Fernando was born in the summer of 1217 and was made Lord of Serpa and Lamego in 1223. It is known that he travelled to Rome in 1237 to beg for a pardon from Pope Gregory IX for his violence against certain clerics.[1] He died on 19 January 1246.
He married Sancha Fernández de Lara,[2] daughter of Fernando Núñez de Lara and wife Mayor González, without any documented issue.
He had, however, a bastard son by an unknown woman named Sancho Fernandes de Serpa, who was a Prior at Santo Esteban de Alfama,[3]
but had illegitimate issue, being the ancestor of the de Serpa family.
In a study from the Spanish historian Faustino Menéndez-Pidal de Navascués,[4] the infante Fernando should have used a Coat of Arms representing a Wyvern (Serpe in Portuguese), the symbol of his Lordship of Serpa, in south Alentejo, with a border where, alternately, are represented the arms of Portugal (paternal ancestry) and those of Castile (maternal ancestry).
Sotto Mayor Pizarro, José Augusto (1997). Linhagens Medievais Portuguesas: Genealogias e Estratégias (1279-1325) (in Portuguese). Oporto: Doctorate thesis, author’s edition. hdl:10216/18023.
* also an infante of Castile and León, Aragon, Sicily and Naples,§ also an infante of Spain and an archduke of Austria,# also an infante of Spain,‡ also an imperial prince of Brazil,¶ also a prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duke in Saxony,◙ also a prince of Braganza,¤ title removed in 1920 as their parents' marriage was deemed undynastic,ƒ claimant infante
