Fernando did not cherish resentment against the rebellious town. He called a Cortes here in 1178, and liberally endowed the see. In gratitude for the royal favour, Bishop Vital upheld the marriage of Alfonso IX. with his cousin, Teresa of Portugal, thereby bringing upon himself the fulminations of Pope Celestine III., and ultimately the sentence of suspension and deposition. Meanwhile the fighting spirit of the Salamancans was gratified by the establishment of the military order of Alcantara by two of the townsmen, Don Suero Fernández and his brother Gomez. The knights attached themselves to the Cistercian Order, their headquarters being the hermitage of San Julian de Pereo, on the banks of the Coa. The order was approved in 1177 by a bull of Pope Alexander III., afterwards confirmed by Lucius III. Alfonso IX. endowed Salamanca with the university, which was destined to make its name known to the utmost confines of Christendom. This was a flourishing time in Salamanca. The Dominicans and Franciscans settled in the town; buildings, colleges, churches, and convents sprang up on all sides. The banner of Salamanca was seen in the forefront of the battle at Caceres, at Montanchez, at Merida; it fluttered over fallen Trujillo and Medellin; it waved before the walls of Ubeda in 1234, and of Granada two years later. The townsmen followed the Infante Alfonso to the sieges of Murcia and Seville (1248) and were rewarded for their valour by the privilege of holding open markets--probably heretofore the prerogative of the governor. To these halcyon days there succeeded for Salamanca a long period of discord and warfare. Sancho el Bravo, when prince, held the town against his father; and in 1288 it was severely punished for its loyalty to the king by the rebellious Infante Don Juan, whose father-in-law, Don Lope de Haro, seized on the citadel. Under its walls halted the Portuguese army of King Diniz, marching upon Valladolid. In 1308 Salamanca made a vigorous defence, in the interests of the Queen Regent, Maria de Molina, against Nuñez de Lara.