“St. Ferdinand of Castile, pious, pure, strong, majestic, riding his steed, spear in hand against his adversary, is very much the symbol of the knight of light.” And … he never lost a battle!
São Fernando de Castela – Catedral de Sevilha, (Espanha) – Foto: Francisco Lecaros
Newsdesk (28/10/2024 11:31, Gaudium Press) “St. Thomas Aquinas and Blessed Giovanni of Fiesole [Fra Angelico] have been called, respectively, the Angelic Doctor and the Angelic Painter (…) [And] there have been Angelic warriors like St. Louis IX and St. Ferdinand of Castile“.[1]
The circumstances and the name of the place where St. Ferdinand was born show how God was preparing him for combat. In 1199, his parents Alfonso IX, King of Leon, and Berengaria, daughter of the King of Castile, were travelling through north-west Spain. At one point, they had to camp by the side of the road and Ferdinand was born near a small town called Peleas de Arriba – a place of conflict for several centuries between the Moors and Christians — in the Province of Zamora.
Miraculous cure
Four years later, his parents’ marriage was annulled by Pope Innocent III because they were too closely related. Alfonso returned to Leon and Berengaria to Castile, taking Ferdinand and three other children with her.
Berengaria gave them an excellent Catholic education, and Ferdinand stood out for his innocence and other virtues. However, he was struck down by a serious illness that caused sores to erupt all over his body.
Grief-stricken, his mother cried often and one of her maids recommended that she take the boy to a church where there was a beautiful image of Our Lady. She did so, arrived there in the evening and asked everyone to leave.
She placed her little son, who was in a state of agony, in front of the Virgin’s altar, prostrated herself and, shedding torrents of tears, begged Her to heal him. Strengthened by faith, confident and serene, she stood up and saw that the sores had disappeared and that the child was completely healed.
King of Castile and León
As an adolescent, at his father’s request Ferdinand moved to León, where he received lessons in science and weaponry. He was diligent in his studies and brilliant in the art of war. Always focused on God, he could pray: ‘Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle’ (Ps 144:1).
He would always beat other knights with vigour in battle. And in the worldly environment of the court, he remained totally faithful to the practice of virtue.
On the death of his grandfather Alfonso VIII in 1214, Berengaria became Queen of Castile and sent emissaries to Leon to bring Ferdinand. When Alfonso IX refused, Ferdinand managed to escape and returned to his mother.
In 1217, Ferdinand was crowned King of Castile, but his father joined conspirators who waged war against him. The young monarch defeated them in battles in which his father was not present. With the intervention of Pope Honorius III, peace was restored between Leon and Castile.
Three days after being knighted in a monastery chapel in 1219, St. Ferdinand married Beatrice of Swabia, daughter of the Duke of Swabia – southern Germany – and King of the Romans, in a solemn ceremony held in Burgos Cathedral.
On his father’s death in September 1230, he also became King of Leon. On his royal shield, he had the motto ‘Dominus adjutor meus – The Lord is my strength’ (Ps 28:7) engraved.
He never lost a battle
As soon as order was restored in his territorial domains, the Saint focused his attention on one objective: defeating the Moors who had caused so much harm to Spain.
At his request, Honorius III promulgated a Bull of Crusade by which all those who fought against the Saracens in the Iberian Peninsula were granted the same privileges as those who took part in the Crusades in the Holy Land.
For about twenty years, St. Ferdinand waged war against them and never lost a battle.
In June of 1236, he conquered Cordoba, the capital of an ancient caliphate. The first thing he did was turn the great mosque into a cathedral. Its bells, two centuries earlier, had been torn down by the Mohammedans from the Basilica of St. James in Compostela. St. Ferdinand forced Moorish prisoners, walking on foot, to carry them on their shoulders to the shrine.[2]
Shortly afterwards, he took Jaén and had the precious relic of the Holy Face of Christ placed on the high altar of that city’s new cathedral.
Granada was the capital of the Moorish kingdom in Spain. St. Ferdinand did not attack it because its king ‘went to pay him homage, paying him a large sum of money every year and offering him troops for his military enterprises.’[3]
In 1248, he conquered Seville and installed the royal court there.
St. Ferdinand, an undefeated warrior, lived a life of intense prayer. He attended Mass and prayed the Divine Office daily. He often welcomed the poor, served them meals and washed the feet of twelve of them every Holy Thursday[4].
Symbol of the Knight of Light
With his noble soul focused on the marvellous, he had the stupendous Gothic cathedrals of Toledo and Burgos built. Both were dedicated to Our Lady, to whom he was extremely devoted.
In 1252, feeling death approaching, he asked for the Sacraments. The Bishop of Segovia assisted him in Confession. He then began to celebrate Mass; at the time of the Consecration, St. Ferdinand knelt and he received Holy Communion.
Raising his arms, he said: ‘I give you thanks, Lord, I return the kingdom you have given me with the fruits I have been able to achieve and I offer you my soul.’[5]
Holding a lit candle in his hands, he asked the clergy to pray the Litany and sing the Te Deum. And then, his holy soul was taken to Heaven. It was May 30th, 1252.
In the Cathedral of Seville, below the image of the city’s patron saint, the Virgin of the Kings, lies his body with a plaque that reads:
‘Here lies the most honoured King Don Fernando, Lord of Castile and Toledo, of León, Galicia, Seville, Córdoba, Murcia and Jaén, the one who conquered all of Spain, the most loyal, the most true, the most forthright, the most determined, the most courageous, the most illustrious, the most long- suffering, the most humble, the one who feared God the most, the one who served Him the most, the one who struck down and destroyed all His enemies, the one who elevated and honoured all His friends, and conquered the city of Seville, the capital of all Spain’.
Dr. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira said: “St. Ferdinand of Castile, pious, pure, strong, majestic, riding his steed, spear in hand against his adversary, is very much the symbol of the knight of light.”[6]
By Paulo Francisco Martos
Noções de História da Igreja
[1] CORRÊA DE OLIVEIRA, Plinio. Beato Fra Angélico, o São Tomás da pintura. In Dr. Plinio. São Paulo. Ano VIII, n. 83 (fevereiro 2005), p 29.
[2] Cf. DARRAS, Joseph Epiphane. Histoire Génerale de l’Église. Paris: Louis Vivès. 1882, v. 29, p. 78.
[3] VILLOSLADA, Ricardo Garcia. Historia de la Iglesia Católica – Edad Média. 3. ed. Madri: BAC. 1963, v. II, p. 405.
[4] Cf. CASTRO Y CABEZA, María del Carmen Fernández. Nuestra Señora en el arzón. Bilbao: El pan de los pobres. 2013, p. 5.
[5] RICHARD, Javier A. Fernando III: Cruzado y Santo. Absalon Ediciones. 2011, p. 172.
[6] CORRÊA DE OLIVEIRA, Plinio. In Catolicismo. Campos dos Goitacazes, n. 171, março 1965.
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Compiled by Roberta MacEwan
