Ferdinand IV of Castile
Spanish monarch
Ferdinand IV (6 December 1285 – 7 September 1312) called the Summoned (el Emplazado), was King of Castile and León from 1295 until his death.
Ferdinand's upbringing the regency of his kingdoms was entrusted to his mother Queen María de Molina, however, he was tutored by his granduncle Henry of Castile the Senator. Queen María attempted to placate the nobility, confronted her son's enemies, and worked to secure her son's place on the throne. He faced uprisings from the nobility, led at numerous times by his uncle John of Castile, Lord of Valencia de Campos, and by Juan Núñez II de Lara, who were sometimes supported by, Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena, Ferdinand's first cousin once removed, the grandson of his great-grandfather and namesake Ferdinand III.
Like his predecessors on the throne, Ferdinand IV continued the Reconquista and, although he failed to conquer Algeciras in 1309, he captured the city of Gibraltar that same year. In 1312 he also conquered Alcaudete. During the Cortes of Valladolid of 1312, he promoted the reform of the administration of justice, among other areas of administration. He attempted to strengthen the royal authority to the detriment of the nobility. He died in Jaén on 7 September 1312 aged 26, and his mortal remains are now in the Royal Collegiate Church of Saint Hippolytus.
Early Life (1285–1295)
Ferdinand was born in the city of Alcazar de San Juan on 6 December 1285 as the second child and eldest son of King Sancho IV of Castile and his wife María de Molina. He was baptized at Seville Cathedral by Archbishop Raimundo de Losana and was immediately proclaimed heir to the Crown and received the homage of the nobles of the kingdom.
“Ferdinand IV of Castile” enters the record as spanish monarch. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Ferdinand, Castile and Spanish can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q316859. VIAF identifies the subject as 11158221. The Library of Congress control number is n96040169. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1285, 1312, 1295 and 1309.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ferdinand IV of Castile” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.