Ferdinand III of Castile

Ferdinand III Ferdinand III in a 13th century miniature King of Castile and Toledo Reign 1217–1252 Predecessor Berengaria Successor Alfonso X King of León and Galicia Reign 1230–1252 Predecessor Alfonso IX Successor Alfonso X Consort Elisabeth of Hohenstaufen Joan, Countess of Ponthieu among others... Issue Alfonso X of Castile Frederick Henry Philip, Archbishop of Seville Sancho, Archbishop of Seville John Manuel, Lord of Villena Eleanor, Queen of England House House of Burgundy Father Alfonso IX of León Mother Berengaria of Castile Born 5 August 1199(1199-08-05) Monastery of Valparaíso Died 30 May 1252(1252-05-30) (aged 52) Seville Burial Seville Cathedral Religion Roman Catholicism

Saint Ferdinand III, T.O.S.F. Honored in Secular Franciscan Order, Roman Catholic Church Canonized 1671, Rome by Pope Clement X Major shrine Seville Cathedral; Feast 30 May Patronage University of Salamanca; Cathedral of Burgos; Cathedral of Sevilla; of friars (Dominican, Franciscan, Trinitarian, and Mercedarian);Lucena City, Quezon; City of San Fernando, Pampanga; Metropolitan Cathedral of San Fernando; (Cathedral of Resistencia, Argentina)

Saint Ferdinand III, T.O.S.F., (5 August 1199 – 30 May 1252) was the King of Castile from 1217 and León from 1230. He was the son of Alfonso IX of León and Berenguela of Castile. Through his second marriage he was also Count of Aumale. He finished the work done by his maternal grandfather Alfonso VIII and consolidated the Reconquista. In 1231, he permanently united Castile and León. He was canonized in 1671 and, in Spanish, he is Fernando el Santo, San Fernando or San Fernando Rey.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Reign 3 Family 3.1 First marriage 3.2 Second marriage 4 Ancestry 5 Notes 6 References 7 External links

Early life

Ferdinand was born at the monastery of Valparaíso (Peleas de Arriba, in what is now the Province of Zamora) in 1198-99.

His parents' marriage was annulled by order of Pope Innocent III in 1204, due to consanguinity. Berengaria took their children, including Ferdinand, to the court of her father. In 1217, her younger brother Henry I died and she succeeded him to the Castilian throne, but immediately surrendered it to her son, Ferdinand, for whom she initially acted as regent. When Alfonso died in 1230, Ferdinand also inherited León, though he had to fight Alfonso's heirs, Sancha and Dulce, daughters of his first wife, for it. He thus became the first sovereign of both kingdoms following the death of Alfonso VII in 1157.

Reign

Early in his reign, Ferdinand had to deal with a rebellion of the House of Lara. He also established a permanent border with the Kingdom of Aragon by the Treaty of Almizra (1244).

Ferdinand spent much of his reign fighting the Moors. Through diplomacy and war, exploiting the internal dissensions in the Moorish kingdoms, he triumphed in expanding Castilian power over the southern Iberian peninsula. He captured the towns of Úbeda in 1233, Córdoba in 1236, Jaén in 1246, and Seville in 1248, and occupied Murcia in 1243, thereby reconquering all Andalusia save Granada, whose king nevertheless did homage as a tributary state to Ferdinand in 1238. Ferdinand divided the conquered territories between the Knights, the Church, and the nobility, whom he endowed with great latifundias. When he took Córdoba, he ordered the Liber Iudiciorum to be adopted and observed by its citizens, and caused it to be rendered, albeit inaccurately, into Castilian.

The capture of Córdoba was the result of a well-planned and executed process whereby parts of the city (the Ajarquía) first fell to the independent almogavars of the Sierra Morena to the north, which Ferdinand had not at the time subjugated.^[1] Only in 1236 did Ferdinand arrive with a royal army to take Medina, the religious and administrative centre of the city.^[1] Ferdinand set up a council of partidores to divide the conquests and between 1237 and 1244 a great deal of land was parcelled out to private individuals and members of the royal family as well as to the Church.^[2] On 10 March 1241, Ferdinand established seven outposts to define the boundary of the province of Córdoba.

On the domestic front, he strengthened the University of Salamanca and founded the current cathedral of Burgos. He was a patron of the newest movement in the Church, that of the friars. Whereas the Benedictines and then the Cistercians and Cluniacs had taken a major part in the Reconquista up until then, Ferdinand founded Dominican, Franciscan, Trinitarian, and Mercedarian houses in Andalusia, thus determining the religious future of that region. Ferdinand has also been credited with sustaining the convivencia in Andalusia.^[3] He himself joined the Third Order of St. Francis, and is honored in that Order.

The Primera Crónica General de España asserts that, on his death bed, Ferdinand said to his son "you are rich in lands and in many good vassals — more so than any other king in Christendom," probably in recognition of his expansive conquests.^[4] He was buried in the cathedral of Seville by his son Alfonso X. His tomb is inscribed in four languages: Arabic, Hebrew, Latin, and an early incarnation of Castilian.^[5] St Ferdinand was canonized by Pope Clement X in 1671. Several places named San Fernando were founded across the Spanish Empire.

The symbol of his power as a king was his sword Lobera.

Family

First marriage

In 1219, Ferdinand married Elisabeth of Hohenstaufen (1203–1235), daughter of the German king Philip of Swabia and Irene Angelina. Elisabeth was called Beatriz in Spain. Their children were:

1. Alfonso X, his successor
2. Frederick
3. Ferdinand (1225–1243/1248)
4. Eleanor (born 1227), died young
5. Berengaria (1228–1288/89), a nun at Las Huelgas
6. Henry
7. Philip (1231–1274). He was promised to the Church, but was so taken by the beauty of Christina of Norway, daughter of Haakon IV of Norway, who had been intended as a bride for one of his brothers, that he abandoned his holy vows and married her. She died in 1262, childless.
8. Sancho, Archbishop of Toledo and Seville (1233–1261)
9. John Manuel, Lord of Villena
10. Maria, died an infant in November 1235

Second marriage

After he was widowed, he married Joan, Countess of Ponthieu, before August 1237. They had four sons and one daughter:

1. Ferdinand (1239–1260), Count of Aumale
2. Eleanor (c.1241–1290), married Edward I of England
3. Louis (1243–1269)
4. Simon (1244), died young and buried in a monastery in Toledo
5. John (1245), died young and buried at the cathedral in Córdoba

Ancestry

Ancestors of Ferdinand III of Castile

16. Raymond of Burgundy               8. Alfonso VII of León and Castile                       17. Urraca of León and Castile               4. Ferdinand II of León                             18. Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona               9. Berenguela of Barcelona                       19. Douce I, Countess of Provence               2. Alfonso IX of León                                   20. Henry, Count of Portugal               10. Afonso I of Portugal                       21. Theresa of León               5. Urraca of Portugal                             22. Amadeus III, Count of Savoy               11. Maud of Savoy                       23. Mahaut of Albon               1. Ferdinand III of Castile                                         24. Alfonso VII of León and Castile               12. Sancho III of Castile                       25. Berenguela of Barcelona               6. Alfonso VIII of Castile                             26. García VI of Navarre               13. Blanche of Navarre                       27. Marguerite de l'Aigle               3. Berenguela of Castile                                   28. Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou               14. Henry II of England                       29. Empress Matilda               7. Eleanor of England                             30. William X, Duke of Aquitaine               15. Eleanor of Aquitaine                       31. Aenor de Châtellerault

Notes

References

• González, Julio. Reinado y Diplomas de Fernando III, i: Estudio. 1980.
• Menocal, María Rosa. The Ornament of the World. Little, Brown and Company: Boston, 2002. ISBN 0316168718
• Edwards, John. Christian Córdoba: The City and its Region in the Late Middle Ages. Cambridge University Press: 1982.

External links

• Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Ferdinand III
• Ferdinand at Patron Saints Index

Ferdinand III of Castile House of Burgundy Born: 5 August 1199 Died: 30 May 1252
Regnal titles
Preceded by Berengaria	King of Castile and Toledo 1217–1252	Succeeded by Alfonso X
Preceded by Alfonso IX	King of León and Galicia 1230–1252
Preceded by Abdul-Wahid II	King of Córdoba 1237–1252
Preceded by Abu Bakr Muhammad	King of Murcia 1241–1252
Preceded by Muhammad al-Nasrid	King of Jaén 1246–1252
Preceded by Ali	King of Seville 1248–1252
Preceded by Simon	Count of Aumale 1239–1252 with Joan	Succeeded by Joan as sole ruler
Preceded by Marie	Count of Ponthieu 1251–1252 with Joan

Monarchs of Castile House of Jiménez Ferdinand I  · Sancho II  · Alfonso VI  · Urraca House of Burgundy Alfonso VII  · Sancho III  · Alfonso VIII  · Henry I  · Berengaria  · Ferdinand III  · Alfonso X  · Sancho IV  · Ferdinand IV  · Alfonso XI  · Peter House of Trastámara Henry II  · John I  · Henry III  · John II  · Henry IV  · Isabella I & Ferdinand V  · Joanna & Philip I

Monarchs of León Beni Alfons Alfonso III  · García I  · Ordoño II  · Fruela II  · Alfonso IV  · Ramiro II  · Ordoño III  · Sancho I  · Ordoño IV  · Sancho I  · Ramiro III  · Bermudo II  · Alfonso V  · Bermudo III House of Jiménez Ferdinand I  · Sancho II  · Alfonso VI  · Urraca House of Burgundy Alfonso VII  · Ferdinand II  · Alfonso IX  · Ferdinand III  · Alfonso X  · Sancho IV  · Ferdinand IV  · Alfonso XI  · Peter House of Trastámara Henry II  · John I  · Henry III  · John II  · Henry IV  · Isabella I & Ferdinand V  · Joanna & Philip I

Persondata
Name	III, Saint Ferdinand
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	5 August 1199
Place of birth	monastery of Valparaíso (Peleas de Arriba, Zamora)
Date of death	30 May 1252
Place of death	Sevilla, Spain