Just beginnings of Play: The Battles of the Queen Mother, her Son the Saint & Knighted King who was consecrated to the Queen of Heaven By Fred Martinez

St. Ferdinand III

Three Act Play about King St. Fernando III

By Fred Martinez

Ten year old Fernando lying in bed dying with repulsive sores.

Berenguera to three knights and three ladies: "Help me to take Fernando to the Church of Our Lay of Ona for death looms over him."

At the church with Fernando lying in front of her and Our Lady of Ona behind him: 

"Mistress of Heaven, remember that you are the Mother of Mercy! Turn your eyes good away from my sin as a queen and consider my sufferings as a mother. I know well the mercy of thy Son. You, my Mother, who suffered these same sorrows help me in my need. The reason for his affliction is the punishment for my sins forgive my sins."

Look, oh Mother at this my son because he is thine and never was it heard that whoever is thine and trust in thee was left desolate and unaided. Remember that he is thy servant and you must cure him if you desire any service of him.... 

Berenguera then is quiet with her hands folded in prayer and her head on her hands and then she looks at her son. The sores are gone and she weeps for joy and the nights walk in and see Fernando sitting up cured and cries miracle, miracle, milagro, milagro.

Fernando to Berenguera: Tell me again the tale of how Our Lady of miraculously  restored my health and you consecrated me to her I thank you for your love for me and I thank Our lady for her love for you and me.... 

Berenguera smiles saying: I love you very much but she loves you even more and you are consecrated to her. 

Fernando: Mother as soon as I become a tall man I will build in my land a very great church and will call it Holy Mary  and when I return for making war against the Moors who have invaded our Land and winning great winning great battles I will retake our invaded land and I will hang all their standards before the altar of our Lady

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 and you belong to Christ the King through her.

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 (who 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) said:

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!

One year later, Fernando who loved and reverenced his mother as a saintly and wise woman turning to her said:

I needed your prayers and wisdom to govern as Our Queen in Heaven want me this last year to get our kingdom to be safe and lawful, but now I need you to take over administrative duties so I can on put on my armour, grip my sword and ride forth to free Spain of the invaders who destroy our churches and make sex slaves of our captured woman.  

Berenguera: I agree that that is what the King of Kings to calling you to do, but first you marry, give Castile a heir and formally become a knight.  

To be continued next week..