Sancho IV of Castile

Sancho IV the Brave (12 May 1258 – 25 April 1295) was the King of Castile, León and Galicia from 1284 to his death. He was the second son of Alfonso X and Yolanda, daughter of James I of Aragon.

Biography
His elder brother, Ferdinand de la Cerda, died in November 1275, and in 1282 Sancho assembled a coalition of nobles to declare for him against Ferdinand's son Alfonso, then took control of the kingdom when Alfonso X died in 1284. This was all against the wishes of their father, but Sancho was crowned in Toledo nevertheless.

Sancho's ascension was in part due to his rejection of his father's elitist politics. Sancho was recognised and supported by the majority of the nobility and the cities, but a sizable minority opposed him throughout his reign and worked for the heirs of Ferdinand de la Cerda. One of the leaders of the opposition was his brother John, who united to his cause the lord of Biscay, Lope Díaz III de Haro. Sancho responded by executing the Lord of Biscay and incarcerating his brother. According to the chroniclers, he cemented his hold on power by executing 4,000 other followers of Infante Alfonso, son of Ferdinand de la Cerda, in Badajoz. He executed 400 more in Talavera and more in Ávila and Toledo.

Upon dispensing with this opposition, Sancho pardoned his brother, who was released. John bided his time before fomenting revolt again: the conflict over Tarifa. He called in the aid of the Marinids in Morocco and besieged Guzmán the Good in his castle (1291). At this siege occurred that famous act of heroism, the innocent death of the son of Guzmán. Tarifa was faithfully defended until Sancho could rescue it and the Marinids retreated to Magreb. The intent of both John and the Sultan of Marinids (to invade) was foiled.

When James II succeeded to the Crown of Aragon, he endeavoured to bind the two crowns more closely and to unite in the Reconquista. Indeed, both of James' predecessors had tried to do likewise. Sancho was also the friend and tutor of Juan Manuel, Lord of Villena.

Just before succumbing to a fatal illness, he appointed his queen, María de Molina, to act as regent for his nine year-old son, Ferdinand IV. He died in 1295 in Toledo.

Family
Sancho married Maria de Molina in 1282 and they had the following children:
 * Isabella (1283–1328). Married first James II of Aragon and secondly John III, Duke of Brittany.
 * Ferdinand IV (1285–1312).
 * Alfonso (1286–1291)
 * Henry (1288–1299)
 * Peter (1290–1319) married Maria daughter of James II of Aragon
 * Philip (1292–1327). Married his cousin Margarita de la Cerda, daughter of Alfonso de la Cerda (1270-1333).
 * Beatrice (1293–1359). Married Afonso IV of Portugal.

He had three illegitimate children before his marriage.

by an unknown woman: by Doña María Alfonso Téllez de Menezes (d. Toro), wife of Juan García, señor de Usero: by María Pérez:
 * Teresa Sánchez, who married Dom João Afonso de Menezes (died 5 May 1304), 1st Conde de Barcelos in Portugal, the first Portuguese hereditary Count, 4th Lord of Alburquerque in Castille and 29th Mordomo-Mór of Portugal, and had female issue, and Rui Gil de Vilalobos, and had female issue
 * Violante Sánchez (died bef. 1327), who held the dowry of Usero as its lady, married in 1293 Fernando Rodríguez de Castro, Lord of Lemos.
 * Alfonso Sánchez, who married as her second husband María Díaz de Haro, without issue.