King of Portugal 1233-1247. He was the oldest son of king Afonso II of Portugal and his wife queen Urraca of Castile.By the time of his accession to the throne in 1233, Portugal was embroiled in a difficult diplomatic conflict with the Catholic Church. Afonso II, his father, had been excommunicated by pope Honorius III for his attempts of reducing the Church power within the country. A treaty of 10 articles was signed between the pope and Sancho II, but the king paid little attention to it's fulfillment. His priority was the Reconquista, the conquest of the southern Iberian Peninsula from the Moors. From 1236 onwards, Sancho II conquered several cities in Algarve and Alentejo, securing the Portuguese position in the region.Sancho II proved a capable commander but with regard to equally important administrative issues he was less competent. With his total attention focused on military campaigns, the ground was open for internal disputes. The nobility was displeased by the king's conduct and started to conspire against him. Moreover, the middle class of merchants quarrelled frequently with the clergy, without any intervention from the king. As a result, the archbishop of Porto made a formal complaint to the pope about the state of the affairs. Since the church was the super-power of the 13th century, the pope felt free to issue a bull ordering the Portuguese to choose themselves a new king to replace the so-called heretic.In 1246 recalcitrant nobles invited Sancho's brother Afonso, then living in France as Count of Boulogne, to take the throne. Afonso immediately abdicated from his French possessions and marched into Portugal. Sancho II was removed from the throne in 1247 and fled into exile in Toledo where he died in Januar 4, 1248. Sancho made the Castilian lady, Mercia Lopez de Haro his queen, but the couple had no legitimate sons.