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 some years later.
Fernando now a young man of 18 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 a boy. 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 future 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.
Berengueera after they arrive at the Cortes and she says in front of the assembly of nobles and clergy:
I renounced the throne in favor of her son you must proclaimed him king with Fernando looking shocked.
After hearing of Fernando being proclaimed king. King Alfonso who is Fernando's father and was Berenquera's husband until their marriage annulled by the pope because they were cousins and after 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]
Fernando: The army of my father and the traitor Alvoro are surrounding León. I will deal withe traitor, but I will not fight my father. Archbishop Ximénez de la Rada this parchment I give to you to take to my father to
In the next scene, the Archbishop reads the letter to Fernando's father:
“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.”
King listens with a grim face and says:
“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.
Archbishop: “I assure you, Lord King, that this sum will be paid to you very quickly because Ximénez de la Rada. 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 the day he had been gone entreating Our Lady to bring peace)
Virgin of the Battles, at the Cathedral of Seville. Photo by Jose Luis Filpo Cabana. This ivory statue went with St. Ferdinand in all of his warlike undertakings. He carried the Image, set in his saddle horn.
Next scene, Archbishop, who had the most authority, approached the tapestry dividing the tent of the king and called, “Lord!
Fernando heard him and turned abruptly as he looked at Our Lady with an expression of love with blood on the ground from his scourging which he did as reparation for his and the sins of his father as well as his ancestors:
I know well, Lady, that whatever I entrust to thee will never fail. You, Archbishop, and your companions, have rendered me a greater service than I have asked of you; it would have been very wrong and a terrible example for a son to wage war against his father. Glory be to God and His glorious Mother!
Fernando: Now that Our Lady has given us peace with my father and we must raise an army to have defeated the traitors army and captured the great enemy of my mother and Castile Count Alvaro I must pray what Christ the King of Kings desired me to do with this scoundrel.
To be continued next week...
The next morning both camps broke up. Only the six prelates who were the designated ambassadors remained. Ferdinand, already on horseback, watched the army from León disappear, his face clouded with a veil of sadness. Deep inside, he had expected more from his father: he had hoped to kiss his hand in an interview to seal the reconciliation or at least to receive a letter answering his. At least, in Burgos, Doña Berenguera awaited his return, hoping to help him forget his father’s lack of love.
A few days later, the agreements concluded, Ferdinand signed the treaty. The kings of Castile and León promised to help each other in the war against the infidels. The King of León agreed to a clause that stipulated severe penalties for any future invasion of Castile. He would be excommunicated and the kingdom placed under interdict. Don Ferdinand agreed to the same conditions upon the insistence of the Leónese bishops. Both kings wrote to the Pope asking him to ratify the agreement.
Conclusion – King St. Ferdinand endures war from his father
The Monastery of Uclés, resting place of Count Álvaro Núñez de Lara.
One act of justice was left to administer, but this the King of Heaven assumed as His responsibility. The wicked Don Alvaro was sick in bed the night the truce was agreed upon. When he heard the news, he fell into despair and commanded his men to move him quickly to Toro. The rapid paces of the journey together with his despondency worsened his condition so much that his state of health became desperate. Realizing that he was near the fearful trial of death, he attempted to appease Divine Justice by wearing the habit of Santiago. He gave orders that he was to be buried in Uclés, which was the main convent of the Order.
Don Alvaro died in such poverty that when his men took his body to Castile, they could find no money even to pay for the candles for his funeral. Being in such a plight, they were relieved when some of Doña Berenguera’s servants delivered, at her instructions, many candles to be lighted for the repose of Don Alvaro’s soul. She also sent a rich piece of brocade material to cover his coffin, symbolizing the Christian forgiveness with which she covered the memory of her enemy.
Buy it today!
Sr. Maria del Carmen Fernández de Castro Cabeza, The Life of the Very Noble King of Castile and León, Saint Ferdinand III (New York: The Foundation for a Christian Civilization, Inc., 1987), 55-60.
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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