Editing Ferdinand IV of Castile (section)

==Last years and death (1310–1312)==
=== Conflicts with John of Castile and Juan Manuel of Villena (1310–1311) ===
In 1310, after the siege of Algeciras, Ferdinand IV sent [[Juan Núñez II de Lara]] to confer with [[Pope Clement V]], to implore him not to permit the process against his predecessor [[Pope Boniface VIII]], who had legitimized the marriage of the parents of Ferdinand IV in 1301, thereby legitimizing the Castilian King himself. Juan Núñez II de Lara was to inform the Pope about the causes that had motivated the lifting of the [[Siege of Algeciras (1309–10)|siege of Algeciras]], and also had to petitioned, on behalf of Ferdinand IV, funds for the continuation of the war against the [[Kingdom of Granada]]. Pope Clement V tried to soften the animosity that King [[Philip IV of France]] felt towards the late Pope Boniface VIII, condemn the behavior of John of Castile and Juan Manuel of Villena during the siege of Algeciras, granted the Castilian monarch the ''[[tithes]]'' collected In his domains for a year, and sent various letters to the prelates of the Kingdom of Castile and León in which they were ordered to severely reprimand those who didn't collaborate with Ferdinand IV in the enterprise of the ''[[Reconquista]]''.
[[File:Armas del infante Manuel de Castilla.svg|200px|thumb|left|Coat of arms of Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena.]]
In the meanwhile, Ferdinand IV undertook again the war against the Kingdom of Granada. His brother the ''Infante'' Peter conquered the castle of Tempul and later went to [[Seville]], where the King was. In November 1310, both brothers went to [[Córdoba, Andalusia|Córdoba]], where a popular uprising had taken place against several knights of the city. Meanwhile, Dowager Queen [[María de Molina]], who was in [[Valladolid]], begged her son to join her there, so that the monarch might be present at the wedding of his sister, the ''Infanta'' [[Isabella of Castile, Queen of Aragon|Isabella]] with [[John III, Duke of Brittany|John, Viscount of Limoges]] and heir of the [[Duchy of Brittany]]. On the way to [[Burgos]], Ferdinand IV stopped in the city of Toledo and confessed to Juan Núñez II de Lara that he planned to arrest or assassinate John of Castile, because he thought that if he still live, he would harm and hinder him in all his purposes. However, Juan Núñez II de Lara, in spite of his hatred for John of Castile, realized that the King didn't do it out of affection for him, and that if he helped Ferdinand IV to get rid of John of Castile, this would mean his own ruin.

Ferdinand IV arrived in Burgos in January 1311, and after the marriage of his sister, he planned to assassinate John of Castile, as a revenge for his desertion during the siege of Algeciras and, at the same time, to subdue the nobility, who again rebelled against the royal authority. However, the Dowager Queen advised John of Castile of the purposes of her son and he was able to escape. Ferdinand IV, accompanied by his brother ''Infante'' Peter, Lope Díaz de Haro, and by the troops of the council of Burgos persecuted John of Castile and his supporters, who took refuge in the city of [[Saldaña, Palencia|Saldaña]].

The King then deprived John of Castile of his title of ''Adelantado Mayor'' (who was granted to Juan Núñez II de Lara) and ordered the confiscation of lands and lordships that he had given to him and his sons Alfonso de Valencia and [[Juan de Castilla y Haro|Juan ''The one-eyed'']], and the same luck was suffered by Sancho of Castile, cousin of Ferdinand IV and supporter of John of Castile. At the same time, Juan Manuel of Villena reconciled with the monarch and asked him to grant him the position of First ''Majordomo''; Ferdinand IV, who wished that Juan Manuel would break his friendship with John of Castile, stripped ''Infante'' Peter of the position of First ''Majordomo'' and gave it to Juan Manuel of Villena, and in as a compensation for the loss of the title the King gave his brother the cities of [[Almazán]] and [[Berlanga de Duero]], which he had previously promised to him.

At the beginning of February 1311, and although he had reconciled with Ferdinand IV, Juan Manuel of Villena left the city of Burgos and went to [[Peñafiel, Spain|Peñafiel]], reuniting shortly afterwards with John of Castile in [[Dueñas, Palencia|Dueñas]]. The supporters and vassals of John of Castile, fearing the wrath of the King, prepared to defend him, among them Sancho of Castile and Juan Alfonso de Haro. In view of the situation, Ferdinand IV, who didn't want an open revolt of the supporters of John of Castile, in addition to wanting to dedicate himself exclusively to the war against the Kingdom of Granada, sent his mother to confer with John of Castile, his children, and supporters in [[Villamuriel de Cerrato]]. The conversations lasted fifteen days and the Dowager Queen was accompanied by the Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela and by the Bishops of [[León, Spain|León]], [[Lugo]], [[Mondoñedo]] and [[Palencia]]. The meeting concluded with the peace between John of Castile (who was worried about his personal security) and Ferdinand IV. This concord was opposed by both Queen Constance and Juan Núñez II de Lara, who still was distanced from John of Castile. Shortly afterwards, Ferdinand IV met with John of Castile in the municipality of [[Grijota]], and both ratified the previous agreement orchestrated by the Dowager Queen in Villamuriel de Cerrato.

On 20 March 1311, during an assembly of prelates in the city of [[Palencia]], Ferdinand IV confirmed and granted new privileges to the churches and prelates of his Kingdoms, and responded to their demands. In April 1311, being in Palencia, Ferdinand IV became seriously ill and had to be transferred to [[Valladolid]], despite the opposition of his wife Queen Constance, who wished to transfer him to [[Carrión de los Condes]], in order to be able to control the sovereign along with her ally Juan Núñez II de Lara. During the illness of Ferdinand IV discrepancies arose between the ''Infante'' Peter, Juan Núñez II de Lara, John of Castile and don Juan Manuel. While the King was in [[Toro, Zamora|Toro]], the Queen gave birth in [[Salamanca]] on 13 August 1311 to a son, the future [[Alfonso XI of Castile]]. The newborn heir of the Castilian throne was baptized in the [[Old Cathedral of Salamanca]], and despite the King's wishes to entrust the guardianship of his son to his mother the Dowager Queen, the will of Queen Constance prevailed, who wanted (with the support of Juan Núñez II de Lara and Lope Díaz de Haro), that the custody of her son should be entrusted to the ''Infante'' Peter.

In the fall of 1311 a conspiracy arose which sought the overthrow of Ferdinand IV in favor of his brother ''Infante'' Peter. The conspiracy was carried out by John of Castile, Juan Núñez II de Lara and by Lope Díaz de Haro, son of the late Diego López V de Haro. However, the project failed due to the contundent refusal of the Dowager Queen.

=== Concord of Palencia and meeting of Calatayud (1311–1312) ===
[[File:Fernando IV pepión 22299.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Castilian pepión, [[Billon (alloy)|billon]] coin from the reign of Ferdinand IV. Minted in [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]]. Legends: obverse "FREXCASTELLE", reverse "ET LEGIONIS", which in Latin means "F<nowiki>[erdinand]</nowiki> king of Castile and Leon".]]
In mid-1311, John of Castile and the principal magnates of the Kingdom threatened Ferdinand IV by ceasing to serve him, if the monarch didn't satisfy their requests. John of Castile and his followers demanded that the King replace his advisers and privates for John of Castile himself, the Dowager Queen, ''Infante'' Peter, Juan Manuel of Villena, Juan Núñez II de Lara and the Bishops of [[Astorga, Spain|Astorga]], [[Zamora, Spain|Zamora]], [[Ourense|Orense]] and [[Palencia]]. Juan Manuel of Villena remained loyal to Ferdinand IV, because on 15 October the King had given him all the royal ''pechos'' (tributes) and rights of Valdemoro and Rabrido, except for the ''moneda forera'' of both places and the ''martiniega'' (another tribute) de Rabrido, which had been granted to [[Alfonso de la Cerda]].

With the desire to achieve peace in order to continue with the ''[[Reconquista]]'', Ferdinand IV agreed to sign the Concord of Palencia on 28 October 1311 with John of Castile and the rest of the magnates, and whose clauses were ratified in the ''Cortes'' of Valladolid in 1312. The King promised to respect the customs, ''[[fuero]]s'' and privileges of the nobles, prelates, and subjects of the towns, and not to try to deprive the nobles of the rents and lands that belonged to the Crown. Ferdinand IV ratified that the custody of his son, the ''Infante'' [[Alfonso XI of Castile|Alfonso]], would be entrusted to his brother, ''Infante'' Peter, to whom was also ceded the city of [[Santander, Spain|Santander]]. The King ceded to John of Castile the municipality of [[Ponferrada]], on the condition that John would not establish any type of alliance with Juan Núñez II de Lara; John violated his word on 5 November, eight days after signing of the Concord.

In December 1311 Ferdinand IV meet in [[Calatayud]] with James II of Aragon. At that moment was celebrated the marriage of ''Infante'' Peter of Castile and the ''Infanta'' [[Maria of Aragon, Lady of Cameros|Maria of Aragon]], daughter of James II, although some authors indicate that the marriage was celebrated in January 1312.{{Sfn|González Mínguez|1995|p=236}} At the same time, Ferdinand IV gave to James II his eldest daughter, the ''Infanta'' [[Eleanor of Castile (1307–1359)|Eleanor of Castille]], to be raised in the Aragonese court until she had the proper age to marry the ''Infante'' [[James of Aragon (monk)|James of Aragon]], firstborn son and heir of James II.

In the meeting of Calatayud of 1311 it was also agreed to resume the war against the [[Kingdom of Granada]], but it was decided that each Kingdom should do it separately, while James II promised to mediate between Ferdinand IV and his father-in-law in the conflict that both maintained about the possession of some cities of which [[Denis of Portugal]] had taken over during Ferdinand IV's minority. However, the death of Ferdinand IV in September 1312 put an end to such negotiations between the sovereigns of Aragon and Portugal. On 3 April 1312, shortly after the meeting of Calatayud, Juan Manuel of Villena married in the city of [[Xàtiva]] with the ''Infanta'' Constance of Aragon, another daughter of James II.

=== Last period of the Ferdinand IV's life (1312) ===
After his stay in the city of Calatayud, Ferdinand IV went to the city of [[Valladolid]], where the ''Cortes'' were to meet. In the ''Cortes'' of Valladolid in 1312, the last of the reign of Ferdinand IV, funds were raised to maintain the army to be used in the next campaign against the Kingdom of Granada, were reorganized the administration of justice, the territorial administration and the local administration, thus showing the King's desire to make profound reforms in all areas of administration, while attempting to strengthen the royal authority against the nobility. The ''Cortes'' approved the concession of five services and one ''moneda forera'', for the payment of the soldiers of the King's vassals, except for Juan Núñez II de Lara, who had become the vassal of King Denis of Portugal.

As early as October 1311, Ferdinand IV had requested a loan from King [[Edward II of England]], in order to continue the war against the Kingdom of Granada, although the English sovereign refused to grant it, arguing that he had many expenses due to his war against Scotland. In July 1312, Ferdinand IV pledge the Templar castles of [[Burguillos del Cerro]] and [[Alconchel]] for 3,600 marks to King Denis of Portugal, which he needed to continue the war against the Kingdom of Granada. At the end of April 1312, after the ''Cortes'' had been end, the King left the city of Valladolid. In 1312 Sancho of Castile, Lord of Ledesma first-cousin of Ferdinand IV died; immediately the King went to [[Ledesma, Castile and León|Ledesma]], that acted as a capital of the dominions of his cousin, and incorporated the dominions to the royal patrimony, after it had been proved that the deceased had no legitimate children. Ferdinand IV then went to [[Salamanca]], and deprived his cousin Alfonso de la Cerda (who had rebelled again against him) of the municipalities of [[Béjar]] and [[Alba de Tormes]].

On 13 July 1312, the King arrived in [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]], after leaving the ''Infante'' [[Alfonso XI of Castile|Alfonso]], heir to the throne, in the city of [[Ávila, Spain|Ávila]], and went to the [[Province of Jaén (Spain)|province of Jaén]], where his brother ''Infante'' Peter of Castile was besieging the town of [[Alcaudete]]. The King, after a short stay in the city of Jaén, went to the town of [[Martos]], where he ordered the execution of the Carvajal brothers, accused of having murdered Juan Alonso de Benavides, private of Ferdinand IV, in Palencia. According to legend, since this is not included in the ''Chronicle of Ferdinand IV'', the brothers were condemned to be introduced into an iron cage with sharp points inside and later to be thrown from top of the Rock of Martos, still inside the iron cage. The ''Chronicle of Ferdinand IV'' states that before dying, the brothers summoned the King to appear before the Court of God within thirty days.{{Sfn|Benavides|1860|p=242}}

After his stay in Martos, the King went to Alcaudete, where he awaited John of Castile, that should be united with his troops to the siege of the locality. However, John of Castile didn't appear for fear that Ferdinand IV would order his death. Sick of gravity, Ferdinand IV left the siege of Alcaudete and went to the city of Jaén at the end of August 1312.

On 5 September 1312, the garrison of Alcaudete was surrendered after three months of siege, and the ''Infante'' Peter went to the city of Jaén, where his brother the King was waiting for him. On 7 September, the day of Ferdinand IV's death, both brothers agreed to help [[Nasr, Sultan of Granada]], with whom a truce had been agreed, and to help him in his fight against his brother-in-law Ferrachén, ''arráez'' de [[Málaga]], who had rebel against him.{{Sfn|Mata Carriazo y Arroquia|2002|p=159}}