Ferdinand I of León
Ferdinand I | |
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Basilica of San Isidoro | |
Consort | Sancha of León |
Issue |
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Sancho III of Navarre | |
Mother | Muniadona of Castile |
Signature |
Ferdinand I (c. 1015 – 24 December
Date and order of birth
There is some disagreement concerning the order of birth of Sancho III's sons, and of Ferdinand's place among them. He was certainly a younger son, and he was probably born later than 1011, by which date his parents are known to have married.
In five documents of the monastery of
Count of Castile (1029–37)
Ferdinand was barely in his teens when
Sancho III arranged for Ferdinand to marry García of Castile's intended bride, Sancha of León, in 1032.
In a dispute over the territory between the Cea and Pisuerga, Ferdinand, nominally a vassal of Bermudo III, defeated and killed his suzerain at the Battle of Tamarón on 4 September 1037.[2] Ferdinand took possession of León by right of his wife, and on 22 June 1038 had himself crowned and anointed king in León.[2]
King of León (1037–65)
On 15 September 1054, Ferdinand defeated his elder brother García at the
Relations with al-Andalus
War with Zaragoza
In 1060, according to the
War with Toledo
With al-Muqtadir sidelined as a threat, Ferdinand turned his attention to Yahya ibn Ismail al-Mamun, emir of Toledo. It is probable that Ferdinand already maintained close relations with the Toledan court, and was perhaps protector of the Mozarabic Christian community in Toledo. In 1058, the last known Mozarabic bishop of Toledo, Pascual, was consecrated in León. In 1062, Ferdinand invaded the east of al-Mamun's taifa, taking Talamanca and besieging Alcalá de Henares. After seeing his country plundered, al-Mamun agreed to pay parias and Ferdinand left.[20]
Great raid on Badajoz and Seville
In 1063, using the new income from his parias, Ferdinand organised a "great raid, or razzia" into the taifas of Seville and Badajoz. Seville, and probably Badajoz also, paid a ransom for his withdrawal. This attack was probably also designed to remove Badajoz as a threat during his siege of Coimbra the next year.[20]
Reconquests in Portugal
Although the sources are unclear, it is possible that as early as 1055 Ferdinand attacked the taifa of Badajoz. His first serious campaign of
War with Valencia
In 1065, Ferdinand embarked on his last military campaign. He invaded the
Emperor of Spain
Ferdinand was first titled "emperor" not by himself or his own scribes, but by the notaries of his half-brother, the petty king Ramiro I of Aragon, whose notaries were also calling Ferdinand's predecessor as king of León by the same title. In a royal Aragonese charter of 1036, before the Battle of Tamarón, Ramiro refers to his brother as "emperor in Castile and in León and in Astorga".[22] A similarly-worded charter was issued in 1041 and again in 1061, where the order of kingdoms is reversed and Astorga ignored: "emperor in León and in Castile".[23] The first use of the imperial style in a charter of his own, preserved in the cartulary of Arlanza, dates to the year 1056: "under the rule of the emperor King Ferdinand and the empress Queen Sancha ruling the kingdom in León and in Galicia as well as in Castile".[24] On this basis, Ferdinand is sometimes said to have had himself crowned emperor in 1056.
The imperial title was only used on one other occasion during his reign. A document of 1058 dates itself "in the time of the most serene prince Lord Ferdinand and his consort Queen Sancha" and later qualifies him as "this emperor, the aforesaid Ferdinand".[25]
Death and succession
After becoming ill during the
Posthumous reputation
The Chronicon complutense, probably written shortly after Ferdinand's death, extols him as the "exceedingly strong emperor" (imperator fortissimus) when mentioning the siege of Coimbra.[27] After his death, Ferdinand's children took to calling him "emperor" and "the great" (magnus). In 1072, Alfonso, Fedinand's second son, referred to himself as "offspring of the Emperor Ferdinand".[28] Two years later (1074), Urraca and Elvira referred to themselves as "daughters of the Emperor Ferdinand the Great [or, the great emperor Ferdinand]".[29] In a later charter of 1087, Ferdinand is referred to first as "king", then as "great emperor", and finally just as "emperor" alongside his consort, who is first called "queen" then "empress".[30]
In the fourteenth century a legend appeared in various chronicles according to which the
This story is generally regarded as apocryphal, although some modern authors have accepted it uncritically or seen a kernel of historical truth in it. Spanish historian A. Ballesteros argued that Ferdinand adopted the title in opposition to Henry III's imperial pretensions.[34] German historian E. E. Stengel believed the version found in Mariana on the grounds that the latter probably used the now lost acts of the Council of Florence.[35] Juan Beneyto Pérez was willing to accept it as based on tradition and Ernst Steindorff, the nineteenth-century student of the reign of Henry III, as being authentically transmitted via the romancero.[36] Menéndez Pidal accepted the account of Mariana, but placed it in the year 1065.[37]
Family tree
Sancha of Aybar | Sancho III of Pamplona | Muniadomna of Castile | Alfonso V of León | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ramiro I of Aragon | García Sánchez III of Pamplona | Gonzalo of Sobrarbe and Ribagorza | Ferdinand I of Castile & León | Sancha of León | García Sánchez of Castile | Bermudo III of León | Jimena of Pamplona | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sancho II of Castile | Elvira of Toro | Alfonso VI of León | García II of Galicia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
References
- ^ a b c Some sources give the feast of John the Baptist, 24 June, as the date of his death.
- ^ a b c d e Reilly 1988, 7–8.
- ^ a b Martínez Díez 2007, 151–53.
- ^ Martínez Díez 2007, 152. They are, by date: 7 April 1014, albeit improperly dated (Ranimirus, proles regis, confirmat. Garseanus, frater eius, confirmat. Gundisaluus, frater eius, confirmat. Fernandus, germanus eius, confirmat.); 21 October 1022 (Garsias et Ranimirus, Gundesalbus et Fernandus, testes.); and 1033 (in presencia de filios regis pernominatos Ranimirus, Garseanus, Gundesaluus, Fredinandus), found in Jaime Goñi Gaztambide, Colección diplomática de la catedral de Pamplona (829–1243) (Pamplona: 1997), docs. 5, 7, 12.
- ^ Martínez Díez 2007, 152. Although all of these one contain anachronisms, they are not entirely worthless. They are: two dated 21 April 1028, one of 1030, and one from 5 April 1031, found in Antonio Ubieto Arteta, Cartulario de San Juan de la Peña, I (Valencia: 1962), docs. 47–48, 51, 56.
- ^ Martínez Díez 2007, 152: Sunt testes: Eximina regina et mater regis, regina dompna Maiora cum filiis suis dompno Garsia et Fredinando et Gundesalbo et fratre eorum Ranimiro in Goñi Gaztambide 1997, doc. 8.
- ^ Martínez Díez 2007, 152. They are dated 21 October 1022, 26 December 1032, and 1033, found in Ángel J. Martín Duque, Documentación medieval de Leire (siglos IX a XII) (Pamplona: 1983), docs. 20, 23, 24.
- ^ Martínez Díez 2007, 152. They read: Domina Maior regina confirmat. Ranimirus proles regis confirmat. Garseanus frater eius confirmat. Gundisaluss frater eius confirmat. Ferdinandus frater eius confirmat., in Martín Duque 1983, docs. 15–16.
- ^ Martínez Díez 2007, 153. Two date to 21 October 1015 and another to 29 September 1023, found in Martín Duque 1983, docs. 17–18, 21.
- ^ Martínez Díez 2007, 152–53. They are both dated 1024, one to 17 May, and are found in José María Lacarra, Colección diplomática de Irache, I (958–1222) (Zaragoza: 1965), docs. 2, 4.
- ^ Martínez Díez 2007, 84.
- by the grace of God, the prince our lord Sancho and his son count Ferdinand").
- ^ Martínez Díez 2007, 150: regnante rex Sancio in Legione et comite Fernando in Castella ("[now] reigning king Sancho in León and count Ferdinand in Castile").
- ^ Martínez Díez 2007, 150: Factum ... ipsas kalendas novembrii, era MLXX currente, Fredinando Sanzii comitatum gerente ("[this charter was] made ... these kalends of November, currently Era 1070 [AD 1032], Ferdinand [son] of Sancho holding the county").
- ^ Martínez Díez 2007, 150–51.
- ^ Martínez Díez 2007, 182: regnante imperator Veremundo in Leione et comite Fredinando in Castella et rex Garsea in Pampilonia et rex Ranimirus in Aragone et rex Gundisalbus in Ripacorça.
- ^ In the first Rodrigo Téllez, on the occasion of his entering the Monastery of San Pedro de Arlanza, donated his inheritance in Jaramillo to the monastery (Martínez Díez 2007, 182: rex Vermudo et Fredinando comes in regnis suis). The second was issued by Ferdinand's great aunt, the Abbess Urraca of Covarrubias, and reads: Facta carta conparationis die sabbato, ipsas kalnedas januarias, era TLXXVa, rex Virimudo et Frenando comes in regnis suis (Martínez Díez 2007, 182).
- ^ a b c Reilly 1988, 9–10.
- ^ a b Reilly 1988, 10–11.
- ^ a b c Reilly 1988, 11–12.
- ISBN 978-84-89512-41-2.
- ^ García Gallo 1945, 226 n. 70: Regnante me Ranimiro ... et Fredelandus imperator in Castella et in Leione et in Astorga ("me, Ramiro, reigning ... and Ferdinand, emperor in Castile and in León and in Astorga").
- ^ This latter, from García Gallo 1945, 226 n. 71, reads "King Ramiro reigning in Aragon ... Ferdinand, emperor in León and in Castile" (Regnante Ramiro rege in Aragonie ... Fredelandus imperator in Leione et in Castella).
- ^ García Gallo 1945, 213 and 226 n. 72: sub imperio imperatoris Fredinandi regis et Sancie regine imperatrice regnum regentes in Legione et in Gallecia vel in Castella.
- ^ García Gallo 1945, 213 and 226 n. 72: in tempore serenissimi principis domni Fredinandi et ejus conjugis Sanciae reginae and perrexerunt ad ipsum imperatorem jam dictum Fredenandum.
- ^ Reilly 1988, 13.
- ^ García Gallo 1945, 213 and 226 n. 74, partially quotes the Chronicon′s entry: rex Ferdinandus cum coniuge eius Sancia regina, imperator fortissimus, simul cum suis episcopis ... obsedit civitatem Colimbriam ("King Ferdinand with his consort Queen Sancha, the exceedingly strong emperor, likewise with his bishops ... besieged the city of Coimbra").
- ^ García Gallo 1045, 226 n. 73: Ego Adefonsus regis, prolis Fredinandi ymperatoris.
- ^ Ego Urraka et Giluira, Fredinandi imperatoris magni filie (García Gallo 1045, 226 n. 73).
- ^ García Gallo 1045, 226 n. 73: "I, Urraca, daughter of King Ferdinand ... to the reigning Emperor Alfonso son of Emperor Ferdinand the Great and Queen Sancha ... I, Urraca, daughter of that king and emperor Ferdinand and Empress Sancha" (Ego Urraca prolis Fredinandi regis ... Adefonso imperatore regnante Ferdenandi magni imperatores et Sancie regine filio ... Ego Urraca filia ejusdem regis et imperatoris Federnandi et Sancie imperatricis).
- ^ García Gallo 1945, 213–14. The most likely king of France is Henry I, although Philip I also fits. The Emperor would have been Henry III, or possibly his father, Conrad II.
- ^ García Gallo 1945, 214: fué llamado Don Fernando el Magno: el par de emperador.
- ^ García Gallo 1945, 214, citing Menéndez Pidal 1929, I, 137–38, and López Ortiz 1942, 43–46.
- ^ In Revista de Archivos, Bibliotecas y Museos, 40 (1919): 473, cited in García Gallo 1945, 226 n. 78.
- ^ Kaisertitel und Souveränitätsidee: Studien zur Vorgeschichte des modernen Staatsbegrifts (Weimar: 1939), 7–8, 11–13, 15–16, and 23, cited in García Gallo 1945, 226 n. 78.
- ^ España y el problema de Europa: contribución a la historia de la idea de imperio (Madrid: 1942), 46–48, cited in García Gallo 1945, 226 n. 78; Steindorff 1881, 484ff.
- ^ He further suggested that the Spanish reaction against Rome encouraged a later Castilian nationalist reaction against the Spanish "empire", cf. García Gallo 1945, 214, citing Menéndez Pidal 1929, I, 138 and 256–64, who completely rejects this thesis.
Bibliography
- García Gallo, Alfonso (1945). "El imperio medieval español". Arbor (in Spanish) (4). Reprinted in “Historia de España”, Florentino Pérez Embid, ed. (Madrid: 1953). Madrid: 199–228. ISSN 0210-1963.
- López Ortiz, Jose (1942). "Las ideas imperiales en el medioevo". Revista Escorial (in Spanish) (6). Madrid: 43–70. OCLC 6192204.
- Martínez Díez, Gonzalo (2007). Sancho III el Mayor Rey de Pamplona, Rex Ibericus (in Spanish). Madrid: Marcial Pons Historia. ISBN 978-84-96467-47-7.
- Martínez Díez, Gonzalo (2005). El Condado de Castilla (711-1038): la historia frente a la leyenda (in Spanish). 2 volumes. Valladolid: Junta de Castilla y León, Consejería de Cultura y Turismo. ISBN 84-9718-275-8.
- ISSN 0018-2141.
- OCLC 1413407.
- Reilly, Bernard F. (1988). The Kingdom of León-Castilla under King Alfonso VI, 1065–1109. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
- Sánchez Candeira, Alfonso (1999). Rosa Montero Tejada (ed.). Castilla y León en el siglo XI, estudio del reinado de Fernando I (in Spanish). Madrid: Real Academia de la Historia. ISBN 978-84-8951241-2.
- Torres Sevilla-Quiñones de León, Margarita Cecilia (2000–2002). "El linaje del Cid" (PDF). Anales de la Universidad de Alicante. Historia Medieval (in Spanish) (13): 343–360. ISSN 0212-2480. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2013-10-17. Retrieved 2016-07-11.