There is a long history of Ferdinand’s ancestors and descendants across many of my great great grandparents from Castile, Aragon and Leon.
Ferdinand III, also called Saint Ferdinand, Spanish San Fernando, (born 1201?—died May 30, 1252, Sevilla; canonized February 4, 1671; feast day May 30), king of Castile from 1217 to 1252 and of Leon from 1230 to 1252 and conqueror of the Muslim cities of Córdoba (1236), Jaén (1246), and Sevilla (1248). During his campaigns, Murcia submitted to his son Alfonso (later Alfonso X), and the Muslim kingdom of Granada became his vassal.
Ferdinand was the son of Alfonso IX of Leon and Berenguela, daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castile. At birth, he was the heir to Leon, but his uncle, Henry I of Castile, died young, and his mother inherited the crown of Castile, which she conferred on him. His father, like many Leonese, opposed the union, and Ferdinand found himself at war with him. By his will Alfonso IX tried to disinherit his son, but the will was set aside, and Castile and Leon were permanently united in 1230.
Ferdinand married Beatrice of Swabia, daughter of the Holy Roman emperor, a title that Ferdinand’s son Alfonso X was to claim. His conquest of Lower Andalusia was the result of the disintegration of the Almohad state. The Castilians and other conquerors occupied the cities, driving out the Muslims and taking over vast estates.
Ferdinand’s second wife was Joan of Ponthieu, whom he married in 1237; their daughter Eleanor married the future Edward I of England in 1254. Ferdinand settled in Sevilla, where he is buried.
This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen, Corrections Manager.
Ferdinand III (the saint) King de de Castilla y León’s relation to you: Direct ancestor (23 generations)
Here’s how:
1. Nicholas Victor Sorrentino is your father
2. Maria Luigia Piromallo is the mother of Nicholas Victor Sorrentino
3. Maria Emilia Caracciolo is the mother of Maria Luigia Piromallo
4. Filippo Caracciolo is the father of Maria Emilia Caracciolo
5. Prince Luigi Caracciolo is the father of Filippo Caracciolo
6. Prince Ambrogio II Caracciolo is the father of Prince Luigi Caracciolo
7. Prince Luigi Caracciolo is the father of Prince Ambrogio II Caracciolo
8. Ambrogio Caracciolo is the father of Prince Luigi Caracciolo
9. Prince Marino III Caracciolo is the father of Ambrogio Caracciolo
10. Prince Francesco Marino Caracciolo is the father of Prince Marino III Caracciolo
11. Francesca D’AVOLOS is the mother of Prince Francesco Marino Caracciolo
12. Innico III D’Avalos is the father of Francesca D’AVOLOS
13. Cesare D’Avalos is the father of Innico III D’Avalos
14. Maria Aragon is the mother of Cesare D’Avalos
15. Fernando Aragon is the father of Maria Aragon
16. Ferdinand I Naples is the father of Fernando Aragon
17. Alfonso V Aragon is the father of Ferdinand I Naples
18. Ferdinand I De Antequera Aragon is the father of Alfonso V Aragon
19. Juan Castile is the father of Ferdinand I De Antequera Aragon
20. Juana Manuel De Villena Escalona Penafiel is the mother of Juan Castile
21. Juan Manuel of Penafiel is the father of Juana Manuel De Villena Escalona Penafiel
22. Manuel Fernandez of Castile is the father of Juan Manuel of Penafiel
23. Ferdinand III (the saint) King de de Castilla y León is the father of Manuel Fernandez of Castile
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.
Born in Carrión de los Condes, the name Manuel was given to him to commemorate his maternal grandmother’s roots in Imperial Byzantium. He was granted the Seigneury of Villena in 1252, created for him to govern that lordship as “apanage” (a medieval micro-state that would return to the central crown if the minor lieage ends with no successor). This lordship would grow by receiving the cities around the Vinalopó River (Elda valley, Aspe, Crevillente, Elche). He also received the Adelantamiento of the Kingdom of Murcia.
Manuel travelled to Italy in 1259 as part of the embassy sent by his father to Pope Alexander IV.Later, when his brother became king Alfonso X the Wise, served him as Alférezand Majordomo of the king.
He died at Peñafiel in 1283 and was buried in the Monastery of Uclés. His son Juan Manuel, who succeeded him in Villena and Peñafiel among the others, and became prince of Villena, was a notable medieval writer.
Manuel of Castile, as son of Ferdinand III of Castile, belonged to the royal House of Burgundy of Castile and León, but he was also the first of a new family branch, the House of Manuel of Villena.
Juan Manuel was born in the Castle of Escalona, in what is now the province of Toledo. He was a son of Manuel of Castile (son of Ferdinand III of Castile) and his second wife Beatrice of Savoy. His father died in 1284, and Juan was educated at the court of his cousin, Sancho IV, with whom his abilities made him a favourite.[2] With the death of his mother in 1292, Juan Manuel became duke of Peñafiel. Juan Manuel was trained in arts such as equestrianism, hunting, and fencing, and in addition learned Latin, history, law, and theology. At the age of twelve, he fought to repel the attack of the Moors from Granada to Murcia.
In 1304 he was entrusted by the queen mother, Doña María de Molina, to conduct political negotiations with James II of Aragon on behalf of her son, Ferdinand IV, then under age. The diplomacy was successful and Ferdinand’s marriage to James II’s daughter, Constantina, added to Juan Manuel’s prestige.[2]
Juan Manuel had constant confrontations with his king. At the time, the throne of Castile was occupied by two monarchs, Ferdinand IV and Alfonso XI. Juan Manuel’s loyalty was with Alfonso, to whom Juan Manuel gave the hand of his daughter Constanza. The wedding was postponed several times, until finally Alfonso XI jailed Constanza in the Castle of Toro for unclear reasons. This incident angered Juan Manuel, who decided to turn against Alfonso. He declared war on Alfonso, beginning a long confrontation.
On the death of his wife Constantina in 1327, Don Juan Manuel strengthened his position by marrying Doña Blanca de La Cerda y Lara; he secured the support of Juan Núñez, alférez of Castile, by arranging a marriage between him and Maria, daughter of Don Juan “el Tuerto”; he won over Portugal by promising the hand of his daughter, the ex-queen Constanza, to the infante of that kingdom, and he entered into alliance with Muhammed IV, Sultan of Granada.[3] This formidable coalition compelled Alphonso XI to sue for terms, which he accepted in 1328 without any serious intention of complying with them; but he was compelled to release Doña Constanza. War speedily broke out anew, and lasted till 1331 when Alphonso invited Juan Manuel and Juan Nuñez to a banquet at Villahumbrales with the intention, it was believed, of assassinating them; the plot failed, and Don Juan Manuel joined forces with Peter IV of Aragon. He was besieged by Alphonso at Garci-Nuñez, whence he escaped on 30 July 1336, fled into exile, and kept the rebellion alive till 1338.[2]
Finally, the Pope brought about reconciliation between Juan Manuel and Alfonso XI. This reconciliation was not complete until 1340, when Juan Manuel and Alfonso allied against the Muslims in the Battle of Río Salado, taking the city of Algeciras. After these events, Juan Manuel left political life and retired to Murcia, where he spent his last years focused on literature. Proud of his works, he decided to compile them all in a single volume. This compilation was destroyed in a fire, with no known copy preserved.
Juan Manuel died at Peñafiel in 1348, the age of sixty-six.
Duke of Dressing room and General Captain of Holy Roman Church in 1562; Gentleman of Tossignano,
In 1361 (at the death of her teenage niece Blanca,[1] daughter of her brother Fernando Manuel who himself had died in c 1350 without other children) she inherited Villena, Escalona and Peñafiel.[2] Because Juana was a maternal granddaughter of La Palomilla, from her another cousin, Isabel de Lara who was murdered in 1361 [3] and her young daughter Florentina [4] (d after 1365), she also inherited Lara and Biscay. In 1369, she became queen of Castile and León.
When in 1381 she died and left her inheritance to her son, Biscay finally was united with Castile, and ultimately Spain. The Basque people remember her for that.
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