Pedro of Castile

Peter (or Pedro; August 30, 1334 – March 23, 1369), sometimes called the Cruel (el Cruel) or the Lawful (el Justiciero), was the king of Castile from 1350 to 1369. Events 1363 - Beginning date of the Battle of Lake Poyang; the forces of two Chinese rebel leaders— Chen Youliang and Events 1174 - Jocelin, Abbot of Melrose, is elected Bishop of Glasgow. Kingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. He was the son of Alfonso XI and Maria of Portugal, daughter of Afonso IV of Portugal. Alfonso XI of Castile (Salamanca August 13, 1311 &ndash Gibraltar March 26/27 1350 was the king of Castile and León, the son of Infanta Maria of Portugal ( pron mɐ'ɾiɐ was a Portuguese Infanta, first daughter of King Afonso IV of Portugal and his first wife Afonso IV (ɐˈfõsu 8 February 1291 &ndash 28 May 1357 called the Brave (o Bravo was the seventh king of Portugal and the Algarve from 1325 until his death Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. He was the last ruler of the main branch of the House of Burgundy. The Anscarids or Anscarii or the House of Ivrea were a medieval Frankish dynasty of Burgundian origin which rose to prominence in Italy

Popular memory generally views Pedro as vicious monster. Much of Pedro's reputation comes from the works of the chronicler López de Ayala who served Pedro's usurper. Don Pero (or Pedro) López de Ayala (1332 &ndash 1407 was a Castilian Statesman, Historian, Poet, Chronicler After time passed, there was a reaction in Pedro's favour, and an alternative name was found for him. It became a fashion to speak of him as El Justiciero, the executor of justice (the Lawful). Apologists were found to say that he had only killed men who themselves would not submit to the law or respect the rights of others. Pedro did have his supporters. Even Ayalla confessed that the king's fall was regretted by the merchants and traders, who enjoyed security under his rule. The English, who backed Pedro, also remembered the king positively. Geoffrey Chaucer visited Castile during Pedro's reign and lamented the monarch's death in The Monk's Tale, part of The Canterbury Tales. Geoffrey Chaucer (c 1343 – 25 October 1400? was an English author poet Philosopher, bureaucrat, courtier and Diplomat. The Monk's Tale is one of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century (two of them in Prose, the rest in verse) (Chaucer's patron, John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, fought on Pedro's side in his struggle to reclaim the throne. John of Gaunt 1st Duke of Lancaster (second creation 1st Duke of Aquitaine (6 March 1340 &ndash 3 February 1399 was a member of the House of Plantagenet, the third )

Pedro began to reign at the age of sixteen, and found himself subjected to the control of his mother and her favourites. Pedro was to be married to Joan Plantagenet, the daughter of Edward III of England, but on the way to Castile, she travelled through cities infested with plague, ignoring townspeople who had warned her not to enter the town. Joan of England (1333 or 1335 - 2 September 1348) was the daughter of King Edward III of England and his Queen Philippa of Hainault Edward III (13 November 1312 &ndash 21 June 1377 was one of the most successful English monarchs of the Middle Ages. The Black Death, or the Black Plague, was one of the deadliest Pandemics in human history widely thought to have been caused by a bacterium named Yersinia Joan soon contracted the disease and died.

He was unfaithful to his wife, as his father had been. But Alfonso XI did not imprison his wife, or cause her to be murdered, which Pedro did. Alfonso XI of Castile (Salamanca August 13, 1311 &ndash Gibraltar March 26/27 1350 was the king of Castile and León, the son of He had not even the excuse that he was passionately in love with his mistress, María de Padilla; for, at a time when he asserted that he was married to her, and when he was undoubtedly married to Blanca of Bourbon, he went through the form of marriage with a lady of the family of Castro, who bore him a son, and then deserted her. María Díaz de Padilla (María de Padilla (1334 &ndash August 1361 was the mistress of Pedro I, King of Castile, whom she married in secret in 1353 Blanche de Bourbon (1339 &ndash 1361 was daughter of Peter I Duke of Bourbon and Isabella of Valois. María de Padilla was the only lady of his harem of whom he never became quite tired.

At first he was controlled by his mother, but emancipated himself with the encouragement of the minister Albuquerque and became attached to María de Padilla, marrying her in secret in 1353. María turned him against Albuquerque. In the summer of 1353 the king was practically coerced by his mother and the nobles into marrying Blanca of Bourbon, but deserted her at once. This marriage necessitated Pedro's denying that he had married María, but his relationship with her continued and she bore him four children. A period of turmoil followed in which the king was for a time overpowered and in effect imprisoned. The dissension within the party striving to coerce him enabled him to escape from Toro, where he was under observation, to Segovia. Toro is a town and Municipality in the province of Zamora, part of the autonomous community of Castile-Leon, Spain. Segovia is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Segovia in Castile-Leon.

From 1356 to 1366 he engaged in constant wars with Aragon in the "War of the Two Peters", in which he showed neither ability nor daring. Aragon ( Spanish: "Aragón") is an autonomous community of Spain. The War of the Two Peters (La Guerra de los Dos Pedros Guerra dels dos Peres was a war fought from 1356 to 1375 between the kingdoms of Castile and It was during this period that he perpetrated the series of murders which made him notorious. In 1366 began the calamitous Castilian Civil War which would see him dethroned. For the other conflict sometimes called the 'Castilian Civil War' see War of the Castilian Succession. He was assailed by his bastard brother Henry of Trastamara at the head of a host of soldiers of fortune, including Bertrand du Guesclin and Hugh Calveley, and abandoned the kingdom without daring to give battle, after retreating several times (first from Burgos, then from Toledo, and lastly from Seville) in the face of the oncoming armies. Henry II ( January 13, 1334 Sevilla - May 29, 1379 Santo Domingo de la Calzada) better known as Henry of Trastámara Bertrand du Guesclin (c 1320 &ndash 13 July 1380) known as the Eagle of Brittany, was a Breton Knight and French military commander Sir Hugh Calveley (died 23 April 1393 or 1394 was an English soldier and commander who took part in the Hundred Years' War, gaining fame during the History Early man of Neanderthal occupied sites around Burgos as early as 800000 years ago Toledo Spain locationpng|thumb|right|200px|Location of Toledo in Spain Seville ( Spanish: Sevilla, see also different names) is the artistic cultural and financial capital of southern Spain. Peter fled, with his treasury, to Portugal, where he was coldly received by his uncle, King Pedro I of Portugal, and thence to Galicia, in northern Iberian Peninsula, where he ordered the murder of Suero, the archbishop of Santiago, and the dean, Peralvarez. Peter I ( Portuguese: Pedro, ˈpedɾu 8 April 1320 &ndash 18 January 1367) called the Just (Portuguese Galicia (occasionally Galiza) is an autonomous community in northwest Spain. The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe, and includes modern day Spain, Portugal, Andorra Santiago de Compostela (also Saint James of Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia and a UNESCO World A dean, in a church context is a Cleric holding certain positions of authority within a religious hierarchy

Henry continuously depicted Pedro as "King of the Jews," and had some success in taking advantage of Castilian anti-Semitism. Antisemitism (alternatively spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism; also rarely known as judeophobia) is the Prejudice against or hostility He instigated pogroms, beginning a period of anti-Jewish riots and forced conversions in Castile that lasted approximately from 1370 to 1390. Peter took forceful measures against this, including the execution of at least five leaders of a riot by boiling and roasting.

Battle of Najera from 15th century manuscript (Pedro and the English on the left)

In the summer of 1366 Peter took refuge with Edward the Black Prince, who restored him to his throne in the following year after the Battle of Najera. Edward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales, KG (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376 popularly known as The Black Prince, was the eldest son of King Edward But he disgusted his ally with his faithlessness and ferocity, as well as his failure to repay the costs of the campaign, as he had promised to do. The health of the Black Prince broke down, and he left Iberian Peninsula. The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe, and includes modern day Spain, Portugal, Andorra Left to his own resources, Peter was soon overthrown by his brother Henry, with the aid of Bertrand du Guesclin and a body of French and English free companions. Bertrand du Guesclin (c 1320 &ndash 13 July 1380) known as the Eagle of Brittany, was a Breton Knight and French military commander After Pedro's decisive loss at the Battle of Montiel, he was murdered by Henry in du Guesclin's tent on March 23, 1369. The Battle of Montiel was fought in 1369 between Franco-Castilian forces and an alliance of pro-English forces led by the Portuguese Events 1174 - Jocelin, Abbot of Melrose, is elected Bishop of Glasgow.

Pedro's daughters by María de Padilla, Constance and Isabella, were both married to sons of Edward III, king of England, Constance to John of Gaunt and Isabella to Edmund of Langley. Isabella of Castile Duchess of York (c 1355 &ndash 23 December 1392) was a daughter of King Peter of Castile and María de Padilla Edward III (13 November 1312 &ndash 21 June 1377 was one of the most successful English monarchs of the Middle Ages. John of Gaunt 1st Duke of Lancaster (second creation 1st Duke of Aquitaine (6 March 1340 &ndash 3 February 1399 was a member of the House of Plantagenet, the third Edmund of Langley 1st Duke of York ( June 5 1341 &ndash August 1 1402) was a younger son of King Edward III of England and Philippa

The great original but hostile authority for the life of Pedro the Cruel is the Chronicle of the Chancellor Pedro López de Ayala (Madrid 1779-1780). Don Pero (or Pedro) López de Ayala (1332 &ndash 1407 was a Castilian Statesman, Historian, Poet, Chronicler Madrid (pronounced in English in Spanish and colloquially in Spain) is the Capital and largest city of Spain. To put it in perspective there is a biography by Prosper Mérimée, Histoire de Don Pedro I, roi de Castille (Paris, 1848), and a modern history setting Peter in the social and economic context of his time by Clara Estow (Pedro the Cruel of Castile (1350-1369), 1995). Prosper Mérimée ( September 28, 1803 &ndash September 23, 1870) was a French dramatist historian, archaeologist

Pedro's beheading (14th century French manuscript)

Strictly speaking, Pedro was not defeated by Henry but by the opposing aristocracy; the nobles accomplished their objective of enthroning a weaker dynasty (the House of Trastámara), much more amenable to their interests. The House of Trastámara was a Dynasty of kings in the Iberian Peninsula, which governed in Castile from 1369 to 1504, Most of the bad stories about Pedro are likely to be colored by Black Legend, coined by his enemies, who finally succeeded in their rebellion. The Black Legend ( La Leyenda Negra) is a term coined by Julián Juderías in his 1914 book La leyenda negra y la verdad histórica ( The Black Legend The Chancellor López de Ayala, the main source for Pedro's reign, was the official chronicler of the Trastámara, a servant of the new rulers and of Pedro's aristocratic adversaries. Don Pero (or Pedro) López de Ayala (1332 &ndash 1407 was a Castilian Statesman, Historian, Poet, Chronicler

The change of dynasty can be considered as the epilogue of the first act of a long struggle between the Castilian monarchy and the aristocracy; this struggle was to continue for more than three centuries and come to an end only under Charles I of Spain, the grandson of Ferdinand II of Aragon (Ferdinand V of Castile) and Isabella of Castile (The Catholic Kings), in the first quarter of the 16th century. Charles V (24 February 1500 &ndash 21 September 1558 was Aragon ( Spanish: "Aragón") is an autonomous community of Spain. The Catholic Monarchs (los Reyes Católicos is the collective title used in history for Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon

References

• Mérimée, Prosper. The History of Peter the Cruel, King of Castile and Leon. London: R. Bentley, 1849. googlebooks.com Accessed November 17, 2007

Further reading

• Bibliography of recent works (in Spanish)
• [1] Santiago Sevilla, "El Rey Don Pedro el Cruel" , "King Peter the Cruel", "Peter der Grausame König" a tragedy in Spanish, English, and German versions.
• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition article "Peter of Castile", a publication now in the public domain. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone