ALPHONSO XI. (1312-1350) is variously known among Spanish
kings as the Avenger or the Implacable, and as "he of the
Rio Salado." The first two names he earned by the ferocity
with which he repressed the disorder of the nobles after
a long minority; the third by his victory over the last
formidable African invasion of
Spain in 1340. The chronicler
who records his death prays that "God may be merciful to
him, for he was a very great king." The mercy was needed.
Alphonso XI. never went to the insane lengths of his son
Peter the Cruel, but he could be abundantly sultanesque in his
methods. He killed for reasons of state without form of trial,
while his open neglect of his wife, Maria of Portugal, and his
ostentatious passion for Leonora de Guzman, who bore him a large
family of sons, set Peter an example which he did not fail to
better. It may be that his early death, during the great
plague of 1350, at the siege of Gibraltar, only averted a
desperate struggle with his legitimate son, though it was a
misfortune in that it removed a ruler of eminent capacity,
who understood his subjects well enough not to go too far.
Initial text from 1911 encyclopedia -- Please update as needed