Saint, King, Warrior--and Valley Namesake

He inspired the name for the San Fernando Valley: Ferdinand III, a saint, a king, a warrior who fought to free his country from foreign invaders, founder of monasteries, builder of churches who took pains to ensure that his subjects weren’t taxed too heavily.

It was 200 years ago Monday that Father Fermin Lasuen, the Spanish monk in charge of the California missions, dedicated the Mission San Fernando Rey de Espan~a, after the former early 13th century ruler of Spain.

The name was chosen by Viceroy Branciforte on Nov. 12, 1796. Msgr. Francis Weber, the mission’s current director, said that the name was probably chosen because Ferdinand was a popular saint in Spain at the time.

As a ruler, Ferdinand was said to be benevolent, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia. He kept taxes low, “fearing the curse of one poor woman more than a whole army of Saracens,” the encyclopedia says.

Ferdinand was religious, prone to praying all night, fasting and wearing hair shirts as penance.

And he didn’t hesitate to draw his sword when it came to the Saracens, Muslim invaders who occupied much of the Iberian peninsula at the time.

In his quest to drive the Saracens out and restore Spain to Catholicism, he launched numerous attacks against them, recaptured such major cities as Cordoba and Seville and, before his death in 1252, liberated most of the country.

Ferdinand was canonized in 1671; the Catholic Encyclopedia says many miracles took place at his tomb inside the cathedral of Seville. It is also said that his body “remains incorrupt.”