Leonora Telles (c. 1350–1386)

Mistress and then queen of Ferdinand I of Portugal who served as regent following his death until overthrown in the Revolution of 1383–85. Name variations: Leonora Teles de Meneses; Lenor Telles de Menezes; Eleanor Tellez de Meneses. Born Leonora Telles de Meneses in Trás os Montes around 1350; died on April 27, 1386, at Cloister Tordesillas, Valladolid; interred at Cloister Mercede, Valladolid; daughter of Martin Afonso Telles de Meneses and Aldonza de Vasconcelhos also spelled Aldonsa de Vasconcelos; married João Lourenço also known as John Lorenzo da Cunha; married Fernando also known as Ferdinand I (1345–1383), king of Portugal (r. 1367–1383), in 1372 (died on October 22, 1383); regent of Portugal, 1383–1384; children: (first marriage)Alvaro da Cunha; (second marriage) Beatrice of Portugal (1372–after 1409, who married John I of Castile and Leon); Pedro (1380–1380); Alfonso (1382–1382).

Death of Peter I of Portugal (1367); murder of Peter the Cruel (Pedro the Cruel) of Castile by his half-brother, Henry II of Trastamara; marriage of Leonora's daughter Beatrice and John I of Castile (1382); Portuguese defeat Castilians at battle of Aljubarrota (1385); Portuguese cortes proclaims John I of Aviz king (1385).

Leonora Telles was born in the mid-14th century, around 1350, to an aristocratic Portuguese couple, Martin Afonso Telles de Meneses and Aldonsa de Vasconcelos . Her uncle was the count of Barcelos, John Alphonso Telo, a dominant figure at the court of Ferdinand I, king of Portugal. As a young woman, Leonora married a cousin and minor noble, John Lorenzo da Cunha, and a son, Alvaro da Cunha, was born to them. Meanwhile her married sister, Maria Telles , lived at court as a lady-in-waiting to the Infanta (princess) Beatrice of Portugal (c. 1347–1381).

Eventually Leonora Telles left her husband and child in northeastern Portugal and went to visit her sister Maria in Lisbon. Lodged at the palace, Leonora attracted the king's amorous attention, but shrewdly did not give in to his enticements. Ferdinand I was "handsome, liberal and impetuous," and as yet unmarried, although he was engaged to a Castilian princess, Henry II's daughter Eleanor Trastamara . Eleanor was still a child and unable to wed until she reached puberty. Leonora Telles had likely not traveled to Lisbon with any inkling that she would become the object of the king's desires, although her uncle, the count of Barcelos, was ambitious to enhance his power and influence over the ruler. But neither did she flee back to her husband and child. Once the monarch's passions became clear, her uncle recognized the situation's potential. He advised his niece in an ambitious game: entice Ferdinand until he broke with his betrothed princess Eleanor Trastamara and made Leonora Telles queen.

Of course, Leonora's own marriage made her situation even more complicated, as did the opinion of the Portuguese aristocracy and people. Puzzled by Leonora's delay in Lisbon and perhaps aware of rumors about her affair with the king, her husband John Lorenzo da Cunha insisted that she return home. When she informed the king that she must depart, he avowed his love for her and his determination to make her his queen. Almost immediately the count of Barcelos began negotiating the annulment of his niece Leonora's marriage. John Lorenzo refused to cooperate but, fearing for his life, took refuge in Castile. With him out of the way, Barcelos and the king easily secured the desired annulment.

It was more difficult, however, to keep the scandal from arousing public ire. Dissident Portuguese nobles, envious of Barcelos' influence, complained that Ferdinand I was insulting Henry II, the king of Castile. A group of aristocrats, including Prince Denis, Ferdinand's half-brother by their father Peter I's mistress, Ines de Castro , provoked a public protest in Lisbon. Led by a tailor named Fernão Vasques, a crowd of 3,000 in Lisbon denounced the couple's behavior. Vasques called Leonora Telles a bruxa (witch) and proclaimed the people ready to prevent the king's marriage to such an evil woman. To forestall violence, Ferdinand I announced that he would never marry Leonora Telles and that he would make a public proclamation the following day. Instead, the lovers snuck out of the city, fearing a riot. Never one to let an affront pass, Leonora Telles made sure that Vasques paid with his life for his temerity. By this time Leonora was probably the king's mistress; in the public mind, she certainly was. According to some accounts, they were secretly wed in late 1371, although Ferdinand was too afraid to reveal the marriage. Meanwhile, he sent an ambassador to Henry II of Castile, announcing his intention to break the engagement with the princess, Eleanor Trastamara.

Telles, Maria (d. 1379)

Duchess of Valencia. Name variations: Maria de Menezes; Maria de Telles. Murdered by her husband in 1379; daughter of Martin Afonso Telles de Meneses and Aldonza de Vasconcelhos also spelled Aldonsa de Vasconcelos; older sister of Leonora Telles (c. 1350–1386); married John (c. 1349–1397), duke of Valencia, in 1376.

With the rebels suppressed, the royal couple celebrated their wedding in Oporto in 1372. Leonora Telles quickly took care of her relatives. She raised her uncle Barcelos to count of Ourém and made his son count of Barcelos. Her brother John Alphonso Telles de Meneses became admiral of Portugal and another brother, Gonçalo Telles de Meneses, count of Neiva. Many Portuguese nobles hated the queen but kept silent. A few, such as Prince Denis, left the court. Having gained her objective, the queen "then became hypocritically docile, seeking to captivate the nobility with her generosity and kindness." In February 1372, she gave birth to a royal princess, Beatrice of Portugal (1372–after 1409).

On the international front, her presence on the throne gave Henry II a pretext for declaring war against Ferdinand. Declaring that Ferdinand had insulted Castile by breaking off the engagement, Henry II ordered his army across the border. Dynastic rivalries between the Western European monarchies provided the real motive behind the conflict. This was the era of the Hundred Years' War between England and France, whose monarchs needed allies in the Iberian peninsula. Henry II of Castile had aligned himself with the French, and John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, countered by offering support to Ferdinand I in 1372. As husband of Constance of Castile (1354–1394), Peter the Cruel's daughter, John of Gaunt claimed that he and his wife were the legitimate rulers of Castile rather than the fratricidal Henry II. Juan Fernández Andeiro, a Galician knight, represented Lancaster in Portugal and quickly became an intimate of Leonora Telles, if medieval accounts are to be believed. He promised English troops to protect Ferdinand from Henry's army, but they did not arrive on schedule. Castilian forces laid siege to Lisbon. Unprepared to defend their kingdom, Ferdinand and Leonora had to sign the ignominious peace of Santarém on March 19, 1373, that required the Portuguese monarchy to ally itself with Henry II.

As soon as King [Ferdinand] had died and Queen [Leonora] had been proclaimed regent, riots broke out in many towns, including Lisbon … and a powerful revolutionary movement took over Lisbon, Oporto and many other towns.

—Derek Lomax and R.J. Oakley

With peace temporarily restored, Leonora apparently set out to remove the principal domestic threats to her power. Ferdinand's father, Peter I, had left three illegitimate sons by two mistresses. The aforementioned Denis, count of Villar-Dompardo, and John, duke of Valencia, were the sons of Ines de Castro, while Teresa Lorenzo had given birth to John (I of Aviz), master of Aviz. Denis had abandoned Portugal and gone to Castile. His brother John of Valencia was married to Leonora Telles' own sister Maria. The queen allegedly spread rumors that her sister was unfaithful to John of Valencia, meanwhile suggesting to John that he might become king of Portugal by marrying Princess Beatrice. Taking the bait, John of Valencia murdered his wife Maria, only to have the queen publicly shun him. He fled to Lisbon, freeing Queen Leonora Telles of her second main nemesis.

She then turned her ire against John of Aviz and Gonçalo Vasques de Azevedo. The latter had detected the queen's sexual affair with Andeiro, and she feared he would make it a public scandal. Leonora Telles consequently persuaded her husband, who was still "completely dominated by that woman who had bewitched him," to arrest his half-brother John of Aviz and Vasques de Azevedo. She then sent a dispatch to the castle in Evora where they were imprisoned, ordering the jailer to execute them immediately. He hesitated, however, fearful of acting without clear orders from the king. When her strategy failed, she reportedly changed tactics, petitioning for their release to make it appear that she found their arrest unreasonable.

In 1379, Henry II of Castile died, leaving John I of Castile as his successor and rekindling international intrigue. Lancaster and Andeiro secretly petitioned Ferdinand to form a new anti-Castilian alliance with the English. Andeiro's influence with Leonora Telles and her control over the king eventually led Ferdinand to break the treaty of Santarém. The war went badly for all sides; the English Parliament refused to fund the duke of Lancaster's forces, and on August 10, 1381, the Portuguese and Castilian officers secretly agreed to end hostilities. As part of the pact, Ferdinand and Leonora's daughter Beatrice was to marry the son of John I of Castile.

The next two years undid much of what Leonora Telles' ambition had managed to achieve. In July 1382, she gave birth to a son and heir to the Portuguese throne, but he lived only a few days. Beatrice thus stood to inherit, but her gender and age did not provide good security. To protect the family's interests, Leonora and Andeiro renegotiated the dynastic alliance between Castile and Portugal in the spring of 1383. John I of Castile's wife Eleanor of Aragon (1358–1382) had died, and he agreed to marry Beatrice himself, hoping the alliance would eventually make him effective ruler of both Castile and Portugal. In May, he married her, and she departed for Spain. More disastrous for Leonora Telles was the death of King Ferdinand on October 22, 1383.

This left Portugal without a ruler, as the king's only surviving child, the 12-year-old Beatrice, was now married to John I of Castile. Fearing that one of Ines de Castro's sons might try to seize the Portuguese crown, John I of Castile ordered their arrest. He then had himself and Beatrice proclaimed monarchs of Portugal and moved his army across the border. Meanwhile, Leonora Telles had appointed herself regent and governor. Yet Portuguese nationalists resented both Spanish attempts to control their country and Leonora's foreign advisors such as Andeiro. The queen herself was very unpopular and had no real power base. With the country anxious about the impending Castilian invasion, riots broke out in Lisbon and other important cities. John of Aviz broke into the royal palace and killed Andeiro on December 6, 1383. This unleashed a wave of popular resentment against the queen, and she feared that John of Aviz would kill her also. Nonetheless, he did not intend to seize power and allowed Leonora to continue governing as regent. Thus freed from immediate danger, Leonora Telles appealed to her son-in-law John I of Castile for aid, encouraging him to seize Portugal. John I of Castile and Leonora met in Santarém, where she conferred the regency upon him. In so doing, she deprived herself of any real political influence, and left the field to the men. Some Portuguese nobles sided with John I of Castile, but most Portuguese supported John of Aviz. In 1384, the Castilian army advanced on Lisbon and laid siege to it but eventually withdrew when plague infected their camp. The following year, the Portuguese devastated John I of Castile's army at the battle of Aljubarrota. Meanwhile the Portuguese cortes (medieval assembly) offered the crown to John of Aviz, completing the Revolution of 1383–85 and establishing the Aviz dynasty on the Portuguese throne.

For a while Leonora Telles tried to cooperate with John I of Castile, but he refused to permit her any real influence at his court. Frustrated and vengeful, she apparently took one of his cousins, Pedro de Trastamara, as her lover and pressed him to assassinate the king. When the plot was discovered, John I of Castile sent Leonora to a convent in Tordesillas, where she spent the brief remainder of her life. She died on April 27, 1386, and her body was eventually interred in the cloister of the Mercedarian convent of Valladolid.

sources:

Bernardino, Teresa. A Revolução Portuguesa de 1383–1385. Lisboa: Publicações Europa-América, 1984.

Caetano, Marcello. A Crise Nacional de 1383–1385. Lisboa: Verbo, 1985.

Livermore, H.V. A New History of Portugal. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1969.

Lopes, Fernão. As Crónicas de Fernão Lopes Seleccionadas e Transpostas em Português Moderno. 3 ed. Lisboa: Gadiva, 1993.

——. The English in Portugal, 1367–87 : Extracts from the Chronicles of Dom Fernando and Dom João. Transl. by Derek W. Lomax and R.J. Oakley. Warminster, England: Aris & Phillips, 1988.

Kendall W. Brown , Professor of History, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah