Inês De Castro's Royal Links
Inês de Castro hailed from the Galician region of Iberia that bordered Portugal. She was born in 1325 to Pedro Fernández de Castro, Lord of Lemos and Sarria, and his mistress Aldonça Lourenço de Valadares. The couple already had a son, Alvaro Pires de Castro. Inês' grandmother, Violante Sanchez of Castile, was the illegitimate daughter of King Sancho IV of Castile.
In 1340 Inês travelled to Portugal as a lady-in-waiting to her newly married cousin Constanza of Castile. The diplomatic match with Infante Pedro of Portugal, the heir of King Afonzo IV of Portugal (not Alfonzo as we might expect), was contracted to improve the strength of relations between Castile and Portugal. Pedro's mother, Queen Beatriz, was the youngest legitimate daughter of King Sancho IV of Castile.
Pedro swiftly fell in love with Inês, and he neglected his wife. This unsurprisingly angered the Castilians. Pedro and Inês began a secret affair that didn't remain a secret for long. The king hoped that Pedro's infatuation would end quickly and that the delicate relationship with Castile might be allowed to flourish.
The De Castro Family: Pro-Castile, Anti-Portugal's Independence?
Pedro's love for Inês didn't wane. Her half-brother Fernando and full-brother Alvaro Pires benefitted from her relationship with Pedro. The Portuguese Infante considered the de Castros his firm friends, and he employed the brothers in important roles at court. Inês' half-sister Juana married well to King Pedro of Castile.
As Fernando and Alvaro Pires' influence increased, the king and court worried that they, and perhaps Inês, were promoting Castile's interests and urging Pedro to claim thrones in other areas of the Iberian peninsula. Changes threatened the viability of Portugal's independence.
King Afonzo banished Inês from court in 1344, and he was stunned when Pedro followed her into exile instead of staying with his wife. Pedro and Inês were begrudgingly welcomed back to court to avoid further scandal. Each subsequent attempt Afonzo made to remove her were as unrewarding.
King Afonzo IV of Portugal Challenges Infante Pedro and Inês de Castro's Romance
Constanza and Pedro had two surviving children, Maria and Fernando. In late January 1349, Constanza passed away from complications after childbirth; their baby daughter also died.
Inês and Pedro lived openly as a couple after Constanza's death. They had four children; their first son Afonzo died in infancy, and João, Dinis and Beatriz survived into adulthood.
As determined as Pedro was to marry Inês in a love match, King Afonzo was determined that Pedro should marry dynastically and diplomatically. The king and court believed that illegitimate pro-Castile Inês de Castro was wholly unsuitable for the role of a royal wife and as Portugal's future queen.
Pedro and Inês's daughter Beatriz is an ancestor of every Spanish ruler since her great-grandson King Ferdinand II of Aragon. He ruled in the 15th century. He was married to Isabella I of Castile. Henry VIII of England's first wife, Catherine of Aragon, was their daughter.
Inês de Castro Murdered on King Afonzo IV's Orders
The king's solution to the problem of how to remove Inês from Pedro's life forever was to order her murder.
In January 1355, Inês was forcibly removed from court while Pedro was away hunting. She was taken to the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha in Coimbra. She had an emotional interview with the king, which evidently failed to dissuade him from killing her. On 7th January 1355, his henchmen Diogo Lopes Pacheco, Pêro Coelho and Álvaro Gonçalves decapitated her in front of one, maybe more, of her and Pedro's small children.
An angry and grieving Pedro called for a revolution. Inês brother and half-brother fought alongside him against the royal soldiers. The revolt came to an end within one year of Inês murder; father and son were not reconciled. King Afonzo IV died on 28th May 1357, and Pedro acceded to the throne as King Pedro I of Portugal.
Dead Queen Inês' Coronation
In 1357 Pedro claimed that he and Inês were married in 1354 in secret, and witnesses were produced. Inês was his rightful queen, and Pedro did not plan to marry again. In April 1357, his mistress Teresa Lourenço bore him a son named Joao; he ruled Portugal between 1385-1433.
Romance, truth and myth have combined over the centuries to give us the accepted history that has become Portuguese folklore. Royal sources stated that Pedro exhumed Inês' body from its grave in Coimbra and that he had her dressed, crowned and placed on the throne for her coronation.
His courtiers were told to pay obeisance to her, something that they neglected to do during her lifetime. They had a choice of kissing Inês' hand or the hem of her gown. After a funeral was held, she was buried in the royal monastery in Alcobaça.
King Pedro I's Revenge
King Pedro captured Inês' killers in 1361. Coelho and Gonçalves were publicly executed. Pedro tore their hearts out of their chests as he announced that as they had ripped his heart out in 1355, they were not entitled to their own.
Pedro I was laid to rest beside Inês in 1367 as he'd instructed so they would rise together at the Last Judgement. The marble tomb bears the words "Até o fim do mundo." or "Until the end of the world."
Inês and Pedro's story has inspired music, books, plays, poetry, a Portuguese television series, a 2018 movie and over twenty ballets and operas. It is Portugal's Romeo and Juliet.
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