Alphonse

Alphonse älfôNsˈ [key], 1220–71, count of Poitiers and of Toulouse, brother of King Louis IX of France. By his marriage to the daughter of Raymond VII, count of Toulouse, he inherited Raymond's lands in 1249. An able administrator, he did much to heal the wounds of the crusade against the Albigenses. During the absence of Louis in the Holy Land, Alphonse was coregent (1250–52) with his mother, Blanche of Castile, and later (1252–54) with his younger brother, Charles of Anjou (later Charles I, king of Naples and Sicily). Alphonse left no heir, and at his death his lands were incorporated into the holdings of Philip III, king of France.

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