Ferdinand III "The Saint" King of Leon & Castile 
Ferdinand III "The Saint" King of Leon & was born on August 19th, 1201 in Leon, Spain. Ferdinand III "The Saint" King of Leon &'s father was Alfonso IX King of Leon and his mother was Berengaria of Castile. He had a brother and a sister, named Alphonso de and Berenquela Princess of Leon And. He was the second oldest of the three children. He had a half-sister named Urraca. He died at the age of 50 on May 30th, 1252 in Seville, Spain.General Notes
Ferdinand III, also called SAINT FERDINAND, Spanish SAN FERNANDO (b. 1201?--d. May 30, 1252, Seville; canonized Feb. 4, 1671; feast day May 30), king of Castile from 1217 to 1252 and of Leon from 1230 to 1252 and conqueror of the Muslim cities of CÛrdoba (1236), JaÈn (1246), and Seville (1248). During his campaigns, Murcia submitted to his son Alfonso (later Alfonso X), and the Muslim kingdom of Granada became his vassal.
Ferdinand was the son of Alfonso IX of Leon and Berenguela, daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castile. When born, he was the heir to Leon, but his uncle, Henry I of Castile, died young, and his mother inherited the crown of Castile, which she conferred on him. His father, like many Leonese, opposed the union, and Ferdinand found himself at war with him. By his will Alfonso IX tried to disinherit his son, but the will was set aside, and Castile and Leon were permanently united in 1230.
Ferdinand married Beatrice of Swabia, daughter of the Holy Roman emperor, a title that Ferdinand's son Alfonso X was to claim. His conquest of Lower Andalusia was the result of the disintegration of the Almohad state. The Castilians and other conquerors occupied the cities, driving out the Muslims and taking over vast estates.
Ferdinand's second wife was Joan of Ponthieu, whom he married in 1237; their daughter Eleanor married the future Edward I of England in 1254. Ferdinand settled in Seville, where he is buried. [Encyclopaedia Britannica CD '97]
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