King of Castile and Leon from 1284 to 1295
Sancho IV of Castile
(12 May 1258 – 25 April 1295) called
the Brave
(
el Bravo
), was the
king of Castile
,
Leon
and
Galicia
(now parts of Spain) from 1284 to his death. Following his brother
Ferdinand's
death, he gained the support of nobles who declared him king instead of Ferdinand's son
Alfonso
. Faced with revolts throughout his reign, before he died he made his wife regent for his son, who became
Ferdinand IV
.
Biography
[
edit
]
Sancho was the second son of
Alfonso X
and
Yolanda
, daughter of
James I of Aragon
.
His elder brother,
Ferdinand de la Cerda
, died in November 1275. In 1282 Sancho assembled a coalition of nobles to declare for him against Ferdinand's son Alfonso, then took control of the kingdom when Alfonso X died in 1284. This was all against the wishes of their father, but Sancho was crowned in
Toledo
nevertheless.
Sancho's ascension was in part due to his rejection of his father's elitist politics. Sancho was recognised and supported by the majority of the nobility and the cities, but a sizable minority opposed him throughout his reign and worked for the heirs of Ferdinand de la Cerda. One of the leaders of the opposition was his brother
John of Castile
, who united to his cause the lord of Biscay, Lope Diaz III de Haro. Sancho responded by executing the Lord of Biscay and incarcerating his brother. According to the chroniclers, he cemented his hold on power by executing 4,000 other followers of Infante Alfonso, son of Ferdinand de la Cerda, in
Badajoz
. He executed 400 more in
Talavera
and more in
Avila
and Toledo.
Upon dispensing with this opposition, Sancho pardoned his brother, who was released. John bided his time before fomenting revolt again: the conflict over
Tarifa
. He called in the aid of the
Marinids
in Morocco and besieged
Guzman the Good
in his castle (1291). At this siege the innocent son of Guzman died in what has been considered a famous act of heroism. Tarifa was faithfully defended until Sancho could rescue it and the Marinids retreated to the Maghreb. The intention of both John and the Sultan of Marinids, to invade, was foiled.
When
James II
succeeded to the
Crown of Aragon
, he endeavoured to bind the two crowns more closely and for Christian forces to unite to
reconquer the Iberian peninsula
from
Islam
. Indeed, both of James' predecessors had tried to do likewise. Sancho was also the friend and tutor of
Juan Manuel of Castile
.
Just before succumbing to a fatal illness (possibly
tuberculosis
)
he appointed his wife,
Maria de Molina
, to act as regent for his nine-year-old son, Ferdinand IV. He died on 25 April 1295 in Toledo.
Family
[
edit
]
Sancho married Maria de Molina in 1282,
but at first their marriage did not have the necessary papal dispensation for two reasons: First, they were distant blood relatives, and second, Sancho had been betrothed as an infant to a rich Catalan heiress named Guillerma Moncada.
Sancho and Maria had the following children:
Sancho had three illegitimate children:
By Maria Alfonso Tellez de Menezes (d.
Toro
), wife of Juan Garcia, Lord of
Ucero
:
- Violante Sanchez
(died bef. 1327), who held the dowry of Ucero as its lady, married in 1293
Fernando Rodriguez de Castro
, Lord of Lemos.
[8]
- Teresa Sanchez, who married
Juan Alfonso Tellez de Meneses
(died 5 May 1304), a Castilian nobleman, 4th Lord of
Alburquerque
, who became the 1st
Count of Barcelos
and was the
Mordomo Mor
(high steward) of King
Denis I of Portugal
, and had female issue. After the death of her first husband, she married Ruy Gil de Villalobos, with whom she had one daughter.
By another woman whose name is unknown, he had:
- Alfonso Sanchez, who married, as his second wife, Maria Diaz de Salcedo, but died without issue.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Medieval Iberia: An Encyclopedia
, Ed. E. Michael Gerli and
Samuel G. Armistead
, (Routledge, 2003), 50.
- ^
XXV anos de la Escuela de Genealogia, Heraldica y Nobiliaria
, Ed. Escuela de Genealogia, Heraldica y Nobiliaria, (Hidalguia, 1985), 431.
Sources
[
edit
]
- Coldiron, A. E. B. (2015).
Printers Without Borders: Translation and Textuality in the Renaissance
. Cambridge University Press.
- d'Avray, David (2015).
Papacy, Monarchy and Marriage 860?1600
. Cambridge University Press.
- Linehan, Peter
(1995). "Castile, Portugal and Navarre". In Abulafia, David (ed.).
The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 5, c. 1198?c. 1300
. Cambridge University Press.
- Morvan, Frederic (2009).
La Chevalerie bretonne et la formation de l'armee ducale, 1260?1341
(in French). Presses Universitaires de Rennes.
- XXV anos de la Escuela de Genealogia, Heraldica y Nobiliaria
, Ed. Escuela de Genealogia, Heraldica y Nobiliaria, Hidalguia, 1985.
Sancho IV of Castile
Born:
12 May 1258
Died:
25 April 1295
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Preceded by
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King of Castile
and
Leon
1284–1295
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Succeeded by
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