Editing Sancho IV of Castile

{{Short description|King of Castile and León from 1284 to 1295}}
{{Expand Spanish|topic=bio|Sancho IV de Castilla|date=June 2012}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2009}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Sancho IV
| image        = Sancho IV de Castilla 02.jpg
| succession   = [[King of Castile]] and [[King of León|León]]
| reign        = 4 April 1284 &ndash; 25 April 1295
| coronation   =
| predecessor  = [[Alfonso X]]
| successor    = [[Ferdinand IV of Castile|Ferdinand IV]]
| spouse       = {{marriage|[[María de Molina]]|1282}}
| issue        = {{plainlist|
* [[Isabella of Castile, Queen of Aragon|Isabella, Queen of Aragon]]
* [[Ferdinand IV, King of Castile]]
* [[Alfonso de Castilla y Molina|Alfonso]]
* [[Peter of Castile, Lord of Cameros|Peter, Lord of Cameros]]
* [[Philip of Castile, Lord of Cabrera and Ribera|Philip, Lord of Cabrera]]
* [[Beatrice of Castile (1293–1359)|Beatrice, Queen of Portugal]]}}
| issue-link   = #Family
| issue-pipe   = among others...
| house        = [[Castilian House of Ivrea]]
| father       = [[Alfonso X of Castile]]
| mother       = [[Violant of Aragon]]
| birth_date   = 12 May 1258
| birth_place  = [[Valladolid]]
| death_date   = {{death date and age|1295|04|25|1258|05|12|df=y}}
| death_place  = [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]]
| burial_date  =
| burial_place = [[Cathedral of Toledo]]
}}

'''Sancho IV of Castile''' (12 May 1258&nbsp;&ndash; 25 April 1295) called '''the Brave''' (''el Bravo''), was the [[king of Castile]], [[King of León|León]] and [[Kingdom of Galicia|Galicia]] (now parts of Spain) from 1284 to his death. Following his brother [[Fernando de la_Cerda (1255–1275)|Ferdinand's]] death, he gained the support of nobles who declared him king instead of Ferdinand's son [[Alfonso de la Cerda|Alfonso]]. Faced with revolts throughout his reign, before he died he made his wife regent for his son, who became [[Ferdinand IV of Castile|Ferdinand IV]].

==Biography==
Sancho was the second son of [[Alfonso X]] and [[Violant of Aragon|Yolanda]], daughter of [[James I of Aragon]].{{sfn|Coldiron|2015|p=79}} His elder brother, [[Ferdinand de la Cerda, Infante of Castile|Ferdinand de la Cerda]], died in November 1275. In 1282 Sancho assembled a coalition of nobles to declare for him against Ferdinand's son Alfonso, then took control of the kingdom when Alfonso X died in 1284. This was all against the wishes of their father, but Sancho was crowned in [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]] nevertheless.

Sancho's ascension was in part due to his rejection of his father's elitist politics. Sancho was recognised and supported by the majority of the nobility and the cities, but a sizable minority opposed him throughout his reign and worked for the heirs of Ferdinand de la Cerda. One of the leaders of the opposition was his brother [[John of Castile, Lord of Valencia de Campos|John of Castile]], who united to his cause the lord of Biscay, Lope Díaz III de Haro. Sancho responded by executing the Lord of Biscay and incarcerating his brother. According to the chroniclers, he cemented his hold on power by executing 4,000 other followers of Infante Alfonso, son of Ferdinand de la Cerda, in [[Badajoz]]. He executed 400 more in [[Talavera de la Reina|Talavera]] and more in [[Ávila, Spain|Ávila]] and Toledo.

Upon dispensing with this opposition, Sancho pardoned his brother, who was released. John bided his time before fomenting revolt again: the conflict over [[Tarifa]]. He called in the aid of the [[Marinid]]s in Morocco and besieged [[Alonso Pérez de Guzmán El Bueno|Guzmán the Good]] in his castle (1291). At this siege the innocent son of Guzmán died in what has been considered a  famous act of heroism. Tarifa was faithfully defended until Sancho could rescue it and the Marinids retreated to the Maghreb. The intention of both John and the Sultan of Marinids, to invade, was foiled.

When [[James II of Aragon|James II]] succeeded to the [[Crown of Aragon]], he endeavoured to bind the two crowns more closely and for Christian forces to unite to [[Reconquista|reconquer the Iberian peninsula]] from [[Islam]]. Indeed, both of James' predecessors had tried to do likewise. Sancho was also the friend and tutor of [[Juan Manuel of Castile]].

Just before succumbing to a fatal illness (possibly [[tuberculosis]]){{sfn|Linehan|1995|p=699}} he appointed his wife, [[María de Molina]], to act as regent for his nine-year-old son, Ferdinand IV. He died on 25 April 1295 in Toledo.{{sfn|Linehan|1995|p=699}}

==Family==
Sancho married María de Molina in 1282,{{sfn|Linehan|1995|p=696}} but at first their marriage did not have the necessary papal dispensation for two reasons: First, they were distant blood relatives, and second, Sancho had been betrothed as an infant to a rich Catalan heiress named Guillerma Moncada.

Sancho and Maria had the following children:
* [[Isabella of Castile, Duchess of Brittany|Isabella]] (1283–1328),{{sfn|d'Avray|2015|p=96}} Married first [[James II of Aragon]]{{sfn|d'Avray|2015|p=95}} and secondly [[John III, Duke of Brittany]]{{sfn|Morvan|2009|loc=table 2}}
* [[Ferdinand IV of Castile|Ferdinand IV]] (1285–1312).{{sfn|Ruiz|2011|p=53}} Married [[Constance of Portugal]].
* [[Alfonso de Castilla y Molina|Alfonso de Castilla]] (1286–1291)
* Henry (1288–1299)
* [[Peter of Castile, Lord of Cameros|Peter]] (1290–1319) married [[Maria of Aragon, Lady of Cameros|Maria]] daughter of [[James II of Aragon]]
* [[Philip of Castile, Lord of Cabrera and Ribera|Philip]] (1292–1327). Married his cousin [[Margarita de la Cerda]], daughter of [[Alfonso de la Cerda]].<ref>''Medieval Iberia: An Encyclopedia'', Ed. E. Michael Gerli and [[Samuel G. Armistead]], (Routledge, 2003), 50.</ref>
* [[Beatrice of Castile (1293–1359)|Beatrice]] (1293–1359). Married [[Afonso IV of Portugal]].

Sancho had three illegitimate children:

By María Alfonso Téllez de Menezes (d. [[Toro, Zamora|Toro]]), wife of Juan García, Lord of [[Ucero]]:
*[[Violante Sánchez of Castile|Violante Sánchez]] (died bef. 1327), who held the dowry of Ucero as its lady, married in 1293 [[Fernando Rodríguez de Castro (died 1304)|Fernando Rodríguez de Castro]], Lord of Lemos.<ref>''XXV años de la Escuela de Genealogía, Heráldica y Nobiliaria'', Ed. Escuela de Genealogía, Heráldica y Nobiliaria, (Hidalguia, 1985), 431.</ref>
*Teresa Sánchez, who married [[João Afonso Telo, 1st Count of Barcelos|Juan Alfonso Téllez de Meneses]] (died 5 May 1304), a Castilian nobleman, 4th Lord of [[Alburquerque, Badajoz|Alburquerque]], who became the 1st [[Count of Barcelos]] and was the ''Mordomo Mor'' (high steward) of King [[Denis I of Portugal]], and had female issue. After the death of her first husband, she married Ruy Gil de Villalobos, with whom she had one daughter.

By another woman whose name is unknown, he had:
*Alfonso Sánchez, who married, as his second wife, María Díaz de Salcedo, but died without issue.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
{{Commons category|Sancho IV of Castile}}
*{{cite book |title=Printers Without Borders: Translation and Textuality in the Renaissance |first=A. E. B. |last=Coldiron |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2015 }}
*{{cite book |title=Papacy, Monarchy and Marriage 860–1600 |first=David |last=d'Avray |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2015 }}
*{{cite book |chapter=Castile, Portugal and Navarre|author1-link=Peter Linehan  |first=Peter |last=Linehan |title=The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 5, c. 1198–c. 1300 |editor-first1=David |editor-last1=Abulafia |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1995 }}
*{{cite book |title=La Chevalerie bretonne et la formation de l'armee ducale, 1260–1341 |first=Frederic |last=Morvan |publisher=Presses Universitaires de Rennes |year=2009  |language=fr }}
* {{cite book |title=Spain's Centuries of Crisis, 1300 - 1474 |first=Teofilo F. |last=Ruiz |publisher=Wiley |year=2011 }}
* ''XXV años de la Escuela de Genealogía, Heráldica y Nobiliaria'', Ed. Escuela de Genealogía, Heráldica y Nobiliaria, Hidalguia, 1985.

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[Castilian House of Ivrea]]|12 May|1258|25 April|1295|[[House of Ivrea]]}}
{{s-reg}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Alfonso X of Castile|Alfonso X]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Castilian monarchs|King of Castile]] and [[List of Leonese monarchs|León]]|years=1284&ndash;1295}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Ferdinand IV of Castile|Ferdinand IV]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Castilian monarchs}}
{{Leonese monarchs}}
{{Galician monarchs}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sancho 04 Of Castile}}
[[Category:Castilian House of Burgundy]]
[[Category:Castilian infantes]]
[[Category:13th-century Leonese monarchs]]
[[Category:13th-century Galician monarchs]]
[[Category:1258 births]]
[[Category:1295 deaths]]
[[Category:13th-century Castilian monarchs]]