page_title: Ferdinand IV of Castile
section_title: Meeting of Ariza and death of Henry of Castile (1303)
hierarchical_section_title: Ferdinand IV of Castile / Life / Reign (1295–1312) / Personal rule (1301–1312) / Meeting of Ariza and death of Henry of Castile (1303)
context_page_description: Ferdinand IV of Castile called the Summoned, was the king of Castile and León from 1295 until his death.
  During his minority, his upbringing and the custody of his person were entrusted to his mother, Queen María de Molina, while his tutorship was entrusted to his granduncle Henry of Castile the Senator. At that time, and also for the rest of his reign, his mother tried to placate the nobility, confronted her son's enemies, and repeatedly prevented Ferdinand IV from being dethroned. He faced the insubordination of 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 supported in some occasions by another royal relative, Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena.
  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, and in 1312 the city of Alcaudete was also conquered. During the Cortes of Valladolid of 1312, he promoted the reform of the administration of justice, and that of all areas of administration, while attempting to strengthen the royal authority to the detriment of the nobility.
context_section_description: In 1303, while the King was in Badajoz, Henry of Castile, Diego López V de Haro and Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena had a meeting in Roa, and they agreed that Juan Manuel would have a meeting with the King of Aragon, who agreed that the three magnates and himself should meet the Day of John the Baptist in the municipality of Ariza. Later, Henry of Castile communicated his plans to María de Molina, who was in Valladolid, with the purpose of that she was united to them. The plan of Henry of Castile consisted in that Alfonso de la Cerda became King of León and married with the Infanta Isabel (sister of Ferdinand IV and repudiated child-bride of the Aragonese monarch), while the Infante Peter of Castile (brother of Fernando IV) would be proclaimed King of Castile and would marry with a daughter of James II of Aragon. Henry of Castile stated that his intention was to achieve peace in the Kingdom and to eliminate the influence of the John of Castile and Juan Núñez II de Lara.
  This plan, which would have meant the disintegration of the Kingdom of Castile and León, as well as the forced resignation of Ferdinand IV to the throne, was rejected by the Dowager Queen, who refused to support the project and to participate in the Meeting of Ariza. In the meanwhile, Ferdinand IV begged his mother to put peace between him and the magnates who supported Henry of Castile, who again begged the Dowager Queen to support the Henry's plan, to which she refused. While still celebrating the Meeting of Ariza, the Dowager Queen reminded Henry of Castile and his companions of the loyalty they owed to her son, as well as the properties with which she had endowed them, thereby enabling some knights to leave Ariza without seconding Henry's plan. However, Henry of Castile, Juan Manuel of Villena and other knights were committed to make the war to Ferdinand IV, as well as to that the Kingdom of Murcia should be returned to Aragon and the Kingdom of Jaén given to Alfonso de la Cerda. However, while the Dowager Queen met the Councils and obstructed the intentions of Henry of Castile, he became seriously ill and had to be transferred to his village of Roa. Faced with Henry's illness, the Dowager Queen, fearing that his lordships and castles would be inherited by Juan Manuel of Villena and Lope Díaz de Haro (to those he planned to bequeath his possessions to his death), she persuaded Henry's confessor, as well as his companions, to convince him to return his properties to the Crown, to which Henry refused, since he didn't wish that his inheritance could be taken by Ferdinand IV.
  When Juan Manuel of Villena, nephew of Henry of Castile, arrived at Roa, he found him speechless, and taking him for dead, he took possession of all the valuable objects that were there, as referred to in the Chronicle of Ferdinand IV:
  And when he saw Prince Henry speechless, and believing him dead, took everything he found in the house, silver and beasts and letters with the royal seal, and leave the village and took with him everything he found from Prince Henry, and goes to Peñafiel, who belonged to Prince Juan Manuel.
  The Dowager Queen then sent orders to all the fortresses of the dying Henry, in which it was arranged that if he died, they would not surrender the castles but to the King's troops, to which they belonged. Henry of Castile died on 8 August 1303 and was buried in the disappeared Monastery of San Francisco of Valladolid. His vassals gave little evidence of mourning for him, and when the Dowager Queen learned of it, she ordered that a brocade cloth be placed on the coffin, and that all the clerics and nobles present in Valladolid should attend the funerals.
  While Henry of Castile was agonizing, Ferdinand IV made a pact with Sultan Muhammed III of Granada, which stipulated that the sovereign of Granada would keep Alcaudete, Quesada and Bedmar, while Ferdinand IV would keep the city of Tarifa. Muhammed III declared himself vassal of Ferdinand IV and promised to pay him the corresponding parias. On learning that Henry of Castile had died, Ferdinand IV was pleased and grant
caption: Coat of arms of the Henry of Castile the Senator, son of Ferdinand III of Castile, who served as guardian of the king during the minority of Ferdinand IV.