governor of the palace during the reign of Adosinda's husband [[Silo of Asturias|Silo]]. On Silo's death, he was elected king by Adosinda's allies, but the magnates raised his uncle [[Mauregatus of Asturias|Mauregatus]] to the throne instead. Alfonso fled to [[Álava]] to live with his maternal relatives.

Mauregatus was succeeded by [[Bermudo I of Asturias|Bermudo]], Alfonso's cousin, who abdicated after his defeat at Burbia. Alfonso was subsequently elected king on [[14 September]] [[791]]. The events of his reign are in reality almost unknown. Poets of a later generation invented the story of the secret marriage of his sister Ximena with Sancho, count of Saldana, and the feats of their son [[Bernardo del Carpio]]. Bernardo is the hero of a ''[[cantar de gesta]]'' (''chanson de geste'') written to please the anarchical spirit of the nobles.

What is known is that he maintained contact with the court of [[Charlemagne]]. He sent delegations to [[Aachen]] in [[796]], [[797]], and [[798]], but we do not know the purposes. They may have dealt with the security of his kingdom from the ongoing attacks of the Ibn Mugait brothers. On the other hand, they may have been related to the [[adoptionist]] controversy which had brought Bermudo's kingdom into Charlemagne's view.

Militarily, Alfonso did much to secure his own realm against the [[Moors]]. He took [[Lisbon]] in 798. He defeated the Moslems at [[Narón]] and [[Anceo]] ([[825]]) and, thanks to these victories, began the repopulation of parts of [[Galicia (Iberia)|Galicia]], [[León (province)|León]], and [[Castile (historical region)|Castile]].

Alfonso also moved the capital from [[Pravia]], where Silo had located it, to [[Oviedo]], the city of his father's founding and his birth. There he constructed churches and a palace. He built [[San Tirso]], where he is buried, and [[Santullano]], on the outskirts. The ''Crónica Sebastianense'' records his death in 842, saying:

:''tras haber llevado por 52 años casta, sobria, inmaculada, piadosa y gloriosamente el gobierno del reino''

:[after having held for 52 years chastely, sobrely, immaculately, piously, and gloriously the government of the realm]

Tradition relates that in [[814]], the body of [[Saint James the Greater]] was discoverred in [[Compostela]] and that Alfonso was the first pilgrim to that famous medieval (and modern) shrine.

[Portrait of Alfonso II:[http://www.bernardopinto.com/comun/apellidos/historia_archivos/alfonsoII.jpg]
==References==
*{{1911}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Bermudo I of Asturias|Bermudo I]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Asturian monarchs|King of Asturias]]|years=[[791]]–[[842]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Nepocian of Asturias|Nepocian]]}}
{{end}}

{{commons|Alfonso II de Asturias}}

[[Category:Asturian monarchs]]
[[Category:History of Asturias]]
[[Category:759 births]]
[[Category:842 deaths]]

{{asturias-stub}}

[[ast:Alfonso II d'Asturies]]
[[ca:Alfons II d'Astúries]]
[[de:Alfons II. (Asturien)]]
[[es:Alfonso II de Asturias]]
[[fr:Alphonse II des Asturies]]
[[gl:Afonso II de Asturias]]
[[it:Alfonso II delle Asturie]]
[[hu:II. Alfonz asztúriai király]]
[[nl:Alfons II van Asturië]]
[[pt:Afonso II das Astúrias]]
[[ru:Альфонсо II Астурийский]]