Alfonso V (of Portugal)

1432 – 1481

Afonso V, called "the African," was King of Portugal from 1438 until his death in 1481 and pursued the conquest of Muslim cities along the North African coast, capturing Alcácer Ceguer in 1458, Arzila and Tangier in 1471, and presiding over the slaughter and enslavement of significant portions of their civilian populations. Under his reign Portugal expanded the trans-Atlantic African slave trade, with the 1455 papal bull Romanus Pontifex, granted to him by Pope Nicholas V, explicitly authorising Portugal to "reduce to perpetual slavery" all enemies of Christ encountered on the African coast. He also waged the unsuccessful 1475–1479 War of the Castilian Succession on behalf of his niece-bride Joanna la Beltraneja, ending in his renunciation of all Castilian claims at the Treaty of Alcáçovas.

Last checked: May 10, 2026, 1:06 PM