Fernando Sánchez de Castro (1241–1275) was an
Aragonese ''
infante
Infante (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as "infant" or translated as "prince", is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to the ...
'' (royal prince),
crusade
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...
r and rebel leader.
Fernando was an illegitimate son of King
James I of Aragon
James I the Conqueror ( Catalan/Valencian: ''Jaume I or Jaume el Conqueridor''; Aragonese: ''Chaime I'' ''o Conqueridor''; ; 2 February 1208 – 27 July 1276) was King of Aragon, Count of Barcelona, and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1 ...
by his mistress Blanca, daughter of Sancho de Antillón. Their relationship can be dated to 1241, when James gave her the castle of
Castro. Fernando later took the title of .
In April 1261, Fernando and were sent to
Naples
Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
as ambassadors to King
Manfred of Sicily
Manfred (; 123226 February 1266) was the last King of Sicily from the Hohenstaufen dynasty, reigning from 1258 until his death. The natural son of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, Manfred became regent over the Kingdom of Sicily on b ...
. As a result of this embassy, James's heir, the ''infante''
Peter
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a su ...
, was married to Manfred's daughter,
Constance
Constance may refer to:
Places
* Constance, Kentucky, United States, an unincorporated community
* Constance, Minnesota, United States, an unincorporated community
* Mount Constance, Washington State, United States
* Lake Constance (disambiguat ...
. Fernando was a witness to their wedding on 13 June 1262 in
Montpellier
Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...
.
At the ' of 1264 in
Zaragoza
Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...
, Fernando clashed with his father over the extension of the ' tax on livestock from
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...
to
Aragon
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...
. When the Aragonese nobility withdrew from the ''cortes'', Fernando sided with them. He thereby gained enduring popularity with the nobility of Aragon and married a daughter of . Despite these clashes, Fernando remained a favourite of his father.
Fernando took part in
the crusade to the Holy Land launched by his father on 4 September 1269. When his father diverted the fleet to
Aigues-Mortes
Aigues-Mortes (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region of southern France. The medieval Ramparts of Aigues-Mortes, city walls surrounding th ...
after a storm and opted to abandon the enterprise, Fernando and his half-brother,
Pedro Fernández de Híjar, continued on to
Acre
The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...
. They and their followers were too few, however, to accomplish anything there. He may have made contact with King
Charles I of Sicily
Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou or Charles d'Anjou, was King of Sicily from 1266 to 1285. He was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the House of Anjou-Sicily. Between 1246 and ...
during his return voyage from Acre.
In 1270 or 1271, Fernando was in exile in Montpellier when Charles I offered to pay him 8,000 ''
livres tournois
The (; ; abbreviation: ₶ or £) was one of numerous currencies used in medieval France, and a unit of account (i.e., a monetary unit used in accounting) used in early modern France.
The 1262 monetary reform established the as 20 , or 80. ...
'' and transport costs if he served him for a year in the defence of
Trapani
Trapani ( ; ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') with 54,887 inhabitants, on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an important fishing port and the mai ...
. He was to bring forty
knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity.
The concept of a knighthood ...
s, four
squire
In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight. Boys served a knight as an attendant, doing simple but important tasks such as saddling a horse or caring for the knight's weapons and armour.
Terminology
''Squire'' ...
s and twenty mounted
crossbowmen
An arbalist, also spelled arbelist, is one who shoots a crossbow.
Background
An extensive list of archaic words for medieval crossbowmen is given by Payne-Gallwey. Richardson, in his 1839 dictionary, did not make specific reference to the cross ...
, but he did not accept the offer.
In February 1272, James convoked a ''cortes'' in
Lleida
Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...
for the following the month to resolve the differences between Fernando and the ''infante'' Peter, but the only result was a break between the king and his heir, who accused Fernando of seeking to dethrone their father. In December 1273, James and Peter were reconciled, and the latter pledged not to harm Fernando.
The reconciliation of Fernando with his father and brother did not last long. He continued to side openly with the rebellious Aragonese nobility. In 1273, Peter accused him of and the barons of plotting treason. In September 1274, James declared him a traitor. The king offered a truce to all who attended his ''cortes'' in Lleida in March 1275, but no final agreement was reached there. By this time James had turned completely against his son. In a letter dated 29 March, James asks Peter to "do evil" to Fernando and his allies, and . James attacked Count , while in May Peter led an army against
Antillón. On 1 June, Peter laid siege to Fernando in the castle of . He tried to escape disguised as a squire, but he was captured. Peter ordered him drowned in the river
Cinca. James, in his autobiographical ''
Llibre dels fets
The (; from Catalan language, Catalan, 'Book of Deeds'; Old Catalan: ) is the autobiographical chronicle of the reign of James I of Aragon (1213–1276). It is written in Old Catalan in the first person and is the first chronologically of the ...
'', says that "this greatly pleased us when he heard of it, because it was a very serious thing that he, being our son, had risen against us, after we had done him so much good and given him so noble an inheritance."
Notes
References
;Citations
;Works cited
*
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*{{cite book , title=The Book of Deeds of James I of Aragon: A Translation of the Medieval Catalan Llibre dels Fets , editor-first1=Damian , editor-last1=Smith , editor-first2=Helena , editor-last2=Buffery , publisher=Ashgate , year=2003
1241 births
1275 deaths
House of Barcelona
Aragonese infantes
Christians of the Crusades
Sons of kings
Sons of counts