Editing Ferdinand I of León (section)

==Date and order of birth==
There is some disagreement concerning the order of birth of Sancho III's sons, and of Ferdinand's place among them. He was certainly a younger son, and he was probably born later than 1011, by which date his parents are known to have married.<ref name=martin153>Martínez Díez 2007, 151–53.</ref> Most, and the most reliable, charters name Sancho's sons in the order [[Ramiro I of Aragon|Ramiro]], [[García Sánchez III of Navarre|García]], [[Gonzalo of Sobrarbe and Ribagorza|Gonzalo]], then Ferdinand. Three documents from the [[Cathedral of Pamplona]] list them in this way,<ref>Martínez Díez 2007, 152. They are, by date: 7 April 1014, albeit improperly dated (''Ranimirus, proles regis, confirmat. Garseanus, frater eius, confirmat. Gundisaluus, frater eius, confirmat. Fernandus, germanus eius, confirmat.''); 21 October 1022 (''Garsias et Ranimirus, Gundesalbus et Fernandus, testes.''); and 1033 (''in presencia de filios regis pernominatos Ranimirus, Garseanus, Gundesaluus, Fredinandus''), found in Jaime Goñi Gaztambide, ''Colección diplomática de la catedral de Pamplona (829–1243)'' (Pamplona: 1997), docs. 5, 7, 12.</ref> as well as four from the monastery of [[San Juan de la Peña]].<ref>Martínez Díez 2007, 152. Although all of these one contain anachronisms, they are not entirely worthless. They are: two dated 21 April 1028, one of 1030, and one from 5 April 1031, found in Antonio Ubieto Arteta, ''Cartulario de San Juan de la Peña'', I (Valencia: 1962), docs. 47–48, 51, 56.</ref> One charter from Pamplona, dated 29 September 1023, is witnessed by Sancho's mother, [[Jimena Fernández]], his wife Muniadona, her children, listed García, Ferdinand then Gonzalo, and their brother, the illegitimate Ramiro.<ref>Martínez Díez 2007, 152: ''Sunt testes: Eximina regina et mater regis, regina dompna Maiora cum filiis suis dompno Garsia et Fredinando et Gundesalbo et fratre eorum Ranimiro'' in Goñi Gaztambide 1997, doc. 8.</ref>

In five documents of the monastery of [[San Salvador de Leire]], Ferdinand is listed after Gonzalo.<ref>Martínez Díez 2007, 152. They are dated 21 October 1022, 26 December 1032, and 1033, found in Ángel J. Martín Duque, ''Documentación medieval de Leire (siglos IX a XII)'' (Pamplona: 1983), docs. 20, 23, 24.</ref> Two of these are dated to 17 April 1014. If authentic, they place Ferdinand's birth before that date.<ref>Martínez Díez 2007, 152. They read: ''Domina Maior regina confirmat. Ranimirus proles regis confirmat. Garseanus frater eius confirmat. Gundisaluss frater eius confirmat. Ferdinandus frater eius confirmat.'', in Martín Duque 1983, docs. 15–16.</ref> Three further documents from Leire are among the only ones to place Ferdinand second among the legitimate sons, but they suffer from various anachronisms and interpolations.<ref>Martínez Díez 2007, 153. Two date to 21 October 1015 and another to 29 September 1023, found in Martín Duque 1983, docs. 17–18, 21.</ref> Two preserved diplomas of [[Santa María la Real de Irache]] also put Gonzalo ahead of him.<ref>Martínez Díez 2007, 152–53. They are both dated 1024, one to 17 May, and are found in José María Lacarra, ''Colección diplomática de Irache, I (958–1222)'' (Zaragoza: 1965), docs. 2, 4.</ref> On the basis of these documents, Gonzalo Martínez Díez places Ferdinand third of the known legitimate sons of Sancho III (Ramiro being a bastard born before Sancho's marriage to Muniadona), and his birth no earlier than 1015.<ref name=martin153/> The ''[[Crónica de Alaón renovada]]'', which Martínez Díez dates to 1154, but which other scholars dismiss as a late medieval concoction, lists García, Ferdinand and Gonzalo as Sancho III's sons by Muniadona in that order, but in the same passage mistakenly places Gonzalo's death before his father's.<ref>Martínez Díez 2007, 84.</ref>