Ferdinand (1189 – 14 October 1211) was an infante (royal prince), the second son and heir apparent of Alfonso VIII of Castile by his wife, Eleanor of England.
[4] According to the Chronicon mundi, Alfonso VIII "received consolation from the multitude of gathering armies even though he was sick at heart from the death of [his] son".
[4] The king first action after his son's death was to make a grant to the Hospital del Rey y de la Reina on 28 November.
"[4] The next day, 29 November, he made an endowment to the house that held Ferdinand's remains, Las Huelgas, attributing the latter's death to divine clemency: "Whereas by the disposition of divine clemency I, Alfonso, by the grace of God king of Castile and Toledo, was not permitted to have our dearest son don Fernando (may his soul merit the enjoyment of eternal rest) as successor to our kingdom, so that he might acquire the celestial kingdom for himself.
Drawing on Ferdinand's English descent on his mother's side, he praises the infante as the equal of King Arthur and exceeding in virtues his own three famous uncles—Henry the Young King, Richard the Lionheart and Duke Geoffrey II of Brittany—the brothers of his mother, Eleanor: In a subsequent list of countries in which Ferdinand will be mourned—"from the river Jordan" (del flum Jordan) as far as France, England, Germany, Saxony (Samsuenha), Spain and Aragon—Giraut is "reminding us ... how far the power and prestige of Castile and the networking sphere of Plantagenet power extend".