Eleanor of Castile (1307–1359)

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Eleanor of Castile (1307–1359)

Queen-consort of Aragon. Name variations: Leonor of Castile; Leonor de Castilla; Infanta of Castile. Born in 1307; murdered in 1359 at the Château de Catroheriz; daughter of Ferdinand IV, king of Castile and Leon (r. 1296–1312), and Constance of Portugal (1290–1313); married Prince Jaime of Aragon, on October 18, 1319; became second wife of Alfonso or Alphonso IV (d. 1359), king of Aragon (r. 1327–1336), on February 5, 1329; children: Ferran; Juan (Joan).

Eleanor of Castile was born in 1307, the daughter of Ferdinand IV, king of Castile, and Constance of Portugal . She was the sister of Castilian king, Alphonso XI. In 1319, her father betrothed Eleanor to the crown prince of Aragon, Prince Jaime. This union quickly ended in failure, however, because shortly after the nuptials, the groom announced that he intended to take religious vows. Ten years later, Eleanor's brother Alphonso arranged her marriage to Jaime's widowed younger brother, Alphonso IV, king of Aragon.

Eleanor gave birth to two sons, Ferran and Juan (Joan), and dedicated much of her energy to securing properties and power for them, as the crown would pass to their elder half-brother, Peter IV the Ceremonius (also known as Pedro IV), Alphonso IV's son by his first wife, Teresa d'Entenza . Reluctant to resist his determined wife, Alphonso conferred several cities and other incomes upon the sons, despite widespread criticism and protest in the kingdom. According to Aragonese custom, the properties should have remained part of the royal patrimony to be inherited by Peter.

In other words, the Aragonese resented Eleanor's influence over her irresolute husband. Eleanor and her stepson were fierce foes. He saw that she was persuading his father to give away parts of the royal patrimony, and she understood Peter to be the main obstacle to satisfying her ambitions for her sons. No fool, Eleanor sneaked back to Castile when Alphonso became fatally ill in 1336, not even waiting for the king to die.

Gathering allies, Eleanor and her sons battled to keep Peter IV from stripping them of their holdings. Negotiation succeeded where war failed, and the Aragonese finally agreed that Ferran and Joan could retain the properties, although at their death, the estates would revert to the king's possession. Meanwhile, Eleanor became enmeshed in the Castilian civil war between Peter the Cruel and Enrique of Trastámara. She sided too early with Enrique, the eventual victor. In 1358 one of Peter the Cruel's allies brutally assassinated Joan and the following year the Castilian king arrested and killed Eleanor. Peter IV murdered Ferran, Eleanor's surviving son, in 1363.