Alfonso VIII (11 November 1155 – 5 October 1214), called
the Noble or
el de las Navas, was the
King of Castile from 1158 to his death and
King of Toledo. He is most remembered for his part in the
Reconquista and the downfall of the
Almohad Caliphate. After having suffered a great defeat with his own army at
Alarcos against the Almohads in 1195, he led the coalition of Christian princes and foreign crusaders who broke the power of the Almohads in the
Battle of the Navas de Tolosa in 1212, an event which marked the arrival of a tide of Christian supremacy on the
Iberian peninsula.