Pedro Fernández de Castro
Castilian noble
1155 CE to 1214 CE
Pedro Fernández de Castro "Castilian" (1155?
- August 18, 1214, Morocco), is a Castilian nobleman, son of Fernando Rodríguez de Castro and Estefanía Alfonso la Desdichada (Stephanie "The Unfortunate").
He inherits his parents' possession of Infantazgo de Leon, and is chief butler of Fernando II of Leon and his son Alfonso IX of León.
He is the grandson of Alfonso VII, King of Castile and León.
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King Alfonso VIII of Castile has from 1172 engaged in resistance to the Almohads.
The Almohad caliph Abu Yusuf Ya'qub had in 1190 forced an armistice on the Christian kings of Castile and Leon, after repulsing their attacks on Muslim possessions in Spain.
At the expiration of the truce in 1194, Alfonso invades the province of Sevilla (Seville) with the largest army of this age, over three hundred thousand men, to defeat Abu Yusuf, prompting him to leave his North African capital, Marrakech, with an expedition against the Christians.
The Castilians manage to surprise the Muslim advance guard; but, having underestimated the strength of the Almohad army, they are severely beaten by Ya'qub, who is joined by the cavalry of the Castilian Pedro Fernández de Castro, a personal enemy of Alfonso.
The decisive defeat occurs in a battle fought on July 18, 1195, near the fortress of Alarcos (Al-Arak in Arabic), close to Ciudad Real.
Alfonso and his army flee to Alarcos and Toledo, while …
…Ya'qub returns to Sevilla, where he assumes the title al-Mansur Billah (’Victorious by God’), and replenishes his own considerable troop losses.
Fernández de Castro, following the Battle of Alarcos, mediates negotiations between King Alfonso VIII of Castile and King Alfonso IX of León, in the city of Toledo.
After the failed meeting between the two sovereigns, Pedro Fernandez de Castro stays in León fighting against the kingdom of Castile.
Troops from León and Navarre, as well as Moorish forces, invade Castile, but the Castilians manage to repel the attackers.
Alfonso, assisted by Pope Innocent III and Spanish clergy, now prepares for a coordinated assault on the Almohads and other Muslim powers in southern Spain.
The outcome of the Battle of Alarcos had shaken the stability of the Kingdom of Castile; this situation will continue for several years.
All nearby castles had surrendered or been abandoned: Malagón, Benavente, Calatrava, Caracuel and Torre de Guadalferza, and the way to Toledo was wide open.
For the past two years, al-Mansur's forces have devastated Extremadura, the Tagus valley, La Mancha and even the area around Toledo; they have moved in turn against Montánchez, Trujillo, Plasencia, Talavera, Escalona and Maqueda.
Some of these expeditions had been led by the renegade Pedro Fernández de Castro.
Most significantly, however, these raids have not led to any territorial gains for the caliph, although Almohad diplomacy does obtain an alliance with King Alfonso IX of León (who had been enraged when the Castilian king had not waited for him before the battle of Alarcos) and the neutrality of Navarre.
These alliances prove to be temporary only.
The Excommunication of Alfonso IX and the End of the War Between Castile and León (1196–1197)
In 1196, as hostilities between Castile and León intensified, Pope Celestine III intervened in support of Castile, issuing a papal excommunication against King Alfonso IX of León. This act sought to pressure the Leonese monarch into ceasing his military campaigns against his cousin, Alfonso VIII of Castile.
Despite papal condemnation, Alfonso IX found allies among his nobility, including Pedro Fernández de Castro, a powerful noble who, along with other Leonese lords, had previously aided the Saracens against Castile. These nobles swore renewed oaths of loyalty to Alfonso IX, strengthening his position even as he faced ecclesiastical censure.
The Marriage of Alfonso IX and Berengaria of Castile (1197): A Diplomatic Resolution
The conflict between León and Castile came to an unexpected resolution in 1197, when Alfonso IX married Berengaria of Castile, daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castile. This strategic union brought peace between the rival kingdoms, as Berengaria’s dowry provided her husband with a legitimate claim to Castilian territory, effectively aligning their dynastic interests.
Although the marriage ended immediate hostilities, it soon faced papal opposition on the grounds of consanguinity, leading to further political and religious complications in the years to come.
The minaret of Seville, or the Giralda, completed under the ascetic Almohads in 1198, combines monumental proportions with restrained decoration.
Begun under the architect Ahmad Ben Baso in 1184, other architects continued work on the tower after Ben Baso's death.
The mathematician and astronomer Jabir Ibn Aflah (or Geber) is also often credited with the tower's design.
The tower is completed March 10, 1198, with the installation of copper spheres on the tower's top.
The Almohads build similar towers in what are now Spain and Morocco during this period.
The tower of the Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakesh had served as a model for the Giralda and its sister, the Hassan Tower in Rabat.
The Almohad caliph is meanwhile losing interest in the affairs of the Iberian Peninsula; he is in poor health, his objective of retaining a hold over al-Andalus appears to be a complete success, and in 1198 he returns to Africa.