Issue date: 12 Nov, 2004
The sculpture of the Aragonese king Alfonso I, which can be found in the Buenavista park in Zaragoza, is the motif illustrating the stamp commemorating the 900th anniversary of the monarch's coronation.
The son of Sancho Ramírez and his second wife Felicia de Roucy, Alfonso I was crowned King of Aragon and Navarre in 1104. He succeeded his brother Pedro I on the throne after the latter had died without issue and was called the Battler because of the numerous military campaigns he waged against the Muslims. Brave, valiant and a great soldier, he has gone down in history as one of the most important Aragonese monarchs dues to the kingdom's territorial expansion during his reign. Alfonso I the Battler married Urraca, Queen of Castile, although the couple's marital differences led to the marriage being declared void by the Church. He was seriously wounded during the siege of Fraga and died without issue in 1134. He bequeathed his kingdom to the Knights Templars and the Hospitallers. However, this caused chaos in the realm and was not accepted by the nobility, which invoked the law which stated that the successor had to come from the dead monarch's lineage. He was succeeded on the throne by his brother Ramiro II the Monk , as King of Aragon and García Ramírez the Restorer , as King of Navarre. Neither was recognised as king by the Holy See. The monument to Alfonso I shown on the stamp is by the Aragonese sculptor José Bueno, and is based on a painting by Francisco Padilla belonging to Zaragoza City Council. The sculpture is seven metres tall, cut in Carrara marble and was placed on a pedestal designed by the architect Miguel Ángel Navarro in 1925. A lion cast in bronze appears at the king's feet.
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