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Magnus Dux Portucalensium
The Emperor was dead.
And the people of León mourned his passing, for he had been a powerful Prince, that had expanded the borders of his Kingdom further south than any of his predecessors. Under him, the armies of Christ had reconquered the old capital of the Visigothic Kingdom, Toledo, which at the time had been seen as a clear sign that he had been blessed by God himself and that this true heir of Hercules would be the one to unite the Peninsula under Christ.
But alas, such things were not be, and now the South was in the hands of the Almoravids and the Heir to the Throne was dead, killed at the field of Ulclés, where the flour of the Leonese nobility perished with him.
Some said the Emperor had been murdered, others that he had been killed by grief, having no wish to live now that his destiny laid in ruins, and other that God himself had called him to His realm. The truth was probably something more mundane, the Emperor had been old after all, and he had never recovered from an old battle wound, but how he had died mattered little for those still living. All that the Nobles of the Kingdom cared about was that he was dead and for the Counts of Portucale and Galicia, two cousins from the lands of Frankia, his death presented them a golden opportunity, for they had long been planing for the day El Bravo would join his ancestors.
Henrique e Raimundo de Borgonha
For the Count of Galicia, Raymond de Bourgogne, the death of Emperor Alfonso was dream come true, for this son of Count Guillaume le Grand, was married to the last surviving legitimate daughter of the Emperor, Urraca de León, and with the death of the heir to the throne, Sancho Anfónsez, at the Battle of Ulclés, she was the last living, legitimate, scion of El Bravo, making him married to the future Queen of León, Castilla, Galicia and Toledo, and making him future King of all those lands.
There were others that could contest Urraca's position as Queen, for the Emperor had many illegitimate daughters, and the most powerful of them was Teresa Alfonséz de León. Luckily for Raymond, she was married to his cousin, the Count of Portucale, Henri de Bourgogne, who was his long time ally in the Court of León. As one of the most powerful counts in León, Henri's support was vital, for as Count of Portucale, he was also Lord of Braga, the seat of the Archdioceses of Braga, whose Archbishop was not only Papal Legate but also one of two claimants, the other being the Archbishop of Toledo, to the title of Primaz of all Hispania.
With the Archbishop of Toledo, Bernard de Sédirac, having no love for Raymond's cause, the support of Henri, and by extension, of Archbishop Maurice Bourdin, was vital for his cause, for without the support of the Frankish Clergy, Urraca's, and Raymond's, reign would be tumultuous, thankfully, Raymond, had long planned for this moment.
Per the alliance the two cousins had made in 1097, Henri was honour bound to support Raymond and in exchange for his support, Raymond had vowed to give him the Kingdom of Toledo and a third of the royal treasury, if he ever became King and if he was unable to give Henri the Kingdom of Toledo, then the Kingdom of Galiza would be instead given to the Count of Portucale. At the time this alliance had cause a great uproar inside the Imperial Court, with Emperor Alfonso doing all he could to break the bound between the two cousins, but thanks to the efforts of Hugo de Cluny, the alliance between the two had stood firm, and now Henri's support was secured, and with it the support Frankish faction inside the Court.
Despite all of Raymond's deeds, the small nobility, mostly made up of Leonese without ties to the Franks, was opposed to have Toledo under the control of Henri, for the city had been the capital of the old Regnum Gothorum, and for them only the King should have control of the old capital and threatened Raymond with rebellion if he dared to give it to the Count of Portucale.
Raymond had no wish to give Henri Galicia, for not only it had been where he had ruled for the past decade, and where he was King in all but name, he had also made Galicia into a powerful stronghold, loyal only to him. Still he wouldn't dare to betray Henri and lose the support of the Frankish Nobility and Clergy in León, he still needed them and he knew that if he lost their support he would be finished, for the Leónese nobility held no love for him.
El Reino de León a la ascension de Urraca y Raimundo
Still Raymond was a cunning man, and so he gave his cousin a choice. Henri could either choose between half the royal treasury of the late Emperor, more than what they had agreed to, or Galicia. Henri was not happy about this, but he had to admit that it was a generous offer, for the old Emperor had been a rich man, and gaining half his treasury would make him richer than he had even dreamed to be.
It was just thanks to the intervention of his wife, Teresa de León, that the Count choose lands over gold, for she knew a bribe when she saw one and held no love for neither Raymond and or her half-sister. And so on the 8th of April, of the Year of Our Lord 1110, Henri de Bourgogne, was made hereditary Count of Galicia.
Henri, now stilling himself, Magnus Dux Portucalensium, wouldn't live long to enjoy his newfound power, dying in battle, while trying to expand his lands to the south, leaving his three year old son, Afonso Henriques, as the new Count.
The young Count was left at the care of an old companion of Henri, a local Portucalense Lord, Egas Moniz, while his mother ruled as his regent, an act she, and King Raymond, would long regret for while they was ruling, the Lords of Portucale and Galicia were molding Henri's young son, to be the man they needed to achieve their goals.
Brasão do Conde Henrique, a Cruz de Portucale com a Cruz de Santiago