Fernando III:A brief history.

Ferdinand III of Castile. 

Ferdinand III (Spanish: Fernando; 1199/1201 – 30 May 1252), called the Saint (el Santo), was King of Castile from 1217 and King of León from 1230 as well as King of Galicia from 1231.[1] He was the son of Alfonso IX of León and Berenguela of Castile. Through his second marriage he was also Count of Aumale. Ferdinand III was one of the most successful kings of Castile, securing not only the permanent union of the crowns of Castile and León, but also masterminding the most expansive southward territorial expansion campaign yet in the Guadalquivir Valley, in which Islamic rule was in disarray in the wake of the decline of the Almohad presence in the Iberian Peninsula. 

King of Castile and Toledo

Reign

31 August 1217 – 30 May 1252

Predecessor

Berengaria

Successor

Alfonso X

King of León and Galicia

Reign

24 September 1230 (de facto) or 11 December 1230 (de jure) – 30 May 1252

Predecessor

Sancha and Dulce

Successor

Alfonso X

Born

1199/1201

Monastery of Valparaíso, Peleas de Arriba, Kingdom of León

Died

30 May 1252 (aged 50-53)

Seville, Crown of Castile

Burial

Seville Cathedral, Seville, Spain

Consort

Elisabeth of Hohenstaufen

​

​(m. 1219; died 1235)​

Joan, Countess of Ponthieu

​

​(m. 1237)​

Issue

among others...

Alfonso X of Castile

Frederick

Henry the Senator

Philip, Lord of Valdecorneja

Sancho, Archbishop of Seville

Manuel, Lord of Villena

Ferdinand II, Count of Aumale

Eleanor, Queen of England

House

Castilian House of Ivrea

Father

Alfonso IX of León

Mother

Berengaria of Castile

Religion

Roman Catholicism 

By military and diplomatic efforts, Ferdinand greatly expanded the dominions of Castile by annexing the Guadalquivir river valley in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, establishing the boundaries of the Castilian state for the next two centuries. New territories included important cities such as Baeza, Úbeda, Jaén, Córdoba or Seville, that were subject of Repartimiento, given a new general charter and repopulated in the following years.

Ferdinand was canonized in 1671 by Pope Clement X. Places such as the cities of San Fernando, Pampanga and San Fernando, La Union; the Diocese of Ilagan and the San Fernando de Dilao Church in Paco, Manila in the Philippines; and in the United States, in California the City of San Fernando, the San Fernando Valley, and in Texas the Cathedral of San Fernando in San Antonio were all named after him.