Reconquista The Next Generation - Full History

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who wouldn't get hooked on a good talk about the plague right now the great courses plus is even offering a free trial to get you started furthermore you can show support for my show by clicking on the link in the description of the video below or by going to the great courses plus comm slash flashpoint and now for the video that you've been waiting for [Music] Shh [Music] the year was 1212 and the great battle of Las Navas de Tolosa was over a triumphant coalition of Christian forces that is fighting men drawn from the various kingdoms of Western Europe stood over a field looking down upon a shattered Almo hot army and while the Muslims of North Africa had been routed the Christian armies due to logistics and exhaustion were unable to pursue for the final coup de Gras the Reconquista would now take a bit of a hiatus as the leaders of that fight would be consumed with domestic problems the fonz of the eighth of Castile would die two years later in 1214 and leave his country to a ten year old son phaedra ii of aragon would be killed the next year on the Alba Genson crusade at the Battle of Moray sowing the seeds of political unrest Sancho the seventh of Nevada and his landlocked and mountainous domain in the north and little interest in invading the south and the kings of Leon and Portugal would simply have their own agendas on the other side of things the Almohad Calif mohammad al nasir retreated quickly to mana cash after his defeat at Las Navas he left behind his destroyed army and his reputation now while he was able to escape the battle he was not able to escape his assassination that came the next year in 1213 the Almohad would now enter into a period of rapid decline as massive revolt erupted across their vast empire this downward spiral only got worse as the al Mohan had ineffectual leadership which was made even more feeble by numerous coos and power struggles it should not come as a big surprise that with their homeland in flames Al Andalus quickly dropped from their list of priorities professor Hugh Kennedy in his book Muslims Spain and Portugal sums it up nicely quote the Almohad army never seems to have recovered from the casualties inflicted on it at Las Navas de Tolosa after 1212 there's no record of all mahad troops facing the Christians again some sources speak of much of Morocco being depopulated by the defeat and the surviving members of the Almo hot tribes confined themselves to Mata kesh and the mountains to the south where they had originated refusing to answer desperate appeals for help from all Andaluz end quote in the winter of 1227 the ruling caliph al Mamoon made a truce with the king of Castile paying him a hefty tribute in exchange for peace in an October of the next year all major Almohad armies were strategically withdrawn from the Iberian Peninsula I guess they weren't able to win the hearts and minds of the people 12:28 marked the end of any significant al Mohan presence but if there's anything to be learned about history nature abhors a vacuum in the pattern that repeated itself the people of all Andaluz rose up once again against their North African overlords most of the major cities would establish some degree of Independence but again all this would really accomplish was the establishment of a myriad of smaller pettier and most importantly weaker typhus states for those of you who are keeping score this was known as the third tyfa period also known as a very easy target for anybody out there who was more organized and slightly bigger and here's the thing the andalusi that is the people of these tyfa's knew that they were in trouble there was simply nobody left in North Africa that could come to their aid but not all hope was lost there were those who were let's just call him the more politically enterprising that managed to rise to predominance and bring together a handful of these city-states into a more formidable union there were several areas where this would occur Valencia had its own thing going the lands of the Algarve were coalescing but there were two major individuals that accomplished this the first was a man named Abu Abdullah Mohammed even Yusuf eben hood al Adha me known simply as eben hood in 1228 he gained power in the city of Murcia you know the very same year that the almohads were pulling out the other was a man named Mohammed even Yusuf even Nasser who was known as eben Alomar this man gained ground in the city of hyena and would eventually take Granada remember that name much more on him later now of the two men eben hood appeared to be stronger his first move was to raise the black flag the Ambassador Alif eight of Baghdad and swear allegiance to him of course in reality the power of the ambassador ala fate at this point was ephemeral at best but the move gained him legitimacy he quickly gained the support of numerous cities including Cordoba al meriya Malaga and Seville which now they began to look upon him with these puppy-dog eyes as their new great defender they even went so far as to call on the Emir of the Muslims the power went right to his head he was on a mission to regain the lost glory of Allah on Toulouse and the fighting spirit of the andalusi flocked to him however when it came to the real challenge of taking on the Christian kingdoms he would find that his talents were quite lacking he would soon find out that the Christian Lords of the North had made remarkable strides in the art of war in 1230 he engaged the forces of Leon who were busy laying siege to Merida he was soundly defeated at the nearby battle of Milan Hey as a result Merida and banna hos would eventually fall two years later he tried to relieve the defenders of drew Hilo he failed and had to pay tribute to Castile for a truce which by the way this truce gave Castile a free hand to ravage the Muslim lands held by even hoods rival the aforementioned eben Alomar but he wasn't done yet disaster came in the year 1236 when he attempted to stop the siege of Cordoba and yet again he was turned back you know in the end there's only so much misfortune that most people are willing to put up with his men began to abandon him his popular support fell away and in the year 1238 as he was on the run and trying to take refuge in the city of almería one of his last remaining bastions he was assassinated at the city gates by the man that he ironically had placed in charge of the city it was a sorry state of affairs for a howl on Toulouse but one man's misfortune is another man's opportunity this was how the stage was set for our rising warrior King Ferdinand the third of Castile the almohads were in retreat no one else was coming to the rescue all Andaluz was divided and the remaining Muslim commanders were scrambling to hold a very much receding line Ferdinand the third had a playing field that was ready for his grand appearance but as is the case so many times in history the story of this powerful man begins with the story of a powerful woman in the book A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Betty Smith describes her main female characters as quote they were all slender frail creatures with wandering eyes and soft fluttery voices but they were made at a thin invisible steel end quote this pretty much surmises baton gaya or if you prefer the Castilian baton gwella of Castile she was a woman who was descended from a very impressive family her father was Alfonso the eighth of castile again the victor of Las Navas de Tolosa her uncle you might have heard of this guy King Richard the lion-hearted and her grandmother was eleanor of aquitaine a crusader queen her hand in marriage was sought after and at one point she was betrothed to the son of the Holy Roman Emperor 1197 she married Alfonso the ninth the king of Leone which was Castillo's major rival perhaps there was some plan to ease hostilities he also happened to be her cousin and the marriage was later annulled by the Pope on the basis of consanguinity but the two managed to have five children of which Ferdinand the third was the eldest child and all were deemed by the respective courts to be hoped legitimate despite their marriage Leon and Castile would still be at each other's throats there would be continued conflict between the two kingdoms everything came to a head in the year 1214 when her father Alfonso the eighth of Castile died the oldest male heir and her brother was nvk who was only 10 at the time betting gwella being the eldest child moved quickly to take the position of regent she knew that she had to move fast as she had many enemies in the Castilian Court the great noble families were not keen on her political abilities they knew she was a resourceful and cunning opponent her biggest opponent was the house of Lada a particularly ruthless and exceedingly opportunistic noble family who had had their sights on the throne there were three brothers of which Alvaro Nunez they Lada was the quickest act this man like his brothers held strong positions in the Castilian Court in fact during the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa Alvaro carried the banner of the King through a complex web of political and tricky poison the opinions of the aristocracy and a high clergy against betting gwella and while she was distracted trying to restore her name Alvaro and his men came in and bribed the knight who was guarding the young king to be and Enrique and then literally snatched him away taking him into his own custody betting gwella knew she'd been outmaneuvered and for the time being had lost the first round Alvaro Nunez de lara wasted no time in his new position as regent he knew that as long as he held the boy he could do just about what he wanted for me it would have made more sense to do this takeover more slowly but Alvaro was a man of action and as a result his stratagem didn't go unnoticed I would describe him as being recklessly abusive with his newfound power he began to generate new policies and tax codes to greatly enrich himself and his family which of course came at the expense of the other noble houses he essentially stole money from the clergy seized the trade revenue from the contagion courts and took control of several castles which most of them once belonged to betting gwella and then he oppressively dominated the court this was not exactly the best way to make friends by 1217 he even began to wage war in the name of an elite gay tensions over his Regency began to get very heated I can only imagine betting well is frustration and having to sit back and watch all this go down knowing that it would only be a matter of time before she be forced either into a convent or into exile or found dead someplace it was on the fateful day of May 26th in the year 1217 Enrique now approximately 13 was playing in the courtyard of the Alvaro's castle with some other children a tile from the roof came undone and slid down it struck him on the head as the other children looked on with horror the wound was fatal and as the Sun set on that day the heir to the throne of Castile was dead Alvaro who couldn't afford to lose his Regency concealed the child's death and hid his body in the castle of Terry go however betting gwella had her spies in place and hastily learned of her brother's death a response was epic knowing that the news of Anthony Ches death was still hidden from the rest of the world he dispatched two contingents of her best Knights the first contingent rode out to the Kingdom of Leon where they convinced Ferdinand a third who at that time was still at court with his father the leonie's King Alfonso the ninth to come home to Castile and pay his mother a visit it didn't seem like such a strange request so he readily complied but he was probably a bit shocked as to how quickly he was brought back to Castile the other group which consisted of betting wellas best Knights infiltrated the castle of Terry go and under the cover of night they retrieved Enrique's body and brought it back to her so she could have him properly buried in the family crypt bettan gwella then waited for the right moment once her son Ferdinand the third was safely in her jurisdiction and then revealed to a stunned audience that her brother the heir and Enrique was dead the fate of succession of the Kingdom now hung in the balance the Castilian Court and the high clergy assembled to decide who was going to be the next sovereign it came down to either naming Alfonzo the ninth - at this point was in league with Alvaro Nunez de la de as the new king of Castile or giving it to betting gwella she had predicted that this was gonna happen all along and kind of knew what the court would decide when it came down to it many members of the Castilian aristocracy would rather be dead than see a leonie's king in their throne and even more had had enough of the manipulations the house of lotta betting gwella won by a landslide and became the Queen Regent of the realm but there was a glaring problem to all this the rules stated that only a male could lead the armies of the kingdom into battle this was a fact that Alvaro Nunez de la taille was only too happy to point out he publicly rebuked the Queen for her audacity to be so daring and then demanded to be Regent over her son Ferdinand the 3rd Baron gwella may have lost the first round to Alvaro but she sure wasn't gonna lose the second she refused to hand over his son and made it very clear that nobody was touching her boy and then in a somewhat stunning move she advocated the position of regent leaving the throne vacant but before Alvaro and his cronies could abscond with the title she deftly maneuvered her son into position and had him crowned king of Castile she made it clear to everybody that she was not the type of person that liked to lose battering guell is decisive move shattered any semblance for peace and Alfonzo the ninth who now felt cheated of his right to unify Leone and castile under his control was persuaded by Alvaro núñez de Lara and his brothers to declare war and invade with his leonie's army they figured the Castile Ian's were vulnerable with the new king and they were partially right Alfonzo the ninth is forces blazed a scorched-earth path deep in a castile in fact the very gates of the city of Burgos but that's as far as they were gonna get now while all of this was going on Ferdinand the third had been busy rallying the noble houses together first from Avila then Segovia then palencia but more nobles were gonna come in August of 1217 the new Castile Ian King entered the city of Burgos at the head of this army to be formally recognized as the new sovereign and then almost immediately he had a launched a counter-offensive against his own father while he wasn't able to crush the leonie's forces he was able to drive them out of his land and when they invaded again at 1218 he held firm in fact in one engagement Ferdinand the 3rd was able to see through an ambush which was set up by Alvaro núñez de la de he managed to turn the tables crush the invaders and capture Alvaro who I'm sure he presented to his mother as a gift but just as a side note this was not gonna be the last time that a king of Castile would have to deal with the house of lata however at this point in time Alfonso the ninth of Leon had had enough he made peace with Ferdinand the 3rd and recognized him as a king in his own right betting gwella would continue to serve as Ferdinand's closest advisor guiding him in his ascendancy in serving once again as regent while he was on campaign while she might not have had direct power her actions would still have major ramifications in 1219 she astutely arranged for her son Ferdinand to marry Beatrix of Swabia a member of the powerful Hohenstaufen family and when I mean powerful Beatrix happened to be the granddaughter of Frederick Barbarossa the Holy Roman Emperor by the year 1224 bettan gwella got really good at the game of succession she had a very crafty mind you know the kind that allows you to see like five moves ahead in chess she went right to work arranging new marriages and establishing political networks with the sole intent to prevent other kingdoms from being able to muscle their way in and claim any right to the leonie's throne she knew that the aging king of Leon again Alfonzo the ninth wasn't gonna be around for much longer and more importantly she knew that he didn't have any male heirs well let me put it this way at least no male heirs that he was willing to recognize at this point he had all but written Ferdinand out of his will as was expected a few years later in the Year 12:39 died leaving his throne to his two daughters Sancha and dulce but before they could get comfortable and coalesce with their new sovereignty Baron gwella swept in with charm and grace and how do I say this politely she made him a deal they couldn't refuse she managed them out who convinced the daughters of Alfonzo the ninth for her finest states and an insane chunk of cash to relinquish their claim on a leonie's throne the ink was barely dry on these documents when betting gwella quickly emphasis on that word assured her son into the city of Leon where he was crowned king of the kingdom of Leon in this before anybody could say otherwise Leon and Castile were thus united under Ferdinand a third they would never be divided again and the legacy of Castile would go on to have world empire implications Baron gwella in her later years was a devoted patron of religious institutions and military orders like the order of Santiago she would continue to serve as Ferdinand's closest advisor and in his absence while he was on campaign she would help govern his land which was now both Castile and Leon Ferdinand's respect and admiration for her never wavered he would come to her for her counsel during times of need as it turned out they met in the year 1245 to discuss matters of States and to enjoy time in the company of family but little do they know that that year mother and son were to meet face to face for the very last time she died the very next year on November 8th in the year 1246 and left behind a legacy of being one of the most powerful women in the Middle Ages Alby it's a bit unsung her focus had always been for the betterment of her son and her sacrifice was not going to be in vain Ferdinand the third would become one of the greatest leaders that I conquista had ever witnessed [Music] the political chessboard that was the Iberian Peninsula had come a long way from the beginning of the early attack conquista it was now set perfectly for a true warrior king who was descended from a line of warrior Kings to take full advantage of it Ferdinand the 3rd was born in approximately the Year 1200 and became King when he was barely 18 his rise to power was not exactly easy and as soon as the crown was on his head he had to fight his own father to establish his legitimacy he was also hampered along the way by the nobles of his court who needed to be put in line almost immediately in the early 1220 s he went to war again against the house of Lara of the three leading brothers one had gone into service with the Almohad and later died in Morocco Alvaro who had gone politically toe-to-toe against Ferdinand's mother had died a disease in 1218 leaving behind the last brother Gonzalo who had characteristically risen up and gone into rebellion Ferdinand responded the uprising with speed and crushed it and this would be a hallmark of his reign indeed he was a king that was able to establish a high degree of domestic tranquility granted at times with an iron fist but this allowed him to focus on an outward expansion when Leon and Castile were united in the year 1233 the astute negotiating skills of his mother Ferdinand found himself the king of the most powerful state in the Iberian Peninsula and he was going to use it his adversary to the south al-andalus was divided into a handful of petty typhus states once again and the great power in North Africa the almohads who had been the protector of the Muslim South we're dealing with major rebellions and political infighting which had only grown more intense over the years when the Almohad were forced to pull their armies that of all Andaluz in 1228 to deal with more domestic struggles the Christian kingdoms of the north all rapidly began to launch offensives one after the other into what was basically a target of opportunity the great game of conquest had begun in the West Portugal would make a massive move into the south towards the Algarve in the east otta gone under her impressive ruler James the first would engage in a land grab of his own but Ferdinand would leave them both in the dust in the year 1213 heritage Badajoz and merida which his father had conquered after destroying the Andalusia army under Ivan Hood with the destruction of this army the majority of the typhus states were now left to their own fate to resist as best they could or negotiate their way out of a position of weakness taking advantage of this in 1231 Ferdinand launched an offensive into the very center of the Muslim frontier taking Calatrava cars Ola and in 1230 for the city of Oba de the road was now open as strike into the very heart land of all Andaluz and in 1236 the Castilian King invaded the valley the Guadalquivir and arrived with his massive army at the gates of Cordoba the city was quickly surrounded in February of that year in a relief force that was sent in by eben hood was decisively beaten back after five months of an especially harsh siege the city in the midst of starvation was forced to open her gates and surrendered on June 29th 1236 the terms of occupation were pretty severe the Muslim population was required to leave with what it could carry and the remainder the urban center was rapidly subjugated on a Christian rule catalyst in his book kingdoms of faith tells the story quote although the former capitols age of glory had long passed the loss was a powerful blow to the Muslims of the peninsula the great mosque founded by Abdul Rahman the first over 400 years earlier was promptly reconsecrated as the new cathedral and the bells of Santiago that the high Shaab al-mansour had hung there's a trophy in 997 were borne back to Compostela in triumph on the shoulders of Muslim captives to their credit neither Ferdinand nor his successors destroyed the mosque instead its minarets were repurposed as a bell tower and gradually across two centuries a hulking Cathedral was raised up within it like a stake stabbing upward through what had been for half a millennia the heart of Islam in Spain end quote the expulsion of the Muslims on Ferdinand's frontier was largely done to expedite his campaign he was after all in a race with neighboring on a gone and Portugal to grab as much land as he could but make no mistake this move depopulated his land eroded his tax base and deprived him of a civil bureaucracy leaving the newly conquered frontier cities a shell of their former selves in fact many of the refugees from these cities would escape to the sanctuary the last great taifa Granada however the loss of Cordoba was the loss of the spiritual center of all Andaluz and with her fall the rest of the Guadalquivir Valley was now open for exploitation Ferdinand then moved to take Niebla and Huelva in 1238 followed - sehun Lucena 12:40 the man was feeling pretty darn good and you know understandably so in fact at this point he was feeling so confident with his own offspring that in 1243 he dispatched an army under the command of his son Alfonso the tenth with the objective of taking Murcia that is before his arrogant his rifle could do it Otacon after all at this time has subjugated the balearic islands and was also playing the great game of conquest in the peninsula in fact this game had become so rapid that the next year in 1244 Ferdinand resourceful he made a pact with James the first of Aragon known as the Treaty of Al misra to delineate boundaries of their respective conquests this would give the Castile Ian King of rehan to drive all the way to the sea he took a lotta guy in 1244 cars Tehama and 12:45 and a LeConte they in 1248 this would effectively extend castile from the Bay of Biscay in the north to the Mediterranean in the south now as I had mentioned the people of al-andalus had put their faith in the hands of local throng men to unite them against the Christian juggernaut the aforementioned even hood initially gained the predominant lead in the struggle but his ineffectiveness and being able to turn back the tide made him lose not only his credibility but also his life as he would be killed by his own men even hoods major contender was given al ahmar this man would eventually gain power in Granada and become the first Emir of the Nazareth dynasty he be known to history he is Mohammed the first much more on him later Ferdinand developed the knack of playing both men against each other extracting tribute from one while attacking the other and when it suited the Castilian King he would switch rinse and repeat in 1246 Ferdinand negotiated a somewhat ruthless deal with even al Ahmar he was required to relinquish control of the city of hyena which by the time of the negotiations had already been under siege for like several months which goes to show that even in medieval Spain gunboat diplomacy can work even al Ahmar was a master at looking at the long game and knowing when diplomacy was the only option and an otherwise no-win scenario he knew that this deal would bring in peace with Castile in the loss of the city of hyena which was his main base of operations would actually improve his borders which instead of sticking out to encompass the city you would instead be fixed along the ridge of the Sierra Nevada range thus he would have better internal lines and have a natural boundary for his domain even al Ahmar surrendered the city had to pay a vast annual tribute and then had to kiss Ferdinand's hand as a symbol of his vassal status his only regret I suppose was that he had but one ego and pride to lose for his country but when you look at the bottom line his nation would survive however one of the terms of being a vassal was that he had to provide military support for his master's ambitions and thus a contingent of even Alomar's men were sent alongside Ferdinand's army as they marched to the greatest prize catless again quote burden and the third had stepped up the pace of conquest launching a series of ferocious campaigns aided by his muslim dependence against the lands of the Guadalquivir the countryside was ravaged muslim peasants were taken prisoner put to the sword and one by one the towns of the south fell the slave markets swelled as masses of Muslim captives were sent northward while in the south the larger towns were purged of their native inhabitants who were banished to the countryside if not condemned outright to exile in the race against his rivals Ferdinand could not afford a gradual conquest by negotiation and although the violence the campaign might the economy of the Muslim South that Muslims South would've least belonged to him in his heirs the strategy paid off and by the time a Laconte fell in 1248 the king together with his son Alfonso had set up camp outside of the former Almohad capital Seville end quote [Music] the siege of Seville began in the summer of 1247 and would go on for 16 months Ferdinand set up a ring around the city that he would gradually reinforce with more troops including those of even a llamar of Granada this stranglehold because what else can you really call it would only increase and by the time winter fell a veritable siege city was established Chris Lowney in his book a vanished world gives us one chroniclers take on this quote civilians that is the people of Seville were slowly starving while Ferdinand six or seven thousand besiegers according to one Christian chronicler patiently maintained their vigil from a camp that had the appearance of a great city noble and very rich served by rag-and-bone dealers and moneychangers brochures and apothecaries armors and bridal cellars butchers and fishermen and so on for every need that can exist in the world end quote the Castilians were basically having one giant tailgate party except that they had weapons and siege equipment NASA will at this point in history was still a major port and so a Castilian fleet was dispatched to blockade the harbors as well this Christian fleet would repulse Muslim ships including a major fleet sent in by the half syns but despite being surrounded the will of the people of Seville was still resolute fire barges were created and floated downstream an attempt to disrupt the naval kortnee but in the end it didn't work the Castilian fleet angered by this attack responded in early May of 12 48 by destroying the bridges across the Guadalquivir cutting the city off from her fortified suburbs of Prien Seville was now surrounded and cut off from any type of supply desperate cries for help went unanswered the Almohad by 1248 themselves were on the verge of collapse the situation within Seville became extremely dire and to complicate matters the city had sheltered refugees from other tyfa's that had already been conquered by Ferdinand's armies this just added to the number of mouths defeat within her walls by November people were literally starving to death in the streets and with no help on the way Seville could not hold out any longer on November 23rd in the year 1248 the city finally surrendered Ferdinand quickly moved in and occupied the Alcazar and as before he gave an edict to expel the Muslims the skeletonized people could only watch on as the Castilian troops took up positions to execute the will of their king Lowney again quote Ferdinand allowed civilians again that's the people of Seville one month to depart with whatever they could carry an emaciated populace barely able to stand wasn't able to carry much most sold what they could before staggering forth many joined awaiting convoy that was sailing to North Africa others trekked the 100 odd miles to Grenada now the last remaining principality of size in Muslim hands ironically they were taking refuge in a kingdom that was lorded over by the same emir who had helped starve them out of seville end quote the fall of Seville the former capital and jewel of the Almohad was quickly known throughout Western Europe and it was applauded by both Pope and Holy Roman Emperor alike but not all shared in the enthusiasm the long trail of gaunt distraught refugees departing the city essentially forever was a testament to this many Muslim poets came together in wrote a collaboration known as the Arisa Alma dune this was also known as the lamentation of cities it was a nostalgic remembrance to the lost glory of al-andalus their words captured the grief that they felt over what was not just the loss of a city but their homes this included Sally even Sharif a native of Seville who would recite quote who can avert the mortal shaming of a once mighty folk whom tyranny in outrage now in humility cloak for yesterday as monarchs they reviewed their rich domains today they are but slaves and bound in unbelievers chains end quote the aging king Ferdinand was entranced with his new city and made it the de facto capital of castile he reconsecrated the mosque into a Cathedral and converted to her minarets including one exceptional tower which would be known as the Garuda it would be repurposed as a bell tower and today as a UNESCO site it beautifully showcases a fusion of Almohad and gothic architecture but in the grand scheme of things Ferdinand knew that his time was coming to a close he made arrangements to be buried in the Cathedral of the city which he felt was his greatest accomplishment the great warrior king in his time and captured more land of all Andaluz than all of his ancestors he had outplayed Aragon and Portugal and made it clear that Castile was going to be the winner in the great game of conquest he even managed to render the last Muslim Enclave Granada as his vassal in his final days he would leave a legacy of having established both an excellent domestic and foreign policy it was said that he never broke a treaty and his word was absolute what's more the man was celebrated as laying the foundation of the cathedral of burgos being a great patron of religious orders and would be heavily involved in the advancement to the University of Salamanca as he lay on his deathbed he asked for his beloved son Alfonzo the tenth to approach him the same son he had groomed carefully for leadership who had accompanied him on many campaigns including the siege of Seville Alfonso was the pride of his lineage a man who was doted over and brought up in his father's image father and son embraced for the last time and in the extreme winter of his life the warrior king was recounted by a later 13th century chronicler with his final words of advice to his son quote my son you are richer and Lance and good vassals than any other king in Christendom men strive to do well and to be good for you have the ability to do so if you know how to persevere in this state that I leave you you will be as good a king as I and if you win more for yourself you will be a better King than I but if you diminish it you will not be as good as I end quotes Ferdinand the 3rd of Castile died on May 30th 1252 400 years later he would be canonized the saint elfonzo the 10th followed his father's instructions and had him buried in the crypt of the new cathedral of seville he was buried with honor ceremony and respect that was due to a great king his epitaph was written in the foreign languages of the realm Latin Castilian Hebrew and Arabic and it read quote here lies the most honored King Ferdinand the Lord of Castile Paulette Oh Lyon Cordova and Murcia he who conquered all of Spain who defeated and destroyed all of his enemies and conquered the city of Seville end quote it was now time for a new king to take the throne and a new legacy to be written the world Alfonzo the tenth had inherited was drastically different to that of his father he became king of a United and powerful Leon Castile that had expanded to take most of all Andaluz including the cities of Cordoba and Seville but with that power came greater challenges and contenders Castile as it would turn out was not the only one who was gaining dominance on the western end of the peninsula Portugal was also a part of the great game of conquest she began to coalesce under her new King Afonso Henriques who came to power after his victory at Sal Mehmed he would go on to consolidate that power at the battles of RAK and Valdez this culminated in the Year 1143 with the Treaty of Zamora a treaty between Lyon and Portugal giving the latter her sovereignty the momentum was there Lisbon would be taken four years later with the help of Crusaders and even when the powerful Almohad showed up holding up that at conquista Portugal would continue to hold her own in 1180 for the Calif Abu yaqoob Yusuf arrived at the city of Santa M and began to lay siege but due to poor planning and faulty military intelligence he abandoned the siege in haste and attempted to retreat his withdrawal was poorly planned in the mighty Calif found himself on the wrong side of the river Tagus without sufficient guard and this just as a contingent of portuguese cavalry found him he was mortally wounded in the ensuing confrontation and only to die a few days later when the dust had settled from what was known as the santa ana campaign Portugal had won herself a great victory from that point onwards the nascent Portuguese Kingdom would only push back her forces were at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212 where the Almohad were decisively defeated and when the north african power began to decline the kingdom of portugal would only step up her game with the goal to push south all the way into the Algarve now very much like the Castile ian's the Portuguese would also have a line of warrior kings this lineage stretched all the way back to the founder Alfonso and the Rica's now granted not all of them were great but some like Sancho ii who had come to power in 1223 he knew exactly how to fight two years after establishing his rule he would lead a raid into Almohad territory that would see his troops ravaging the lands all the way to seville by 1230 for the cities of mora Serpa and Beha would be in his hands and by 1214 - he added silvus and tavira but while such of the second was a warrior king he was not a very good politician while he was on his various military campaigns internal strife and turmoil gripped his kingdom and plunged it into civil war this was a civil war that was so bad that he was actually deposed by the Pope Sancho ii had to go into exile in toledo where he eventually died he thus left the remaining conquest of the Algarve to his brother Afonso the third who completed it by 12th 49 and in the process just about established Portugal's modern borders the only downside to all of this success was that there was literally no more land from Islamic Spain that Portugal could take her only major border was now with Castile and in the subsequent years she would have to fight to maintain our land from her powerful neighbor but while all of this was going on on the other side of the peninsula Aragon was also on the move out of gone got a late start in the game of reconquest but she was lucky and that she had good Kings when the time demanded it Alfons were the first who was known as the battler took the great city of Zaragoza and expanded the kingdom his grandnephew pedro ii would come in to secure the left flank of the christian army at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa his men held the line against an overwhelming Almohad onslaught both men embodied the true essence of a warrior king and just as well both men died just horribly in battle Alfonso the first would get shot through the eye at the siege of Fraga and pedro ii would died a year after las navas at the battle of Myr a while on crusade fedra the second son how may or James the first was thus from a long great military tradition as many people and his family had fought and died in war I guess you could say he had a lot to live up to James the first was born in 1208 as the only son of pedro ii he was a mere five years old when news reached the kingdom of his father's death while he was on the albicans ian's crusade now before the nobles of aragon could seize the boy and manipulate his birthright he was literally taken in the night into the custody of the Knights Templar he was then placed under the watchful eye the head of the order while his great-uncle served as regent but his uncle was not a very good leader and the kingdom would descend into chaos during this time the counties of Barcelona would even attempt to break off but when James was old enough he married the daughter of Castile and then would go on to wage war against his own nobility bringing them back into the fold by the year 1227 he had restored the crown of Aragon to her former status and had established a treaty with Louis the 9th of France securing his eastern border he was now ready to grab a big chunk out of al-andalus in September of 1229 he sailed from Tarragona to the balearic islands on board a fleet of a hundred and fifty ships carrying 15,000 infantry and 5000 cavalry he was eventually reinforced by soldiers from Pisa and Genoa his main target was a large island of Mallorca which he took by direct assault he seized the capital and captured her Muslim king who eventually capitulated but when he didn't disclose the location of his treasure James had the Kings teenage son brought forth in the King's Own throne room he had the son tortured eventually killing him in front of his own father forcing him to disclose the whereabouts of his funds well what can I say James the first was not the type of King you wanted to annoy the very next year in the year 12:30 and Adan the neighboring island of Minorca but this time with just a handful of his troops he ordered his men to light multiple fires for each soldier on the beach which fooled the ruler of the island into thinking that a vast host had landed when Orca capitulated quickly and without a fight with his Balearic Islands aims the first returned to the peninsula where he began to move on his next prize in the city of Valencia the remaining Andaluz sea mobilized an army under their commander even mark Daanish which met the forces of Aragon at the Battle of Le Puy on August 15th 1237 Aragon would win a decisive victory that day in the road to Valencia was now open James not to be outdone by his contemporary Ferdinand the third who had just taken Cordova two years prior went right to work the siege of Valencia began in April at 1238 the King of Aragon was able to invoke the banner of crusade and thus Knights from all over Western Europe arrived to assist in the fight indeed even a fleet from the county of Barcelona arrived to blockade the harbor the defenders of Valencia knew that there was no one else coming to their aid and so without any other options on September 28th that here the city surrendered on October 9th King James the first of Aragon entered the city he quote purified the mosque and consecrated it as a cathedral to Saint Vincent as his colleague the king of Castile had done he expelled a vast amount of the Muslim population numbering by some estimates to be over 50,000 people the capture of Valencia would earn the King of Aragon the title James the first the conqueror Louis the 9th of France would even go so far as to give him a thorn from the crown of thorns for his exploits the man was on a roll and as mentioned before in 1244 he ratified the Treaty of Al misra which again delineated the zones of conquest with neighboring Castile this Aragon E's King would rule until a year 1276 at 63 years giving him the distinction of having the longest reign during this time he would become a patron of the universities including one of the main founders of the University of Valencia from a building perspective he laid the foundation of the Cathedral of Lida he was also heavily involved in writing including the writing of the Libre the savvy esse the book of wisdom and his autobiography the Libre del fence the book of Deeds amongst several other literary and scholastic pursuits now get a load of this at one point in 1267 in one of those weird twists of history he was approached by the Mongols to go on crusade against the Mamluks of Egypt which with his busy schedule and all he unfortunately didn't find the time for it but perhaps one of his most interesting endeavors and some would argue that this was actually an early attempt at unification between the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon that he offered his daughter Yolanda to the new king of Castile Alfonso the tenth and it's with him and the legacy that he was gonna leave that our story will continue Ferdinand the third a few years after gaining the throne of Castile would find himself at the head of a large army traversing the central mace enta on his way to putting down a rebellion Gonzalo one of his Nobles in the head of the house of lada had risen up and revolt it was autumn of the year 12 21 the king leading his column made an impressive sight someone who's Simon Doubleday in his book the wise King would refer to as a quote devastatingly effective military leader the paragon of Christian warrior values end quote beside him wrote his wife the queen beatrix an illustrious woman who descended from Frederick Barbarossa the Holy Roman Emperor now despite the rigors of being on military campaign she was pregnant and about to give birth to her firstborn as a result the army stopped at Toledo a city that was built on a steep hill nearly encircled by the Tagus River but this was more than just a mere fortress city inside her walls was a storehouse of knowledge she was a veritable library of alexandria where the culminated ideas and texts of the Islamic world including what they could procure from ancient Greece India and as far away as China had found their way into safekeeping to the credits of the Christian king who took the city in 1085 that information would continue to be preserved indeed it was here that that knowledge would be translated into Latin and then be disseminated in the Western Europe and thus it was here in this intellectually fertile City that the Prince Alfonso the tenth would be born a suitable place in beginning for a man who would one day be known as el sabio the wise but while his father was the epitome of a warrior king which by the way was a legacy that Alfonso tried extensively to pursue the intellectual character of the young prince was hardwired just a little differently it was a bit of an awkward position to be in on one end he wished to continue the fight against the infidel and increased the strength of his realm but on the other he had an admiration for all Andaluz and the knowledge and wisdom he felt she possessed in abundance in many ways he was a product of his time the world he would grow up in was rapidly changing and was becoming more open to new ideas Simon Doubleday takes up the tale quote for the first time since the Roman Empire the great sea meaning the Mediterranean became a hub of long-distance trade Italian cities such as Genoa and Pisa Venice and further south Naples as well as seven French cities like Marseille had begun to flourish in the 11th and 12th centuries profiting from the import luxury goods from the Levant but equally vibrant were Barcelona and especially the Mediterranean cities of Islamic Spain which were deeply enmeshed with the luxury goods trade and thus ultimately with the Silk Route that spanned the Asian continent even the distant city of Merv in modern Turkmenistan would be mentioned in a song dating from Alfonso's reined endquote this was a booming time for trading culture in the Iberian Peninsula so it should not come as a big surprise that the young prince enjoyed a childhood that was a reflection of an expanding and prosperous Kingdom in fact by the time he reached the age of nine the castile and Leon would be united he was therefore given all the privileges that came with this position including a world-class education the young prince would grow to become a voracious reader and in time who become fluent in Portuguese Catalan Hebrew and Arabic in addition to his own native Castilian ironically enough his closest childhood friend was a boy from the house of Lara Nuno Gonzalez who just happened to be the son of Gonzalo the very man who had led the rebellion against his father Ferdinand the third but as he grew up his education was not going to be limited to just what he could get out of a book when he was able to ride he joined his father on campaign and there he learned the art of war from the best he watched and learned how to command men in the field how to understand logistics and how to lay siege to a city one of his greatest lessons came in the year 1236 when he personally witnessed the fall of Cordoba and then in 1243 he was given his first true test at command he was given the title and had a fat ass or standard-bearer and was dispatched with a contingent of the Castilian army to negotiate the surrender of Murcia which he dutifully accomplished and returned to the proud gaze of a father who felt that his son was becoming a king in his own right but in 1248 as his father's health began to decline the young lion was given even more responsibilities he was assigned to personally assist in the greatest siege his father had ever undertaken Seville was no ordinary City she was a prize that was valued as far back as the days of the Umayyad caliphate when the almohads came they made her an unrivaled capital of all Andaluz the city walls and aqueducts were improved the famous Alcazar was created along with her stunning Botanical Gardens in the heart of the city a massive mosque was built along with an impressive minaret that only had her equal in mana kesh when the city fell to the Castilians in late 1248 Alfonso found himself enamored by what he saw as he rode in triumphantly alongside his father the art the architecture the places of learning the Almo hot Tower of gold alone was for him breathtaking the Christian chroniclers in retrospect recorded the taking of Seville with grandiose they emphasized that Seville along with the other captured cities the frontier were quickly organized and the lands were parceled out to these soldiers and the deserving nobility that fought under King Ferdinand the third but the chroniclers failed to mention how the frontier cities became near ghost towns because for the Muslims of Seville who made up a majority of the population it was a completely different story they had been starved into submission and that were given a month to sell what they could and then get out as a result populating and attracting settlers to these frontier cities would continue to be a challenge for the Castilian monarchy for the next several decades nevertheless this did not deter Ferdinand the 3rd in his final days from being absolutely captivated by the city Seville would serve as his headquarters as he worked to beautify her again despite the fact that his health continued to fail Alfonso would stay close by as time permitted but the young prince now coming-of-age needed a bride in 1249 he married Yolanda or Yolande the daughter of the King of Aragon and she like many powerful women in this story found herself being a decisive force to soothe tensions between castile and aragon which she would have to do on more than one occasion earning her the distinction of being a skilled diplomat however the prince would find himself being drawn back to the great city alfonso continued to take on more and more obligation to the crown and was in seville on the very last night of may 1252 that night he was called to his father's side he sat down in the King's Chamber and held his father's hand it was not much longer until he witnessed his father's death and heard his last words if you know how to preserve in this state that I leave you he will be as good a king as I and if you win more for yourself you will be better than I but if you diminish it you will not be as good as I these final words of the great warrior King Ferdinand the third which implored Alfonso to be a good King if not a better one were meant to be both advice and a challenge many historians say that these words bore into Alfonso like a nightmare and they would haunt him to his final days but these very same words also instill in the new king a sense of urgency and this would show in the early days of his reign the year after he became king 12:53 he fought a successful campaign with Portugal taking the Algarve this land would be returned about a decade later but only after Alfonso had arranged the marriage of his eldest daughter to the king of Portugal Castile had risen at this point to being in the first-class status that is she gained the role of being the major Christian power in the Iberian Peninsula and being the big kid on the block meant that others would come to you for recognition and diplomatic ties that is what comes with being in the top tier readily coming to mind was Henry the third of England who would seek Alfonso's support laying claim to parts of nevada and pursuing a war against Louie the 9th of France elfonzo who agreed to help him out and began to harass Nevada and as far as Louis the 9th our young sovereign would eventually re-establish good diplomatic ties with him as we shall see by 12:55 the wise King was further delighted as the first male heir to Castile was born his name was Ferdinand de Lesseps Lee by his father and was groomed almost from the start to be the next king now with his lands secured and his neighbors either subdued paying him tribute to or allied via marriage Alfonso began to set his sights on something greater of course the words of his father to be a better King were still ringing in his ears the year after his son was born william ii of holland died this man happened to be the holy roman emperor and that would be a title that would become Alfonso's obsession Alfonso had a powerful relatively stable Kingdom a good economy and could lay hereditary claim to the title through his maternal line again his mother had descended from a prior Holy Roman Emperor and what's more the Pope at the time Alexander the fourth who would bestow the title held Alfonso in high regards so why not pursue this and of course keep in mind what it meant to be the Holy Roman Emperor it was a mark of distinction that elevated one from being just a regional power to an international one this was a title that had its foundations that stretched all the way back to the time of Constantine the Great the major problem was that it required a tremendous amount of money and a dedicated focus Alfonso the tense obsession with this title would eventually cause him to debase his coinage impose higher tariffs and increased the tax rate with the expected results of creating hardships for his past tree eroding his economy and alienating his nobility and if history has taught us anything rulers have been deposed and/or killed for much much less furthermore in his pursuit to gain allies and recognition for his claim to the title a considerable amount of his time and diplomatic attention would be directed towards Central Europe and away from domestic responsibilities and to give you some sense of how involved he was he would pursue this illustrious goal for the next twenty years but even though he was condemned for following this fixation he was applauded for bringing about what some historians would refer to as the Castilian Renaissance elfonzo considered himself a philosopher king whose purpose was to bring enlightenment and wisdom to his people he valued the ideals of high culture and wished to reorganize his people under a system of universal monarchy which some historians say he got the idea from the Almohad now to get a better perspective of his motives as a young child his father gave him a copy of the book of 12 wise men which emphasized quote wisdom is the love of all loves the water of all fountains and the memory of all people end quote this was an ideal that he really tried to embody and Doubleday in his book really brings his home quote a Renaissance man before the Renaissance or to be precise before the Renaissance is traditionally believed to have begun Alfonso was the most intellectually impassioned of all medieval rulers and the most creatively inspired while other Kings sought strength through cultural renewal none equalled his commitment to literature architecture in the arts single-handedly he exercised the myth that medieval Europe was mired in a Dark Age end quote elfonzo would set about being a major sponsor of various works of literature on a variety of subjects which included history astronomy games art philosophy and law to name a few he would also be heavily involved in the translations of ancient texts from a variety of cultures and he was also a patron to many developing universities including establishing the charter for the university of salamanca some of his developments would have some very far-reaching effects the alphonsine tables for example which were a catalogue of stars would serve as the backbone for navigation for centuries thereafter and his siete partida's the seven part law code system that he developed would be a reference for the law systems of countries that still exist today going to the more domestic side of things it needs to be said that the treatment of non-christians was not uniform in Castile in the cities that had been a part of Castile like Leon Burgos and Toledo the Christian Jewish and Muslim communities were able to coexist and to some extent there was a certain degree of convivencia in fact the wise King had a cosmopolitan Court with dignitaries and officials from all three of the major religions but in contrast in the lands that were recently taken by his father which was known as the frontier and included cities like Seville hyena and Cordoba most Muslims were expelled despite their importance to the local economies so make no mistake about this Alfonso was not a fervent defender of the community of the three faiths non-christians were persecuted and regarded as second-class citizens and this in part would lead to major strife down the line the playing field that was the Iberian Peninsula was made up of several competing States Castile by far was the largest Aragon to the east was still attempting to expand and had a tumultuous relationship with Alfonso the same can be said of Portugal to the west but the Christian kingdoms despite a few times a conflict were for the most part at peace with one another to the south was the emirate of Granada the last major stronghold of Islam and for the most part two vassal of Castile but in North Africa a new dynasty had established herself that of the marinids the marinids were a nomadic Berber tribe of the said not aligned that were displaced from their homeland in present-day Algeria they migrated and found a place within the Almohad Empire as they were powerful warriors they would be quickly integrated into the Almohad armies and fought in a host of major battles but as the Alma hada Empire began to fall in the early 1240s they rose up took numerous cities and then captured Mata kesh in 1269 once established they were a force to be reckoned with in fact when the Christian kingdoms of Iberia invaded North Africa once in 1260 and again in 1267 it was the marinids that were instrumental in defeating them they would be the wild-card that like their predecessors would intervene in Spain in critical moments and as a result would offset the political game and just for the record they're gonna be covered in much more detail in the next episode this was the political world that Alfonso the tenth had inherited and he was determined to make his mark the ancient province of Mauritania was an obsession for the warrior kings of the Reconquista to them North Africa was just a part of the inheritance that was claimed by the Visigoths by the early 1260s Alfonso had devised an invasion in with Africa he demanded that his vassal Grenada comply by sending troops just like they did for his father during the siege of Seville but he also added to that demand that Grenada essentially hand over the port cities of tarifa and Algeciras which would make strategic sense as he would need launch points for that invasion but the relationship between Castile and Grenada were strained at best even Olimar the first Emir of Granada now known as Muhammed the first just flat-out refused of course he didn't just come out and say no the man was after all a diplomatic Fox and so he came up with all sorts of different reasons why he couldn't turn over the ports and meanwhile he was using these very same facilities to bring in modern it warriors from the Maghreb to strengthen his position of course a plan like this doesn't go for long without being discovered and so in 1264 Alfonso invited the Emir to quote/unquote renew their treaty in the city of Seville but on the night that the Emir arrived Alfonso's men began to build a barricade around his residence essentially they were trying to capture the Emir if not kill him Muhammad barely escaped the trap and was chased all the way back to his emirate at which point what could he really do he had to declare war on Castile the kingdom of Castile responded by mobilizing for the attack but the mountainous terrain of Gran would not be an easy task Mohammed the first to use this time to his benefit like I said the man was an excellent politician and he knew how to play the game in a course there is that makaveli in line that says never do your opponent a slight injustice if you're gonna be taking on an opponent especially one that's larger than you well you either go big or you go home Mohammed's response was to launch a major counter-offensive against Castile now he used a combination of both his own troops along with the ones that he brought in from North Africa and then he incited a major rebellion and not just within a single city but within the entire frontier zone the remaining Muslims that remained in the frontier lived under Christian rule they were harshly treated second-class citizens that were quick to rise up they were known as the moody Harz of course they were backed up by Granada which in turn they were backed up by the marinids the mood ahaa rebellion that erupted destabilized the entire kingdom of Castile of Murcia which was Alfonso's first conquest was overthrown and shortly thereafter a dozen other cities were also taken now this included the city of heda's Islamic forces arrived in August at 1264 and began to lay siege the garrison there was led by Nuno Gonzales de Lara who if you recall was Alfonso's closest childhood friend in face of a massive force he desperately called for help but the relieving Castilian forces that arrived were simply not enough and later that month the city was taken in the garrison barely escaped as can be imagined Nuno Gonzales was enraged that his friend and Liege only sent a scant force to come to his rescue and his hatred only deepened when Alfonso sharply rebuked him on the verge of calling him a coward and a traitor the rebellion would intensify over the next two years Castile was able to hold its ground and then push back out of gone who feared that the rebellion would spread eventually got involved as well they managed to take Murcia in 1266 and then dutifully handed it back to castile but seeing this loss Mohammed the first of Granada called in more reinforcements from North Africa and the marinids were only too happy to comply it became an escalating mess but wait it gets better Alfonso who is frustrated with his lack of success made contact with one of the more noble houses of the emirate of Granada he was able to establish ties with a tribe that was known as the Banu ash quelala and with impressive negotiating skills he made them rise up in rebellion within Granada the affect of having multiple rebellions happening simultaneously pushed the limits of what these kingdoms could take finally both sides had had enough and Muhammad the first called for peace and once again became a vassal of Castile I guess it would be fair to say that instead of using Machiavelli this time instead Muhammad the first used the Ferengi rule of acquisition number 76 which states every once-in-a-while declare peace it confuses the hell out of your enemies however for the pre-eminent sovereign of Iberia which was Alfonso well he had lost credibility with his nobility he had destabilized this economy and had engendered hatred within some of his closest friends but it would be the muda cars that would bear the brunt of his anger oppression increased executions began and many were simply expelled from his lands ironically enough many of these same expelled Muslims would go on to reinforce the population and ranks of Granada the peace that ensued was well it was volatile at best and the wise King found himself pursuing his prior ambition of trying to become the Holy Roman Emperor but the political environment had changed in 1268 Pope Clement the fourth had died to be replaced by Gregory the tenth who happened to be a pope that was hostile towards Alfonso and so our Castilian King had to dedicate once again a considerable amount of his efforts and his Treasury to pursue the goal of becoming the Holy Roman Emperor in with a hostile Pope that meant - even more time in money than before which meant more taxes and if history tells us anything that doesn't always go over well now he did manage to get one true respite from the intense political game this came when it was time to attend the wedding of his eldest son Ferdinand de la santé as I mentioned before Alfonso and Louis the ninth of France didn't always see eye to eye but the two were able to reconcile some of their differences long enough to arrange their children to be married in November 12 68 Ferdinand de la serda was married to Blanche the daughter of the French King the celebration was magnificent the a-list of nobility showed up and the decorations were definitely above average the sense of happiness must have been overflowing for Alfonso to see his eldest and most beloved son enter into a new chapter his life you know to pass this milestone together as a family it was a joyful time for the father to see his son get married his delight could only have been intensified as a grandson was soon on his way but even as the festivities continued forces were aligning against the wise King in the south Muhammad the first of Granada was in correspondence with a very disgruntled Nuno Gonzalez de Lara Nuno still bore a deep grudge against Alfonso and had rallied some of the other noble houses to his side this included the powerful noble house of RO and add insult to injury Alfonso's own brother Felipe was recruited the storm broke in 1271 when these noble houses began to politically challenge the king their list of grievances included unlawful taxes a poor distribution of land and of course the boozed ego of Nuno Gonzales who led the pack this was gonna be a very tumultuous time for Alfonso as his kingdom inched ever closer to the precipice of civil war and then that line was crossed in 1273 the disgruntled caste lien nobility formalized in alliance with Granada and are very pleased with himself who Hamid the first readily took the men along with their knights and her soldiers thus the emir was able to create quite substantial force along with even more mercenaries that he had brought in from the marinids from north africa muhammad the first it would seem had turned the tables of the diplomatic game and Alfonso understandably so was enraged too that his own childhood friend Nuno Gonzales had taken the lead in this treachery his response to him was quite clear quote you know that the king of Granada and his Moors are enemies of God of the faith of the king and of all the Hidalgo's of Castile and Leon there is no one that does not have a dead relative and you wish to do the King disservice precisely with the man who has lied and broken the pacts and agreements he had with him so you will see what is coming to you from this end quote but when Alfonso finally had a chance to simmer down and collect his thoughts in that Socratic method of self retrospection he calculated wisely that fighting the more along with his own Nobles might not be the best answer in June at 1273 with his health beginning to fail he sent his wife a lot if you recall she was just an incredible diplomat and along with her he sent his son Ferdinand to begin negotiations now Yolande on one end had intervened many times between the interests of her husband the king of Castile and her father the king of Aragon and thus was quite skilled with the art of negotiation but Ferdinand on the other hand was quite naive in the first round of negotiations the young prince basically acquiesced to all of the nobles demands and then returned to his father who is quite displeased you know be that as it may there is a great saying by a 16th century humanist by the name of Erasmus who once recounted quote is there anything more precious than a son into whom we would pour not only all of our riches but also if it were possible our very life end quote Alfonso lived by these words and during a break in the negotiations firmly coached his son on diplomacy the wise King knew this son was both intelligent and would also one day be king he just need a little experience and perhaps a swift kick to the rear from time to time the two men along with his wife fuel lot got together and had an intense period of training and then Ferdinand returned to the negotiating table the time that he spent with his son really paid off the young prince ferdinand de la serda now pulled off an amazing feat of diplomacy Alfonso and his part would revise the tax laws and parcel out his land better his nobility he in turn would agree to return to Castile and Granada would become a vassal again and continue to pay a large annual tribute and to top it all off Mohammed the first was even knighted this was gonna be one of those win-win-win scenarios not bad for the young prince and just to be complete new new Gonzalez de la de was brought back into the Castilian fold as well but with a suspicious side he was after all a close childhood friend but he would have to work hard to regain that trust for the time being however Castile was at peace once again Alfonzo was overjoyed with his son's success the prince after all had orchestrated a path away from civil war but with that catastrophe averted the wise Kings friar obsession was becoming the Holy Roman Emperor resurfaced once again and the King knew that his time for this was rapidly running out he quickly convened a meeting with his nobility called a Cortes this was kind of like a precursor parliamentary body in July of 1274 he announced to his Nobles that he'd be travelling to meet the Pope in order to plead his case for the title of the Holy Roman Emperor so he laid out his plans and made all the appropriate arrangements and then feeling that his son was finally ready he made him regent in his absence Ferdinand was not exactly happy with the idea he later met with his father after the meeting was over he knew that the King's health was not the best and pleaded with him to stay but Alfonso had already made up his mind and could not be deterred then shortly thereafter he departed on his mission it would be a long and difficult journey for the aging king but father and son would never meet again some people have bad days and some have bad weeks Alfonso on the other hand was gonna have the worst a year of his life leaving his family and his kingdom behind he made his way east across Castile he then made his way across odda gone before crossing the Pyrenees and arriving in southern France he's already poor health continued to deteriorate as he went the Pope was cognizant of his fact and decided to meet him halfway near the Rhone River but like I mentioned before Gregory the tenth was no fan of the Castilian King and he already had somebody else in mind to become the Holy Roman Emperor their negotiations were going to be doomed right from the start but regardless the two men proceeded to meet in May in over a period of several meetings regularly the tenth would reject refuse and decline every offer that was put on the table the writing could not be more clearly spelled out at the end of the negotiations when it was all said and done Alfonso's great quest had finally failed his dream was over in his health was devastated a now completely dejected King Alfonso the tenth really had no other options he publicly renounced his bid for the throne and then slowly made his way back to his own Kingdom meanwhile back in granada muhammed the first that died and was replaced by mohammed ii a civil war broke out in his Emirates and Castilian forces taking advantage of the weakness began to raid his territory mohammed ii figured he could kill two birds with one stone and formally invited in the medinat army not just mercenaries to deal with both but then the Emir lost control of his ally and just couldn't keep the North African power from going on rampage when he realized that he was no longer in control he figured if he can't beat him join him doubleday again gives us a really great account of what happened during the invasion of 1275 quote the Emir had now completed his preparations for the assault it landed in wave after wave on the beaches of Andalusia Abu Yussef who was the Caliph himself disembarked on August 16th and then headed quickly to meet the king of Granada while the king of Granada pillaged the territories around hai een the marinids ravaged the lands in the Guadalquivir basin near sort of la banda and by Issa one moroccan chronicler related how the Emir's troops spread out like a flood or a cloud of locusts there was no tree they did not cut down no village they did not destroy no flock they did not steal they killed all the men they encountered and took women and children captive the number of prisoners grew like the flooding of the Nile end quote the Prince Regent meanwhile readied the Castilian army for battle he was resolved to make his father proud the massive force was thus assembled and headed south to meet the Muslim horde they were determined to throw the aggressor back into the sea but as prince ferdinand de la serda arrived at the city of Villareal which would one day be see with that rial he came down with a horrendous fever in a very short time he lost the ability to lead his men and then suddenly he became too weak to even walk in a state of complete delirium he was confined to a bed on July 20th 1275 his men found him but he was no longer moving the heir to Castile and the beloved son of Alfonso the tenth had died there was really no time to mourn his loss the enemy was loose in the land cities were being burned and people enslaved Nuno Gonzalez de Lara who had been redeemed to some extent within the eyes of the king assumed command of the army and let it further south in September of 1275 the forces of Castile met up with the combined army of Granada and that of the marinids near the city of Ecija in the book the wise King there is a great description of the ensuing battle quote the army that Don Nuno had summoned was as thick as Black Knight or the waves of the sea as the two forces faced each other on the battlefield near ASEA the Christian Knights advanced rapidly confident of victory but the Emir arose and in a rousing speech he called on his men to prepare for martyrdom they embraced each other saying their farewells and entered the frame their hearts beating hora de death becoming sweet to them chanting the name of Allah aloud they went into battle as the two armies met nothing could be seen except the arrows plummeting down upon the Christians like red sparks blood dripped from swords as the heads of Christians were cut off and piled up Abu Yussef the Kaila for the marinids ordered them to be counted there were 18,000 according to The Chronicle among them was the head of Nuno Gonzales the olara end quote his head was given as a gruesome trophy and perhaps even a subtle warning to the king of Granada later that year in October another chameleon army would be annihilated and in this fight the archbishop who happened to be the son of the King of Aragon would also meet a similar end but not all hope was lost Alfonso second oldest son Sancho rallied the men of Castile and brought into the clash neighbouring out a gun who at this point were ready for some payback Sancho was able to stop the invasion but he wasn't able to drive them out as a result Alfonso the tenth decided to make peace with the Muslims he was thus able to restore tranquility to his kingdom but more importantly he bought himself time to pick up the broken pieces of his life it does not matter what society you are from what language you speak what religion you adhere to or what time period you live in no parent should have to bury their child Alfonzo had to do exactly that and then went into a period of intense mourning his ability to rule his own lands began to deteriorate and the relationships that he had with his own family he began to fall apart including that with his wife the king of Castile now found that his only true solace was to pour himself in a creative outlets and of course he's not the only one in history to deal with massive psychological trauma in such a way I mean after all Hemingway would write some of his greatest novels when he was dealing with depression Picasso would have his blue period and even Beethoven would compose the ninth symphony along with the ode to joy' when he was dealing with not only bounce of sadness but also with his loss of hearing elfonzo became a massive sponsor the arts and humanities once again he helped in the process of creating just a multitude of books two of his more impressive works included the book of stones in the book of astrological knowledge but by far his most famous contribution was a collection of poems with musical notations this was known as the Kant IGAs they santamaría the songs of Saint Mary one of Alfonso's greatest long-lasting impacts and not just for castile but on the world as we know it today as it would turn out would be to try to make all of this accumulated knowledge more accessible to his people he did this by replacing Latin with a more secular caste lien as the language of the land maria met a call in her book the ornament of the world puts it really well quote Alfonso's brilliant gambit was to abandon Latin as a language no longer had a but for a modern society in its empire yet a visionary grasp of the fundamental importance of having a society's own vernacular in the period of Alfonso's reign Toledo became the first laboratory in Europe dedicated to forging a modern language this practice was the foundation for the revolution at hand Latin was set aside as antiquated to be replaced by the transformation of caste lien from the merely instrumental into a noble written language end quote and by the way if I haven't said this before caste lien is where we get our modern Spanish you know the second most commonly used language on the planet now Alfonso continued his commitment to his people and would continue to fund universities and be the patron of the Arts and this for him was healing but he would never be fully the person he once was ever again it wasn't long until he was dealing with some major issues once again the death of his son aside from leaving a deep psychological scar had also left him with a crisis of succession ferdinand allah says wife Blanche again the daughter of the French King Louie the ninth had given Alfonso a grandson but now Alphonso second son Sancho demanded that he be made heir to Castile the King vacillated back and forth on who would come to power on one hand Sancho held the respect and the backing of the noble houses of Castile but on the other his grandson held the backing of the entire French Kingdom which at that point had already moved military forces to the border to pressure his decision the wise king eventually chose his second son to be heir and then almost immediately had to begin intense negotiations with France not only to soothe tidings but also to keep from getting invaded who is able to restore balance just in time his kingdom would once again come under attack by the mana myths who invaded in 1277 the Castilian counter-offensive he launched which included the naval blockade of Algeciras Bay and Alfonso would find himself struggling to establish equilibrium not only for his kingdom but also for himself eventually his nobles and his family would find the wise king alternating between fits of despair and extreme anger his actions would be characterized by his enemies in court as irrational and destructive and in time some would find him unfit to rule considering him to be a Mad King one by one his own family members even began to distance themselves from him this came to a boiling point in 1277 when he ordered the execution of his own brother for suspected treason the sad part is is that he might have been right however this was more than his family could take Sancho his heir had finally had enough in 1282 after a particularly hateful verbal exchange the young prince broke off and started a massive rebellion against his own father Sancho moved with deliberate speed to gain the support of the noble houses of which nearly all of them rallied behind him he then dispatched his brothers into the realm to claim strategically important cities and castles even managed to convince his other siblings who were married to the various kingdoms that surrounded Castile to abandon diplomatic ties with Alfonso this was an unmitigated disaster Sancho in the blink of an eye had nearly brought down his father's rule now sadly enough it was said that only the cities of Seville and Murcia remained loyal to the wise King Alfonso was now isolated politically and abandoned by most of his family in what must have been just extreme desperation he reached out to the one person who nobody suspected would come to his aid a letter was dispatched to evolve people Abu Yussef the Emir of the Mennonites and it read quote a victorious King the Christians that violated their oath of fidelity and have rebelled against me together with my son they say he is an old man who has lost his judgment and whose reason is disturbed helped me against them and I will go with you to meet them end quote ironically enough the alliance worked out it was even noted in the Chronicles that Alfonso regained some of his health and was able to ride once again the Emir arrived in Algeciras in August of 1280 - with his medinat army the concept that Alfonso now had reinforcements was a game-changer cities and Nobles that were on the verge of changing sides instead stayed loyal to the king in fact when Prince Sancho came to the city of thought a host which he figured would simply come over to his side the governor rejected him forcing the young prince to lay siege which eventually failed his arm he had to eventually retreat as the combined force of the marinids and Alfonso's men were coming in this incoming army laid waste to the Guadalquivir Valley they nearly took cordova and then they advanced up two wards and then passed toledo and then in november of 1280 to alfonso returned alone with his forces to attack cordoba it was impressive maneuvering he managed to take the city the man may have been in the latter part of his life but he still had some warrior king blood left in him Sancho on the other hand reeled from one defeat to another his severe failure at Cordoba was the epitome of this his faction began to desert him in the cities under his control proclaimed their allegiance for the king even the Pope would now get involved Pope Martin the fourth issued a papal bull stating that anybody not supporting Alfonzo would be faced with Christianity's highest form of punishment excommunication and as can be imagined once that was said everybody fell into line the rebellion had ended and once again Alfonso was the king of Castile but now he had himself a merited ally and a disloyal son that he would now have to deal with going back to the past were a good example there is a great saying from the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius a would-be philosopher king that talks about anger quote whenever somebody wrongs you ask yourself at once what conception of good and evil led him to commit such a wrong and when you have seen that you will pity him and feel neither surprised nor anger it is not people's actions that trouble us but rather the opinions that we form of those actions so eliminate your judgment that this is of harm to you make up your mind to discard that opinion and your anger will be at an end end quote elfonzo could have simply had his son executed but in the end he didn't do this he took some time and thought it through then on January 10th in the year 12 84 he proclaimed that his grandson won again from the line of his first son Ferdinand de la santé would be the next king instead of Sancho what's more he emphasized that Sancho would no longer be in any position to lead and would be demoted to the lowest levels of court the wise King had essentially banished his son he publicly rebuked him invoking the words quote we therefore curse him is a man deserving paternal malediction condemned by God and one who should be despised by all men living henceforth as a victim of his divine and human curse and we disinherit him as a rebel against us as being disobedient unrepentant and ungrateful end quote medieval fathers really know how to hold a grudge now if the story continued as it were Sancho would have been relegated to a footnote as the son who led a failed rebellion but fate would interfere in the spring of 1280 for Sancho became desperately ill when Alfonso got the news he could no longer bear to see his son as a traitor and the instigator of a rebellion but instead saw him simply as his son this change of heart didn't exactly make a lot of political sense but it did from the perspective of a father especially one who had lost another son to illness Alfonso it was said wept for Sancho thus in late May of 1280 for he wrote a letter to the Pope to vouch for his quote beloved son and asked for absolution of his sins he thought after all that his son was gonna die and he wanted to make peace with him Sasha would not only recover but he would be restored as the heir to the kingdom of Castile however only two weeks after Alfonzo wrote his letter to the Pope his declining health finally caught up with him on April 4th in the year 1280 for the wise King died doubleday brings his home nicely quote if Sancho's rebellion had really tempted Alfonso to wrath we could hardly blame him but as he lay dying the wise king may have done what many never achieve he let go of his anger end quote the wise king of Castile stated in his will that he wished to be buried in the Church of Santa Maria la rial in Murcia Murcia was his first conquest a deed that made his own father proud she was a city that stayed loyal to him and his remains lay there to this day Alfonso the tenth was criticized for many things being a poor sovereign who failed numerous times as a king having his kingdom nearly destroyed more than once and being too distracted trying to become the Holy Roman Emperor in the end it would seem that he let his domestic affairs get the best of them though I questioned how history would have treated him had he become the Emperor he may not have been a great warrior King as his father before him but he had lofty ambitions and as a philosopher king he left an incredible legacy history gave him credit for the Castilian Renaissance and his move to establish Castilian rather than Latin made knowledge accessible to his people this idea of a secular language by the way would catch on and flourish in 13th century Spain Italy would do likewise and other European nations would quickly follow suit the literature that he would help create like the mirror for Prince's the libro de las cruces and el libro de wagos would influence a multitude of generations in fact the book of Mohammed's ladder I am told was an inspiration for Dante's Divine Comedy and his most famous con digas they Santa Maria would be made into song and be celebrated ever since and once again the illustrations alone for the Conte gus' are absolutely beautiful his contribution to astronomy was also impressive the alphonsine tables is list of stellar positions would serve as the backbone of navigation through the Age of Discovery indeed these tables would be updated for the next 300 years it is said that they would even go on to influence nicholas copernicus and devising a heliocentric model of the solar system and one copy of the tables dated to 1492 can be viewed today in the biblioteca nacional a in florence it's signed by Galileo what's more they crater Alphonsus on the moon named in his honor was a potential site for the Apollo 16 landings [Music] but perhaps one of his greatest contributions was his dedication to a code of laws the siete partida's the seven partitions was a judicial system that covered everything from marriage to Commerce and crime to public law this law code would be adopted by numerous countries including that of the United States in fact this contribution was so meaningful that a marvel relief of Alfonso now hangs over the gallery doors of the main chamber of the US House of Representatives it gazes down on each president as they give the State of the Union address again the man may not have been great in his legacy of being a warrior King as his father who quotes destroyed all of his enemies Alfonso struggled to keep his realm together and dealt with incredible hardships both personal land as the sovereign and to be fair some of these were of his own creation but towards the end of his life he lived at the great saying to err is human to forgive is divine Alfonso made his mark as a philosopher king there is a reason why books are written about him he earned the title el sabio the wise king [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Flash Point History

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Keywords: reconquista, alphonso x, alfonso x, the wise king, el sabio, reconquista history, history of the reconquista, the next generation, history of castile, reconquista portugal, history of portugal, history of aragon, siege of valencia, james I, james I of aragon, reconquista of spain, siege of cordoba, siege of seville, history of seville, seville, history of cordoba, ferdinand III, saint ferdinand, reconquista documentary, reconquista spain, war of reconquest, castile, aragon

Id: 19VqhKaBD2s

Length: 107min 19sec (6439 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 27 2019