St. Ferdinand III
Three Act Play about King St. Fernando III
By Fred Martinez
The boy Fernando's eyes shined as he listened to the warrior Archbishop tell what happened that day when his grandfather King Alfonso saved Spain from total destruction.
Archbishop:
Remember what your grandfather faced, the Moors trophy beheadings and crucifixions were continual. They cut off the knights head dead or alive and send them to the theirs principle towns of the Muslim empire. Sometimes the skulls and corpses were to huge piles of bloody mass as if it were a "height of mimaret" for a call for horrible macabre Islamic prayer.
With this in mind, what you grandfather with his small Christian army proposed to do was courageous sheer madness when he readied to charge down into a Muslim combined army of over a hundred thousand as his troops seemed ready to crumble. With the battle seemingly almost lost, your grandfather shouted, "Archbishop, let you and me die here!" I roared back, "Here you shall defeat the enemy! He burst into into the battle-lines where we were about to be defeated and the whole battle turned. Seeing your fearless grandfather, the other three kings rallied their knights, with the Christian of banners of Santiago and Our Lady and broke through the line and the Moors huge army fled or were killed. Spain miraculously by Our Lord and Our Lady was saved (page 42-43)
At that moment, Fernando's mother Queen Berenguera walked in smiling at the Archbishop.
Berenguera:
Your grandfather and the archbishop saved Spain, but Our Lady saved you when you were a boy covered with layers of sores of disease and corruption. My face was buried in on your pillow as I cried and kissed you as you were dying. Then it came to me to you to the feet of Our Lady at Santa Maria de Ona for a miracle before it was too late. (pg. 17)
Curtains close and it's 6 years later.
Fernando now a young man of 16 looks at his mother:
My mother and who will soon be my queen, as I was racing her I was thinking of how you and Our Lady saved me when I was 10 years old. I rushed here because I know you will be queen with the death of uncle Enrique. I'm here to defend you against the approaching traitor Count Alvaro and his army who wants to steal the crown.
Fernando kneeling at her feet:
I want nothing more than to defend your honor, my queen.
Berenguera raising Fernando:
You must be very tired, but it's not the time for rest. Kings and queens must not live for themselves. We must be on our way to the city of Palencia for the Cortes to decide the succession of the crown.
King Alfonso who is Fernando's father and was Berenquera's husband until their marriage annulled by the pope because they were cousins hearing of Count Alvaro's revolt decided to invade Castile also saying:
What does it matter if a handful of nobles did make Berenquera their queen? I was her husband and will take what is should be mine with my army. [Fitzhenry page 70]
King St. Ferdinand endures war from his father – Part 1-5
Fernando's army went past Medina del Campo to a place where they could see surrounded by the enemy. The white tents from León contrasted with the reddish brown of the soil. Facing them, the King of Castile ordered his men to encamp, and as soon as he dismounted, he called the prelates and the most distinguished of the noblemen to explain his plan. He took out a parchment he had brought with him and gave it to Ximénez de la Rada.
“Your Excellency,” he said, “take this letter to the King of León, my father and lord.” He added in general to the others, “You, go with the Archbishop to the King of León and try to persuade him to desire peace. Know that you will do a great service to God and to myself, and that I will greatly appreciate it.”
They bid farewell, thanking the King for the trust placed in them, and promising to use prudence and to spare no effort. Don Ferdinand, as soon as he saw that they had left, called his squires and warned them, “Watch that no one interrupts me, unless something very important occurs, until the Archbishop returns.” He then disappeared behind the tapestry that divided the tent in two...
... In the meantime the Archbishop and his companions mounted their horses and rode toward the encampment of León. They had not ridden even half way when they saw a group similar to their coming toward them from the León side. It was already past sundown, so they could not see them clearly until they had met....
... Alfonso IX already knew of the embassy his son had sent, and was awaiting them in his tent with the wisest and most important of his noblemen. The Castilians greeted him with due respect, and the Archbishop of Toledo, reasoning in a prudent but forceful way, illustrated the harm that this war would cause to the people, and the scandal it gave to Christianity. Since the King, listening with a serious face, did not answer, Don Rodrigo finished severely: “Know that you are very unreasonable in attacking your son, who was always obedient to you. And be certain that if you enter in battle, God will be on the side of the innocent one.”
It took great courage to talk like this, but in those days faith was very great, and the threat of losing it, though well-deserved, visibly affected Alfonso, who lowered his head. Then Don Rodrigo placed the King of Castile’s letter in his hands. A page brought a candle and with this light the monarch from León read the letter:
“Lord Father King of León, Don Alfonso, my Lord: What rage is this? Why do you wage war and harm me, when I do not deserve it? It seems that my well-being makes you sad. Rather, you should be very happy to have your son the King of Castile, for it is to your honor. There is not a ruler, Christian or Moor, that would dare come to me with a plan to do you harm. And what is the reason for this rage? You should remember, that it was you who attacked, and now we have two large opposing armies in the field and, normally, any king in such a position as yours should expect an all-out attack from us. But I cannot strike at you because you are my father and my lord. So, I am prepared to sit here and suffer with my troops until you come to your senses.”
No one breathed. Both the Castilians and Leóneses remained motionless with their eyes fixed on the King’s frowning, grim face. They anxiously followed the struggle that was taking place in the monarch’s soul; the struggle between resentment and ambition on one side and the blood’s voice and the respect for the Law of God on the other. Alfonso saw well that what we would call today “public opinion” was unanimously on the side of peace and favored King Don Ferdinand. Those moments of hesitation seemed like centuries. Finally, the King, lifting his eyes, looked at Don Rodrigo de Toledo and, still frowning, said with his disagreeable voice: “Archbishop, you will tell the King of Castile that the war is due to the fact that he has not paid the ten thousand maravedis that King Don Henry had promised me in exchange for Santibañez.”
Painting of Alfonso IX de León by José María Rodríguez de Losada.
“I assure you, Lord King, that this sum will be paid to you very quickly because I know well the King Don Ferdinand my lord. I am certain that if he has not yet done it, it is because he has had no knowledge of it.”
“If that is the case,” concluded the King of León, “there will be no difficulty on my part for peace; and I will name the archbishop of Santiago, along with the bishops of Zamora and Astorga, to negotiate it.” [https://nobility.org/2014/10/king-st-ferdinand-endures-war-from-his-father-part-3/]
When the Archbishop returned with the peace treaty for Fernando to sign with his father He found that Fernando had been in prayer in the tent all that time entreating Our Lady to bring peace
next page 68
For later in play:
What our good Archbishop forgets to say is not only how he saved Spain that day, but how he saved you and I from the treasonous of Alavaro Nunez de Lara... (St. Ferdinand III, page 49)
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