King Fernando Alfonsez "The Saint" CASTILE AND LEON, III

1201 - 1252  (50 years)

• Name	Fernando Alfonsez "The Saint" CASTILE AND LEON
  Prefix	King
  Suffix	III
  Nickname	The Saint
  Birth	5 Aug 1201	Castile, Burgos, Spain
  Christening	19 Aug 1201	León, León, León, Castilla y León, Spain   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Affiliation	[1]
  	House of Ivrea
  FamilySearch ID	9CZS-WBG
  Group	KING
  	Designated Royal King
  King of Castile and Toledo	1217  [1]
  King of Leon and Galicia	1230  [1]
  Name	Fernando III "EL SANTO", REY DE CASTILLA Y DE LEÓN  [1]
  Name	The Saint
  _UID	A1686E613E5D427BB91849BE9A88387DDFB0
  Death	30 May 1252	Sevilla, Provincia de Sevilla, Andalucia, Spain   [1]
  Burial	1 Jun 1252	Catedral de Santa María, Sevilla, Andalucia, España   [1]
  Person ID	I29126	Carney Wehofer 2024 Genealogy
  Last Modified	17 Dec 2024

  
  

  Father	King Alfonso Fernandez CASTILE AND LEON, IX,   b. 15 Aug 1171, Zamora, Leon, Spain d. 24 Sep 1230, Villaneuva DE Soria, Castilla, Spain (Age 59 years)
  Mother	Princess Berengaria Alfonsez SANCHEZ,   b. Abt 1181, Segovia Castle, Spain d. 8 Nov 1246, Las Huelgas, Castile Y Leon, Spain (Age ~ 65 years)
  Marriage	1197	Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
  Family ID	F7	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Elisabeth VON HOHENSTAUFEN,   b. 3 May 1205, Nürnberg, Bavaria, Holy Roman Empire d. 5 Nov 1235, Toro, Toro, Zamora, Castilla y León, Spain (Age 30 years)
  Marriage	30 Nov 1219	Burgos, Burgos, Castilla y León, Spain   [1]
  Children	1. Rey Alfonso X DE CASTILLA,   b. 23 Nov 1221, Toledo, Provincia de Toledo, Castilla-La-Mancha, Spain d. 4 Apr 1284, Sevilla, Sevilla, Andalucia, Spain (Age 62 years)   2. Fadrique FERNÁNDEZ DE CASTILLA,   b. 6 Jun 1223   d. 1277, Valparaíso, Mombuey, Zamora, Castilla y León, Spain (Age 53 years)   3. Fernando Fernandez DE CASTILLA,   b. Bef 27 Mar 1225, Cuenca, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain d. Bef 23 Nov 1248, Sevilla, Andalusia, Spain (Age ~ 23 years)   4. Princess of Castile Leonor Fernandez DE CASTILLA,   b. 1227, Castile, Spain d. Yes, date unknown
  Family ID	F536728739	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	30 Dec 2022

  
  

  Family 2	Jeanne (Joan) DAMMARTIN,   b. Abt 1216, Of, Dammartin, Seine-Et-Marne, France d. 15 Mar 1279, Abbeville, Somme, France (Age ~ 63 years)
  Marriage	Oct 1237	Castile, Burgos, Spain
  Children	1. Count Fernando,   b. Aft 1239, Burgos, Castile, Spain d. Bef 1269, France (Age ~ 28 years)   2. Queen Eleanor DE CASTILLE, Queen Consort of England,   b. 1241, Burgos, Burgos, Burgos, Castilla y León, Spain d. 28 Nov 1290, Hereby, Lincolnshire, England (Age 49 years)   3. Prince Luis,   b. Abt 1242, Burgos, Castile, Spain d. Aft 1269 (Age ~ 28 years)   4. Simón DE CASTILLA, y León,   b. Abt 1244, Spain bur. Toledo, Spain   5. Juan,   b. Abt 1246, Burgos, Castile, Spain d. Yes, date unknown
  Family ID	F5	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	30 Dec 2022

  
  

• Photos

  Ferdinand King.jpg

  
  

• Notes

  From Encyclopedia Britannica Online, article titled "Ferdinand III:" "canonized Feb. 4, 1671; feast day May 30" "also called SAINT FERDINAND, Spanish SAN FERNANDO, king of Castile from 1217 to 1252 and of Leon from 1230 to 1252 and conqueror of the Muslim cities of Câordoba (1236), Jaâen (1246), and Seville (1248). During his campaigns, Murcia submitted to his son Alfonso (later Alfonso X), and the Muslim kingdom of Granada became his vassal. "Ferdinand was the son of Alfonso IX of Leon and Berenguela, daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castile. When born, he was the heir to Leon, but his uncle, Henry I of Castile, died young, and his mother inherited the crown of Castile, which she conferred on him. His father, like many Leonese, opposed the union, and Ferdinand found himself at war with him. By his will Alfonso IX tried to disinherit his son, but the will was set aside, and Castile and Leon were permanently united in 1230. "Ferdinand married Beatrice of Swabia, daughter of the Holy Roman emperor, a title that Ferdinand's son Alfonso X was to claim. His conquest of Lower Andalusia was the result of the disintegration of the Almohad state. The Castilians and other conquerors occupied the cities, driving out the Muslims and taking over vast estates." In 1217 Ferdinand became King of Castile, which crown his mother renounced in his favour, and in 1230 he succeeded to the crown of Leon, though not without civil strife, since many were opposed to the union of the two kingdoms. He took as his counsellors the wisest men in the State, saw to the strict administration of justice, and took the greatest care not to overburden his subjects with taxation, fearing, as he said, the curse of one poor woman more than a whole army of Saracens. Following his mother's advice, Ferdinand, in 1219, married Beatrice, the daughter of Philip of Swabia, King of Germany, one of the most virtuous princesses of her time. God blessed this union with seven children: six princes and one princess. The highest aims of Ferdinand's life were the propagation of the Faith and the liberation of Spain from the Saracen yoke. Hence his continual wars against the Saracens. He took from them vast territories, Granada and Alicante alone remaining in their power at the time of his death. In the most important towns he founded bishoprics, reestablished Catholic worship everywhere, built churches, founded monasteries, and endowed hospitals. The greatest joys of his life were the conquests of Cordova (1236) and Seville (1248). He turned the great mosques of these places into cathedrals, dedicating them to the Blessed Virgin. He watched over the conduct of his soldiers, confiding more in their virtue than in their valour, fasted strictly himself, wore a rough hairshirt, and often spent his nights in prayer, especially before battles. Amid the tumult of the camp he lived like a religious in the cloister. The glory of the Church and the happiness of his people were the two guiding motives of his life. He founded the University of Salamanca, the Athens of Spain. Ferdinand was buried in the great cathedral of Seville before the image of the Blessed Virgin, clothed, at his own request, in the habit of the Third Order of St. Francis. His body, it is said, remains incorrupt. Many miracles took place at his tomb, and Clement X canonized him in 1671. His feast is kept by the Minorites on the 30th of May.

  
  

• Sources

  [S1160] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 30 Dec 2022), entry for Fernando Alfonsez "The Saint" CASTILE AND LEON, person ID 9CZS-WBG. (Reliability: 3).