Manuel of Castile

Manuel of Castile (1234 – 25 December 1283, The first Lord of Villena and Peñafiel, Cuéllar, and Escalona, was an Infante, son of Ferdinand III of Castile and his wife Elisabeth of Hohenstaufen.

Manuel of Castile
House of Manuel of Villena coat of arms.
Lord of Villena
Reign	1252 – 1283
Successor	Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena
Born	1234 Carrión de los Condes
Died	25 December 1283 (aged 48–49) Peñafiel, Spain
Burial	Monastery of Uclés
Spouse	Constance of Aragon Beatrice of Savoy
Issue	Violante Manuel Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena
House	Castilian House of Ivrea
Father	Ferdinand III of Castile
Mother	Elisabeth of Hohenstaufen

Life

Born in Carrión de los Condes, the name Manuel was given to him to commemorate his maternal grandmother's roots in Imperial Byzantium. He was granted the Seigneury of Villena in 1252, created for him to govern that lordship as "apanage" (a medieval micro-state that would return to the central crown if the minor lineage ends with no successor). This lordship would grow by receiving the cities around the Vinalopó River (Elda valley, Aspe, Crevillente, Elche). He also received the Adelantamiento of the Kingdom of Murcia.

Manuel travelled to Italy in 1259 as part of the embassy sent by his father to Pope Alexander IV. Later, when his brother became king Alfonso X the Wise, served him as Alférez and Majordomo of the king.

He died at Peñafiel in 1283 and was buried in the Monastery of Uclés. His son Juan Manuel, who succeeded him in Villena and Peñafiel among the others, and became prince of Villena, was a notable medieval writer.

Manuel of Castile, as son of Ferdinand III of Castile, belonged to the royal House of Burgundy of Castile and León, but he was also the first of a new family branch, the House of Manuel of Villena.

Manuel of Castile and Beatrice of Savoy, in a 17th-century Portuguese painting series depicting the ancestors of the Manuel family (Ficalho Palace, Serpa, Portugal)

Family

He married twice. His first wife, whom he married in 1260 in Soria was Constance of Aragon, daughter of James I of Aragon. Two children were born of this marriage:

• Alfonso Manuel (1260/1261–Montpellier, 1276), without issue.
• Violante Manuel (1265–Lisbon, 1314), lady of Elche and Medellín. Married circa 1287 to Afonso of Portugal, son of Afonso III of Portugal.

His second marriage after Constança's death was in 1274/1275 to Beatrice of Savoy, daughter of Amadeus IV of Savoy. One child was born of this marriage:

• Juan Manuel (1282–1348), Prince of Villena, Duke of Penafiel and Lord of Escalona.

Children from other women include:

• Sancho Manuel (1283-after 1345), Lord of Infantado and Carrion. First married María Rodríguez de Castañeda, and then Inés Díaz de Toledo. With issues from both marriages.
• Enrique Manuel (born circa 1272)
• Blanca Manuel (born circa 1273)

Ancestry

Ancestors of Manuel of Castile

16. Alfonso VII of León and Castile 8. Ferdinand II of León 17. Berengaria of Barcelona 4. Alfonso IX of León 18. Afonso I of Portugal 9. Urraca of Portugal 19. Maud of Savoy 2. Ferdinand III of Castile 20. Sancho III of Castile 10. Alfonso VIII of Castile 21. Blanche of Navarre 5. Berenguela of Castile 22. Henry II of England 11. Eleanor of England 23. Eleanor of Aquitaine 1. Manuel of Castile, Lord of Villena 24. Frederick II, Duke of Swabia 12. Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor 25. Judith of Bavaria 6. Philip of Swabia 26. Renaud III, Count of Burgundy 13. Beatrice I, Countess of Burgundy 27. Agatha of Lorraine 3. Elisabeth of Swabia 28. Andronikos Doukas Angelos 14. Isaac II Angelos 29. Euphrosyne Kastamonitissa 7. Irene Angelina 30. George Komnenodoukas Palaiologos (1125–1168) 15. Unknown Palaiologina?, afterwards Irene 31. ?Irene Komnene Kantakouzene?