A. T. 🇪🇸🇮🇹

It's a major black mark on the Catholic Church that we've allowed Fernando III of Castile and Leon (1199-1252) to be almost forgotten. He's one of the greatest men ever to pick up a sword—and a canonized saint. Fernando never lost a battle. He took back more territory from the Moors than any other Spanish king during the Reconquista: Cazorla, Úbeda, Córdoba, Niebla, Huelva, Écija, Lucena, Oriheula, Murcia, Arjona, Mula, Lorca, Cartesian, Jaén, Alicante, and then Sevilla. Along the way he reclaimed the Bells of Santiago de Compostela taken by al-Mansur a couple centuries before. In battle he always took the lead, declaring he'd never expose his vassals to more danger than he exposed himself. By the end of his campaigning only Granada remained, and they were paying tribute to Fernando. El Santo planned an expedition to North Africa to finish the job completely, but died before he could launch it. And, like I said, he is a saint, known during his lifetime, as El Santo. Fernando often worried his men with his habit of keeping all-night prayer vigils before a battle. His efforts liberated countless Christians from Moorish and rescued souls from apostasy. On top of all this, he was a great lawgiver, patriarch, and friend—really the complete man, not the kind you allow to be forgotten. Art by Antonio Palomino—