Afonso III of Portugal

Afonso III was born 5 May 1210, the second son of King Afonso II of Portugal and Urraca of Castile. Second sons don't expect thrones, but his brother Sancho II died 4 January 1248, and Afonso succeeded him. By 1249 he had taken the Algarve, the last Muslim stronghold in the south, and became the first Portuguese king to style himself "King of Portugal and the Algarve." He died 16 February 1279, leaving a kingdom with borders that would hold.