Sancho IV of Castile

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For other people of the same name, see Sancho of Castile.
Sancho IV of Castile
Sancho IV in a medieval miniature (13th century)
King of Castile
Reign1284–1295
PredecessorAlfonso X
SuccessorFerdinand IV
BornMay 12, 1258
Valladolid
DiedApril 25, 1295 (aged 36)
Toledo
Burial
Toledo Cathedral
SpouseMaría de Molina
IssueSee marriage and issue
HouseHouse of Burgundy
FatherAlfonso X of Castile
MotherViolant of Aragon

Sancho IV of Castile, called "the Brave" (Valladolid, May 12, 1258 – Toledo, April 25, 1295), was King of Castile[lower-alpha 1] between 1284 and 1295.

Possibly born in Seville or Valladolid, he was the fourth child of Alfonso X "the Wise" and his wife, Queen Violant of Aragon, who was the daughter of James I "the Conqueror", King of Aragon.

His reign (from 1282 to 1295) marked the end of an era of rapid territorial expansion and began an era of internal consolidation.

Biography

Sancho IV's arrival on the throne was motivated, in part, by the rejection by a sector of Castilian high society of the policy of his father, Alfonso X, and of his admiration for Arab and Jewish culture.[1]

The succession of Alfonso X

The firstborn son of Alfonso X and heir to the throne, Don Ferdinand de la Cerda, died in 1275 in Villa Real, while on his way to confront a North African invasion in Andalusia. According to Castilian customary law, in the event of the death of the firstborn in the succession to the Crown, the rights were to fall to the second-born, Sancho; however, the private Roman law introduced in the code of Las Siete Partidas established that the succession should go to the children of Ferdinand de la Cerda.

King Alfonso was at first inclined to satisfy the aspirations of Don Sancho, who had distinguished himself in the war against the Islamic invaders in place of his late brother. But later, pressured by his wife Violant of Aragon and by Philip III of France, uncle of the so-called "Infantes de la Cerda" (the sons of Don Ferdinand), he felt obliged to compensate them. Sancho confronted his father when the latter sought to create a kingdom in Jaén for the eldest of the sons of the former heir, Alfonso de la Cerda.

Finally, Sancho and a large part of the nobility of the kingdom rebelled, going so far as to strip Alfonso X of his powers, though not of the title of king (1282). Only Seville, Murcia and Badajoz remained loyal to the old monarch. Alfonso cursed his son, whom he disinherited in his will, and, aided by his former enemies the Marinids, began to recover his position. As more and more rebel nobles and cities were abandoning Sancho's faction, the Wise King died in Seville on April 4, 1284.

Reign

Statue commemorating the capture of the city of Tarifa, located at the gates of its castle.
Arch of Tarifa with a plaque in honor of those who fought in the conflict of Tarifa.

Sancho rose up as King without respecting his father's will and was crowned in Toledo on April 30, 1284. He was recognized by most of the towns and the nobles, but at the same time there was a fairly numerous group of supporters of the Infantes de la Cerda who demanded compliance with the will in question; King Alfonso III of Aragon had Alfonso de la Cerda proclaimed King of Castile in Jaca in 1288, and waged a brief campaign in Castile (1289–1290).[2]

Throughout the reign of Sancho IV there were internal struggles and fights to attain power. One of the figures who caused the most discord was his brother the Infante Don Juan, and the nobleman Don Lope Díaz III de Haro, 8th Lord of Biscay, joined his cause. King Sancho had de Haro executed and ordered the Infante imprisoned. Also, according to the chronicles, he gave the order to execute 4,000 followers of the Infantes de la Cerda, putting them to the sword in the city of Badajoz, 400 in Talavera and many others in Ávila and Toledo. In 1285 he appointed Pedro Álvarez de las Asturias mayordomo mayor of the kingdom.

After these events, he pardoned his brother Don Juan, who shortly afterwards rebelled again, giving rise to the conflict of Tarifa. Don Juan called the Marinids of North Africa to his aid and they besieged the stronghold, which was defended by its governor Guzmán el Bueno, Lord of León. There took place the famous heroic act and the innocent death of Guzmán's son. The stronghold of Tarifa was loyally defended and the Marinids returned to their place of origin. In this way the plans of the Infante Don Juan and those of the Marinid sultan, who was aiming at an invasion, were thwarted.

When James II ascended the throne of Aragon in 1291, there was a rapprochement with Sancho IV, embodied in the Treaty of Monteagudo.[3] Furthermore, Sancho IV was a great friend, as well as tutor, of the historical figure known as the Infante Don Juan Manuel.

Sancho died prematurely at the age of 36 in 1295, leaving as heir his nine-year-old son Ferdinand. He also left behind the legacy of disputes and rivalries with the Infantes de la Cerda and their supporters.

Culture

The era of Sancho IV was almost as active in the composition of books as that of his father. Thus, in addition to the book Castigos y documentos del rey don Sancho (a collection of maxims and stories for the education of the heir Prince), he promoted the translation of two great encyclopedias: the Libro del Tesoro, an almost literal version of Li livres dou tresor by Brunetto Latini, and the Lucidario, a very free translation of the Elucidarius of Honorius of Autun, in whose prologue, composed by himself, he states that a King must serve God first with his deeds, and secondly with his words.[4] Also produced, between 1284 and 1289, was the so-called Versión sanchina of the Estoria de España of Alfonso X the Wise.

Burial

Main façade of Toledo Cathedral.
Crown of Sancho IV.

Upon his death, the body of Sancho IV was buried in the Chapel of Santa Cruz of Toledo Cathedral, thus fulfilling the wish of the Monarch, expressed in his will.[5] Years before his death, the Monarch had ordered the construction of the Chapel of Santa Cruz of Toledo Cathedral, to which on November 21, 1289, he had the remains of the kings Alfonso VII the Emperor, Sancho III of Castile and Sancho II of Portugal moved, which were buried in the chapel of the Holy Spirit of the cathedral.[6]

Beside the tomb containing the remains of Alfonso VII was placed the tomb in which the body of Sancho IV was buried, which had been carved during the latter's lifetime, although later, in 1308, Queen María de Molina replaced it with another, more sumptuous tomb.[5] At the end of the 15th century, Cardinal Cisneros ordered the construction of the present main chapel of Toledo Cathedral, on the site occupied by the chapel of Santa Cruz. Once the consent of the Catholic Monarchs had been obtained, the chapel of Santa Cruz was demolished, and the remains of the kings buried there were moved to the tombs that Cardinal Cisneros commissioned from the sculptor Diego Copín de Holanda, which were placed in the new presbytery of the Toledo cathedral.

The mausoleum intended to house the remains of Sancho IV and those of Sancho III of Castile is located on the Epistle side, and was made by the sculptor Diego Copín de Holanda. The arrangement of the mausoleum is similar to the one intended to house the remains of Alfonso VII of León and of the Infante Pedro de Aguilar, illegitimate son of Alfonso XI, located opposite it.[5] The recumbent statue representing Sancho IV is placed below the one representing Sancho III. The statue depicts Sancho IV with a youthful appearance, resting his head on a cushion, barefoot, and wearing a Franciscan habit with a cord.

In 1947, during an archaeological exploration carried out in the presbytery of Toledo Cathedral in order to locate the remains of King Sancho II of Portugal so that they could be returned to his country, the remains of Sancho IV were found.[7] The King's remains were mummified, in good condition, the sovereign being naked from the waist up and wearing a Franciscan habit, fastened at the Monarch's waist by a Franciscan cord.[7] The sovereign, who in life must have exceeded two meters in height, wore a crown of gilded silver on his temples, adorned with Roman cameos and sapphires, and held in place by a cord that passed under the Monarch's chin. The body grasped a sword with a gilded hilt, and on the blade of the sword appeared an engraved inscription of which only a few fragments survived, the blade being rusted in some places. The length of the sword, which does not correspond to the sovereign's great height, and a documentary reference to the crown of his grandfather Ferdinand III suggest that he would have received both pieces by inheritance.[8]

After the examination of the remains, Cardinal Enrique Plá y Deniel, Archbishop of Toledo, ordered that the body of Sancho IV be dressed in a Franciscan habit and placed again in his mausoleum in the presbytery of the Toledo cathedral.[9]

Marriage and issue

In 1281, Sancho IV married his second cousin once removed María de Molina, daughter of the Infante Alfonso of Molina and Mayor Alfonso de Meneses, and granddaughter of King Alfonso IX of León and Berengaria of Castile. Seven children were born of this marriage:

From his extramarital relationship with María Alfonso Téllez de Meneses,[10] lady of Ucero and second cousin of Queen María de Molina, the following children were born:[11]

From his relationship with Marina Pérez was born:[12]

  • Alfonso Sánchez of Castile, husband of María de Salcedo, daughter of Diego López de Salcedo. He died without leaving issue.

By another woman, whose name is unknown, he had another son:

The beginnings of the marriage with Queen María de Molina were difficult, since the marriage did not have the indispensable papal dispensation, for a twofold reason: on the one hand there were ties of consanguinity in the third degree between the spouses, and in addition there was a prior betrothal of the then Infante Sancho, although never consummated, to a wealthy Catalan heiress named Guillerma de Montcada. The marriage with María de Molina was at first considered null, and therefore all the children born of it were considered illegitimate.

Cause of death

Sancho IV of Castile died of tuberculosis after years of struggling with his illness.

Ancestors

Ancestors of Sancho IV of Castile

Anecdotes

... the Count rose up sharply thus and said: Prisoners? How? To shit with that! Ho, my men! and he put his hand to a knife and went toward the door where the King was, the knife drawn and his hand raised... crossbowmen and knights, seeing that the Count was going against the King, struck the Count, and hit him on the hand with a sword, and cut it off, and the hand then fell to the ground with the knife; and then they struck him on the head with a mace, so that he fell to the ground dead.

— Chronicle of the reign of Sancho IV the Brave.[17]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The full title was: King of Castile, of Toledo, of León, of Galicia, of Seville, of Córdoba, of Murcia, of Jaén, of the Algarve and Lord of Molina
  2. ↑ The historian Sotto Mayor Pizarro does not include Teresa as a daughter of María Alfonso Téllez de Meneses.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "De Sancho IV a López de Ayala: La época de don Juan Manuel" (in español). Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  2. ↑ Ferrer i Mallol 2005, p. 31.
  3. ↑ Rábade Obradó et al 2005, p. 427.
  4. ↑ Sancho, Rey de Castilla; Kinkade, Richard P. (1968). Los "Lucidarios" españoles (in español). Prologue. Madrid: Gredos, D.L. p. 81. OCLC 1024485190.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Arco y Garay 1954, p. 274.
  6. ↑ Rivera Recio 1985, p. 128.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Rivera Recio 1985, p. 131.
  8. ↑ Relanzón García-Criado, José María (1959). "La Corona y la Espada de Sancho IV de Castilla" (PDF). Toletum: boletín de la Real Academia de Bellas Artes y Ciencias de Toledo (in español) (2): 24–31. ISSN 0210-6310. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 20, 2013. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  9. ↑ Rivera Recio 1985, p. 132.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Sotto Mayor y Pizarro 1987, p. 233.
  11. ↑ Ibáñez de Segovia Peralta y Mendoza 1777, p. 530.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Gaibrois de Ballesteros, Mercedes (1922). Historia del reinado de Sancho IV de Castilla (in español). Vol. Tomo I. Madrid: Tipografía de la "Revista de Archivos, Bibliotecas y Museos". p. 31.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Sotto Mayor y Pizarro 1987, pp. 109 and 227.
  14. ↑ Sotto Mayor y Pizarro 1987, p. 234.
  15. ↑ Sotto Mayor y Pizarro 1987, pp. 227–228.
  16. ↑ Fernandes 1972, pp. 1454–1455, and note 2 on p. 1454.
  17. ↑ Sánchez Albornoz, Claudio; Viñas, Aurelio (1981). Lecturas históricas españolas (in español). Madrid: Ediciones Rialp. pp. 152–153. ISBN 84-321-2086-3.

Bibliography

  • Arco y Garay, Ricardo (1954). Sepulcros de la Casa Real de Castilla (in español). Instituto Jerónimo Zurita. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. OCLC 11366237.
  • García de la Fuente, Arturo (1935). Los Castigos e documentos del rey don Sancho IV el Bravo. Estudio preliminar de una edición crítica de esta obra (in español). San Lorenzo del Escorial (Madrid).{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Gómez Moreno, Manuel (1946). Instituto Diego Velázquez. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ed.). El Panteón de las Huelgas Reales de Burgos (in español). Madrid.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • González Jiménez, Manuel (October 2004). Alfonso X el Sabio (in español) (1st ed.). Barcelona: Editorial Ariel S.A. ISBN 84-344-6758-5.
  • Mata Carriazo y Arroquia, Juan de (2002). Catalogación Universidad de Sevilla. Secretariado de Publicaciones (ed.). En la frontera de Granada (in español). Granada: Editorial Universidad de Granada. Campus Universitario de Cartuja. ISBN 84-338-2842-8.
  • Menezo Otero, Juan José (2005). Reinos y Jefes de Estado desde el 712 (in español) (5th ed.). Madrid: Historia Hispana. ISBN 84-604-9610-4.
  • Pérez Algar, María del Pilar; Ramírez Vaquero, Elísa; Utrilla Utrilla, Juan F. (2005). La dinámica política (in español). Tres Cantos, Madrid: Istmo. ISBN 84-605-6339-1.
  • Rabadé Obrado, Félix (1997). Alfonso X el Sabio: biografía (in español). Madrid: Studium Generalis. ISBN 8470904337.
  • Rodríguez García, Francisco (2002). Crónica del Señorío de Vizcaya (in español) (1st ed.). Editorial Maxtor Librería. ISBN 84-9761-029-6.
  • Salvador Martínez, H (2003). Alfonso X el Sabio (in español) (1st ed.). Madrid: Ediciones Polifemo. ISBN 9788486547660.
  • Valle Curieses, Rafael del (2000). María de Molina: el soberano ejercicio de la concordia (1260–1321) (in español). Madrid: Alderabán. ISBN 84-95414-03-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
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