This King was one of the true heavyweights of history, a man of destiny. Known as el Santo.
Pope Gregory IX named him 'Champion of Christ' ("Athleta Christi"). He secured the permanent
union of the crowns of Castile and León, achieved largest territorial gain in the Reconquest, especially
after the defeat of the Almohad Caliphate at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa. He expelled Moors
from Baeza, Úbeda, Córdoba (1236), ten years later from Jaén (1246) and even from Seville (1248).
He laid foundation for the creation of the united Kingdom of Spain.