Ferdinand de la Cerda (23 October 1255 – 25 June 1275) was the

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

to 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 Kingdom of Castile, Castile and Kingd ...

as the eldest son of

Alfonso X Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, ; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 1 June 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Germany on 1 Ap ...

and

Violant of Aragon Violant or Violante of Aragon, also known as Yolanda of Aragon (8 June 1236 – 1301), was Queen consort of Castile and León from 1252 to 1284 as the wife of King Alfonso X of Castile. Life Violant was born in Zaragoza, the daughter of Kin ...

. His nickname, ''de la Cerda'', means "of the bristle" in Spanish. There are various accounts of the origin of this name, including that it was a reference to being born with a full head of hair or that he was born with a hairy mole, resembling a bristle or mane, on his chest or back according to different accounts. In November 1268 Ferdinand married Blanche, the daughter of King

Louis IX of France Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), also known as Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death in 1270. He is widely recognized as the most distinguished of the Direct Capetians. Following the death of his father, Louis VI ...

. They had two sons: *

Alfonso de la Cerda (1270-1333) Alfonso de la Cerda, (Valladolid 1270 - Ávila 1333), called "the Disinherited", was the elder son of Ferdinand de la Cerda and his wife Blanche of France, and was a grandson of Alfonso X of Castile. Alfonso and his brother Fernando were can ...

, who was believed to have married Matilde of Narbonne, daughter of Viscount Aimery VI of Narbonne. Recent research showed that Alfonso de la Cerda married Matilde of Brienne, daughter of John I of Brienne.Masnata y de Quesada, David E. (1985). «La Casa Real de la Cerda». Estudios Genealógicos y Heráldicos (Madrid: Asociación Española de Estudios Genealógicos y Heráldicos): pp. 169–229 They had four sons and three daughters. * Fernando de la Cerda (1275-1322), who married

Juana Núñez de Lara Juana Núñez de Lara (1286 – 1351) was a daughter of Juan Núñez de Lara ''the Fat'' and his wife Teresa Díaz II de Haro of the lordship of Biscay. Juana is also known as la Palomilla or Lady of Lara. Life Juana was first married to Infant ...

, called "la Palomilla", Lady of Lara & Herrera, daughter of Juan Núñez de Lara “el Mayor” and Teresa Álvarez de Azagra. They had one son and three daughters. One daughter, Blanca Núñez de Lara, was the mother-in-law to King

Henry II of Castile Henry II (13 January 1334 – 29 May 1379), called Henry of Trastámara or the Fratricidal (''el Fratricida''), was the first List of Castilian monarchs, King of Castile and List of Leonese monarchs, León from the House of Trastámara. He became ...

. Ferdinand became regent of Castile in November 1274 when his father left for

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. In May 1275 the

Marinids The Marinid dynasty ( ) was a Berber Muslim dynasty that controlled present-day Morocco from the mid-13th to the 15th century and intermittently controlled other parts of North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) and of the southern Iberian Peninsula ...

from

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

landed in Spain upon call from

Muhammad II of Granada Muhammad II () (also known by the epithet ''al-Faqih'', " the canon-lawyer", – 8 April 1302; reigned from 1273 until his death) was the second Nasrid ruler of the Emirate of Granada in Al-Andalus on the Iberian Peninsula, succeeding his fat ...

and attacked Castile. Ferdinand raised troops and moved south from

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populous municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of th ...

to defend the kingdom but died unexpectedly in Villa Real on 25 June 1275 leaving Castile open to invasion. His sons did not inherit the throne of their grandfather, since their uncle

Sancho The name Sancho () is an Iberian name of Basque origin (Santxo, Santzo, Santso, Antzo, Sans). Sancho stems from the Latin name Sanctius. Feminine forms of the name are Sancha, Sancia, and Sanchia (), and the common patronymic is Sánchez and ...

, who had repulsed the

Moorish The term Moor is an exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a single, distinct or self-defi ...

invasion, usurped the throne.

References

Sources

* 1255 births 1275 deaths House de la Cerda Castilian infantes Heirs apparent who never acceded Sons of kings {{europe-noble-stub