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Ferdinand (Infant of Portugal son of John)

infant of Portugal, son of John I.; passed into Africa, at the age of 14, to attack the Moors, and laid siege FERDINAND to Tangier. He was, however, made prisoner by the Moors, and spent the remainder of his life in captivity, dying of chagrin, 1443.

KINGS OF SPAIN FERDINAND I., King of Castile and Leon, called the Great, second son of Sancho III., King of Navarre; born about 1000. By the death of Bermudo, in 1037, he became King of Leon. He then made war against the Moors, from whom he took several_cities, and pushed his conquests as far as Portugal. He next declared war against his brother, Garcias III., King of Navarre, in which that prince lost his kingdom and his life.

He died in Leon, Spain, Dec. 27, 1065.

FERDINAND II., son of Alphonso VII., King of Leon and Castile, gained great advantages over the Portuguese, and made their king, Alphonso Henriquez, prisoner, whom he used with moderation.

In the reign of this prince the military order of St. James was instituted, for the purpose of defending the dominions of the Christian powers against the Saracens.

FERDINAND III., surnamed The Saint, son of Alphonso IX.; born about 1200.

He obtained the crown of Castile by the abdication of his mother, Berengaria, in 1217, and that of Leon by the death of his father in 1230. He took many places from the Moors; but while he was projecting an expedition against Morocco, died. He was canonized by Pope Clement X., and is regarded as the founder of the University of Salamanca. He died in Seville, Spain, May 30, 1252.

FERDINAND IV., son of Sancho IV.; born in Seville, in 1285, succeeded to the throne of Castile in 1295, at the age of 10 years, under the guardianship of his mother, who governed the kingdom with great prudence. In 1309 Gibraltar was taken from the Moors by the Spaniards.

This prince, in a fit of anger, caused two noblemen to be precipitated from a high rock. Just before undergoing this fate, they told him that he would appear before God in 30 hours from that time. Their prediction was verified, and thence he obtained the name of the "Summoned." He died in 1312. FERDINAND V., called The Catholic, son of John II., King of Navarre and Aragon; born in Soz, Spain, March 10, 1452. He married, in 1469, the Princess Isabella of Castile, in whose right he succeeded on the death of her brother, Henry IV., to the throne of Castile. A rival claimant, Joanna, was supported by Alfonso, King of Portugal, who invaded Leon, and was defeated by Ferdinand at Toro, in 1476. Three years later Ferdinand succeeded his father in the FERDINAND kingdom of Aragon, thus reuniting the two crowns of Castile and Aragon. He applied himself to the reform of the great abuses in the administration, and in 1480, at the instigation of Torquemada, established the Inquisition at Seville and, after courageous resistance on the part of the people, at Saragossa also.

One of the greatest events of this reign was the conquest of Granada. The war with the Moors began in 1483; victory after victory attended the arms of Ferdinand, and in 1492 the capital city was taken after a siege of eight months. The "two kings," as they called Ferdinand and Isabella, made their entrance in January, 1493. The dominion of the Moors in Spain had lasted 800 years.

By a cruel edict of the same year, 1493, the Jews in Spain were commanded to receive baptism, or quit the country in four months. Multitudes of them, counted at from 30,000 to 170,000, became exiles, and the prisons were filled with those who remained. It was at this period that Columbus, with vessels furnished by Ferdinand and Isabella, made his memorable voyages and discovered America, which the Pope Alexander VI. assumed authority to give to those sovereigns. The great Cardinal Ximenes was then confessor to Isabella, and in 1495 was made Archbishop of Toledo.

In 1500, Gonsalvo was sent to make the corquest of Naples, which, partly by the sword and partly by the most unscrupulous perfidy, he effected. On the death of Isabella, in 1504, the Kingdom of Castile passed to Philip, son-in-law of Ferdinand; but on Philip's death, two years later, Ferdinand again assumed the government. In 1507 Ximenes became first minister, labored successfully for the conversion of the Moors, and achieved the conquest of Oran. The infamous League of Cambray was concluded in 1508. Soon after Navarre was conquered and united to Castile and Aragon. Of Ferdinand's four daughters, one was married to the Archduke Philip, two in succession to Emanuel, King of Portugal, and the fourth, Catharine, first to Prince Arthur of England, and afterward to his brother, Henry VIII.

Ferdinand died in Madrigalejo, Spain, Jan. 23, 1516, and was interred in the cathedral of Granada with Queen Isabella.

FERDINAND VI., son of Philip V.; born Sept. 23, 1713. He ascended the throne in 1746, and during the 13 years of his reign was one of the most just and humane monarchs who ever ruled the Spanish destinies. He promoted the internal welfare of his country, reorganized the navy, encouraged manufactures, FERDINAND I. and by his judicious political conduct placed his elder brother on the throne of Naples, and another under the ducal canopy of Parma. The destruction of Quito, Lima, and Lisbon, by earthquakes, occurred in this reign. He died Aug. 10, 1759.

FERDINAND VII., son of Charles IV.; born in San Ildefonso, Oct. 13, 1784; succeeded his father in 1808. Upon the entry of Napoleon's troops into Spain, Ferdinand was taken prisoner and carried to Valençay, where he and his family remained till 1813, when he was restored to his kingdom. After his restoration, he dissolved the Cortes, and assumed the powers of an absolute monarch. Like all the later Bourbons, "adversity taught him nothing, and in prosperity he forgot nothing." "He reestablished the Inquisition and those very liberals who had fought for the expulsion of the French from Spanish soil, he persecuted with pitiless rancor. In 1820, his people broke out into rebellion, and re-established the Cortes. Ferdinand was, however, by the aid of French bayonets, restored to his crown, but not to his former absolutism. Bequeathed the crown to his daughter, Isabella, to the exclusion of his brother, Don Carlos-an act that led to a long and disastrous civil war. He abolished the Salic law by pragmatic sanction of 1830. He died in Madrid, Sept. 19, 1833. See CARLOS, DON, DUKE OF MADRID.