Kingdom of Castile

Born on November 11, 1155, in Soria and died on October 6, 1214, in Gutierre-Muñoz, Ávila.

Gules, a castle triple towered Or, port and windows Azure, masoned Sable.

Escudo de gules, un castillo de oro, aclarado de azur, mazonado de sable.

Existing arms interpreted by me as follows: the shield’s shape is pointed and rounded; the field has been enameled Gules; the castle is outlined, illuminated, and shaded; the whole composition features a heavily hammered metal finish.

This ancient coat of arms of Castile can be consulted, among other sources, in [Argote de Molina, G.; 1588; chapter XLII].

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Gules, Or, Azure, Sable, One, Castle, Port and windows and Masoned.

Style keywords: Pointed and rounded, Illuminated, Shaded, Outlined in sable and Hard metal.

Classification: Interpreted, Personal, Coat of arms and Kingdom of Castile.

Bearer: Alfonso VIII of Castile.

King of Castile from 1158 to 1214.

Gules, a castle triple towered Or, port and windows Azure, masoned Sable. Crest: An open royal crown Or.

Escudo de gules, un castillo de oro, aclarado de azur, mazonado de sable. Timbrado de una corona real abierta.

Arms of the king, as interpreted by me, as follows: the shield's shape is pointed and rounded; the field is enameled Gules; the castle is outlined in Sable; and the whole composition features a watercolor finish.

In [Valero de Bernabé, L.; 2009a; page 1] the author specifies the main characteristics of the «Castilian royal castle», which can be summarized as: «with three towers, the middle one taller, and the two flanking it identical», «each tower crowned with three battlements», «one to three doors and one or two pointed windows on each tower», and «masoned and battlemented», as also noted by the same author in [Valero de Bernabé, L.; 2009b; page 33].

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Gules, Or, Azure, Sable, One, Castle, Port and windows, Masoned, Crest, Open royal crown and Crown.

Style keywords: Pointed and rounded, Plain tincture, Outlined in sable and Watercolor.

Classification: Interpreted, Personal, Coat of arms and Kingdom of Castile.

Bearer: Alfonso VIII of Castile.

[ Argent, a lion rampant Purpure, armed and langued Gules ] accolé with [ Gules, a castle triple towered Or, port and windows Azure, masoned Sable ].

[ Escudo de plata, un león rampante de púrpura, armado y lampasado de gules ] acolado de un [ escudo de gules, un castillo de oro, aclarado de azur, mazonado de sable ].

Arms of the King of Leon and Queen of Castile, as interpreted by me with: the two shields shaped with rounded arches; the fields of both coat of arms, the lion, and the castle illuminated; and the whole composition featuring a watercolor finish.

Representation of the coats of arms of Alfonso IX of León and Berenguela of Castile as accolé arms ~ «escudos acolados». King Ferdinand III created his coat of arms, based on the coats of arms of his parents, through the marshalling of their arms ~ «composición de sus armas». For this purpose, the saintly king invented a type of composition, which later became widely used, known as quarterly ~ «cuartelado». Other ways to combine the coats of arms of two spouses are:

• Creating a new dimidiated shield ~ «dimidiado».
• Creating a new impaled shield ~ «partido».
• Adding one coat of arms to another as an escutcheon of pretence ~ «escusón de pretensión», in this case, rather than a claim, there was full ownership.

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Argent, Purpure, Gules, One, Lion, Rampant, Armed, Langued, Or, Azure, Sable, Castle, Port and windows and Masoned.

Style keywords: Semi-circular, Outlined in sable, Tilted shield and Watercolor.

Classification: Interpreted, Personal, Accolé arms, Kingdom of Castile and Kingdom of León.

Bearer: Berenguela of Castile.

Queen of Castile during the year 1217 and queen consort of León from 1197 to 1204.

Gules, a castle triple towered Or, port and windows Azure, masoned Sable. Crest: An open royal crown Or.

Escudo de gules, un castillo de oro, aclarado de azur, mazonado de sable. Timbrado de una corona real abierta.

Arms of the Queen, as interpreted by me as follows: the shield's shape is finished with a rounded arch; both the field, the castle, and the crown have been illuminated; the castle and the crown are outlined; and the whole composition features a hammered metal finish.

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Gules, Or, Azure, Sable, One, Castle, Port and windows, Masoned, Crest, Open royal crown and Crown.

Style keywords: Semi-circular, Illuminated, Outlined in sable and Metal beaten.

Classification: Interpreted, Personal, Coat of arms and Kingdom of Castile.

Bearer: Berenguela of Castile.

Quarterly: 1 and 4 Gules, a castle triple towered Or, port and windows Azure, masoned Sable; 2 and 3 Argent, a lion rampant Purpure, armed and langued Gules.

Escudo cuartelado: 1^o y 4^o de gules, un castillo de oro, aclarado de azur, mazonado de sable; 2^o y 3^o de plata, un león rampante de púrpura, armado y lampasado de gules.

A symbolic image representing, through 3 coats of arms, the creation of the coat of arms of the King Ferdinand III the Saint from the arms of Alfonso IX, King of León, and Berenguela, Queen of Castile. The shapes of all three shields are rounded; all their components are illuminated; and the whole composition features a watercolor finish.

Ferdinand III the Saint was the son of Alfonso IX of León and Berenguela of Castile. During his reign, the crowns of Castile and León were united forever. When, in 1230, Ferdinand III succeeded his father, he adopted a quarterly coat of arms, placing his mother's arms, the castle, in the 1^st and 4^th quarters, and his father's arms, the lion, in the 2^nd and 3^rd quarters. His goal was likely to achieve balance between the two kingdoms and to give his coat of arms a greater sense of continuity over time compared to impaled arms. The coat of arms of Ferdinand III the Saint was the first quarterly shield in history, and the idea spread into the heraldry of Spain and other kingdoms, such as Aragon-Sicily, Brabant, England, Navarre, and Bohemia.

The mother first, schematic in English

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Blazon keywords: Quarterly, Gules, Or, Azure, Sable, One, Castle, Port and windows, Masoned, Argent, Purpure, Lion, Rampant, Armed, Langued, Crest, Open royal crown and Crown.

Style keywords: Semi-circular, Illuminated, Tilted shield and Watercolor.

Classification: Interpreted, Personal, Accolé arms, Kingdom of Castile, Kingdom of León and Kingdom of Castile and Leon.

Bearer: Ferdinand III of Castile.

Gules, three lions, passant, guardant, in pale Or, armed and langued Azure.

Escudo de gules, tres leopardos en palo de oro, armados y lampasados de azur.

Existing armorial bearings interpreted as follows: the shape of the shield is pointed and rounded; the field has been enamelled in flat Gules; the three leopards are outlined in Sable and illuminated in metal Or with details in Azure; and the whole composition has a watercolor finish..

In [Humphery-Smith, C.; 1983; paragraph 2] the coat of arms of Eleanor Plantagenet, Queen Consort of Castile, is described, as part of an analysis on the origin of the three leopards in the coat of arms of England. However, in this description, an error is made by replacing the V with an X in the numeral of her husband and king, thus naming Alfonso VIII of Castile as if he were King Alfonso XIII: «Eleanor who married Alfonso XIII, King of Castile and Leon, has depicted on her tomb in the Huelgas monastery of the Cistercian nuns at Burgos, a thirteenth-century shield depicting three crowned leopards (lions passant guardant) gold on red».

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Gules, Or, Azure, Three, Leopard, Armed, Langued and In pale.

Style keywords: Pointed and rounded, Illuminated, Outlined in sable and Watercolor.

Classification: Interpreted, Personal, Coat of arms, House of Plantagenet, Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Castile.

Bearer: Leonor Plantagenet.

Princess of England and Queen Consort of Castile from 1170 to 1214.

Gules, three lions, passant, guardant, in pale Or, armed and langued Azure. Crest: An open royal crown Or.

Escudo de gules, tres leopardos en palo de oro, armados y lampasados de azur. Timbrado de una corona real abierta.

Armorial bearings of the queen interpreted by me as follows: the shape of the shield is pointed and rounded; both the field, the three leopards, and the open royal crown have been enamelled with flat tints of gules and metal or, with details in azure, vert, and metal argent; the three leopards and the crown are outlined in sable; and the whole composition has a watercolor finish.

She was the daughter of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine, wife of Alfonso VIII of Castile, and mother of 10 children documented in historical records, with her eldest daughter being Queen Berenguela of Castile.

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Gules, Or, Azure, Three, Leopard, Armed, Langued, In pale, Crest, Open royal crown and Crown.

Style keywords: Pointed and rounded, Plain tincture, Outlined in sable and Watercolor.

Classification: Interpreted, Personal, Coat of arms, House of Plantagenet, Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Castile.

Bearer: Leonor Plantagenet.

Luis Valero de Bernabé y Martín de Eugenio, «Los Castillos en la Heráldica Española», 2009.

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I received this article directly from the author, to whom I am grateful for his kind submission. I consider it a preliminary and preparatory work for the article [Valero de Bernabé, L.; 2009b; pages 32-34] published later.

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Bibliographical reference of century XXI.

The author is Valero de Bernabé y Martín de Eugenio, Luis.

Bibliographic reference mentioned in the following articles:

• Alfonso VIII of Castile, royal crown
• Castilian castle
• Castilian heraldry
• Edward IV of England; 1461

Internal resources: ValeroBernabeL2009.ElCastilloEnLaHeraldicaEspañola.pdf.