Saint Ferdinand III

Ferdinand, raised to the throne, showed what a truly Christian king can do for the happiness of the people. Severe with himself, he was full of gentleness and compassion for others. He always knew how to command his passions. He enforced the laws, but he was always ready to forgive the repentant sinner. As for insults directed at him personally, he willingly forgot them. His desire to make his people happy was manifested above all in the choice of the persons to whom he entrusted a portion of his authority; he wanted all his ministers to be animated by a sincere love for the public good. The famous Rodrigo, Archbishop of Toledo and Grand Chancello r of Castile, was at the head Rodrigue, archevêque de Tolède Archbishop of Toledo and Grand Chancellor of Castile. of his councils for thirty years. He was so perfectly united with Ferdinand and Berengaria that the three of them seemed to have but one soul. To prevent any injustice on the part of the courts, the king instituted the court known since as the Royal Council of Castile. It was to this body that one appeal ed from all other courts. Conseil royal de Castille Judicial institution created by Ferdinand III. At the same time, the most skilled jurists were ordered to draw up a body of laws that could serve as a rule for all magistrates.

The pious Ferdinand founded several bishoprics, had many churches built or magnificently repaired, and assigned considerable funds for the reconstruction of a great number of monasteries and hospitals. At the same time, he had several wars to wage against the Moors, and yet he never burdened his subjects with taxes: it was through strict economy that he found the necessary funds to meet so many expenses. During one of these wars, one of those iron-hearted politicians, who count the misery of the people as nothing, took it upon himself to propose a means of raising extraordinary subsidies. "God forbid," the prince replied, "that I should adopt your plan; Providence will know how to assist me by other means. I fear the curses of a poor woman more than an army of Moors." It was through this goodness of soul that he was, during his thirty-five-year reign, the idol of his subjects. So true it is that to be loved, one must love oneself!

It was in 1226 that Ferdinand began to draw his sword against the infidels; but, once he had drawn it, he did not let it rest again. A few years later, he took from them the best strongholds of Andalusia and the kingdoms of Cordoba and Jaén. Aben-Mahomet had acknowledged himself his vassal; he was assassinated by his subjects, who could not bear that he had made himself a vassal to a Christian prince. Ferdinand took advantage of this opportunity to conquer the entire kingdom of Baeza. It was always the glory of God that the holy king proposed to himself in all his wars. "Lord," he often said, with his eyes raised to heaven, "you search the hearts; you know that I seek your glory, and not my own. I do not propose to acquire perishable kingdoms, but to extend the knowledge of your holy name."

Rodrigue, Archbishop of Toledo, fulfilled the functions of a zealous pastor in the army. The king wished for his soldiers to be inspired with sentiments of sincere piety; he himself gave them the example of all virtues. He fasted rigorously and wore a hair shirt made in the shape of a cross. He often spent the nights in prayer, especially on the eve of a battle; it was to God that he attributed all his successes. Thus, his confidence in divine help was boundless. An image of the Virgin was always carried before his armies, so that the sight of it would fill the soldiers with ardor, confidence in God, and hope for victory. Besides this image, around which his faithful soldiers rallied, the king himself carried a small one on his chest, and he would hang it from the pommel of his saddle when he rode into combat: this is the famous statuette of Our Lady of Battles that is still preserved today in Seville.

Ferdinand was preparing to lay siege to Jaen when he received news of his father's death. He thus became heir to the kingdom of Leon, which has since always been united with that of Castile. But it was only after three years of struggle that he saw himself the peaceful possessor of his new states. When he had subdued those who disputed his paternal inheritance, he took up arms again against the Moors and laid siege to Ubeda, which was only taken after a long resistance. Around the same time, his son, the Infante Alfonso, at the head of only 1,500 men, defeated at Jerez the formidable army of Abenbut, King of Seville, divided into seven corps, each of which was more numerous than the Christian army. This victory, which cost Alfonso only ten soldiers, was regarded everywhere as a miracle of divine protection. The Moorish prisoners testified that they had seen at the head of their enemies the Apostle Saint James mounte saint Jacques Apostle who appeared miraculously during the Battle of Jerez. d on a white horse and in the armor of a knight. Several Christians also gave the same testimony.

The joy that such glorious victories caused the king was troubled by bitter sorrow. In 1236, Ferdinand lost his virtuous wife, Queen Beatrice. This blow, which found him extremely sensitive, could not, however, strike him down. He drew from the greatness of his faith the strength to endure the loss of this beloved wife, and after the first tears, which a most just sorrow wrung from him, he resumed the course of his warlike operations. While James of Aragon was taking the kingdom of Majorca from the Moors, he completed the conquest of Baeza and Cordoba. This latter c ity, wh Cordoue Place of the saint's death. ich contained three hundred thousand inhabitants, had been in the hands of the infidels for five hundred and twenty-four years, and it had long been the capital of their empire in Spain. Ferdinand made his entry there on the day of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, in 1236, and one saw a Christian prince occupy the palace of Abd al-Rahman the Great, three centuries after the time it was built. The great mosque was purified by John, Bishop of Osma, and converted into a church under the invocation of the Mother of God. It is still today the cathedral of Cordoba; it is a masterpiece of Moorish architecture, where one counts twelve thousand columns. Al-Mansur had had the bells of Compostela brought there on the shoulders of Christians, and Ferdinand had them carried back to Galicia on those of the Moors.

The following year, the king, by the advice of his mother and the solicitations of Blanche, Queen of France, married Jeanne of Ponthieu, who gave him two sons and a daughter. This princess always lived in the most perfect union with Ferdinand and Berengaria, and imitated their fervor in the exercises of piety. When in the spring the king placed himself at the head of his armies, Jeanne remained with Berengaria and usually assisted her in the administration of the internal affairs of the State.

In the campaigns that followed the capture of Cordoba, Ferdinand seized twenty-four strongholds, of which Ecija was the first and Moron the last. Then the Moorish kings of Murcia and Granada declared themselves his vassals. After the death of Abe nbut, S Séville Initial burial place with his brothers. eville had established itself as a republic. Ferdinand resolved to attack it with all his forces. After two years of preparation, he advanced against it. Seville was the strongest and most populous city in Spain. It had a double enclosure of very high and thick walls, and it was flanked by one hundred and sixty-six towers. The Guadalquivir defended the western part; at the foot of the inner wall was a wide and deep moat. The besieged, moreover, drew their provisions from the famous Garden of Hercules, to which they gave the name of Axarafa. It is the most fertile and delightful district of ancient Baetica. It is ten leagues long, five wide, and thirty in circumference. Besides a large number of villages and castles, it counted one hundred thousand farms or homesteads. It is on the right of the Guadalquivir, and its communication with the city was defended by the castle of Triana.

Ferdinand's fleet defeated that of the Moors. The holy king, with his land forces, prevented the arrival of reinforcements sent from Africa, and won new advantages over the enemies every day. Finally, after sixteen months of vigorous resistance, the city surrendered on November 23, 1249. The Moors obtained one month to dispose of their effects. Three hundred thousand withdrew to Jerez, and one hundred thousand crossed into Africa. Axataf, governor of the infidels in Seville, having arrived on a height from which one could see the sea on one side and the city on the other, fixed his eyes on this beautiful country that he was abandoning, and said while weeping: "Only a favorite of God could have, with so few men, taken a city so strong and so populous. It was written. Without a decree from heaven, no human power could have taken it from the Moors." The holy king rendered solemn thanks to God, and implored the protection of the Blessed Virgin before the famous image.

SAINT URBICE. 317 which can still be seen in Seville and is called Our Lady of the Kings. He rebuilt the cathedral with such magnificence that it yields to no church in Christendom, if one excepts that of Toledo. Around the same time, he added to his domains several other cities, such as Jerez, Medina, Sidonia, Cadiz, Arcos, Lebrija, etc. He was preparing an expedition against the Moors of Africa when he was struck by the illness that was to snatch him from the love of his people. Warned that his end was approaching, he made a confession of his whole life and asked for the holy Viaticum, which was brought to him by the Bishop of Segovia, followed by the clergy and the court. The fervent monarch, at the sight of the Blessed Sacrament, threw himself out of his bed to kneel; he had a rope around his neck, like a criminal, holding in his hands a crucifix which he kissed and watered with his tears. In this posture, he accused himself aloud of his sins. These were only light faults that escape even the most righteous. He then made an act of faith full of love, and received the body of the Savior with the sentiments of the tenderest devotion. He called his children before dying, gave them his blessing and his final advice, then he expired peacefully, on May 30, 1252, in the fifty-third year of his age and the thirty-fifth of his reign. He was buried before the image of the Blessed Virgin in the great church of Seville where his body is still kept in a beautiful reliquary. His tomb was honored with several mira cles. Cle Clément X Pope who extended the cult of Saint Gonsalo to the entire Dominican Order. ment X canonized him in 1671.

Saint Ferdinand loved to style himself the standard-bearer of Saint James. Thus, he is represented with the banner of the Apostle marked with the cross of Calatrava in one hand and the sword in the other; this sword which he drew so gloriously for the name of God. He holds a key in his hand: it is that of Cordoba and Seville. One may see in this key either the symbol of the conquest of these two cities or the translation of a historical event. Spanish historians recount that a fateful key kept in Seville bore these words: Biea abrira, Bey entrara. God will open, The king will enter. When the besieged saw that, despite his meager resources, Ferdinand was gaining new advantages every day, they judged that resistance was becoming useless and went to present the prophetic key to the victor. Two of these keys are still kept at the Cathedral of Seville. — An engraving reproduced by Father Cahier, in his characteristics, represents the saintly king standing, with a crown and helmet on his head; holding a key in his right hand; his left hand clasps to his heart the statuette of Our Lady of Battles; arms of Castile on his chest; costume of medieval warriors: chain mail, cuirass, gauntlets, etc.

Around the time of the Roman pontiffs Vigilius and Pelagius, there flourished at Meh un-sur Urbice Successor of Austremonius to the see of Clermont. -Loire, Urbice, a disciple of Saint Lifard, who lived as a hermit in a desert. He perfectly imitated all the virtues of his master, in particular his obedience. By dint of obeying his master's orders punctually, he obtained, like a new Saint Maurus, the power to perform miracles. His holiness was radiant; and after having taken him as a companion and auxiliary in the foundation of the monastery of Mehun, which later became a college of canons (a collegiate church), Saint Lifard, knowing that his end was near, wished to designate him as his successor.

Bishop Marc, who then governed the church of Orléans, learning the news of the death of Lifard, went in all haste to Mehun to render him the honors of ecclesiastical burial. The funeral completed, this prelate, who knew Urbice to be filled with the gifts of heaven, and who was not unaware that he had succeeded the blessed Lifard, gave him his blessing and confirmed him in his office of abbot.

His predecessor had left only a narrow monastery of small appearance; Urbice enlarged it and raised it to a greater height. But his principal care was to make regular observance reign among his brothers. He himself reached the highest degree of monastic perfection, and discharged his duties most holily; after which he emigrated from this world to God, at the end of the 6th century.

Propre d'Orléans.