.JPG)
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617–1682),
San Fernando, 1671, 110 x 90.5, Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla
Saint Ferdinand III le
Saint
Roi de Castille et de
Léon (+ 1252)
Roi de Castille et de
Léon, cousin du roi saint
Louis. Il libéra Cordoue et Séville occupées par les Maures depuis
cinq siècles et y planta la Croix du Christ.
Ferdinand III
(1198-1252) - Roi de Castille et de Léon, il reconquiert l'Espagne
de Cordoue jusqu'à Séville, fonde l'université de Salamanque et construit la
cathédrale de Burgos. Canonisé en 1671. (diocèse de Poitiers- quelques saints
du Poitou et d'ailleurs)
Voir aussi:
Site
de l'église saint Ferdinand des Ternes (Paris) - Saint
Ferdinand, roi de Castille et de Léon (1198 - 1252)
À Séville en Espagne,
l’an 1252, saint Ferdinand III, roi de Castille et de León, prudent dans
l’administration de son royaume, protecteur des arts et des sciences, attentif
à diffuser la foi.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/1246/Saint-Ferdinand-III-le-Saint.html
Francisco Pacheco (1564–1644), Capture
of Seville by Ferdinand III, circa 1600
SAINT FERDINAND III, ROI
DE CASTILLE ET CONFESSEUR.
Dans les jours consacrés
à honorer la naissance de notre Emmanuel, nous vîmes près de son berceau
l'imposante figure du bienheureux empereur Charlemagne. Ceint du diadème
impérial, tenant en main son puissant glaive, il semblait veiller sur l'enfant
que des bergers avaient adoré les premiers Aujourd'hui, près du glorieux
sépulcre visite d'abord par Madeleine et ses compagnes, nous apercevons un roi,
Ferdinand le Victorieux, ceint de la couronne et faisant la garde avec sa
vaillante épée si redoutée du Sarrasin. La France et l'Espagne sont ainsi
représentées sur le Cycle par leurs plus nobles souverains : l'un vénérant le
mystère du Dieu incarné, l'autre rendant son hommage au mystère du Dieu
vainqueur de la mort.
La catholique Espagne est
personnifiée dans son Ferdinand, et la France très chrétienne reconnaît dans ce
prince héroïque le sang de son saint Louis. Bérengère, mère de Ferdinand, et
Blanche, mère de Louis, étaient sœurs. Pour former le royaume catholique, il
fallut un des Apôtres du Christ, saint Jacques le Majeur; il fallut une épreuve
formidable, l'invasion du Sarrasin qui déborda sur la Péninsule comme un déluge
; il fallut un exploit chevaleresque qui dura huit siècles, et par lequel
l'Espagne recouvra son sol et sa liberté. Saint Ferdinand résume en lui cette
armée de héros qui ont repoussé le Maure et créé la patrie ; mais au courage du
soldat il a réuni les vertus du saint.
Quels exploits dans cette
vie qui compte autant de victoires que de combats ! Cordoue, la ville des
Califes, tombe au pouvoir d'un si fier chrétien, et les portiques de son
alhambra n'abriteront plus le luxe et la mollesse féroce des sectateurs de
l'Islam. Sa splendide mosquée est purifiée par l'eau sainte, et devient
l'église cathédrale de Cordoue redevenue chrétienne. Les sectateurs de Mahomet
avaient enlevé les cloches de l'Eglise de Saint-Jacques à Compostelle, ils les
gardaient en trophée à Cordoue ; par ordre du saint roi, ces cloches sont
reportées à dos de Sarrasin, à travers l'Espagne, jusqu'à l'auguste sanctuaire
auquel elles avaient été ravies.
Séville, à son tour,
après un siège de seize mois, tomba au pouvoir de Ferdinand, malgré sa double
enceinte de murailles flanquées Je cent soixante-six tours. L'armée chrétienne
était faible en nombre; la défense des Sarrasins servis par tous les avantages
du site et l'habileté de la conduite, fut de la dernière énergie ; mais le
croissant dut s'éclipser devant la croix triomphante. Ferdinand accorda un mois
aux Sarrasins pour se retirer de la ville et du territoire. Trois cent mille se
replièrent sur Xérès, et cent mille passèrent en Afrique. Le vaillant chef de
ce peuple abattu, jetant un dernier regard sur la ville rentrée au pouvoir des
chrétiens, dit à ses officiers, les larmes aux yeux : « Il n'y a qu'un saint
qui ait pu avec de si faibles troupes se rendre maître d'une place si forte et
peuplée de tant de défenseurs. »
Nous n'énumérerons pas
ici les villes et les provinces reconquises par le héros chrétien. Sa carrière
toute de succès dut faire pressentir aux Maures que la Péninsule leur
échapperait un jour tout entière ; au reste, Ferdinand avait formé le projet de
faire une descente sur la côte africaine, et d'aller ainsi éteindre l'islamisme
jusque dans son foyer le plus ardent. La mort arrêta ce noble dessein, et
parvenu à l'âge de cinquante-trois ans, le saint roi échangea la couronne de la
terre pour celle du ciel.
Sa piété l'avait rendu le
ministre docile de la volonté de Dieu, dont il se regarda toujours comme
l'humble instrument. Austère comme un anachorète, Ferdinand fut compatissant
comme un père pour ses peuples : « Je crains plus, dit-il un jour, les
malédictions d'une pauvre femme que toute l'armée des Sarrasins. » Il dota
richement les églises qu'il élevait dans l'Espagne reconquise, et, fidèle
chevalier de la Reine des deux, il l'honora toujours comme sa dame et
maîtresse. En retour d'un culte si fervent, Marie daigna bénir constamment les
armes de son illustre champion. On doit voir aussi un gage de sa maternelle
tendresse pour le saint roi dans un fait mentionné par les chroniqueurs
contemporains, et qui dans ces siècles atteste l'intervention divine. Durant
tout le règne de Ferdinand, ni la peste ni la famine ne vinrent affliger ses
Etats. A la différence de notre saint Louis, dont la vie fut remplie
d'épreuves, Ferdinand fut toujours heureux ; comme si Dieu eût voulu donner à
la fois aux hommes, dans ces deux admirables princes, le modèle du courage dans
l'adversité et l'exemple de la modération dans les prospérités. A eux deux
ils forment le plus complet tableau de la vie humaine régénérée dans le Christ,
en qui nous adorons les humiliations de la croix et les splendeurs de la
résurrection. Heureux siècles où Dieu choisissait les rois pour donner aux
chrétiens de telles leçons !
On se demandera comment
un homme, un prince, tel que saint Ferdinand, accueillit la mort, lorsqu'elle
vint tout à coup arrêter le cours de sa glorieuse carrière. Il était encore
dans la force de l'âge. A l'approche du prêtre qui lui apportait le Corps du
Seigneur, le pieux héros descend de son lit, et ce n'est qu'après avoir adoré
son Sauveur, la face contre terre et la corde au cou, qu'il reçoit l'hostie
sacrée. Ayant accompli ce grand acte, se sentant arrivé aux portes de
l'éternité, il ordonne qu'on le dépouille des marques de la royauté, et appelle
ses fils autour de son lit de mort. S'adressant à l'aîné qui fut Alphonse le
Sage, il lui recommanda le soin de ses frères et les égards qu'il devrait à
ceux qui sont les vassaux du prince et ses compagnons d'armes ; puis il ajouta
: « Mon fils, tu vois de quelles forces, de quelles possessions, de quel nombre
de sujets tu es entouré, plus qu'aucun autre roi chrétien ; fais en sorte
d'user dignement de ces avantages ; sois bon, avant tant de moyens de faire le
bien. Te voilà maître de cette terre que les Maures enlevèrent jadis au roi
Rodrigue. Si tu conserves le royaume dans l'état où je te le laisse, tu seras
un bon roi, comme je l'ai été ; il en serait autrement, si tu en laissais
perdre quelque chose. »
La dernière heure
approchait ; une apparition céleste vint conforter le royal mourant. Il remercia Dieu
de cette faveur, et demanda le cierge béni ; mais avant de le prendre dans ses
mains, levant les veux au ciel, il dit : « Seigneur, vous m'avez donné le
royaume que je n'avais pas, vous m'avez donné plus d'honneur et de puissance
que je ne méritais : recevez-en mes actions de grâces. Je remets entre vos
mains ce royaume que j'ai accru autant qu'il m'a été possible : je vous
présente en même temps mon âme. » Il demanda ensuite pardon à ceux qui
l'entouraient, les priant de lui faire grâce, s'il leur avait donné lieu
quelquefois de se plaindre de lui. Toute la cour était présente ; et l'on
n'entendit que des voix entrecoupées de sanglots, qui à leur tour imploraient
le pardon.
Le saint roi prit alors
le cierge en ses mains, et relevant vers le ciel, il dit : « Seigneur
Jésus-Christ, mon rédempteur, je suis sorti nu du sein de ma mère, et je vais
rentrer nu dans la terre. Seigneur, recevez mon âme, et par les mérites de
votre très sainte Passion, qu'il vous plaise la placer parmi celles de vos
serviteurs. » Après ces paroles, il rendit le cierge, et demanda aux évêques et
aux prêtres qui étaient autour de lui, de réciter les Litanies, après
lesquelles il leur fit chanter le Te Deum. Tout étant achevé, il inclina
la tête, ferma les yeux et expira doucement.
Ainsi mouraient ces
hommes dont la foi avait inspiré toutes les œuvres, et qui sentaient qu'ils
n'étaient en ce monde que pour servir Jésus-Christ et le faire régner. Ces rois
avaient fait l'Europe ; ils lui avaient donné pour première loi l'Evangile, et
pour droit public les canons de l'Eglise. L'Europe, après des siècles d'unité
dans le lien catholique, a cherché une autre loi et un autre droit; elle se
dissout aujourd'hui, et semble même avoir oublié l'élément qui la forma et
la maintint durant tant de siècles à la tête de l'humanité. Puisse-t-elle un
jour ouvrir les yeux, et, s'il en est temps encore, arrêter la décadence qui
l'entraîne fatalement, et conjurer la ruine qui la menace !
Nous empruntons les
Leçons de l'Office du saint roi au Propre de la ville de Rome.
Ferdinand III, roi de
Castille et de Léon, à qui depuis quatre siècles l'accord des ecclésiastiques
et des séculiers a attribué le nom de Saint, donna, dès son adolescence, de si
grandes preuves de sagesse, que Bérengère, reine de Castille, sa mère, qui l'avait
élevé très saintement, abdiqua la royauté pour la lui remettre entre les mains.
A peine Ferdinand fut-il entré dans les soins du gouvernement, que l'on vit
briller en lui les vertus d'un roi : la magnanimité, la clémence, la justice,
et par-dessus tout le zèle de la foi catholique, dont il sut défendre et
propager la pratique religieuse avec ardeur. Il montra ce zèle principalement
en poursuivant les hérétiques, auxquels il ne permit jamais d'habiter dans ses
royaumes. Il le fit voir encore en érigeant, dotant et consacrant au culte
chrétien les églises de Cordoue, Jaén, Séville, et autres villes arrachées par
lui au joug des Maures. Il rétablit avec une pieuse et royale munificence les
cathédrales de Tolède, de Burgos, et plusieurs autres.
En même temps, dans le
royaume de Castille et de Léon, où il avait succédé à Alphonse son père, il
réunit de fortes armées, et entreprit chaque année des expéditions contre les
Sarrasins, ennemis du nom chrétien. Le plus puissant moyen de ce pieux roi pour
s’assurer constamment la victoire fut dans les prières qu'il adressait à Dieu,
dont il s'assurait le secours en flagellant sévèrement son corps avant la
bataille, et se couvrant d'un rude cilice. Ce fut ainsi qu'il remporta
d'insignes victoires contre les puissantes armées des Maures, et qu'il restitua
au culte chrétien et à l'Espagne des villes nombreuses, ayant conquis les
royaumes de Jaën, Cordoue et Murcie, en même temps qu'il rendit tributaire
celui de Grenade. Il amena ses étendards victorieux devant Séville, capitale de
la Bétique, après une vision dans laquelle on rapporte que saint Isidore,
autrefois évêque de cette ville, lui en avait donné le conseil. Les historiens
racontent aussi qu'il fut assisté du secours divin dans ce siège, en la manière
suivante. Les Mahométans avaient tendu sur le Guadalquivir une chaîne de fer
qui barrait le passage. Un vent violent s'éleva tout à coup, et l'un des
navires royaux lancé par l'ordre du prince alla briser cette chaîne avec une
telle violence qu'il fut entraîné plus loin, et alla rompre un Sont de bateaux
dont la ruine enleva l'espoir aux laures, et amena la reddition de la place.
Ferdinand a attribué
toutes ces victoires au patronage de la bienheureuse Vierge Marie, dont il
avait toujours dans son camp l'image qu'il honorait d'un culte spécial. Ayant
pris Se ville, son premier soin fut de songer au culte divin. Il fit purifier
tout aussitôt la mosquée des Sarrasins, et la dédia au service religieux des
chrétiens, l'ayant pourvue avec une royale et pieuse libéralité d'un siège
archiépiscopal richement doté et d'un collège de chanoines et de dignités
convenablement établis. Il érigea encore d'autres églises et plusieurs
monastères dans cette ville. Au milieu de ces actes de piété, il se préparait à
passer en Afrique pour y anéantir la puissance musulmane, lorsqu'il se vit
appelé au royaume du ciel. Etant arrivé à ses derniers moments, il adora la
corde au cou, prosterné par terre, avec d'abondantes larmes, la sainte
Eucharistie qu'on lui apportait pour viatique.
Ayant reçu le divin
sacrement avec la plus humble révérence accompagnée des plus vifs témoignages
de son attachement à la foi catholique, il s'endormit dans le Seigneur. Son
corps, demeuré sans corruption depuis six siècles, repose dans la cathédrale de
Séville, où il est renfermé dans un tombeau de la plus rare magnificence.
Vous avez délivré votre
peuple du joug de l'infidèle, ô Ferdinand, imitant le divin ressuscité qui nous
a affranchis de la mort du péché et rendus à la vie que nous avions perdue. Vos
conquêtes n'ont point ressemblé à celles des conquérants profanes, qui n'ont
d'autre but que de satisfaire leur orgueil et celui de leurs peuples. Vous
veniez délivrer vos frères opprimés et courbés depuis des siècles sous un joug
odieux. Vous veniez, les arracher aux périls de séduction qu'ils couraient dans
un esclavage séculaire. Champion du Christ, c'est pour lui d'abord que vous
forciez les remparts des cités sarrasines. Son étendard était le vôtre, et vous
cherchiez avant tout à étendre son royaume. En retour, il daigna vous bénir en
tous vos combats, et votre épée sortit toujours victorieuse.
Votre mission, ô
Ferdinand, fut de préparer au Seigneur un peuple que la sainte Eglise a honoré
entre tous les autres, en lui décernant le beau nom de Catholique. Heureuse
Espagne, qui à force de persévérance et de courage a su briser le joug
musulman, que les peuples qui l'ont subi gardent toujours ! Heureuse Espagne,
qui a repoussé avec succès l'invasion de la prétendue Réforme au XVI° siècle,
ayant ainsi conservé l'antique foi qui sauve les âmes, et est en même temps le
plus fort lien de la patrie ! Priez pour votre peuple, ô Ferdinand ! Des
doctrines perverses circulent dans son sein, des influences perfides cherchent
à l'égarer, et beaucoup d'âmes sont séduites. Ne souffrez pas qu'il sacrifie
jamais par d'imprudentes et lâches concessions ce dépôt de foi qu'il a su
maintenir intact durant tant de siècles. Combattez les machinations ténébreuses
par lesquelles les méchants cherchent à le lui enlever. Maintenez en lui
l'horreur qu'il a si longtemps ressentie pour l'hérésie, et que rien ne le
fasse déchoir du rang qu'il a conquis entre les peuples fidèles. L'unité de
croyance et de culte peut le sauver encore, le retenir sur le bord de l'abîme
où tant de nations ont sombré; saint roi, sauvez encore une fois le royaume que
Dieu vous avait confié, et que vous remettiez entre ses mains avec une si
humble reconnaissance, au moment où vous alliez échanger la couronne de la
terre contre celle du ciel. Vous êtes resté son protecteur aimé; hâtez-vous de
le secourir.
Dom Guéranger. L’Année
liturgique
SOURCE : http://www.abbaye-saint-benoit.ch/gueranger/anneliturgique/paques/paques03/propresaints/034.htm
Attributed
to Ignacio de Ries (1612–), San Fernando, circa 1655, 198 x 140, Seville City Council / Cilly Hall of Sevilla. La obra representa al
rey San Fernando († 1252), que reinó en Castilla y León como Fernando III y
fue canonizado en 1671.
Ritratto
anonimo (circa 1655), Siviglia, Consiglio comunale
Saint Ferdinand, roi de
Castille et de Léon (1198 - 1252)
Ferdinand naît vers 1198
d'Alphonse IX, roi de Léon et de Bérengère, fille du roi de Castille et
sœur de Blanche de Castille. Ainsi, de par sa mère, il est cousin germain de
Louis IX, roi de France, connu sous le nom de Saint Louis.
Il reçoit de son père une
sérieuse éducation chrétienne et chevaleresque.
A la mort du jeune roi Henri, héritier du trône de Castille, en 1217, sa mère le fait proclamer roi de Castille et couronner à Valladolid le 31 août 1217.
A 21 ans, en 1219, il épouse Béatrix de Souabe qui lui donnera 10 enfants.
Durant son règne,
Ferdinand se soucie de lutter contre les hérésies et de faire perdre du terrain
à l'Islam qui, depuis plusieurs siècles, asservit l'Espagne.
A la mort de son père et
après bien des péripéties, il devient également roi de Léon, en septembre 1230.
Peu à peu, il repousse vers l'extrême sud de l'Espagne les limites de
l'occupation islamique par les prises successives de Cordoue, Murcie, Grenade
et Séville.
Ferdinand meurt à Séville le 30 mai 1252.
Le Pape Clément X le canonise le 4 février 1671.
La fête de Saint
Ferdinand est le 30 mai.
Pedro
Roldán (1624-1699), Estatua del rey Fernando III, el santo, 1671, Catedral de
Sevilla
Scultura di Pedro Roldán alla Cattedrale di Siviglia
30 mai : fête de saint
Ferdinand III de Castille (1)
Publié le 1 Juin 2010
La récente exposition de
la fête de la Très Sainte Trinité nous a conduits à négliger de rappeler la
fête d'un très grand personnage du monde chrétien, honoré le 30 mai. Pour
rattraper cette lacune, nous reprenons ici quatre articles publiés en son
honneur il y a de cela déjà deux ans.
Le 30 mai célèbre en
effet, pour les catholiques, une double libération. C’est d’abord, pour nous
Français, la fête de sainte Jeanne d’Arc, morte sur le bûcher en 1431,
réhabilitée en 1456, canonisée en 1920. Sainte Jeanne d’Arc, on le sait, est
l’une des saintes Patronnes de la France.
Bien moins connu chez
nous est saint Ferdinand III, que nous fêtons également en
ce jour.Il fit reculer l’islam en Espagne, et conquit Cordoue,
Murcie, Grenade et Séville.
Ce saint nous intéresse
particulièrement parce qu’il fut roi, et un très grand roi. Roi, il fut un
politicien par excellence, réunissant en lui et dans son action au service de
son pays toutes les vertus que peut réunir un prince chrétien, de prudence et
de justice.
Sa vie est une précieuse
leçon de choses, à un double titre.
D’abord, elle vient nous
montrer qu’un gouvernement sage, intelligent, courageux, vertueux, peut
réellement exister. Ce n’est pas une abstraction marsienne, un être de raison,
un impossible qui va de soi dans son impossibilité et dans cette seule
impossibilité. La preuve en est apportée, fût-elle rare. Qu’un païen n’y croit
pas, qu’un libéral ou un socialiste gangrenés par leurs idéologies respectives
n’y croient pas, soit. Mais qu’un chrétien ne le croit pas, non, ce n’est pas
admissible. Alors c’est un stimulant à la prière, à la prière de conversion
pour notre pays, pour nos gouvernants. Comme on dit dans l’Ecriture, « le
bras de Dieu n’est pas raccourci ». Faisons prier nos enfants pour
cette cause.
La seconde leçon est plus
anecdotique. La cité moderne déchristianisée, “libérée” de Dieu, se présente
comme un paradigme de civilisation, de progrès humain, d’intelligence,
d’épanouissement social, dans un cadre institutionnel indépassable. Méditons un
peu ces choses. Certes le Moyen-Age n’a pas produit que des Ferdinand III [dont
la seconde épouse, Béatrice de Souabe, tertiaire de l'Ordre de la Merci, a été
elle-même béatifiée] et des Louis XI, son cousin germain, tous deux tertiaires
de saint François, contemporains de saint Dominique et de saint Thomas d’Aquin,
loin s’en faut ! Mais notre Âge, que produit-il donc ? En quels
modèles humains se reconnaît-il depuis la Révolution française qui a mis fin
à la « superstition » ? Ce serait très cruel de
faire sur ce point des rapprochements.
Nous empruntons le récit
qui suit, que nous traduisons, à l'étude de José M. Sánchez de Muniáin, San
Fernando III de Castilla y León, Año cristiano, tome II, Ed. BAC 1959, Madrid,
pp. 523-531. En raison de la longueur du texte, nous le publierons en
plusieurs articles. N’oublions pas nos frères espagnols, dans la communion :
c’est l’occasion aussi de prier pour eux. Ils en ont bien besoin !
Saint Ferdinand (≈ 1198 -
1252) est, sans exagération, l’espagnol le plus illustre de l’un des plus
grands siècles de l'histoire humaine, le treizième, et l'une des figures les
plus hautes de l’Espagne ; il est peut-être, avec Isabelle la Catholique,
le personnage le plus complet de toute notre histoire politique. Il est
l’un de ces modèles humains qui conjuguent au plus haut degré la piété, la
prudence et l’héroïsme ; l’un des greffons les plus heureux, en quelque
sorte, des dons et des vertus surnaturels sur les dons et les vertus humains.
A la différence de son
cousin germain saint Louis IX de France (1), Ferdinand III n'a pas connu la
défaite, ni même l’échec. Il a triomphé dans toutes ses entreprises intérieures
et extérieures. Dieu a porté ces deux cousins à la sainteté par des voies
humaines opposées : l'un sous le signe du triomphe terrestre, l’autre
sous celui du malheur et de l'échec.
Ferdinand III a uni
définitivement les couronnes de Castille et de León. Il a reconquit la
quasi-totalité de l’Andalousie et de Murcia. Les sièges de Cordoue,
de Jaén, de Séville, et la conquête de bien d’autres places de moindre
importance ont revêtu une grandeur épique. Le roi maure de Grenade est
devenu son vassal. Une première expédition castillane a pris pied en Afrique,
et notre roi est mort alors qu’il planifiait le passage définitif du détroit.
Il a entrepris la construction des plus belles de nos cathédrales (Burgos et
Tolède certainement, peut-être León, qui a commencé sous son règne). Il a
pacifié ses Etats et les a administrés avec une justice exemplaire. Il fut
tolérant envers les Juifs et rigoureux à l’égard des apostats et des faux
convertis. Il promut la science et consolida les universités naissantes. Il
créa la marine de guerre castillane. Il protégea les récents Ordres mendiants,
franciscains et dominicains, et prit garde à l’honnêteté et à la piété des
soldats. Il prépara la codification de notre droit, instaura le castillan comme
langue officielle des lois et des documents publics, à la place du latin. Il
est de plus en plus certain, historiquement, que le fleurissement juridique,
littéraire et même musical de la cour d’Alphonse X le Sage [son fils] (2) fut
le fruit de l’œuvre de son père. Il a peuplé et colonisé consciencieusement les
territoires conquis. Il a institué ce qui allait devenir les Conseils du
Royaume, en désignant un collège de douze hommes savants et prudents pour
l’assister. Il a observé rigoureusement les pactes et les engagements pris à
l’égard de ses adversaires, les chefs maures, même lorsque des raisons de
convenance politique nationale se sont ultérieurement présentées. En un sens,
il était l’antithèse chevaleresque du “prince” de Machiavel.
Il fut, comme nous le
verrons, un habile diplomate et, en même temps, le promoteur infatigable de la
Reconquête. Il n’a voulu la guerre qu’en tant que croisade chrétienne et de
légitime reconquête nationale, et il a respecté son engagement de ne jamais
prendre les armes contre d’autres princes chrétiens, épuisant pour cela toutes
les ressources de la patience, de la négociation et du compromis. Au sommet de
l’autorité et du prestige, il s’est constamment attaché, avec une tendresse
filiale, exprimée à maintes reprises dans des documents officiels, à suivre les
sages conseils de la mère exceptionnelle qui était la sienne, Bérengère. Il a
dominé les seigneurs turbulents, pardonné magnanimement aux nobles vaincus qui
se sont soumis, et il a honoré de ses largesses les chefs fidèles de ses
campagnes. Il a favorisé le culte et la vie monastique, tout en exigeant la
coopération économique des mains-mortes ecclésiastiques et féodales qui était
due. Il a renforcé la vie des municipalités, et réduit au minimum les
contributions économiques nécessitées par ses entreprises guerrières. En
une époque aux mœurs licencieuses, il a donné l’exemple d’une très haute pureté
de vie et de ses sacrifices personnels, en gagnant ainsi auprès de ses fils,
des prélats, des nobles et du peuple la réputation unanime d’être un saint.
Comme gouvernant, il fut
à la fois sévère et bienveillant, énergique et humble, audacieux et patient,
courtois et pur. Il a incarné ainsi, avec son cousin saint Louis IX de France,
l’idéal chevaleresque de son époque.
A sa mort, selon les
témoignages contemporains, hommes et femmes éclatèrent en sanglots dans les
rues, y compris les hommes de guerre.
Bien plus. Nous savons
qu’il a conquis même le cœur de ses ennemis, à ce point a priori inconcevable
que certains princes ou rois maures ont embrassé la foi chrétienne à cause de
son exemple. « Nous n’avons rien lu de tel au sujet de rois
antérieurs », dit la chronique contemporaine du Tudense (3), en
parlant de l’honnêteté de ses mœurs. « C’était un homme doux, avec un
grand sens politique », témoigne l’historien Al Himyari, son adversaire
musulman. Le roi maure de Grenade fut présent à ses obsèques, avec une centaine
de nobles portant des flambeaux. Son petit-fils, Jean-Manuel, l’appelait déjà,
dans l’Exemplo XLI, « le saint et bienheureux roi Don
Fernando ».
(à suivre)
Traduction Hermas.info ©
(1) En effet, la
mère de Ferdinand III, Bérengère Ière de Castille (1180-1246) [fille
d'Alphonse VIII et d'Aliénor d'Aquitaine], était la soeur aînée de Blanche de
Castille (1188-1252), qui eut notamment pour enfant Louis IX, autrement dit "notre"
saint Louis (1214-1270), roi de France. Note du traducteur.
(2) Alphonse X le Sage
(1221-1284), sans avoir la grandeur de son père, fut néanmoins l'une des plus
grandes figures de la monarchie médiévale d'Espagne. Erudit, poète, musicien,
il est l'auteur des célèbres 426 "Cantigas de Santa María", ces
poèmes chantés en l'honneur de Notre-Dame. « L'art du troubadour -
écrivait-il pour les présenter - exige de l'entendement et de la raison,
et bien que je ne possède pas ces facultés au degré que je voudrais, j'espère
que Dieu me permettra de dire un peu ce que je désire. Et ce que je désire,
c'est que la Vierge fasse de moi son troubadour ». On consultera sur
ce sujet le site qui leur est consacré, ICI. Note
du traducteur.
(3) Les médiévaux étaient
familiés de ces surnoms donnés à des auteurs, des professeurs, en fonction de
leur origine. Le "Tudense" désigne Lucas de Tuy († 1249),
chanoine de Saint-Isidore de León et évêque de Tuy, qui fut notamment un
historien très connu en son temps, et à qui la reine Bérengère confia la
rédaction d'un ouvrage qu'il intitula le Chronicon mundi (l'histoire
du monde). Note du traducteur.
Rédigé par José M.
Sánchez de MUNIAIN - Traduction de l'espagnol par Pierre GABARRA
SOURCE : http://www.hermas.info/article-20018548.html
Ritratto
anonimo del secolo XVII della scuola sivigliana
Giovanni
Domenico Olivieri (1708–1762), Statue of Ferdinand III of Castile, the Saint (1155–1214).
/
Estatua de Fernando III de Castilla, el Santo (1155–1214), circa
1750, limestone, Sabatini Gardens in Madrid (Spain).
Statua
di San Ferdinando III di Castiglia di Giovan Domenico Olivieri (1708–1762) nel
Parco del Retiro
Pour honorer saint
Ferdinand III de Castille (2)
Plutôt que d’être à la
fois un roi et un saint, Ferdinand III fut un saint roi, c'est-à-dire un
séculier, un homme de son siècle, qui a atteint la sainteté dans l’exercice de
sa charge.
Ce fut un homme de
mortification, un pénitent, à l’instar de tous les saints, mais le meilleur
témoignage de sa sainteté, en dehors de tout projet panégyrique, c’est la
critique historique la plus froide, les documents, les chroniques, les faits
contenus dans les actes juridiques, qui attestent d’une vie toute entière consacrée
au service de son peuple pour l’amour de Dieu, avec un tel soin, une telle
constance et un tel sacrifice que l’on en est stupéfié. Saint Ferdinand, pour
cette raison, conquiert le cœur de tous les historiens, de ses contemporains
immédiats aux nôtres. Physiquement, il est mort à la suite des longs labeurs
qu’il a dû s’imposer pour mener, sur tous les fronts de son royaume, une tâche
qui, à la considérer dans son ensemble, paraît impossible. Peut-être est-ce là
une des formes du martyre les plus agréables à Dieu.
Nous voyons ainsi
atteindre la sainteté un homme qui fut marié deux fois, eut treize enfants, fut
un conquérant, un gouvernant, un homme de justice, un sportif, un homme de
cour, un troubadour, un musicien. Plus encore, par les mystérieuses voies de la
providence divine, nous honorons en lui, sur les autels, un homme qui était le
fils illégitime d’un mariage royal incestueux, annulé par le grand pape
Innocent III, celui d’Alphonse IX de León avec sa nièce Bérengère, fille
d’Alphonse VIII, héros de la bataille de Las Navas (1).
Ferdinand III eut sept
fils et une fille de son premier mariage avec Béatrice de Souabe, la princesse
allemande que les chroniqueurs décrivent comme « très bonne, belle,
savante et pudique » (optima, pulchra, sapiens et pudica), petite-fille du
grand empereur croisé Frédéric Barberousse, puis, sans difficulté politique de
succession familiale, il épousa la française Jeanne de Ponthieu, dont il eut
encore cinq enfants. Au milieu d’une société courtisane très relâchée, sa mère
Bérengère lui conseilla de se marier sans attendre, à l’âge de vingt ans, et
plus tard elle lui conseilla de se remarier. Le choix de cette seconde épouse
revint à Blanche de Castille, mère de saint Louis.
Ce serait pure conjecture
que de se demander s’il aurait embrassé l’état ecclésiastique à défaut d’être
roi (étant rappelé que les Cortes de León lui avaient déjà prêté serment alors
qu’il n’avait que dix ans, peu après la séparation de ses parents). La vocation
vient de Dieu et Il l’a voulu ce qu’il fut. Il l’a voulu saint roi. Saint
Ferdinand est un très grand exemple, l’un des plus exemplaires de l’histoire,
d’une sainteté séculière.
(à suivre)
Traduction hermas.info ©
(1) La bataille de Las Navas de Tolosa, qui eut le 16 juillet 1212, est l'une
des plus prestigieuses victoires des armées chrétiennes lors de la Reconquista. Note
du traducteur.
Rédigé par José M.
Sánchez de MUNIAIN - Traduction de l'espagnol par Pierre GABARRA
SOURCE : http://www.hermas.info/article-20023519.html
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617–1682), San Fernando, circa 1672, 56 x 38, Museo del Prado. Depositado en el Fine Arts Museum of Asturias.
Fernando III el Santo († 1252), rey de Castilla y León y canonizado en 1671, aparece arrodillado y en oración sobre un cojín de terciopelo carmesí con borlas en los ángulos. Sus están juntas y su cabeza un tanto inclinada hacia adelante, en actitud devota. Representa este retrato imaginario al personaje con una edad comprendida entre los 30 y los 35 años. Tiene el cabello largo por los lados y cortado sobre la frente, a la usanza del siglo XV y no como era habitual en el siglo XIII; y barba juvenil, poco crecida. Lleva sobre una tunicela con fleco de oro, una media armadura de acero, calzas y gregüescos, gorguera de abanillos, botas y un manto real de tisú de oro forrado de armiños, sujeto al pecho, con un collar de oro al cuello, del que pende una medalla de la Virgen; y sobre el reclinatorio que tiene delante están, en otro cojín, el cetro y la corona. Dos ángeles en lo alto retiran el cortinaje de la estancia para que vea el resplandor del cielo, propicio a su plegaria.
Saint Ferdinand III
of Castille
Profile
Son of Alfonso IX, King of
Leon, and Berengaria, daughter of King Alfonso
III of Castile;
cousin of Saint Louis
IX. King of Castile in 1217 at
age 18. King of
Leon in 1230. King of
Palencia, Valladolid,
and Burgos. Married to Princess Beatrice,
daughter of Philip of Swabia, King of Germany.
The couple had seven sons and three daughters. In his later years,
Ferdinand’s father desired
to return to his throne, and he turned against Ferdinand; he eventually gave up
the idea, however, and the two reconciled. Following the death of
Beatrice in 1236,
Ferdinand married Joan
of Ponthiers, with whom he had two sons and a daughter.
A stern judge when it
came to the law, he was gentle and forgiving in his personal life. Founded the
University of Salamanca. Rebuilt the Cathedral of
Burgos. Crusaded for
27 years against the Muslims in Spain.
Successfully held back Islamic invasions in 1225,
and took Cordoba and Seville from
them in 1234-36.
Founded the Cathedral of
Burgos and the University of Salamanca. Converted the Great Mosque in Seville to
a cathedral.
A man of great faith and
devotion, especially to Our Lady,
Ferdinand founded and funded hospitals, bishoprics, monasteries,
and churches. He reformed Spanish law,
and compiled it into a form used for centuries after. An excellent
administrator and just ruler, often pardoning those who worked against the
crown. Strove always to use his power to better his people and his nation.
Born
Died
30
May 1252 at Seville, Spain of
natural causes
buried at
the Cathedral of Seville in
the habit of
the Secular Franciscan
Order
body reported incorrupt
miracles reported
at the tomb
31
May 1655 by Pope Alexander
VII
–
Castile,
kingdom of
in Spain
–
Ilagan, Philippines, diocese of
Lucena, Philippines, diocese of
San
Fernando, Philippines, archdiocese of
greyhound
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
Short
Lives of the Saints, by Eleanor Cecilia Donnelly
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
Oxford Dictionary of Saints, by David Hugh Farmer
other
sites in english
1001 Patron Saints and Their Feast Days, Australian
Catholic Truth Society
Nobility
and Analogous Traditional Elites
images
video
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
sites
en français
fonti
in italiano
MLA
Citation
“Saint Ferdinand III of
Castille“. CatholicSaints.Info. 3 January 2024. Web. 17 January 2025.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-ferdinand-iii-of-castille/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-ferdinand-iii-of-castille/
Ritratto
anonimo del secolo XVII della scuola sivigliana
(Saint) King. (May 30)
(13th century) Saint Ferdinand III, King of Castile and Leon, resembled in many
ways his first cousin, Saint Louis, King of France. A brave soldier, he won
back from the Moors the great cities of Seville and Cordova, and gave its death
blow to their rule in Spam. He was dilieent and just in his government, and
above all heedful to do no wrong to the least of his subjects. His saying when
refusing to burden them with an exorbitant war-tax characterises him: ” God
will not fail me, and I fear more the curse of one poor old woman than the
whole army of the Moors.” Austere in his piety, the time at his disposal he
devoted to penance and to religious exercises, frequently repeating: ” Lord,
Thou knowest that I desire Thy Glory, not my own.” The idol of his people, he
was setting out on a campaign when he closed a glorious reign by a holy death,
passing from this world May 30, A.D. 1252, in the fifty-third year of his age,
the thirty-fifth of his reign in Castile and twenty-second in Leon. He was
canonised by Clement X, A.D. 1671.
MLA
Citation
Monks of Ramsgate.
“Ferdinand”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info.
15 April 2013. Web. 17 January 2025. <https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-ferdinand/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-ferdinand/
Pintura,
óleo sobre lienzo, anónima (ca. 1670). Atribución a Juan Simón Gutiérrez. San Isidoro en conversación con San Fernando ante la inminente
conquista de Išbīliya.
New
Catholic Dictionary – Saint Ferdinand III
Article
Confessor,
King of Leon and Castile, born near Salamanca, Spain, 1198; died Seville,
Spain, 1252.
He succeeded to Castile in 1217,
and Leon in 1230,
and married Beatrice of Swabia in 1219.
His efforts to save the Christians of
Spain from the Saracen yoke were quite successful; Granada and Alicante alone
remaining in the Moorish power when he died.
He converted the great mosques of Córdova and Seville into cathedrals,
and founded the University of Salamanca. A Franciscan tertiary,
he led a life of great sanctity. Patron of the engineers of the Spanish
army. Canonized, 1671.
Relics in the cathedral,
Seville. Feast, 30
May.
MLA
Citation
“Saint Ferdinand
III”. New Catholic Dictionary. CatholicSaints.Info. 31
July 2012.
Web. 17 January 2025. <http://catholicsaints.info/saint-ferdinand-iii/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-saint-ferdinand-iii/
.jpg)
Antonio Palomino. La conquista de Córdoba por Fernando III el Santo, Capilla de Santa Teresa de la Mezquita de Córdoba (España).
St. Ferdinand III of
Castile
Feastday: May 30
Patron: of engineers
Death: 1252
Ferdinand III of Castile
was the son of Alfonso IX, King of Leon, and Berengaria, daughter of Alfonso
III, King of Castile (Spain). He was declared king of Castile at age eighteen.
Ferdinand was born near Salamanca; proclaimed king of Palencia, Valladolid, and
Burgos; his mother advised and assisted him during his young reign. He married
Princess Beatrice, daughter of Philip of Suabia, King of Germany and
they had seven sons and three daughters. His father (the king of Leon) turned
against him and tried to take over his rule. The two reconciled later, and
fought successfully against the Moors. In 1225, he held back Islamic invaders;
prayed and fasted to prepare for the war; extremely devoted to the Blessed
Virgin. Between 1234-36, Ferdinand conquered the city of Cordoba from the
Moors. Queen Beatrice died in 1236, and he overtook Seville shortly
thereafter. He founded the Cathedral of Burgos and
the University of Salamanca; married Joan of Ponthieu after the death of
Beatrice. He died on May 30th after a prolonged illness, and buried in
the habit of
his secular Franciscan Order. His remains are preserved in the Cathedral of Seville and
was canonized by Pope Clement X in 1671. Ferdinand was a great administrator and
a man of
deep faith. He founded hospitals and
bishoprics, monasteries, chuches, and cathedrals during his reign. Her also
compiled and reformed a code of laws which were used until the modern era.
Ferdinand rebuilt the Cathedral of Burgos and
changed the mosque in Seville into
a Cathedral. He was a just ruler, frequently pardoning former offenders to his
throne. His feast day is
May 30th.
SOURCE : https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=183
Attributed
to Juan de Espinal (1714–1783), Entrega de las llaves de Sevilla a San Fernando,
circa 1750, 300 x 200, Seville City Council, Cilly Hall of Sevilla. La obra representa
al caíd Axataf entregando
las llaves de la ciudad de Sevilla al
rey Fernando III el Santo en 1252 frente a
una de las puertas de la ciudad, siendo una obra ejecutada hacia 1750 y cuyo
autor se tomó la licencia de hacer figurar la Catedral tal y como los
cristianos la construyeron. El cuadro muestra también a la Virgen de los Reyes en los cielos en el
momento de la entrega, y la obra procede de la antigua Puerta de san Fernando
de la ciudad de Sevilla, que se encontraba al final de dicha calle y que fue
demolida en 1868
St. Ferdinand III
King of Leon and Castile,
member of the Third
Order of St. Francis, born in 1198 near Salamanca; died
at Seville,
30 May, 1252. He was the son of Alfonso IX, King of Leon,
and of Berengeria, the daughter of Alfonso III, King of Castile, and
sister of Blanche, the mother of St. Louis IX.
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.
Heckmann, Ferdinand. "St. Ferdinand III." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton
Company, 1909. 30 May
2015 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06042a.htm>.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. September 1, 1909. Remy
Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2023 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06042a.htm
.jpg)
Felipe Gómez
de Valencia (1634–1679), Entrega de Sevilla a San Fernando, circa
1670, 168.5 x 110, Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes.
La obra representa a los habitantes de la ciudad de Sevilla entregando
las llaves de la ciudad a Fernando III el Santo, que conquistó la
ciudad en 1248.
St. Ferdinand III., King
of Castile and Leon, Confessor
HE was eldest son to
Alphonsus, king of Leon, and of Berangera of Castile, elder sister 1 of
Blanche, mother of St. Lewis of France, and was born about the end of the year
1198 or some time in 1199. Beranga had been obliged by Pope Innocent III. to a
separation from Alphonsus of Leon after having borne to him two sons, Ferdinand
and Alphonsus, and two daughters, because, though in the third degree of
consanguinity, they had been married without a dispensation, which was at that
time very difficult to be obtained. But because this marriage had been
contracted bona fide by the decrees of the pope, and the states of
the two kingdoms, their children were declared their lawful heirs. Berangera
returned to her father Alphonsus IX. of Castile, one of the most valiant and
virtuous kings that ever reigned in Spain, and who was to her the most tender
and best of fathers. He dying in 1214, his son Henry, eleven years of age, succeeded
him under the tutorship and regency of his mother, Eleonor of England. But she
followed her husband to the grave within twenty-five days; grief for having
lost him being the cause of her death. Berangera was charged with the
guardianship of her brother and the regency of the kingdom; but out of love of
retirement suffered herself to be persuaded to resign both to a nobleman called
Don Alvarez, who proved a perfidious, turbulent man, and for several years
embroiled all Castile and the neighbouring kingdoms. Berangera was a princess
of accomplished prudence and piety, and exercises of devotion were her chief
delight. King Henry, by the contrivance of Alvarez, at twelve years of age was
married to Mafalda, sister to Alphonsus, king of Portugal, but upon an
impediment of consanguinity which was proved before commissaries, Pope Innocent
III. declared the marriage null, and Mafalda returning to Portugal, founded a
Cistercian nunnery at Arouca, took herself the veil, and lived in such great
sanctity as to be honoured among the saints on the 1st of May. The young King
Henry died of a wound he received by a tile falling upon his head at Palencia
on the 6th of June, 1217, and Berangera put in her claim to the crown; but
transferring her right upon her son Ferdinand, surnamed the Saint, caused him,
who was in the eighteenth year of his age, to be proclaimed king at Palencia,
Valladolid, and Burgos, having first lodged in the archives of the church of
this last city, the solemn act of her own resignation. Don Alvarez and other
factious spirits filled the kingdom with disturbances and civil wars for
several years; but these the young king by his clemency, prudence, and valour,
assisted by his mother’s counsels, stifled and overcame. Alvarez was taken and
pardoned; and perfidiously renewed his treasonable cabals and broils, both at
home and abroad. Though Ferdinand was so great a king, no child ever obeyed a
mother with a more ready and perfect submission than he did Berangera to the
time of her death, as his ancient historian assures us. 2 By
her advice he took to wife, in 1219, Beatrix, daughter of Philip of Suabia,
emperor of Germany, a most virtuous and accomplished princess. The happy union
of their hearts was never disturbed by the least cloud during the fifteen years
of their cohabitation; and their marriage was blessed with a numerous family of
seven sons and three daughters. St. Ferdinand was severe in the administration
and the execution of the laws, but readily pardoned all personal injuries; and
no sooner were rebellions crushed, but he granted general amnesties. His
prudence and his constant attention to the care of his people appeared most
conspicuous in the happy choice he always made of governors, magistrates, and
generals. Rodriguez, archbishop of Toledo and chancellor of Castile, was during
thirty years at the head of all his councils, and so perfectly united with
Berangera and St. Ferdinand in all their deliberations as to seem to have but
one soul with them. To set a curb to inferior tribunals he established the
court, since called the Royal Council of Castile, which consists of ten
auditors, and to which there lies an appeal from all other courts. A code of laws
which he caused to be compiled by the most able lawyers 3 is
still used in that kingdom.
Nothing ever so much
troubled our saint, as when his own father Alphonsus, king of Leon, stirred up
by Alvarez, laid claim to and invaded his dominions. St. Ferdinand endeavoured
by the most dutiful and endearing letters to give him all possible
satisfaction, and lent him his own forces to fight against the Moors. With this
succour his father conquered Caures, Merida, and Badajoz, and extended his
dominions to the frontiers of Andalusia. Being resolved as much as possible
never to draw his sword but against the infidels, he restored several places
the claims to which seemed doubtful, and waved all occasions of quarrels with
the kings of Portugal and Arragon, and with Eleonor of England in Gascony. He
founded several bishoprics, and contributed munificently to the building or
repairing of many stately cathedrals, and other churches, monasteries and
hospitals. No necessity could ever make him impose any heavy tax upon his
subjects. In his wars with the Moors, when one suggested to him a method of
raising an extraordinary subsidy, he rejected the proposal with indignation; saying,
“God would not fail to supply him other ways, and that he feared more the curse
of one poor old woman than the whole army of the Moors.” He first marched
against them into the kingdom of Baëza in 1225; and in the second year, Aben
Mahomet, a prince of the race of the Miramolins of Africa, king of that
country, yielded himself up vassal to King Ferdinand, and surrendered to him
his strongest holds. In 1230 he took nearly twenty strong places in Andalusia,
and in the kingdoms of Cordova and Jaën. Aben Mahomet having been murdered by a
general conspiracy of his subjects, because he had made himself vassal to a
Christian king who was the sworn enemy of their religion, St. Ferdinand took
occasion to conquer the whole kingdom of Baëza, and to erect a bishopric in its
capital. His whole conduct bore testimony to the truth of his solemn
protestation, in which he appealed to heaven, saying: 4 “Thou,
O Lord, who searchest the secrets of hearts, knowest that I desire thy glory,
not mine; and the increase of thy faith, and holy religion, not of transitory
kingdoms.” The Archbiship Rodriguez performed the solemn office, and all
pastoral functions in the army, and the bishop of Palencia in his room one year
that he happened to be sick. St. Ferdinand set his soldiers the most perfect
example of devotion. He fasted rigorously, prayed much, wore a rough hair-shirt
made in the shape of a cross, spent often whole nights in tears and prayers,
especially before battles, and gave to God the whole glory of all his
victories. In his army he caused an image of the Blessed Virgin to be carried,
and wore another small one on his breast, or sometimes when on horseback placed
it on the pummel of his saddle before him. From the spoils taken in war he
contributed in a truly royal manner to the rebuilding of the most stately
cathedral of Toledo, of which he laid the first stone. Several towns which were
conquered from the Moors, he gave to the Order of Calatrava or others, and to
the archbishopric of Toledo, upon condition they should defend them against the
infidels. This is the origin of the great riches of that archbishopric, and of
the military religious Orders in Spain.
St. Ferdinand was marching
to lay siege to Jaën in 1230, when he received news of the death of his father,
Alphonsus of Leon, and was called by his mother to take possession of that
kingdom, which from that time has remained united with Castile. It cost him
three years to settle the affairs of his new kingdom; but in 1234 he
recommenced his wars against the Moors by the siege of Ubeda, which he took
after having spent the whole campaign before it. In the meantime the infant
Alphonsus, with fifteen hundred men, defeated at Xeres the formidable army of
Abenhut, king of Seville, divided into seven bodies of troops, each of which
was more numerous than the whole Christian army. From the deposition of several
prisoners and others, the Christians concluded that the apostle St. James had
appeared at the head of their troops in the armour of a knight, mounted on a
white horse; and this victory cost the Christians only the lives of one knight,
who had refused to forgive an injury, and ten soldiers. The joy of these
victories was allayed by the death of the virtuous Queen Beatrix, St.
Ferdinand’s consort, who departed this life at Toro, about the beginning of the
year 1236. The grief for this loss did not long suspend his warlike
preparations, and whilst James, king of Arragon, wrested from the Moors the
kingdom of Majorca and that of Valentia, he completed the conquest of the two
Moorish kingdoms of Baëza and Cordova. This last city had been in the hands of
those infidels five hundred and twenty-four years, and had been long the
capital of their empire in Spain, when St. Ferdinand, after a long siege,
entered it by capitulation, on SS. Peter and Paul’s day in 1236. The great
mosque was purified by John, bishop of Osma, and converted into a church under
the invocation of the Mother of God, and St. Ferdinand refounded there a
bishopric. The great bells of Compostella, which Almansor had caused to be
brought hither on the backs of Christians, St. Ferdinand commanded to be
carried back on the backs of Moors.
In 1237, by the counsels
of his mother, he married a second wife, chiefly at the recommendation of his
aunt Blanche, dowager queen of France. This was Jane of Ponthieu, who bore him
two sons and a daughter, 5 and
lived in the most happy constant harmony with the queen mother and the king
till their death, and joined them in all their exercises of piety and devotion.
The winter they usually spent together; in spring, when the king put himself at
the head of his army to march to new conquests, she usually assisted Berangera
in superintending the domestic administration of the affairs of state. St.
Ferdinand in the campaigns which followed the taking of Cordova made himself
master of twenty-four other towns, of which Ecija was the first and Moron the
last. Abenhudiel, king of Murcia, voluntarily surrendered his kingdom to king
Ferdinand, reserving some open places to himself and certain lords of his
country, which they were to hold in vassalage. St. Ferdinand sent his son
Alphonsus to take possession of the city of Murcia, to purify the mosques, and
establish there a bishopric. The strong cities of Lorca, Mula, and Carthagena,
which refused to yield themselves up to him, he took three years after. Arjona
and Jaën maintained obstinate sieges; but at length fell into the hands of
Ferdinand, with Alcala, Real, Ivora, and some other places dependent on Jaën.
The loss of this capital so terrified Benalhamar, king of Granada, that he
repaired to the camp of Ferdinand, cast himself at the feet of the conqueror,
and offered to hold his kingdom of him in vassalage, and to pay him an annual
tribute of one hundred and fifty thousand maravedis. These conditions were
accepted, and by remaining always faithful to king Ferdinand, he transmitted
his kingdom to his posterity. The rich and strong city of Seville, after the
death of its king Abenhut, had formed itself into a republic, when king
Ferdinand resolved to turn his forces against that place, far the most
important which the Moors at that time possessed in Spain. The death of
archbishop Rodriguez, his most faithful minister, followed by that of
Berangera, his mother, interrupted his preparations for a short time; but
motives of religion moderating his grief for the loss of the best of mothers,
he had no sooner settled the administration by the orders which he despatched
into Castile, but he resumed his expedition with greater vigour than ever. The
siege held sixteen months, Seville being then the largest and strongest city in
Spain. Its double walls were very broad and high, and defended by one hundred
and sixty-six towers; the western side of the city was secured by the great
river Guadalquivir, besides a deep broad moat at the foot of the innermost wall
round the city. All provisions were abundantly supplied from the famous garden
of Hercules, esteemed by the ancients the most delightful spot of ground in the
world, called by the Moors Axarafa. This territory is about thirty miles in
length, and twelve in breadth, and contained one hundred thousand farms besides
castles and towns. It lay on the right side of the river, where its
communication with the city was secured by the castle of Triana on that bank,
which was joined by a great iron chain, and a bridge of boats with the golden tower
on the opposite bank at the bottom of the city. St. Ferdinand’s fleet defeated
that of the Moors, and mounted the river within sight of the castle of Triana;
his land forces vanquished the succours sent from Africa, and in daily combats
gained continual advantages. Yet the siege was not advanced till in the tenth
month, on the feast of the Invention of the Cross in May, Ferdinand’s admiral,
by launching two great ships upon the chain and bridge of boats broke both.
Triana was then besieged, and after having been long battered with rams and
other engines, and stood many assaults, was at length reduced. The city itself
surrendered on the 23d of November, 1249; the Moors were allowed a month to
sell or dispose of their goods; three hundred thousand removed to Xeres, one
hundred thousand passed into Africa. Axataf, governor-general of the Moors at
Seville, being arrived at a hill called Belvidere, from which he had a prospect
of the sea before him, and of the city behind him, turning towards Seville to
take his last leave of that city, said with tears, that only a saint who by his
justice and piety had heaven in his interest in all his undertakings could ever
have taken so rich, so populous, and so strong a city with so small an army;
but that God by his eternal decrees had taken it from the Moors. St. Ferdinand,
after the most solemn thanksgivings to God, implored the intercession of the
Virgin Mother before her famous image which is still preserved, and refounded
the cathedral with such magnificence and splendour, that it yielded to no
church in Christendom but that of Toledo. The three years which he survived he
resided at Seville to settle the tribunals and regulate the affairs of this
important conquest; but added at the same time to his dominions Xeres, Medina,
Sidonia, Alcala de los Gazules, Bejar, Port St. Mary’s, Cadiz, St. Lucar,
Arcos, Lebrixa, Rota, Trebuxena, and a great number of other towns and castles.
He showed by his example that devotion is consistent with the duties of a king
and Christian soldier; he was in all things severe to himself, but
compassionate and mild to all others, always master of himself and his
passions. He was preparing an expedition against the Moors in Africa, when he
was taken with his last sickness. He prepared himself for death by the most
edifying sentiments of compunction and a general confession; then called for
the viaticum; and whilst the bishop of Segovia, attended by all the clergy of
Seville and the court, brought the holy sacrament, the king rose from his bed,
fell on his knees on the floor, put a cord about his neck, and taking a
crucifix in his hands kissed and saluted the wounds of his Saviour, watering
each of them with his tears. He then made his confession aloud, though he had
nothing to accuse himself of which others could think to have been criminal,
how much soever he was himself penetrated with confusion and regret for the
least appearance of a fault. He made an act of faith in presence of the holy
sacrament, which he received pouring forth a flood of tears of tender love and
devotion. Before his death he called for all his children, gave them excellent
instructions with his blessing, and asked pardon of all the world if ever he
had given offence to any. In his agony, holding a blessed taper in his hands,
he recommended his soul to God through the merits of his crucified Redeemer in
the most pathetic aspirations; then caused the clergy to recite near him the
Litanies, and afterwards the Te Deum. This was scarcely finished when he
yielded up his soul into the hands of his Creator on the 30th of May, 6 in
the year 1252, the fifty-third of his age, the thirty-fifth of his reign in
Castile, and the twenty-second in Leon. According to his desire he was buried
before the image of our Lady in the great church at Seville, and his body is
still preserved in that church in a rich shrine without the least blemish of
corruption, and has been honoured with miracles. St. Ferdinand was canonized by
Clement X., in 1671. See the Chronicle of Rodriguez Ximenes, archbishop of
Toledo, high chancellor of Castile, and minister to St. Ferdinand. This work
ends in the year 1243, the twenty-sixth of St. Ferdinand’s reign. Also Luke,
bishop of Tuy in Gallicia, another contemporary writer, whose Chronicle ends in
1237, the twentieth of St. Ferdinand. Likewise the general Chronicle of Spain,
and the particular Chronicle of St. Ferdinand, compiled in the reign of his son
and successor Alphonsus X. Add the notes of Papebroke, t. 7, Maij. Mariana
de Rebus Hispaniæ, l. 12, c. 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, l. 13, c. 1, 2, 3,
7, 8, and F. Orleans, Hist. des Révolutionis d’Espagne, t. 1, l. 3, p. 488,
&c.
Note 1. Roderiguez,
at that time first dean, then archbishop of Toledo, assures us that Berengera
was the eldest of all the children of this king, and next heir to the kingdom
after her brother’s death. It is therefore a notorious mistake of those who
call Blanche the elder sister. [back]
Note 2. Luc
Tudens. [back]
Note 3. This code is
called by the Spaniards Las Partidas. [back]
Note 4. Sancius,
Episc. Palent. Hist. Hisp. par. 3, c. 39. [back]
Note 5. This
daughter named Eleonor, after the death of her father, was carried by her
mother into France, became heiress of the counties of Ponthieu and Montreuil,
and by marrying Edward I. of England, united them to the dominions of that
crown. See Triveti Chron. &c. [back]
Note 6. Mariana and
others place the death of St. Ferdinand on the 30th of May; but Flores shows
that the Spaniards at that time called it the 31st. For May had thirty-one days
where the Julian alteration of the months was not adopted, and the Dionysian
epoch, in which the years were counted from Christ, was not introduced in Spain
till very late, and after this time. The Spanish era preceded it thirty-eight
years, commencing from the first year of Augustus’s reign in Spain. Hence St.
Ferdinand died in the year of Christ 1252, of the Spanish era 1290. See Flores,
the learned Austin friar, rector of the Royal College at Alcala, in his Espana
Sagrada, upon Chronologia de la Historia de Espana, part 1, c. 6, p. 112, ib.
c. 2, n. 52, 53, p. 35. [back]
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume V: May. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/5/303.html
Charles Joseph Flipart (1721–1797),
Seville Surrenders to the king Saint Ferdinand III of León, circa 1750, 72
x 56, Museo del Prado
Ferdinand III, King of
Castile (RM)
Born near Salamanca,
Spain, c. 1199; died in Seville, Spain, on May 30, 1252; canonized in 1671 at
the request of Philip IV.
Ferdinand was the son of
Alphonso IX, king of León, and Berengaria, the oldest daughter of Alphonso III,
king of Castile. His maternal grandmother was the daughter of Henry II of
England, and her sister Blanche became the mother of Saint Louis of France.
The death of Berengaria's
brother, Henry, left her heiress to the throne of Castile in 1217, but she
ceded her rights to the 18-year- old Ferdinand. He was a stern, but forgiving,
ruler who ignored personal slights, and an excellent administrator. The archbishop
of Toledo, Rodrigo Ximenes, was chancellor of Castile and his principal adviser
for many years. Ferdinand married Beatrice, daughter of King Philip of Swabia
in 1219.
Upon the death of his
father in 1230, Ferdinand became king of León. There was opposition to this,
for there were supporters of the claim of his two half sisters, but his union
of the two kingdoms made a recovery from the Moors possible. He campaigned
against the Moors without respite for 27 years, and his success won the great
devotion of his people. He recaptured the greater part of Andalusia, including
Ubeda, Cordova (1236), Murcia, Jaen, Cadiz, and Seville (1249).
It was in the battle of
Xeres, when only 10 or 12 Spanish lives were lost, that Saint James (Santiago)
was said to have been seen leading the host on a white horse. Saint James's
chronicle is a principal source for Ferdinand's achievements. Ferdinand's
military efforts were not so much imperialistic in motivation as driven by a
wish to save Christians from the dominance of infidels.
Although he was a
warrior, it was said of him that "he feared the curse of one old woman
more than a whole army of Moors." In thanksgiving for his victories,
Ferdinand rebuilt the cathedral in Burgos and converted the great mosque of
Seville into a church. He restored to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostella
the bells that had been removed by the Moors.
Once the Moors and Jews
submitted, he pursued a course of tolerance, while encouraging the friars to
convert them. He was the founder of the famed University of Salamanca in 1243.
He married Joan of Ponthieu on the death of Beatrice. By his second wife he was
the father of Eleanor, wife of King Edward I of England. It is interesting to
note that upon his death he was buried in the habit of a Franciscan friar in
the cathedral of Seville. At his death he was popularly acclaimed a saint but
canonical recognition took another 400 years (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney,
White).
King Saint Ferdinand is
depicted in art as a crowned knight with a greyhound. He is dressed royal
regalia, cross on his breast, and the dog at his feet (Roeder). He is the
patron saint of persons in authority (rulers, governors, magistrates, etc.)--a
result of his wise appointments; the poor and prisoners (over whom such persons
rule); engineers (a result of his technical military skills), and the Spanish
army (White).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0530.shtml
Diego
Sánchez Sarabia (1704–1779), San Fernando recibe la embajada del Rey de Fez,
1760, 125 x 168, Royal Academy of
Fine Arts of San Fernando. La obra representa a Fernando III el Santo († 1252), rey de
Castilla y León, recibiendo la embajada del rey de Fez.
Saint Fernando III
King Saint Fernando III
was born in the monastery of Valparaiso in Spain in the year 1199 – exactly 100
years to the month after the death of his illustrious ancestor, Rodrigo Diaz,
who was known by the honorary title of El
Cid He was a true son of the Cid, of noble heart and bearing. In him
would be combined the soul of a knight dedicated entirely to God, the
irresistible power of the Cid and, due to his royal heritage, the authority to
marshal the might of an entire nation against the enemies of Christ.
Saint Fernando’s father was King Alfonso IX of Leon, and his mother the saintly
Lady Bereguera. As his parent’s marriage was annulled by Pope Innocent III, St
Fernando was actually raised by his grandfather, King
Alfonso VIII of Castile, and his mother. King Alfonso VIII was a great
warrior and knight, to whom Christian chivalry was more than just a code of
conduct or a set of rules to which he adhered; it was a pursuit of virtue meant
to guide him in all of his thoughts and actions. In striving for the ideal of
knighthood, he attained a true nobility of character. Living a life of honor,
King Alfonso was a magnificent warrior who courageously defended the Church and
his kingdom of Castile. He was also an excellent role model for young Fernando,
who wanted nothing more than to be a knight of Christ.
St Fernando was still a young man when he became king of Castile. His kingdom
was in tatters, as there had been numerous raids by both Christian and Moor
into Castile, as well as internal rebellions. Saint Fernando worked tirelessly
to restore his realm to prosperity and administer justice throughout his land,
though he continued always to train as a warrior.
On the day Saint Fernando became a knight, he prayed:
“Christ, my Lord, I am in Thy hands, the same way this sword is in mine. Show
me, my King, what Thou wantest of this Thy knight.”
In the silence and stillness of the night, St Fernando heard Christ answer him:
“I want to make your whole life like a representation and marvelous parable so
that the coming centuries may contemplate the war that I, Eternal King and
Universal Lord, wage against the powers of darkness, to conquer the entire
earth for my Father. Fernando, you will be the noble and considerate king who
leads his vassals in this great enterprise, the courageous and mortified King
who, above all others, charges ahead in the midst of danger and endures the
strain of hard work and the fatigue of battle. You will be the generous and
magnanimous King who in victory does not worry about his treasures, but
distributes the spoils among his faithful knights.”
God granted to Saint Fernando to see the stark outline of the life that was to
be his, a life full of struggles and hardships and warfare. Yet his soul did
not quake at the prospect, for he knew that he would be doing God’s will, and
that God would be with him as long as he remained true. He was prepared to do
whatever was required of him now, and all the days of his life.
King Saint Fernando became one of history’s most gifted and formidable
warriors, while being at the same time one of the greatest monarchs who ever
ruled. He, like so many men of his time, did not seek to enjoy a long life so
much as he sought to live a good life. Thus, he spent his entire life in the
service of God, rather than wasting his time in service to himself.
King St Fernando was a man of clear and deep faith, who realized that
everything depends on God and that it is He Who grants the victory. He knew,
nonetheless, that the Lord never wants to help those who are lazy but to assist
with grace those who do everything that is in their power. This effort becomes
a prayer of action, when combined with trust in Him.
As a consequence of his holy intentions, all of Saint Fernando’s ventures met
with success. He was absolutely invincible, personally as well as while
directing his armies, conquering hearts and minds as completely as he did
cities and strongholds. He knew that there is no holier enterprise than to do
one’s duty before God, and that his first obligation was to rescue his own
country.
This great Catholic monarch truly lived his faith, and by his chivalry,
loyalty, and generosity of character was worthy of the high regard and
friendship of those who had once fought against him. By the kindness and
gratitude he showed toward those who rendered service to him, and by his great
generosity, he captured the affection and won the willing obedience of his
nobility. He always and everywhere applied himself whole heartedly to his
duties as king, zealously seeking after justice and prosperity for his people.
He was a model of righteousness and proper conduct for his sons, and by his
example earned the respect and love of all his children. He was to them the
most tender and caring of fathers, leaving them an incomparable heritage the
like of which few Christian monarchs could boast.
The legacy of King Saint Fernando III is far-reaching and eternal. It was he
who had permanently combined the Kingdoms of Leon and Castile, and with that
might he conquered more Islamic territory than any other Christian, expelled
the Muslims from most of Andalusia and turned their remaining kings into his
obedient vassals. King Fernando’s achievements clearly outstrip those of King
Sancho II and King Jaime I, not to mention those of king’s Saint
Louis IX, Frederick II and Edward I. At a time when the crusading
efforts of all the rest of Christendom hardly sufficed to maintain a foothold
on the coast of the Holy Land, Fernando inflicted on medieval Islam its greatest
defeat up until that time.
King Saint Fernando had been known as “the Saint” during his lifetime, so it
should come as no surprise that immediately after his death his subjects
unanimously awarded him a place in celestial glory. St Fernando soon became the
object of public veneration, and that same year Pope Innocent IV declared that
King Saint Fernando of Castile enjoyed the reputation of “having always
followed the path of obedience to the Divine precepts, and that he greatly
contributed to the spreading of the worship of the Holy Name of Jesus.”
The body of St Fernando is incorrupt, and he can still be seen in the Cathedral
of Seville, for he rests now enclosed in a marvelous gold and crystal casket
worthy of the Castilian king. King Saint Fernando is the only king whose
earthly crown has never been taken away, for his golden crown still encircles
his head as he reclines beneath the statue of the Virgin of the Kings, awaiting
the day of resurrection.
Reviews of "St. Fernando III A Kingdom for Christ"
"Very little has been written about St. Fernando III. Very few Catholics
even know he existed, let alone his origins and the noble Catholic blood that
flowed through his veins. From Charlemagne to El Cie to Alfonso VIII, and
beyond himself to the beloved Queen Isabella of Spain, some of the greatest
Catholic figures in history have shared ni this lineage of warrior-saints. And
yet, all throughout the last four centuries, the honor and due reverence to
this man among men has lain hidden among the shadows of time, awaiting the day
when modern man would take notice of this King among kings; this Warrior among
warriors; this Saint among saints.
Now, that day has come! Mr. Fitzhenry has put down on paper the life of a true
Catholic hero; one that we can happily place in the hands of our Catholic youth
and say, "Read this. This is what is expected of a Catholic man."
St. Fernando III breaks through the apathy, so prevalent in today's society of
egotism, diversity and political correctness, and rekindles within the Catholic
heart the fight for our one, true Faith...and ultimately, Christ as King. Viva
Christo Rey!
Scott Jones, Director, Our Lady of Victory School
Gloria Romanorum Review
Did you know that one of the greatest kings in Spanish history, Fernando III,
was also a saint? I didn't. But thanks to author James Fitzhenry, I do now.
Fitzhenry, who also penned El Cid: God's Own Champion, has written this
detailed yet approachable biography of this fascinating and inspiring example
of Catholic manhood. St. Fernando III: A Kingdom for Christ is geared toward
Catholic homeschooled kids, probably in the twelve and older age range. But the
writing is exceptional and as a mature reader of nearly 40, the book easily
held my attention.
Replete with family turmoil,
civil strife, stunning miracles, romance, and dozens upon dozens of skirmishes,
pitched battles, and sieges, the tremendous scope of St. Fernando's worldly
accomplishments leave the reader dumbfounded. But the heart of this book is St.
Fernando's total devotion to Christ and his Blessed Mother. Everything he did,
he offered to God without reservation. In his willingness to suffer personal
hardships, unfailing mercy toward his enemies, love for his wife and children,
and care for the poor and afflicted, St. Fernando was a model of Christian
virtue. In his everyday life, and especially when he faced a crisis, he turned
to the Virgin and believed to the depths of his soul that she would intercede
for him. And based on the magnificent achievements of his life, who can doubt
that she did? For at the same time that the Christian states in the Holy Land
were failing despite the best efforts of great crusading armies led by the most
important crowned heads of Europe, St. Fernando was able to weld together the small
kingdoms of Castile and Leon and use their combined might to reconquer almost
all of Andalusia from its Muslim overlords.
So in short, this book is
a gem. St. Fernando III is a Catholic hero who deserves to be more widely
known. Now thanks to James Fitzhenry and his enjoyable book, he will be.
Amazon Book Reviews
Mr. Fitzhenry, after success with his great work, El Cid: God's Own Champion,
in 2007, outdid himself with the story of St. Fernando, or San Fernando Rey.
This new book reads like a novel full of suspense, but based on the life of one
of the most amazing saints, yet before this great book, little was known about him.
This book tells of his strength in battle. He also consulted the Blessed
Virgin, to whom he was very devoted, even carrying a statue of her (Virgin of
Battles) on the horn of his saddle.
Fernando was brave,
fearless because of his strong faith, and always "knew" he was under
the direction of God and accomplishing His will.
I received this book as a
Christmas present and looked at it as, "Ho hum". That changed
quickly, due to Mr. Fitzhenry's captivating writing style, in-depth research
utilizing 31 reference books and therefore, what may have seemed to be legend
has come to life as accurately as an author could accomplish covering the
Thirteenth Century.
It is always so trite to
review a book by saying, "This was so exciting, full of surprises and breathless
close-calls, that I couldn't put it down." Albeit true with Fernando, I
HAD TO SLOW DOWN MY READING! This was because I dreaded completing this great
epic--I then paced myself as one might do with a fine wine. After reading a
section, there was always much to contemplate, including visions from the
Blessed Virgin, and how in Fernando's early life, Fernando's mother the queen,
offered great penances and petitions to the Virgin to save her son who had
become desperately ill. He was miraculously cured.
In reading this
adventure, you will travel through all of the areas of Spain, as Fernando
pushes the Moors to the sea, sterilizing virtually all of Spain for
Christianity. You will enjoy stories of the miracle of enemy arrows turning
around wiping out the enemy who shot them, the appearance St. James several
times with a compliment of soldiers from heaven. St Isidore appeared often and
even heavenly angels appeared in the middle of battle to bolster Fernando's
army. You will treasure stories of faith and more faith, yet Fernando was God's
man willing to do anything with the Blessed Mother's prodding, direction and
approval and always to please God.
I would suggest this book
to adults, but children who are able to read on an adult level will love this
book, however a parent could read it to a younger child a bit at a time. In
closing, it should be mandatory for high school students and all adults who
love their faith. What's next Mr. Fitzhenry? Please hurry!
Del Latham, M.S.
I highly recomend reading this beautiful book and adding it to your libraries -
El Cid is a heartwarming and inspiring story giving glorious tribute to the
triumph of human faith-and its well detailed events will forever dwell in your
mind! El Cid, a book for all ages, will make you forget where you are and take
you far into its story. This wonderful little book will strengthen the faith of
its readers, no matter how weak or strong it may be. Mr. James Fitzhenry is a
very creative and brilliant author. El Cid: God's Own Champion was rated
super-high by my husband and two young adult children, and voted the best story
book Fitzhenry has put together yet!
Adriana Attar, California
I greatly enjoyed reading
this book to my children. They were captivated by the fascinating details of
this heroes life. The author brought the characters to life with lively energy
and beautifully drawn illustrations. This amazing true story is written from a
Catholic perspective. El Cid epitomizes the moral virtues that are all but lost
in today's society. This is a perfect addition to any home schooling program. I
highly recommend this book to anyone with children.
A.H. Schermer, Amsterdam, NL
I bought this book for my
future children as I want them to read about the heroes of old who once fought
to save and defend our culture and our faith. I am myself descendant of
Spaniards and have seen with disgust how the science of history these past
decades has fallen hostage to ideology, an ideology which loves to hate the
Western world and relativitize everything. Spain during the Middle Ages was a
society and a nation which fought desperately for its own survival against
Islamic aggression. Since Europe in those days was one Christian unity Spain -
just like Charles Martel, the Byzantine empire and the sieges of Vienna -
fought for the entire Christendom. Latter-day historians driven by progressive
ideology have done their best to try to depict Rodrigo Diáz de Bivar as a
simple free-booter, however, the sources and general knowledge about medieval
Spain reveals a whole different picture. El Cid was and is a true once living
example of a man who fought for freedom, faith and family, and as such he
presents a true role-model for all Westerners, American and European and
christians of all denominations. In this post 9/11 world to read about medieval
Spain is sobering reading. Islam was and is the same ever since the days of its
violent founder - pure and simple aggression bent on world-domination. Anyone
who disputes this should study REAL history.
Pablo "Pablo", Brazil
SOURCE : http://www.roman-catholic-saints.com/saintfernando.html
José Gutiérrez de la Vega (1791–1865),
La última comunión de San Fernando, 1832,
167 x 123, Royal Academy of
Fine Arts of San Fernando. La obra representa la última comunión del
rey Fernando III de Castilla († 1252),
apodado el Santo, que falleció en la ciudad de Sevilla el
día 30 de mayo de 1252.
The death of Saint
Ferdinand III, the very noble King of Castile and Leon
May 28, 2012
The preparations for the
conquest of Moslem Africa were in advanced stages. The good King Don Ferdinand,
close to embarking, spoke to the two Alfonsos, his son and his brother, during
one warm evening while walking through the gardens, trying to convince one of
the two to remain in Spain to govern it. However neither would yield in their
insistent desire to go to Africa with him….
The month of May was
ending and the weather was very hot in Seville. That morning the King had gone
to see the various projects on the docks, and was returning tired, but happy,
when suddenly an attack of his old sickness assaulted him. It was so terrible
and accompanied by such a sharp pain that he clearly realized that this time he
would not escape. He was taken to bed, and as soon as he recovered somewhat and
was able to talk, he said to Alfonso and all there present:
“Time is running out and
the hour for me to die has come.”
Thus, with simple
naturality and with no sign of sorrow, he renounced his glorious dreams. For him
the will of God was everything….
Ferdinand, in the
meantime, requested the Viaticum to be brought to him. While a procession was
being organized in Santa Maria, the humble King was preparing himself to
receive his Lord and his God in the palace. He asked to be dressed in the
beautiful white and gold rich silk shirt he wore on feast days, and, in
reverence to Christ’s royal dignity and power, he ordered every reminder of
human majesty to be removed from his chamber. He no longer wanted to see his
crown or his scepter, or to think about government or honors of this world.
Facing the bed where he was lying his men erected a beautiful altar with purple
damasks and fine linens whiter than snow. On it they placed a sacred crucifix
and six great silver candlesticks with lighted candles. One after another, the
sons and brothers of the King arrived. The Queen was shedding tears of great
affliction, and Teresa, Aldonza and Urraca shared her grief. With them were
their husbands and the other noblemen of the King’s house and wise men of his
council. Don Ferdinand’s eyes were closed, and, absorbed in prayer, he was
oblivious to the things of this world. The only sounds in the large room were
the difficult breathing of the patient, the crackling of a sputtering candle and
unrestrained sobbing.
Suddenly the silvery
sound of a distant bell was heard approaching. King Ferdinand opened his eyes
and looked at the door. Clergymen, friars and knights entered, all bearing
lighted candles whose small golden flames wavered with mysterious restlessness
in the darkness of the large room. And, after them, carried in a gold ciborium
wrapped in silk cloths by a devout and recollected priest of a military order,
was the Most Holy Body of Christ. Seeing Him, a powerful surge of love revived
Ferdinand, who lifted himself from the bed, knelt on the hard marble tiles, and
placed a rope he had prepared around his neck as a sinful penitent. Thus,
contrite and humiliated, King Ferdinand laid down his royalty before the divine
royalty of Jesus Christ. Near the altar Don Remondo waited dressed in the
pontifical vestments; before the ceremony began, the voice of the King rose:
“Give me first the Holy Cross so that I may repent for my sins before It.”
They placed It in his
hands, and, fixing his eyes on It, he began to shed bitter tears while he
said:’
“Look at me here, my Lord
Jesus Christ, in Thy presence as a wicked sinner, for I know well the many sins
with which I have offended Thee. But great as they may be, I trust in Thy mercy
that, through the merits of Thy holy Passion and Thy most precious death, Thou
wilt forgive me of them. Remember, Lord, the many outrages and torments Thou
suffered for my sake and by which Thou hast the name of Savior, and deliver Thy
servant of his sins, which were the cause of Thy sufferings.”
At this point the King’s
voice faltered, breaking in a sob. Recovering, he continued:
“I regret these offenses
very much, Lord, and I grieve also for the death Thou suffered for me; and
since Thy Holy Church forgives these sins, I want to confess them, to erase the
bad example I have given to these my vassals here present, knowing that I
detest these sins most heartily and would that I had never committed them…”
And humbly, painfully, he
manifested in a loud voice all the sins of his life, from his childish actions
as a boy to his last faults of yesterday. The noble countenance was covered
with shame, because, although his sins were the inevitable weaknesses of which
only the Mother of Christ was free, they seemed to him like great sins and, as
such, he felt great sorrow. But because he understood the infinite holiness of
God and because of the ardent love he had for Him, he performed this work of
justice to satisfy the divine majesty he had offended. In his contrition, he
continued:
“I well deserve every
humiliation for my sins, yet Thou, Lord, wanted to suffer the humiliation of
making them Thine and of appearing in the presence of the Father covered with
them, and because of the great shame Thou didst shed blood.… And then Thou wast
betrayed by one of your men, and imprisoned by the executioners and tied with
rough ropes… And Thou suffered this so that I would be free! And Thou wert
taken, Lord, to be judged by Annas and Caiphas and Pilate, and there Thou didst
stand like a criminal… And I, who have performed so much evil, have judged
Castile and León! So many outrages and so many blows Thou didst receive, and
they spit on Thy Face so that I, a sinful man, would be honored by all… And
Pilate’s soldiers seized Thee and scourged Thee fiercely; and while Thou were
suffering it, I was in the midst of pleasures!… And they placed on Thee a crown
of thorns and gave Thee a reed scepter and an infamous mantle, and while Thou
wast thus mocked, I have been obeyed by all! And Thou, my Lord, wast condemned
to death on the cross that I would live, and Thou carried the cross up the hill
of Calvary, and on it Thou didst let Thyself be nailed and Thou didst die so
that I would have Paradise with Thee!”
At this point, tears
choked Ferdinand’s voice again, and the lofty head, always erect in battle,
fell defeated on his chest, vanquished by love and grief, the tears sliding
like a string of pearls onto the silk of his shirt down to the floor. And
striking his breast with great blows, he ended his confession:
“And because by Thy death
Thou earned life for me, I request, O Lord of Thy Holy Church, and you, my
Father Archbishop, that you would absolve me of my sins.”
Don Remondo absolved him,
and then asked him if he believed in God One, and Triune.
“I believe in Him Who is
God, true and eternal, and Who gave to us of His glory; I believe in the Father
and the Son and the Holy Ghost. And I believe that the Son made Himself man in
the womb of the Glorious Blessed Virgin Mary; and I believe in and consent to
all the doctrines of our Holy Mother the Church.”
Don Remondo took the Host
in his hands and approached the King who lifted his head and gazed at the Host
with an indescribable expression of faith and desire. He received the Body of
Christ and remained absorbed in a true union with his King: it was the supreme
communion between the Lord of Lords and His lieutenant in Castile.
As if he were a third
person and witnessing from a distance, Ferdinand saw the devout procession
leave his room. Then he ordered to have the precious tunic he had worn to be
taken off him and went back to his bed. He remained motionless for sometime,
his head inclined on the pillows that kept him half-raised in calm and quiet prayer.
The Queen cried at his side, and his sons surrounded his bed, awaiting the
moment of the last blessing.
Finally Don Ferdinand
opened his eyes and called his eldest: “My son, Alfonso, come here!”
The Infante knelt at his
father’s side. Ferdinand lifted his right hand, and, very slowly because his
strength was already seeping away, made the Sign of the Cross on him as a
blessing. Then, taking his right hand between his, the King said:
“Son, you well see how my
life is ending, and I am leaving to give my soul to Him Who created it and
redeemed it. Tomorrow you will be King of all these realms of Castile and León.
Fear, love and obey God and join your will and deeds with Him and you will have
a good end. Do not fail to do good while you can, as these good works will save
your soul, and everything will pass before you like a dream. Rule the people
justly and follow my instruction to continue the task of compiling the laws so
we can govern all the people with the same consistent code. Take care of your brothers
and strive to improve their situations and treat them in such a way that they
do not regret having been born second. Consider the Queen like a mother and
give her all the honor appropriate for a queen. I also recommend to you Don
Alfonso my brother, and all my other brothers and sisters. Honor all the
noblemen of your kingdoms and always favor the knights, and faithfully follow
their laws and their exceptions and freedoms and those of all your people.”
The King paused briefly
to regain his strength because life was leaving him; he looked in Alfonso’s
eyes again and added with an effort that made him tremble convulsively: “If all
this that I entrust to you, plead with you, and order you to fulfill is
accomplished you will have my full blessing, and if not, my curse.”
“Amen,” answered Alfonso,
his voice also somewhat choked from the emotion of that supreme moment.
Then the other children
who were in Seville began to approach: Fadrique, Henry, Felipe, Manuel,
Ferdinand, Doña Eleanor and Luis; each one the king blessed, making the Sign of
the Cross on them with his own hand. Manuel, in his turn, approached with his
tutor Don Peter López de Avala who said to Ferdinand when the Infante knelt:
“Lord, if I have served you well, I beg of you as a favor not to leave Manuel
without an inheritance.”
Don Ferdinand was nearing
his end, exhausted by the effort of being on his knees for such a long time,
the emotional confession and the farewell to his sons. Such was his condition
that he could only speak with great effort. He lifted his hand, purple as a
lily, and placing it with a gesture of a caress on the head of the distressed
young man, said: “Son, you are the last son I had of Queen Doña Beatrice, who
was a very good and holy woman, and I know she loved you very much. However, I
cannot give you any inheritance, but I give you my sword Lobera, which has
religious significance and with which God did much good for me.”
He then wished to be
alone. Watching them leave, he again called Don Alfonso, his firstborn, whom he
had loved and honored so much and whom he so greatly trusted.
“Son, you will be rich in
land and in many good vassals, more than any other king in Christendom. Try
hard to do good and be good; I leave you lord of all the land this side of the
sea that the Moors won from the Visgoth King Roderick. All of it remains under
your lordship, either conquered or tributary. If you maintain the boundaries of
the state as I am leaving them to you, you are as good a king as I; if you
conquer more, you are better, and if the boundaries decrease, then you are not
as good as I.”
The Queen was supported
by her ladies. After his sons had left, Alfonso de Molina, Rodrigo Alfonso and
his other brothers, the noblemen, his companions in toil and glory, all passed
before him, kissing as farewell the rigid hand that had fallen on the sheet.
The dying King looked at them, saying his goodbye with his eyes because the
fatigue of his heart, which no longer wanted to beat, was choking him like a
halter. The Mayor Chamberlain dared to ask him: “Do you want us, Lord, to make
a statue of your sepulcher?”
The King, sincere and
contemptuous of all human vanities, gave him this reply: “Let my life and my
works be my sepulcher and statue!”
Don Remondo, the other
priests of Santa María and the friars of the monasteries of Seville remained in
the royal chamber. After having bid final farewell to all those whom he loved
and associated with in this life, now these religious were the only companions
that he wanted in this supreme hour. On a small table at his bedside was the
Virgin of the Battles, helping him to win this last one. Suddenly Ferdinand
looked fixedly on high, his face transformed by an ineffable happiness that
swept away the pain of his final agony. He was like this for some time, and the
churchmen surrounding him even believed he had died. Coming back from his
ecstasy, he smiled joyously and said to them: “The hour has come…give me the
candle!”
Lifting his eyes, he
continued speaking to God: “Lord, Thou gavest to me a kingdom I did not have
and more honor and power than I deserved. Thou gavest me life as long as it was
Thy pleasure. Lord, I give Thee thanks; and I surrender to Thee and deliver to
Thee the kingdom Thou gavest me, with the improvements that I was able to
achieve, and I offer Thee my soul.” Then he looked at those present. “If,
through my fault, you have any complaint, please forgive me for it.”
Shedding many tears they
answered: “We pray to God to forgive you and know that you depart forgiven by
us.”
Then he took the candle
with both hands, and somehow found strength in his moral energy to lift it on
high while he said: “Lord, naked I came out of my mother’s womb which was the
earth, and naked I offer myself to her; and, Lord, receive my soul in the
company of Thy servants.” He lowered the candle and adored it as representative
of the Holy Ghost.
The sounds of his final
agony began. Perspiration made his hair adhere to the livid forehead, and large
drops fell and soaked the pillows. Their voices dulled by tears, the choir
intoned the Litany of the Saints. Toward the end, Ferdinand fixed his sight on
that point where heaven opened for him.
“Sing the Te Deum!”
he ordered in a rapture of joy.
What was he seeing? Was
it the angels and saints whom God was sending to receive him? Was it his Lady
Holy Mary? Or the Eternal King Jesus Christ coming to receive his knight? Don
Ferdinand very simply and gently lowered his eyes, wishing to lock forever in
its pupils that last and sweetest vision of his life. The purple face became
white, the fine whiteness of ivory; the lips remained half-open with an
expression of both supreme desire and ineffable enjoyment…. The holy King Don
Ferdinand was entering the last and noblest of all of his conquests, the
Kingdom of Heaven. “Te Dominum confitemur,” the choir continued singing
near his body.
And there above the white
roofs of Seville, in the star-filled sky of that May night, they say the angels
were heard singing a song that human ears had never before heard.
Sr. Maria del Carmen
Fernández de Castro Cabeza, A.C.J., The Life of the Very Noble King of
Castile and León, Saint Ferdinand III (Mount Kisco, N.Y.: The Foundation
for a Christian Civilization, Inc., 1987), pp. 272-278.
Short Stories on Honor,
Chivalry, and the World of Nobility—no. 181
Nobility.org Editorial
Comment: —
Prof. Plinio Correa de
Oliveira sustained that the full expression of nobility is only found within
the Catholic faith.
This post on St.
Ferdinand helps understand why this is so.
A noble lives a life of
sacrifice in the furtherance of the common good of his people. What can
possibly inspire him to this supreme self-abnegation better than the example of
Our Divine Savior, who suffered everything for our redemption, to open for us the
gates of Heaven?
Our Lord was St.
Ferdinand’s supreme inspiration and reference point in life. May his example
help us and our leaders today, “to try hard to do good and be good,” as St.
Ferdinand instructed his eldest son and heir, the future Alphonsus X, the Wise.
SOURCE : http://nobility.org/2012/05/28/saint-ferdinand-death/
Pintura
y escultura que representan al rey San Fernando en la Real Iglesia de San
Antonio de Aranjuez, Madrid.
Saint
Ferdinand III of Castile and Leon, Confessor of the Third Order
Article
At the time when Saint
Louis IX, King of France, the illustrious patron of the Third Order, was
edifying both the Christian and the Mohammedan world by his holy life, another
saintly ruler, Ferdinand III, also a member of the Third Order, was shedding
the luster of his virtues on the throne of Castile and Leon, in Spain. This
great king was the son Alfonso IX, King of Leon, and of Berengaria, daughter of
Alfonso III, of Castile. Berengaria, like her saintly sister Blanche, mother of
Saint Louis IX, was most solicitous for the eternal welfare of her children.
Rulers are exposed to many and great dangers, and on them depends to a great
degree the happiness of their subjects. The pious mother, therefore, labored
most carefully not only to develop the gifts of body and mind of her son, but
above all to implant into his heart sentiments of piety and virtue, which alone
would enable him to fulfill the arduous duties of his exalted position for the
honor of God and for the temporal and spiritual well-being of his people. And
what abundant fruit the instructions and prayers of the pious mother bore, the
whole life of this great king shows.
From his youth, Ferdinand
accustomed himself to look up to the King of kings in all his undertakings; to
seek only his honor and glory; to bear gladly sufferings and reverses as
dispositions of a kind Providence; and to render himself worthy of God’s
special protection by the practice of all Christian virtues and the flight of
everything displeasing in the sight of the Divine Majesty. He drew upon himself
the admiration of all by his love of retirement and prayer, his modesty and
charity, and by his filial love towards his mother, whom he obeyed with a ready
and perfect submission until her death in 1247.
In 1217, when about
twenty years of age, Ferdinand ascended the throne of Castile. This was brought
about through the prudence and firmness of Berengaria, who, after the death of
her. brother King Henry I, transferred her rights to the succession upon her
son Ferdinand. The latter at once began to distinguish himself as a truly
Christian king by magnanimity, strict justice, and charity. The many and
distracting labors of state in no way hindered him in his accustomed exercises
of piety and mortification; on the contrary, zeal in the service of God made him
all the more solicitous to fulfill his duties towards his subjects in the best
manner possible. He gave his constant attention to the care of his people,
especially in the appointment of worthy governors and magistrates and in the
administration of justice. So adverse was he to burden his people with heavy
taxes that, when an official proposed to him a means of obtaining a very large
sum of money to be used in the wars against the Mohammedans, he exclaimed, “God
forbid! Providence will not fail to supply other ways of obtaining the
necessary means. I fear the curse of one poor old woman more than the whole
army of the Moors.” To be able to rule more easily according to the principles
of right and justice, and to promote the interests of God and of his Church, he
chose as his counselors the wisest and most experienced men, and with their
assistance compiled a code of laws that is still used in Castile. At the advice
of his mother, he married Beatrice, the daughter of the German Emperor Philip
of Suabia. The happy union was blessed with seven sons and three daughters.
Christian Spain was at
that time engaged in almost continuous wars with the Mohammedans, who more than
once threatened the very existence of the Christian states. Filled with a
desire for the spread of the teachings and practices of the true religion,
Ferdinand, in 1224, joined the general crusade against the infidels, and during
the next twenty-five years, carried on many successful campaigns against them,
especially after he, in 1230, inherited the crown of Leon from his father, thus
uniting this kingdom with Castile. He conquered the kingdoms of Cordova, Jaen,
and Seville, and forced the kings of Valencia, Baeza, Murcia, and Granada to
acknowledge him as their liege lord. In these wars, Ferdinand distinguished
himself by his bravery, prudence, and generosity towards the conquered, but
particularly by his pious and holy life. He fasted rigorously, wore a hair
shirt, and passed whole nights in prayer, especially on the eve of a battle. He
had imbibed from his mother a most tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin, and
during all his campaigns he wore her image on his breast, or fastened it to the
pommel of his saddle. To encourage his soldiers to put themselves under the
protection of the Mother of God, Ferdinand had a banner with her image placed
in a conspicuous part of the camp, and had it carried before them in battle.
Need we wonder that the holy king was the terror of the enemy, and that they
believed him to be under the special protection of Heaven? When he had taken
the city of Seville, protected by the most powerful walls and towers and
defended by 100,000 men, the defeated king of the city declared, “Only a saint
could have taken a place so strongly fortified with so small a force; with the
assistance of Heaven only was it possible to take from us our beloved Seville.”
Before undertaking the
wars against the Mohammedans, Ferdinand declared, “Thou, Lord, who searchest
the secrets of hearts, knowest that I desire thy glory, not mine; the increase
of thy faith and holy religion, not of transitory kingdoms.” His whole conduct
after his great victories bore witness to the truth of his solemn protestation.
He labored incessantly for the temporal and spiritual welfare of his
newly-acquired territories, and applied the immense booty which he obtained to
the rebuilding of churches, especially of the cathedral of Toledo, to the
restoration of dioceses, the enhancement of divine service, and to the founding
of hospitals, asylums, and convents, particularly for the sons of Saint Dominic
and Saint Francis, whom he assisted in every possible way in their labors for
the salvation of souls. Having joined the Third Order of Saint Francis, he
became a model for all members of that Order by the fervor and exactness with
which he observed the Rule.
While preparing for an
expedition against the Mohammedans in Africa, the holy king was seized with his
last sickness. He prepared for death with the most edifying sentiments of
humility and penance; he had all the insignia of his royal dignity removed from
his chamber, made a general confession of his sins, and received the last
sacraments with touching devotion. After giving his last instructions and
blessing to his children, he recommended his soul to God and passed to his heavenly
reward at Seville, on May 30, 1252, at the age of fifty-four. His body, clad
in. the habit of the Third Order, was entombed in the cathedral of Seville.
Many miracles being wrought at his tomb, he was canonized by Pope Clement XI,
in 1671.
Reflection
The all-absorbing desire
of Saint Ferdinand was the honor of God and the spread of his holy religion. We
need not wonder at this, for it was the fruit of the love of God burning in his
heart. “Where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also.” (Matthew 6:21) When
the love of God reigns in the soul of the Christian, he is not satisfied with
striving to fulfill his daily duties to the best of his ability; no, he desires
others to know and love God and thus become partakers of the joys of Heaven. He
often asks himself, what can I do today for the honor of God and the welfare of
my fellow men? The God-loving Christian takes great interest in the sufferings
and in the triumphs of the Church, and gladly contributes his mite towards the
propagation of the faith among the pagans, and towards the support of his
church and the enhancement of divine service. He will also be found ready to
assist in any endeavor to correct abuses, to remove scandals, and to combat
evils, such as bad literature and bad plays. And if for any reason he is not
able to take an active part in such work, he will at least assist in these
labors by his prayers and works of self-denial. May the Tertiaries ever be in
the forefront in all undertakings for the honor of God, and thus imitate their
glorious model Saint Ferdinand.
MLA
Citation
Father Silas Barth,
O.F.M. Franciscan
Herald, XXX 1913. CatholicSaints.Info.
6 October 2022. Web. 17 January 2025.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-ferdinand-iii-of-castile-and-leon-confessor-of-the-third-order/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-ferdinand-iii-of-castile-and-leon-confessor-of-the-third-order/
Antonio Hidalgo (fl. 1668 / 1688), La Última Comunión de San Fernando, Catedral Vieja de Cádiz, 1683
May 31, 2016
Fernando III of Castilla:
Saint, King, and Conqueror
Throughout history, the
greatest leaders of nations invariably rise up during the most difficult
times. This was certainly the case in Spain, when in the very middle of
the 800-year Moorish occupation Ferdinand III became the king of Castilla. He
is called Fernando el Santo in Spain, and he was the greatest of all
of the Spanish kings. Not only was he a great military leader, taking back more
territory from the Moors than anyone else had in 500 years, but he was also a
just ruler, who was concerned above all with the propagation of the faith and
the happiness of his subjects. He was careful not to tax his people too
heavily, and he once said that he “feared the curse of one poor woman more than
a whole army of Saracens.” He founded the University of Salamanca, known as the
Athens of Spain; he built churches and monasteries; and the two highpoints of
his military career were the reconquest of Cordoba and Sevilla. In order to
understand the significance of St. Fernando III, however, let us first consider
a few of the events in Spain that took place between the invasion of the Moors
and 1217, when Fernando became king of Castilla.
Al-mansur and the Bells
of Santiago
After the Moorish armies invaded Spain in 711 they took
control of nearly all of the Iberian Peninsula, going as far north as Compostela,
and they even attempted to invade France. The centuries that followed were a
dark time for Christian Spain. One particularly low point during the 800 years
of Moorish occupation was when Al-mansur, the army commander for the Caliph of
Cordoba, was at the height of his power. Al-mansur was unbeatable, and he
ravaged Christian Spain, destroying fortresses, monasteries and churches in his
path. In The Reconquest of Spain, Historian
Derek Lomax writes, “only slowly did the Christians realize that Al-mansur had
no intention of conquering them, since that would have prevented him from
continually defeating them.”
In 997 Al-mansur marched
through Viseu, Portugal, where he was joined by some Christian counts who had
capitulated to him, and then to Oporto, where he was joined by reinforcements
who arrived by sea. He then marched toward Compostela. When they arrived,
Al-mansur and his army sacked the city and burned the basilica to the ground,
leaving only the tomb of St. James intact. Al-mansur returned to Cordoba with
captives and plunder, including the bells from the church of Santiago. He made
Christian slaves carry these bells, which had called all of Christendom to pray
for hundreds of years, back to Cordoba, to be used in the Mosque as braziers
for burning incense. The bells of Christian churches held a huge significance
during this time because they only rang in the areas that were under Christian
control, but the bells from the basilica of St. James had an even greater
meaning—they symbolized one of the most important pilgrimage sites in all of
Europe and the remains of St. James at Compostela, which were the pride of
Christian Spain.
Hope for Christian Spain
For nearly 240 years the
bells of Santiago remained at the Mosque in Cordoba, until a great light arose
who would lead Christian Spain out of the darkness of those years. King
Fernando III was the leader Christian Spain had long awaited. A just ruler, a
merciful conqueror, a man of prayer and strict aestheticism, a great protector
of the mendicant orders, and above all, a devoted subject of Jesus and Mary;
St. Fernando was a Third Order Franciscan, a loving husband and father, and the
Spanish ruler who won more territory back from the Moors than any other Christian
leader in the Reconquista to date. When Fernando became King of
Castilla in 1217 the Moors still had control of most of the south of Spain,
including the cities of Sevilla and Cordoba, but by the time of his death in
1252 they only occupied the tiny kingdom of Granada, which was required to pay
a yearly tribute to the Spanish crown. Among the victories won by St. Fernando,
the reconquest of Cordoba and Sevilla are among the most significant.
When St. Fernando took
back Cordoba, he had Muslim captives carry the bells of Santiago back to
Compostela, and he re-dedicated the mosque in Cordoba as the Cathedral of Our
Lady of the Assumption. This may appear to some as a vengeful act, but when one
looks at the facts, one will see that it was done out of a sense of justice. It
is necessary to remember that when the Moors invaded Spain it was a Christian
country, and they turned churches into mosques. St. Fernando was simply taking
back what had been stolen from the Church and from Spain.
The Reconquest of Sevilla
After re-conquering
Cordoba and taking back the kingdoms of Murcia and Jaen, Fernando III laid
siege to Sevilla. It took sixteen months for the Muslim inhabitants to finally
surrender this magnificent city, but on November 23rd, 1248, the ruler of
Sevilla, Ajatafe, surrendered Sevilla to Fernando, King of Castilla and Leon,
after 500 years of Muslim occupation.
On December
22nd King Fernando and the people of Castilla and Leon entered Sevilla
triumphantly with a brilliant procession. A beautiful carriage led by four
white horses carried the white statue of “Our Lady of the Kings,” which
Fernando brought with him to each battle, into the city. (This statue had been
given to him by his first cousin, King St. Louis XIV of France.) The crowds
spread flowers in front of the carriage as it passed, and after Archbishop
Gutierre of Toledo purified the church, he celebrated Mass, using this carriage
as a makeshift altar.
After 500 years of use as
a mosque, King Fernando and his subjects knelt to pray to God in the building
that would one day be replaced by one of the greatest cathedrals in the world.
The Cathedral of Sevilla would become the home of not only the statue of the
Virgin of the Kings, but it would also become the final resting place of
Fernando III, saint, king, and conqueror. One can visit the Cathedral of
Sevilla, and the “Chapel Royal” today to see the Virgin of the Kings, and the
incorrupt body of King St. Fernando III, her devoted son, asleep at her feet.
image: San Fernando,
rey de España by Antonio Casanova y Estorach
Tagged as: history, reconquest of
Spain, saints, Spain
By Sarah Metts
Sarah Metts is a
freelance writer and an aspiring Spanish historian. She holds a bachelor’s degree
in History and a master’s degree in Counseling from Franciscan University of
Steubenville. She is inspired by the lives of the saints, beauty, and the
writing of Leo Tolstoy. She and her husband Patrick reside in the Atlanta area
with their sons Jack and Joseph.
SOURCE : https://catholicexchange.com/fernando-iii-of-castilla-saint-king-conqueror/
.jpg)
Virgilio Mattoni de la Fuente representa
la agonía del providencial rey Fernando III el Santo en los Reales Alcázares de Sevilla. Ayudado por
dos monjes asiste a la Misa celebrada por el arzobispo don Remondo en presencia de su
esposa Juana. Esta pintura fue premiada en la Exposición de Bellas
Artes de 1887.
San Ferdinando III Re
di Leon e di Castiglia
1198 - 30 maggio 1252
Figlio di Alfonso IX re
di León e Berenguela di Castiglia, fu governatore modello dai solidi principi
cristiani. Nel1217, all'età di 18 anni, ereditò la Castiglia, la terra di sua
madre e nel 1230 il León, quella di suo padre. In questo modo unificò i due
regni. Re prudente, si circondò sempre di persone fidate, con cui si consultava
per le questioni più problematiche e urgenti. Di Ferdinando erano note anche la
profonda devozione alla Madonna e la grande umiltà. Si sposò in prime nozze con
Beatrice di Svezia (1219) e poi con Maria de Ponthieu (1235). Dalle due unioni
nacquero complessivamente tredici figli. Ma la storia ricorda Ferdinando anche
per le guerre contro i saraceni che gli permisero di riconquistare i regni di
Cordova, Siviglia, Jaén e Murcia. Nel 1221 il sovrano fondò la cattedrale di
Burgos, si deve a lui anche l'ampliamento dell'università di Salamanca. Morì il
30 maggio 1252 e fu sepolto nella cattedrale di Santa Maria a Siviglia. È
stato canonizzato da Papa Clemente X il 4 febbraio 1671. (Avvenire)
Patronato: Ingegneri
Etimologia: Ferdinando =
guerriero audace, dal tedesco
Martirologio Romano: A
Siviglia in Spagna, san Ferdinando III, che, re di Castiglia e León, fu saggio
amministratore del suo regno, cultore di arti e scienze e solerte nella
diffusione della fede.
San Ferdinando nacque nel 1198 da Alfonso IX, re di León, e da Berenguela di Castiglia. Con lui si unirono definitivamente i due regni della penisola iberica, senza guerre e spargimenti di sangue come spesso capita in simili circostanze. Tale unione fu infatti dettata dal matrimonio fra i suoi genitori: la morte prematura di Enrico I di Castiglia nel 1217 aveva inaspettatamente portato la corona castigliana alla sorella Berenguela, la quale, con grande prudenza e sagacia, volle cederla spontaneamente al giovane figlio Ferdinando, nel corso di una grande assemblea tenutasi a Valladolid. Fu così che nel luglio 1217 egli venne finalmente riconosciuto quale sovrano dai nobili castigliani. Nel 1230 prese anche possesso del regno di León, superati non pochi ostacoli derivanti dalle disposizioni testamentarie del padre, che poco prima della morte, aveva designato eredi universali le figlie Sancia e Dolce.
L’unione definitiva fra i due regni di Castiglia e di León costituì uno dei meriti più gloriosi della vita di Ferdinando: preparata accuratamente dalla madre, favorita dalla gerarchia ecclesiastica ed appoggiata dai papi Innocenzo III ed Onorio III, tale unione annullò definitivamente una delle più frequenti cause di attrito tra i regni spagnoli e si rivelò vincente nella lotta contro il comune nemico, cioè l’Islam a quel tempo penetrato nel continente europeo.
Ferdinando convolò a nozze prima con Beatrice di Svevia (nota anche come Beata Beatrice de Suabia) nel 1219 e poi, rimasto vedovo, con Maria de Ponthieu nel 1235: da queste felici unioni nacquero ben tredici figli. Questa politica matrimoniale instaurò strette relazioni con la casata imperiale di Germania e con quella reale di Francia, tanto che il primo matrimonio diede al figlio, Alfonso X il Saggio, fondamento giuridico per aspirare addirittura al trono germanico.
L’aspetto più rilevante del regno di Ferdinando III è però costituito dalla cosiddetta “Riconquista”: armato cavaliere a Burgos nel 1219 e riappacificati all’interno i suoi regni, consacrò per trenta lunghi anni tutta la sua attività bellica alla lotta contro gli invasori musulmani, assumendo quale suo scopo non soltanto la completa liberazione della Spagna, ma anche il riuscire a schiacciare il potere nemico, aspirazione suprema tanto delle crociate quanto del pontificato. La riconquista di città e fortezze importanti quali Baeza, Jaén, Martos, Córdoba e Siviglia meritarono al sovrano l’appellativo di “Conquistatore dell’Andalusia”. Di pari passo si procedeva anche alla restaurazione religiosa e grazie alle generose donazioni elargite da re Ferdinando vennero restaurate le diocesi di Baeza-Jaén, Córdoba, Siviglia, Cartagena e Badajoz.
L’impegno di questo santo sovrano nella lotta contro l’Islàm fu riconosciuto e premiato dalla Chiesa di Roma con il riconoscimento del diritto di patronato, benché limitato ad alcuni benefici, delle sedi restaurate. Ebbe inoltre facoltà di spendere per la “Riconquista” il ricavato della vigesima, raccolto dai collettori pontifici in Spagna per la crociata orientale, ed al medesimo scopo gli venne concesso il tributo delle “terze reali”, consistenti in una terza parte dei beni ecclesiastici destinata all’edificazione delle chiese. Tutto ciò, insieme alla frequente concessione di indulgenze mediante l’equiparazione dei crociati spagnoli a quelli orientali, permise a San Ferdinando di ingrandire il regno di Castiglia, ormai definitivamente egemone sugli altri stati della penisola iberica, e di rivelarsi un governante modello, dai sani principi cristiani, sagace ed abile nelle trattative.
Il regno di Murcia si arrese mediante un trattato firmato da suo figlio, pattuì una tregua con il re moro di Granada, organizzò la marina castigliana riuscendo così ad avanzare trionfalmente lungo il Guadalquivir. Intransigente con gli eretici, per contro fu però sempre generoso e magnanimo verso i vinti, tollerante nei confronti dei giudei ed ubbidiente alle indicazioni ricevute dalla Chiesa. Liscrizione sul suo sepolcro in quattro lingue, ebraico, arabo, latino e castigliano, è la prova tangibile di come il sovrano seppe accattivarsi pienamente l’unanime rispetto.
Re prudente, fu sempre affiancato da un consiglio di dodici persone circa gli affari gravi ed importanti del suo regno. Al fine di governare in pace e giustizia i suoi sudditi, intraprese la redazione di un codice di leggi, ultimato poi da suo figlio. Incrementò le scienze e le arti, avviando l’università di Salamanca, proteggendo quella di Valencia e lo Studio Generale di Valladolid. Contribuì economicamente all’edificazione delle nuove cattedrali di Leon, Burgos e Toledo, e riportò a Compostella le campane che Almansur aveva rubato. Accolse in Spagna i Francescani, i Domenicani ed i Trinitari, ordini allora nascenti.
Oltre che quale re magnanimo ed invincibile capitano, Ferdinando si rivelò esemplare anche semplicemente quale uomo. Seppur in mezzo alle glorie del mondo riuscì a coltivare un’intensa religiosità ed una particolare devozione alla Madonna, nonchè dimostrarsi sempre grato al Signore delle sue vittorie ed umile sino al punto di chiedere la pubblica penitenza. Con edificante umiltà domandò perdono mentre gli venne amministrato il Viatico, che volle ricevere in ginocchio nonostante la grave infermità. Considerò il suo regno quale dono divino e perciò lo offerse al Signore unitamente alla sua anima il 30 maggio 1252, pronunziando prima di spirare queste parole: “Signore, nudo uscii dal ventre di mia madre, che era la terra, e nudo mi offro ad essa; o Signore, ricevi la mia anima nello stuolo dei tuoi servi”.
San Ferdinando III, re di Lèon e Castiglia, sino ad oggi è stato l’unico sovrano spagnolo ad essere ritenuto dalla Chiesa meritevole della gloria degli altari e tutti i cronisti, persino l’arabo Himyari, concordano nel riconoscergli purezza nei costumi, prudenza, eroismo, generosità, mansuetudine ed un innato spirito di servizio nei confronti del suo popolo. Furono proprio cotante virtù, unite al saggio governo dei suoi regni, a santificare la sua vita raggiungendo una tale perfezione morale da costituire un vero modello di sovrano e governante cristiano.
Il suo culto, inizialmente limitato alla città di Siviglia, fu poi esteso alla Chiesa universale: nel 1629 ebbe inizio il processo di canonizzazione, volto a dimostrare il suo culto immemorabile, la veridicità di molti miracoli e l’incorruzione del suo corpo, finchè il 4 febbraio 1671 fu finalmente canonizzato da Papa Clemente X. L’arma dei genieri dell’esercito lo elesse suo patrono, ma anche i carcerati, i poveri e i governanti lo invocano loro speciale protettore. L’iconografia lo raffigura sempre giovane, senza barba, con i classici attributi reali quali corona, scettro e sfera, a volte anche con una statuetta della Madonna che portava con sé nelle sue campagne militari o con una chiave in mano in ricordo di quella consegnatagli dal re moro dopo la conquista di Siviglia.
Autore: Fabio Arduino
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/55200
Estatua
del rey Fernando III de Castilla en la Plaza Nueva de Sevilla
Statue
of king Ferdinand III of Castile in Plaza Nueva, Seville
Statua
equestre nella Plaza Nueva di Siviglia (XIX secolo)
Fernando III
Biografía
Fernando III. El
Santo. Peleas de Arriba (Zamora), 24.VI.1201 – Sevilla, 30.V.1252. Rey de
Castilla (1217-1252) y de León (1230-1252). Conquistador de Córdoba, Murcia,
Jaén y Sevilla, santo.
Cuando a fines de junio
del año 1201, probablemente el día 24, festividad de san Juan, nacía el que iba
a ser Fernando III de Castilla y de León en el camino de Salamanca a Zamora, en
el monte al que luego se trasladaría el monasterio bernardo de Valparaíso,
Castilla y León eran desde hacía cuarenta y cuatro años dos reinos distintos,
separados y frecuentemente enfrentados. Fernando era hijo del rey Alfonso IX de
León y de la castellana doña Berenguela, hija primogénita de Alfonso VIII de
Castilla. Aunque procedente de doble estirpe regia, Fernando no nacía como
heredero de ninguno de los dos tronos: en León le precedía un hermanastro suyo,
nacido hacia 1194 y llamado igualmente Fernando, hijo del Rey leonés y de doña
Teresa de Portugal, que ya había sido jurado como heredero del Trono de León;
en Castilla el heredero era igualmente otro Fernando nacido en 1189, hijo de
Alfonso VIII y hermano de doña Berenguela, la madre del Fernando nacido en
1201.
El matrimonio de sus
padres no pudo mantenerse, pues había sido contraído sin la necesaria dispensa
papal del impedimento de consanguinidad, pues el padre de doña Berenguela,
Alfonso VIII de Castilla, era primo carnal de Alfonso IX de León. Ante los
requerimientos de Inocencio III a los cónyuges para que se separaran, éstos
rompieron su convivencia, tras seis años y medio de vida matrimonial
(1197-1204) en los que nacieron cinco hijos, dos de ellos varones: el futuro
Fernando III y su hermano Alfonso de Molina. Rota la convivencia de los padres
cuando Fernando no había cumplido aún los tres años, la educación infantil de
éste corrió a cargo de su madre doña Berenguela que había regresado a Burgos
con su prole; más tarde la formación y la vida del pequeño infante se
repartieron entre Burgos, donde era conocido como el leonés, para
distinguirlo de su tío Fernando, heredero del Trono castellano y doce años
mayor, y en León al lado de su padre, donde era llamado el
castellano para diferenciarlo de su hermano mayor, también homónimo y
heredero de la Corona de León. Además en Burgos, había nacido ya a Alfonso
VIII, el 14 de abril de 1204, otro hijo varón, Enrique, que igualmente precedía
a doña Berenguela y a su hijo Fernando en el orden sucesorio.
Mas la muerte imprevista
el 14 de octubre de 1211 de Fernando, el hijo y heredero de Alfonso VIII, a los
veintidós años de edad, acercó al pequeño Fernando al Trono castellano, del que
sólo lo separaba su tío el infante Enrique. En agosto de 1214 otra muerte
igualmente impredecible, la de Fernando, el hijo de Alfonso IX, cuando rondaba
los veinte años de edad, aproximaba también al futuro Fernando III al Trono de
León.
El 6 de octubre de 1214
fallecía el rey de Castilla Alfonso VIII, el vencedor de las Navas de Tolosa, y
lo sucedía en el Trono su hijo Enrique, un menor de diez años y medio de edad;
veintiséis días más tarde fallecía la reina doña Leonor, por lo que recayó la
tutoría y la regencia en doña Berenguela, pero al cabo de algunos meses las
intrigas de los tres hermanos Lara forzaron la renuncia de la madre de Fernando
y se hizo cargo de ambos oficios Álvaro Núñez de Lara. Las tensiones entre los
hermanos Lara y los magnates que apoyaban a doña Berenguela se trocaron en
choque armado y mientras aquéllos cercaban a doña Berenguela en Autillo
(Palencia), en el palacio episcopal de Palencia un accidente de juego causaba
graves heridas al rey Enrique I, a resultas de la cuales falleció el 6 de junio
de 1217, cuando acababa de cumplir los trece años. En ese momento el futuro
Fernando III se encontraba en Toro junto a su padre; doña Berenguela envió
mensajeros para reclamar la presencia de su hijo, sin declarar nada de lo
sucedido; Alfonso IX autorizó la partida del infante, que fue a reunirse con su
madre.
Los Lara levantaron el
asedio de Autillo, marcharon a Palencia y con el cadáver del rey Enrique
abandonaron la ciudad, seguidos a corta distancia por doña Berenguela y los
suyos. Los intentos de llegar a un acuerdo entre ambos bandos fracasaron, pues
los Lara exigían que les fuera entregado el infante don Fernando, que estaba
por esos días a punto de cumplir los dieciséis años, y quedara sometido a su
tutela.
Doña Berenguela se
estableció con su hijo en Valladolid, desde donde trataba de ganarse el apoyo
de los concejos de la Extremadura castellana. Dichos concejos estaban reunidos en
Segovia, deliberando para mantener una cierta unidad entre ellos, cuando,
invitados por doña Berenguela, accedieron a trasladarse a Valladolid. El 2 o el
3 de julio los concejos congregados en el campo del mercado rogaron a doña
Berenguela que acudiese ante ellos con sus hijos; allí tras reconocerla como
reina y señora de Castilla, le rogaron que hiciese entrega del reino a su hijo
mayor, al infante don Fernando, a lo que accedió en el acto la Reina, siendo
así aclamado por todos Fernando III como rey de Castilla.
La primera tarea que tuvo
ante sí el joven Monarca fue la pacificación del reino, superando la rebeldía
de los Lara y logrando que su padre Alfonso IX, que había penetrado en el reino
castellano como aspirante también a esta Corona, se retirara pacíficamente y
depusiera sus aspiraciones; ambos objetivos eran alcanzados en el transcurso de
los años 1217 y 1218. Al año siguiente, el 30 de noviembre de 1219, tuvo lugar
en Las Huelgas Reales de Burgos el matrimonio de Fernando III con la princesa alemana
doña Beatriz de Suabia, hija de Felipe de Suabia, emperador electo de Alemania
en 1198 y que falleció en 1208, sobrina del emperador Enrique VI (1190-1197) y
nieta de Federico I Barbarroja. Por parte de su madre, la bizantina Irene, era
también nieta del emperador de Oriente Isaac de Ángel (1185-1204) y de su
esposa Margarita, hija del rey Bela de Hungría. Con la elección de esta
princesa extranjera quiso sin duda doña Berenguela evitar a su hijo la triste
experiencia de una anulación matrimonial, ya que estaba unido por lazos de
sangre a todas las casas reinantes en España.
Los primeros años del
reinado de Fernando III transcurrieron en paz, pues desde 1214 se venían
renovando las treguas firmadas por Alfonso VIII poco después de la batalla de
Las Navas con los almohades, treguas que continuaron observándose durante el
reinado de Enrique I (1214-1217) y los cuatro primeros años del de Fernando
III, esto es, hasta 1221. En este año las treguas se renovaron hacia el mes de
octubre por tres años más, por lo tanto, hasta 1224. Las treguas fueron
escrupulosamente observadas por ambas partes, a pesar del clima de cruzada
creado en Europa por el concilio de Letrán de 1215 y promovido por el papa
Inocencio III.
Al finalizar el mes de
septiembre de 1224 expiraban las treguas suscritas entre Castilla y el Califa
almohade; había que tomar una decisión que significaba la paz o la guerra, y en
la toma de esta decisión quiso Fernando III que participara primero su curia
ordinaria, reunida en el castillo de Muñó (Burgos) el domingo de Pentecostés, 2
de junio de 1224, y luego una curia extraordinaria de todos los magnates y
prelados del reino convocada en Carrión de los Condes a principios del
siguiente mes de julio. En ambas asambleas la decisión fue la misma: no renovar
por más tiempo las treguas, que venían durando ya diez años completos.
Así se cerraban los siete
primeros años de reinado de Fernando III, caracterizados por la pacificación y
recuperación interior, por el sometimiento de los magnates y por el robustecimiento
de la autoridad regia, todo ello destinado a la creación de un reino próspero,
fuerte y unido a las órdenes del Monarca. Ahora se abría otra época de su
reinado de veintiocho años de duración, que sólo acabó con su muerte, durante
los cuales, sin pausa ni desmayo y con el apoyo incondicional y entusiasta de
su pueblo, Fernando III se consagró a extender sus fronteras a costa del
enemigo musulmán hasta acabar con el poder islámico, expulsándolo hacia África
o sometiendo a vasallaje al último reino mahometano que quedaba en España, el
de Granada.
Las circunstancias no
podían ser más propicias para el inicio de las operaciones militares. El 6 de
enero de 1224 había muerto el califa almohade al-Mustanşir (Yūsuf II); la
desaparición del Emir había dado lugar a luchas intestinas en al-Andalus,
destacando entre los rebeldes el llamado al-BayasÌ, esto es, el Baezano, que,
asediado en su ciudad de Baeza por el gobernador de Sevilla, no dudó en
reclamar la ayuda del Rey cristiano. Respondiendo a esta llamada, el 30 de
septiembre de 1224 salía de Toledo Fernando III y, unidas sus fuerzas a las del
Baezano causaron grave quebranto a los enemigos, ya que conquistaron Quesada y
no menos de otros seis castillos, que fueron entregados al aliado musulmán.
Esta alianza permitió
repetir la entrada en al-Andalus al año siguiente, 1225, cuando los cristianos
recorriendo las comarcas de Jaén, Andújar, Martos, Alcaudete, Priego, Loja,
Alhama de Granada y Granada y colocaron ya guarniciones permanentes en las
fortalezas de Andújar y Martos, la primera custodiando la entrada en Andalucía
por Puertollano o río Jándula, la segunda como una flecha clavada en el
interior de la Andalucía islámica. La alianza con el Baezano se demostraba muy
fructífera, sobre todo cuando éste, en el año 1226, logró apoderarse de Córdoba
y, reconociéndose fiel vasallo del Monarca castellano, le ofreció los castillos
de Salvatierra, Borjalamel y Capilla. Pero la guarnición de Capilla no obedeció
las órdenes del Baezano y no entregó la fortaleza a Fernando III, por lo que a
principios del verano de 1227 éste se puso en campaña para someter el castillo
rebelde; estaba sitiando Capilla cuando recibió la noticia de que los
cordobeses habían asesinado al Baezano, por lo que, tras rendir Capilla, pasó a
Andalucía a asegurar la posesión de Baeza, Andújar y Martos. Este año y el
siguiente se aceleró la desintegración del imperio almohade en la Península,
dividiéndose en varios principados o reinos taifas, lo que facilitaría la
conquista de al-Andalus por Fernando III.
En el año 1228 tampoco
faltó la campaña anual de quebranto y castigo del enemigo musulmán dirigida,
como todas las demás, personalmente por Fernando III; al llegar a Andújar,
donde se encontraba como jefe militar de todas las fuerzas de la frontera Álvar
Pérez de Castro, recibió del gobernador almohade de Sevilla la oferta de
300.000 maravedís de oro, a cambio de que respetara sus tierras por un año;
habiendo aceptado la oferta, Fernando III pudo talar impunemente las tierras de
Jaén, que obedecían a Ibn Hūd. Al año siguiente, 1229, de nuevo el gobernador
de Sevilla compró otra tregua de un año por otros 300.000 maravedís; también
Ibn Hūd, imitando al sevillano, pagó otra tregua con la entrega de tres
fortalezas: Saviote, Garcíez y Jódar, que vinieron a aumentar la base
castellana para futuras operaciones al sur del puerto Muradal. Desde esta base,
en el año 1230, intentó Fernando III apoderarse de la ciudad de Jaén, a lo que
puso cerco hacia el 24 de junio, pero ante la tenaz resistencia de la plaza,
que aguantó más de tres meses de duro asedio, el Rey cristiano cejó en el
empeño e inició el regreso hacia Castilla.
En el camino de retorno,
al pasar por Guadalerza (Toledo), le llegó un mensajero de doña Berenguela que
le anunciaba la muerte de Alfonso IX en Villanueva de Sarria el 24 de
septiembre de 1230. Ante Fernando III se abría la posibilidad de acceder
también al Trono leonés. Su madre salió a recibirlo a Orgaz y juntos siguieron
hasta Toledo, donde madre e hijo deliberaron sobre la línea de conducta que
convenía seguir. Aunque tenía a su favor la varonía, ante las reticencias de su
padre y el no reconocimiento por parte de éste de su derecho a sucederlo una
vez que contra los deseos paternos había alcanzado el trono castellano, don
Fernando se había procurado una bula del papa Honorio III, de 10 de julio de
1218, que le declaraba legítimo heredero del Trono leonés. A su vez Alfonso IX,
ignorando los derechos de su hijo, venía, desde 1218, reconociendo en
reiterados documentos y actos públicos, como sucesoras suyas, a las infantas
doña Sancha y doña Dulce, hijas de su primera mujer, Teresa de Portugal. El
conflicto estaba servido.
Por Ávila, Medina del
Campo y Tordesillas, Fernando III se dirigió hacia el reino de León en el que
entró por San Cebrián de Mazote y Villalar (Valladolid), donde fue acogido como
Rey; reclamado por la ciudad de Toro fue en esta ciudad y su castillo
reconocido también como Rey, lo mismo hicieron Villalpando, Mayorga y Mansilla
a su llegada. En esta última villa tuvo noticias de que los obispos de Oviedo,
Astorga, León, Lugo, Salamanca, Mondoñedo, Ciudad Rodrigo y Coria con sus
ciudades se habían declarado por él, mientras que León se hallaba dividido en
banderías; tras una espera en Mansilla, también en León triunfaban sus partidarios.
Fernando III hacía su entrada en la ciudad regia, donde fue proclamado Rey,
probablemente el 7 de noviembre de 1230. De este modo volvían a reunirse bajo
un único Monarca los dos reinos separados setenta y tres años atrás.
Por esos días llegaban a
León mensajeros de la reina doña Teresa que, con el apoyo de Zamora, había
avanzado hasta Villalobos, dieciocho kilómetros al sureste de Benavente,
trayendo proposiciones de paz. Doña Berenguela y doña Teresa, ésta con sus dos
hijas, se reunieron en Valencia de Don Juan el 11 de diciembre de 1230. El
acuerdo logrado por ambas Reinas consistió en la renuncia de las dos infantas a
sus derechos a cambio de una pensión vitalicia de 30.000 maravedís anuales.
Fernando de Castilla se convertía también en rey indiscutido de León. Tras el
acuerdo de Valencia de Don Juan, dedicó lo que restaba de 1230, y los dos años
siguientes a visitar la Extremadura leonesa, las tierras centrales de su reino
en la Meseta y Galicia, para conocer a sus nuevos súbditos y ser conocido por
ellos.
Esta ausencia del Rey,
ocupado en los asuntos leoneses, no impidió que en el año 1231 dos ejércitos
castellanos penetraran en territorio musulmán; el primero, movilizado y
dirigido por el arzobispo de Toledo, atacó y conquistó Quesada; el segundo, a
las órdenes de Álvar Pérez de Castro, llevando consigo al infante heredero, el
futuro Alfonso X, entonces de nueve años de edad, llegó en sus incursiones
hasta Vejer (Cádiz). Sorprendido junto a los muros de Jerez de la Frontera por
un ejército islámico muy superior en número, en una serie de ataques suicidas
logró dispersarlo y aniquilarlo causando una mortandad tremenda y obteniendo un
botín cuantioso. Ésta fue la última batalla campal reñida con el islam durante
el reinado de Fernando III; a partir de entonces sólo se tratará de asedios de
ciudades y escaramuzas durante los mismos, sin que los musulmanes osaran
presentar en todo el resto del reinado fernandino una batalla en campo abierto.
La derrota de Jerez
precipitó todavía más la descomposición y desunión en el territorio musulmán;
en el año 1232 se proclamó independiente el gobernador de Arjona (Jaén) MuÊammad
b. Naşr al-AÊmar (MuÊammad I), fundador de la dinastía nazarí que perduró en
Granada durante más de doscientos cincuenta años. En ese mismo período en el
sector leonés, los freires de Santiago y la hueste del obispo de Plasencia
conquistaron Trujillo.
Unidas ya las fuerzas de
Castilla y de León, en el año 1233 el rey Fernando reanudó las operaciones
militares con la conquista de Úbeda, que se rindió en el mes de julio; al mismo
tiempo el rey Jaime I iniciaba sus profundas incursiones en el Reino de
Valencia.
En 1234, el rey Fernando
estuvo ausente de la primera línea, porque tuvo que ocuparse de las graves
discordias surgidas entre la Monarquía y algunos nobles, como Lope Díaz de Haro
y Álvar Pérez de Castro; esto no impidió que los caballeros de la órdenes
militares conquistaran en ese verano Medellín, Santa Cruz y Alange y que toda
la comarca de Hornachos se entregara a los caballeros de la Orden de Santiago.
En 1235, resueltas las
discordias nobiliarias, pudo Fernando III continuar sus campañas por Andalucía
con la conquista de Iznatoraf y Santisteban; pero en ese mismo año tuvo que
sufrir la pérdida de su esposa doña Beatriz, muerta en Toro el 5 de noviembre
de 1235, después de dieciséis años de matrimonio bendecido con diez hijos, de
los que sobrevivían ocho. Al año siguiente, 1236, se inician las grandes
conquistas de Fernando III en la cuenca del Guadalquivir con las fuerzas unidas
de Castilla y de León, a las que sólo pondrá fin en el año 1248 la toma de
Sevilla.
En un audaz golpe de
mano, un grupo de soldados de la frontera se apoderaba en la noche del 24 de
diciembre de 1235 de algunas torres y de una puerta de la muralla cordobesa,
que abrieron a un destacamento cristiano que se apoderó del barrio conocido
como La Ajarquía y se hizo fuerte en él. Tan pronto como le llegó la noticia de
lo sucedido, Fernando III marchó lo más aprisa que pudo hacia Córdoba, al mismo
tiempo que ordenaba la movilización de los concejos castellanos y leoneses más
próximos; los socorros llegaron puntuales para mantener y reforzar las
posiciones ya obtenidas e iniciar el asedio de la ciudad, que tuvo que rendirse
el 29 de junio de 1236. En los años siguientes toda la campiña cordobesa fue
entregándose a Fernando III mediante capitulaciones que permitían por primera
vez la continuidad de los musulmanes en sus hogares; no así en la sierra
cordobesa, que tuvo que ser conquistada militarmente, y en la que no se toleró
la presencia islámica.
Al mismo tiempo los
concejos de Cuenca, Moya y Alarcón aprovechaban el derrumbamiento del reino
islámico de Valencia, que se entregaba a Jaime I, para ganar para su Rey y para
Castilla las villas de Utiel y Requena. En el sector de Extremadura continuaron
los avances de las órdenes militares: la de Santiago ganaba y repoblaba
Almendralejo y Fuentes del Maestre, mientras los caballeros de Alcántara, desde
Magacela, ocupaban Benquerencia y Zalamea; en el sector de Murcia los mismos
santiaguistas se instalaban en el campo de Montiel y en la sierra de Segura.
En marzo del 1243,
Fernando III, enfermo en Burgos, confiaba el mando del ejército, que como otros
años se disponía a partir de Toledo hacia Andalucía, a su hijo Alfonso; todavía
en Toledo el infante, llegaron mensajeros del Rey de Murcia que ofrecía un
pacto de vasallaje por el que sometía su reino al Monarca de Castilla y León.
El futuro Alfonso X, sin vacilar un instante, aceptó la oferta y, modificando
el destino de la expedición, marchó hacia las tierras de Murcia; en Alcaraz, a
principios de abril, se suscribió el pacto por el que el rey de Murcia con los
arráeces de Alicante, Elche, Orihuela, Alhama, Aledo, Ricote, Cieza y
Crevillente se sometían a la soberanía y autoridad del rey cristiano
permaneciendo ellos en sus hogares, practicando su religión y trabajando sus
heredades. En cumplimiento del pacto, el ejército de don Alfonso fue ocupando
pacíficamente las villas y castillos del reino; Lorca, Cartagena y Mula que se
negaron a entrar en el convenio, tuvieron que ser sometidas por la fuerza. La
pacificación del Reino de Murcia ocupó también los años 1244 y 1245; y al rozar
con las fuerzas de Jaime I, que estaban completando la ocupación de Valencia
hubo precisión de fijar la frontera entre Castilla y Valencia, lo que se hizo
el 26 de marzo de 1244 por el tratado de Almizra.
En 1244 Fernando III
duplicaba el esfuerzo de sus fuerzas bélicas; mientras una hueste operaba en
tierras murcianas, otra penetraba en el reino granadino, conquistaba Arjona,
Menjíbar y Pegalajar y asolaba su territorio; estas razias pretendían debilitar
al reino musulmán de Granada para asestar el gran golpe contra Jaén al año
siguiente. En efecto, los campos de Jaén y de las ciudades de su contorno
fueron arrasados a partir de julio de 1245, para formalizar el asedio de la
urbe jienense a finales de septiembre de 1245. Era el tercer sitio que sufría
la ciudad. Los anteriores, de 1225 y 1230, habían fracasado; pero éste, llegado
enero de 1246, proseguía con todo ahínco, por lo que el rey de Granada MuÊammad
b. Naşr al-AÊmar consideró perdida la ciudad de Jaén y, deseando salvar una
parte de su reino, se presentó directamente ante el rey Fernando y,
entregándose a su merced, le besó la mano declarándose su vasallo para que
dispusiese de él y de su tierra, cediéndole además al instante la ciudad de
Jaén.
El pacto de vasallaje
obligaba no sólo a MuÊammad b. Naşr y a Fernando III, se extendía también a sus
sucesores en Granada y Castilla; el Rey musulmán serviría fielmente a Fernando
III en tiempo de paz, acudiendo cada año a su Corte, y en tiempo de guerra
engrosaría su hueste contra cualquier enemigo del Rey castellano-leonés. El de
Granada conservaría en pleno señorío todo su reino, excepto la ciudad de Jaén,
bajo la protección del Monarca cristiano, al que debía abonar cada año la suma
de 150.000 maravedís. La ciudad de Jaén sería entregada en el acto a Fernando
III y sus habitantes debían abandonarla perdiendo casas y heredades.
Establecidas estas capitulaciones, el monarca cristiano hizo su solemne entrada
en Jaén comenzado ya el mes de marzo de 1246. Pocos meses después, el 8 de
noviembre, sufrió don Fernando la pérdida de su madre, la reina doña
Berenguela, que durante todo su reinado había sido su más íntima consejera e
inspiradora, y en cuyas manos dejaba el gobierno del reino durante las largas
temporadas que él pasaba en Andalucía, consagrado a las operaciones militares.
Desde el año 1224,
Fernando III venía acrecentando las fronteras de su reino, pero le faltaba
todavía la joya de al-Andalus: la ciudad de Sevilla. Después de la conquista de
Jaén en el mes de marzo no demoró mucho el dirigir sus armas contra la capital
de al-Andalus, y ya en el mes de octubre de 1246 aparecía con una reducida
hueste de trescientos caballeros e iniciaba la tala de los campos de Carmona;
allí se presentó sin tardanza, como fiel vasallo, el Rey de Granada con
quinientos caballeros. Desde Carmona, ambos Reyes se dirigieron contra Alcalá
de Guadaira, que se entregó a Fernando III, actuando de intermediario el Rey de
Granada.
Con el invierno no
interrumpió don Fernando las hostilidades contra Sevilla, pero comprendió que
un verdadero asedio de la ciudad no era posible sin contar con una flota que
bloquease también las comunicaciones por el río; en consecuencia, hizo acudir a
Jaén, adonde se había retirado, al burgalés Ramón Bonifaz, al que ordenó
preparar en el Cantábrico la flota mayor y mejor pertrechada que pudiese, de
naves y galeras. Del mismo modo ordenó una movilización de las mesnadas
nobiliarias y de las milicias concejiles para el siguiente verano de 1247.
Mientras llegaba la
flota, puso Fernando III sitió a Carmona, que optó por capitular ante el Rey
cristiano y lo mismo hicieron Reina y Constantina. Lora del Río se rindió sin
resistencia, Cantillana fue tomada por asalto, mientras Guillena se entregaba
sin hacer frente; también sucumbían Gerena y Alcalá del Río. Antes de que
llegara la flota ya dominaba Fernando III todo el norte y el este de Sevilla.
Por fin, en la primera quincena de julio de 1247, aparecía por el Guadalquivir
la esperada flota de Ramón Bonifaz, integrada por trece galeras.
Con la llegada de las
naves a Sevilla se inició una dura guerra de desgaste, de hostigamiento y
destrucción de cosechas, de ataques a cualquier avituallamiento y asaltos a los
arrabales, guerra que se iba a prolongar durante todo el invierno y que se
trocó en un duro y ceñido asedio al fin de marzo del 1248, cuando apareció ante
la ciudad el heredero de la Corona, el infante don Alfonso, con grandes
contingentes de castellanos, leoneses y gallegos. Sevilla ya no tenía reservas,
Castilla y León podían movilizar más y más hombres y armas. El dogal que
apretaba a Sevilla era cada día más recio: en el mes de mayo ya no quedaba otra
vía a los musulmanes, para recibir auxilio, que el puente de Triana. Contra
este puente y las gruesas cadenas de hierro que enlazaban las barcas que lo
formaban, lanzó el 3 de mayo de 1248 Ramón Bonifaz sus dos naves más pesadas;
el puente cedió y Sevilla quedó aislada de Triana, cuyo castillo se rindió
seguidamente. La pérdida de Triana hizo que los sitiados ofrecieran capitular,
conservando la mitad de la ciudad, lo que fue rechazado; otra segunda
propuesta, ahora ya de dos tercios de la ciudad, fue asimismo declinada por la
firme decisión de Fernando III de tener para sí Sevilla entera libre de
musulmanes. Éstos finalmente tuvieron que capitular el 23 de noviembre de 1248,
entregando la ciudad entera y disponiendo de un mes para partir hacia África o
hacia el Reino de Granada.
El 22 de diciembre de
1248 hacía Fernando III su solemne entrada en Sevilla. En los meses siguientes
se fueron entregando y sometiendo al castellano-leonés, mediante pactos y
capitulaciones, todas las ciudades de la ribera meridional del Guadalquivir.
Con la conquista de Sevilla se puede decir que la Reconquista había finalizado,
pues en ese momento ya sólo quedaba a los musulmanes el Reino de Granada, como
vasallo del Monarca cristiano.
En Sevilla se asentó
Fernando III los tres años y medio últimos de su vida; sólo se ausentó para un
corto viaje a Jaén, de dos meses de duración, pasando por Córdoba, en febrero y
marzo de 1251. En Sevilla le alcanzó la muerte el 30 de mayo de 1252, cuando
estaba abrigando proyectos de continuar sus conquistas por el norte de África;
a sus exequias y sepultura en la antigua mezquita, convertida en catedral,
asistió el Rey de Granada.
A partir de 1224 y hasta
el fin de sus días, Fernando III concentró todos sus esfuerzos en engrandecer
las fronteras de su reino y en ultimar la recuperación de todo el territorio
peninsular. Había recibido de su madre un reino, el de Castilla, de unos
150.000 km2; heredó de su padre otro reino, el de León, con otros 100.000 km2;
había conquistado el territorio de un tercer reino de unos 100.000 km2 más
ricos y feraces. No sólo se había ocupado de conquistas, tuvo también que
entregarse a la repoblación cristiana de ese tercer reino que había ganado,
efectuando llamamientos a castellanos, leoneses y gallegos para que acudieran a
poblar las ciudades y los campos de Andalucía, ofreciendo y realizando entre
ellos los repartimientos de casas y heredades.
Con su primera esposa,
Beatriz de Suabia, Reina de 1219 a 1235, tuvo diez hijos, siete de ellos
varones: Alfonso, Fadrique, Fernando, Enrique, Felipe, Sancho y Manuel, y tres
hembras, dos de éstas muertas en edad infantil; la tercera, Berenguela, ingresó
en Las Huelgas Reales de Burgos, donde fue designada como “señora de la casa”.
Contrajo Fernando segundas nupcias en noviembre de 1237 con Juana de Ponthieu,
con la que tuvo otros cinco hijos: Fernando, Leonor, Luis, Simón y Juan, pero
los dos últimos murieron en su tierna infancia.
La profunda religiosidad
de don Fernando a lo largo de toda su vida, no desmentida en ningún momento,
así como la memoria de su vida limpia, fueron creando en torno a su persona una
fama de virtudes y santidad. El proceso de beatificación se puso en marcha en
1628, duró veintisiete años, y el 29 de mayo de 1655 fue aprobado el culto como
beato, limitado a Sevilla y a la capilla de los Reyes. El 7 de febrero de 1671,
el papa Clemente X extendía su culto a todos los dominios de los reyes de
España y finalmente, el mismo Pontífice, lo canonizaba el 6 de septiembre de
1672.
Bibl.: L. de Tuy,
“Chronicon mundi”, en Hispania Illustrata, t. III, ed. de A.
Schott, Frankfurt, 1608, págs. 1-116; R. Jiménez de Rada, “De rebus Hispaniae”,
en Hispania Illustrata, t. II, ed. de A. Schott, Frankfurt, 1608;
págs. 25-194; M. de Manuel Rodríguez, Memorias para la vida del Santo Rey
don Fernando III, Madrid, Imprenta de la Viuda de Joaquín Ibarra, 1800; J.
M.ª Sánchez de Muniain, “San Fernando III de Castilla y León”, en Año
Cristiano, t. II (1959), págs. 523-531; L. Charlo Brea (ed.), Crónica
latina de los reyes de Castilla, Cádiz, Universidad, 1984; J.
González, Reinado y diplomas de Fernando III, Córdoba, Caja de
Ahorros, 1980- 1983-1985, 3 vols.; L. Galmés, Testigos de la fe en la
Iglesia de España, Madrid, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos Popular, 1983,
págs. 62-64. J. González, Crónica de Veinte Reyes, ed. de Ruiz
Asencio, Burgos, Ayuntamiento, 1991; G. Martínez Díez, Fernando III
(1217-1252), Burgos, La Olmeda, 1993; F. García Fiz, “Las huestes de
Fernando III”, en Archivo Hispalense: Revista histórica, literaria y
artística, t. 77, n.os 234- 236 (1994), págs. 157-190; P. Castañeda,
“El Hombre y el Santo”, en Archivo Hispalense: Revista histórica,
literaria y artística, t. 77, n.os 234-236 (1994), págs. 401-416,
ejemplar dedicado a Fernando III y su época; J. Sánchez Herrero, “El proceso de
canonización de Fernando III ‘el Santo’”, en Anuario del Instituto de
Estudios Zamoranos Florián Ocampo, n.º 18 (2001); J. M. Nieto Soria, “La
monarquía fundacional de Fernando III”, en VV. AA., Fernando III y su
tiempo. VIII Congreso de Estudios Medievales, León, Fundación Sánchez
Albornoz, 2003, págs. 31-66; C. de Ayala Martínez, “Fernando III y las Órdenes
Militares”, en VV. AA., Fernando III y su tiempo. VIII Congreso de
Estudios Medievales, León, Fundación Sánchez Albornoz, 2003, págs. 67-102;
M. González Jiménez, Fernando III el Santo. El Rey que marcó el destino de
España, Sevilla, Fundación José Manuel Lara, 2006.
Gonzalo Martínez Díez, SI
SOURCE : https://dbe.rah.es/biografias/10090/fernando-iii
Saint Ferdinand: The Iconography : https://www.christianiconography.info/ferdinand.html
