House de la Cerda is a noble line of the

Crown of Castile The Crown of Castile was a medieval polity in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and, some decades later, the parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accessi ...

descending from the ''Infante'' Ferdinand de la Cerda, eldest son of King

Alfonso X Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, es, el Sabio; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 30 May 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Germ ...

. It was one of four noble lineages that arose directly from the Castilian royal family during the thirteenth century and is the origin of the

Dukes of Medinaceli Duke of Medinaceli () is an hereditary title in the peerage of Spain, accompanied by the dignity of Grandee. The Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, created the title and awarded it on 31 October 1479 to ...

. The origin of the lineage stems from ''Infante'' Alfonso de la Cerda (1270–1333), son of the heir to the throne, ''Infante'' Ferdinand de la Cerda who died before his father, Alfonso X. The Alfonso X always stated his successor was his grandson Alfonso de la Cerda, instead of his second son, ''Infante'' Sancho. This motivated Sancho to revolt against his father. After a long civil war Sancho was finally crowned. Following an unsuccessful invasion by Aragon and Portugal, a peace settlement removed the ''Infante'' de la Cerdas from contention for the Castilian throne.''Medieval Iberia: An Encyclopedia'', Ed. E. Michael Gerli,

Samuel G. Armistead Samuel Gordon Armistead (August 21, 1927 – August 7, 2013) was an American ethnographer, linguist, folklorist, historian, literary critic and professor of Spanish. He is considered one of the most notable Hispanist scholars of the second hal ...

, (Taylor and Francis, 2003), 427. The lineage of La Cerda continued throughout the Middle Ages and was constituted as a noble house of the first rank, playing a leading role in Castilian politics. This line, like others from the Civil War of the mid-fourteenth century, continued through the female line to shift the family heritage until Dona

Isabel de la Cerda Isabel de la Cerda also known as ''Isabel de la Cerda Pérez de Guzmán'' (Seville c.1329 - after 1383) was the only surviving daughter of Luis de la Cerda and his first wife Leonor de Guzmán; she was Lady of Puerto de Santa María and titular Pri ...

married Bernal de Foix, first Count of Medinaceli. Currently, the House of La Cerda branches into several noble families: the House of the Dukes of Medinaceli, as direct heirs of Fernando and Alfonso la Cerda, and its minor Ducal House of Parcent. From the House of Parcent (dukes since 1916) stem the minor noble houses of the Marquissates of Eguaras (in the House of La Cerda since 1799) and of Cañada-Honda (created in 1893 for Emilio Drake De La Cerda, grandson of the Count of Parcent)

Notes

References

* ''Medieval Iberia: An Encyclopedia'', Ed. E. Michael Gerli, Samuel G. Armistead, Taylor and Francis, 2003. * Maclagan, Michael and Jiri Louda, ''Lines of Succession'', MacDonald & Co., 1981. {{DEFAULTSORT:House De La Cerda Spanish noble families Castilian House of Burgundy