ABSTRACT
In 1252 Matthew Paris from the English monastery of St Albans near London recorded the death of Fernando III (1214–52), King of Castile and LeÓn, in the following terms:
The illustrious King of Castile, Alfonso [sic], who is called King of all Spain because of his eminence after his famous deeds and great conquests of the Muslims in Spain, which to be told would need long and special treatises, undertook the road of all mortals … He left, however, behind him very noble offspring and illustrious and genteel knights who offer effective resistance to the perverse Saracens. 2
Matthew believed that Fernando’s achievements against Islam were secure, in part, because he left “behind him very noble offspring.” From his marriage to the German princess Beatrice of Swabia six sons survived him: Alfonso, Fadrique, Enrique, Felipe, Sancho and Manuel. While the eldest was designated to succeed to the throne as Alfonso X (1252–84), Fernando made provisions to assure his younger sons a princely future. The second son, Fadrique, was to have the Duchy of Swabia from his mother’s inheritance. Fernando granted the next eldest, Enrique, the town of MorÓn. He intended to make him holder of an extensive lordship along the frontier from MorÓn to Alcalá de los Gazules that included Arcos, Jerez, Lebrija and Medina Sidonia once they had been conquered. 3 Sancho and Felipe were, in their father’s plans, destined to occupy the archiepiscopal sees of Toledo and Seville respectively.