Saint Ferdinand III of Castile

Saint Ferdinand III was king of Castile and León in the thirteenth century, a husband and the father of a large family. He united the two crowns for good and took Córdoba and Seville from their Muslim rulers. The Church commemorates him on May 30, the day of his death.

He was the son of Alfonso IX, king of León, and of Berengaria, daughter of Alfonso VIII, king of Castile. His mother’s sister Blanche was the mother of Saint Louis IX, king of France, so the two saintly kings were first cousins. Ferdinand was born in the kingdom of León, but the year of his birth is not certain: sources give dates from 1198 to 1201.

In 1217 the young king of Castile, Henry I, Berengaria’s brother, died. The crown passed to her, but she renounced it in favor of her son, and so Ferdinand became king of Castile. When his father died in 1230, he also took the throne of León, although Alfonso IX had not wanted him as his successor. The matter was settled only by an agreement concluded at Benavente, and from then on the two kingdoms remained united. In 1219 Ferdinand married Beatrice, daughter of Philip of Swabia, and after her death in 1235 he married Joan of Ponthieu. He had many children from both marriages.

The Roman Martyrology remembers him as a king prudent in governing, a patron of the arts and sciences, and zealous in spreading the faith. He chose wise and capable men as his counselors. In 1221, together with Bishop Maurice, he laid the foundation stone of the cathedral of Burgos, and he took the University of Salamanca under his protection and supported its growth.

Like many rulers of his age, he saw it as his task to win back the lands of the Iberian Peninsula from Muslim rule, the undertaking known as the Reconquista, and for most of his reign he waged war against the states of Andalusia. He took Córdoba in 1236, later Jaén among other cities, and on November 23, 1248, Seville surrendered to him. He turned the great mosques of Córdoba and Seville into cathedrals.

He died in Seville on May 30, 1252. According to old accounts, when the Viaticum was brought to him, he got down from his bed and received it on the ground, and then took leave of his wife and children. As he was dying, he held a lighted candle and asked the clergy to sing the Te Deum. He was buried in the cathedral of Seville, before the image of Our Lady of the Kings, and an epitaph in four languages was placed on his tomb: Latin, Castilian, Arabic and Hebrew. His eldest son, Alfonso X the Wise, succeeded him on the throne.

For centuries he was venerated as a saint and called simply the Saint. In 1655 the Congregation of Rites recognized that his cult had existed from time immemorial, and Pope Alexander VII approved this judgment. In 1671 Pope Clement X allowed Mass and the Office to be celebrated in his honor on May 30 throughout the kingdoms of Spain, and this act is regarded as his canonization.