Inês de Castro
Encyclopedia
Inês Peres de Castro (1325 – 7 January 1355) was a Galician
Galician people
The Galicians are an ethnic group, a nationality whose historical homeland is Galicia in north-western Spain. Most Galicians are bilingual, speaking both their historic language, Galician, and Castilian Spanish.-Political and administrative divisions:...

 noblewoman born of a Portuguese mother. She is best known as lover and posthumously exhumed and declared lawful wife of King Pedro I of Portugal, and therefore Infanta of Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 by order of Pedro himself, as she died before he accessed the throne.

Biography

Inês was the daughter of Pedro Fernández de Castro
Pedro Fernández de Castro
Pedro Fernández de Castro , nicknamed o da Guerra , was a powerful Galician noble and military figure of the House of Castro, descended by illegitimate lines from the kings of Castile-Leon-Galicia...

, Lord of Lemos and Sarria and his noble Portuguese mistress Aldonça Lourenço de Valadares. Her family descended both from the Galician and Portuguese nobilities. She was also well connected to the Castilian Royal Family, by illegitimate descent. Her stepmother was Infanta Beatrix of Portugal, the youngest daughter of Infante Afonso, Lord of Portalegre
Infante Afonso, Lord of Portalegre
Infante Afonso of Portugal was a Portuguese infante , son of King Afonso III of Portugal and his second wife Beatrice of Castile...

 and Infanta Violante Manuel of Castile. Her grandmother was Violante Sánchez de Castile, Lady of Uzero, the illegitimate daughter of Sancho IV of Castile
Sancho IV of Castile
Sancho IV the Brave was the King of Castile, León and Galicia from 1284 to his death. He was the second son of Alfonso X and Yolanda, daughter of James I of Aragon.-Biography:...

. Her great-great grandfather was Rodrigo Alfonso de León, Lord of Aliger, the illegitimate son of Alfonso IX of León
Alfonso IX of Leon
Alfonso IX was king of León and Galicia from the death of his father Ferdinand II in 1188 until his own death...

. She was also legitimately descended from Infanta Sancha Henriques of Portugal, the daughter of Henry, Count of Portugal
Henry, Count of Portugal
Henry of Burgundy, Count of Portugal was Count of Portugal from 1093 to his death. He was brother of Hugh I, Duke of Burgundy, and Odo I, Duke of Burgundy, all sons of Henry, the heir of Robert I, Duke of Burgundy. His name is Henri in modern French, Henricus in Latin, Enrique in modern Spanish...

.

Inês came to Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 in 1340 as a maid of Infanta Constance of Castile
Constance of Penafiel
Constance of Peñafiel or Constance Manuel of Castile was the daughter of Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena , called "el escritor" , Duke of Peñafiel, and his second wife Constance of Aragon, a daughter of James II of Aragon...

, recently married to Prince Pedro, the heir to the Portuguese throne. The prince fell in love with her and started to neglect his lawful wife, endangering the already feeble relations with Castile
Crown of Castile
The Crown of Castile was a medieval and modern state in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accession of the then King Ferdinand III of Castile to the vacant Leonese throne...

. Moreover, Pedro's love for Inês brought the exiled Castilian nobility very close to power, with Inês's brothers becoming the prince's friends and trusted advisors. King Afonso IV of Portugal
Afonso IV of Portugal
Afonso IV , called the Brave , was the seventh king of Portugal and the Algarve from 1325 until his death. He was the only legitimate son of King Denis of Portugal by his wife Elizabeth of Aragon.-Biography:...

, Pedro's father, disliked Inês's influence on his son and waited for their mutual infatuation to wear off, but it did not.
Constance of Castile died in 1345. Afonso IV tried several times to arrange for his son to be remarried, but Pedro refused to take a wife other than Inês, who was not deemed eligible to be queen. Pedro's legitimate son, future king Ferdinand I of Portugal
Ferdinand I of Portugal
Ferdinand I , sometimes referred to as the Handsome or rarely as the Inconstant , was the ninth King of Portugal and the Algarve, the second son of Peter I and his wife, Constance of Castile...

, was a frail child, whereas Pedro and Inês's illegitimate children were thriving; this created even more discomfort among the Portuguese nobles, who feared the increasing Castilian influence over Pedro. Afonso IV banished Inês from the court after Constance's death, but Pedro remained with her declaring her as his true love. After several attempts to keep the lovers apart, Afonso IV ordered Inês's death. Pêro Coelho, Álvaro Gonçalves, and Diogo Lopes Pacheco went to the Monastery of Santa Clara in Coimbra
Coimbra
Coimbra is a city in the municipality of Coimbra in Portugal. Although it served as the nation's capital during the High Middle Ages, it is better-known for its university, the University of Coimbra, which is one of the oldest in Europe and the oldest academic institution in the...

, where Inês was detained, and killed her, decapitating her in front of her small child. When Pedro heard of this he sought out the killers and managed to capture two of them in 1361. He executed them publicly, ripping their hearts out claiming they didn't have one having pulverized his own heart.

Pedro became King of Portugal in 1357. He then stated that he had secretly married Inês, who was consequently the lawful queen, although his word was, and still is, the only proof of the marriage. Legend has it that he had Inês's body exhumed from her grave and forced the entire court to swear allegiance to their new queen by kissing the corpse's hand. She was later buried at the Monastery of Alcobaça
Monastery of Alcobaça
The Alcobaça Monastery is a Mediaeval Roman Catholic Monastery located in the town of Alcobaça, in central Portugal. It was founded by the first Portuguese King, Afonso Henriques, in 1153, and maintained a close association with the Kings of Portugal throughout its history.The church and monastery...

 where her coffin can still be seen, opposite Pedro's so that, according to the legend, at the Last Judgment
Last Judgment
The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, or The Day of the Lord in Christian theology, is the final and eternal judgment by God of every nation. The concept is found in all the Canonical gospels, particularly the Gospel of Matthew. It will purportedly take place after the...

 Pedro and Inês can look at each other as they rise from their graves. Both marble coffins are exquisitely sculpted with scenes from their lives and a promise by Pedro that they would be together até ao fim do mundo (until the end of the world).

Inês de Castro and Pedro I had the following children:
  • (Prince) Afonso (1346-1346), died young shortly after birth.
  • Infanta Beatriz, Countess of Alburquerque
    Infanta Beatriz, Countess of Alburquerque
    Infanta Beatrice of Portugal was the daughter of Portuguese King Peter I and a Castilian noblewoman called Inês de Castro.Beatrice was born in Coimbra around the period of 1347–1351 and she became Countess of Alburquerque when she married Sancho Alfonso, 1st Count of Alburquerque...

    , (c. 1347–1381), married Sancho Alfonso, 1st Count of Alburquerque.
  • John, Prince of Portugal (1349–1397), claimant to the throne during the 1383-1385 Crisis.
  • Denis, Prince of Portugal (1354–1397), claimant to the throne during the 1383-1385 Crisis.


Inês de Castro and Peter I of Portugal
Peter I of Portugal
Peter I , called the Just , was the eighth King of Portugal and the Algarve from 1357 until his death. He was the third but only surviving son of Afonso IV of Portugal and his wife, princess Beatrice of Castile....

 were the great-great-grandparents of Ferdinand II of Aragon
Ferdinand II of Aragon
Ferdinand the Catholic was King of Aragon , Sicily , Naples , Valencia, Sardinia, and Navarre, Count of Barcelona, jure uxoris King of Castile and then regent of that country also from 1508 to his death, in the name of...

. Ferdinand's wife Isabella I of Castile
Isabella I of Castile
Isabella I was Queen of Castile and León. She and her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon brought stability to both kingdoms that became the basis for the unification of Spain. Later the two laid the foundations for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor...

 was a great-great-granddaughter of Peter I of Portugal
Peter I of Portugal
Peter I , called the Just , was the eighth King of Portugal and the Algarve from 1357 until his death. He was the third but only surviving son of Afonso IV of Portugal and his wife, princess Beatrice of Castile....

 and his mistress Teresa Lourenço.

Inês de Castro in literature and music

Inês de Castro’s history is immortalized in several plays and poems in Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...

, such as The Lusíadas
Os Lusíadas
Os Lusíadas , usually translated as The Lusiads, is a Portuguese epic poem by Luís Vaz de Camões ....

by Luís de Camões
Luís de Camões
Luís Vaz de Camões is considered Portugal's and the Portuguese language's greatest poet. His mastery of verse has been compared to that of Shakespeare, Vondel, Homer, Virgil and Dante. He wrote a considerable amount of lyrical poetry and drama but is best remembered for his epic work Os Lusíadas...

, and Spanish language
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

, such as "Nise lastimosa" and "Nise laureada" (1577) by Jerónimo Bermúdez
Jerónimo Bermúdez
Jerónimo Bermúdez de Castro was a playwright of the Spanish Golden Age....

, Reinar despues de morir by Luís Vélez de Guevara
Luís Vélez de Guevara
Luis Vélez de Guevara was a Spanish dramatist and novelist.Velez de Guevara was born at Écija and was of Jewish converso descent...

, as well as a play by French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 playwright Henry de Montherlant
Henry de Montherlant
Henry de Montherlant or Henry Marie Joseph Frédéric Expedite Millon de Montherlant was a French essayist, novelist and one of the leading French dramatists of the twentieth century.- Works :...

 called La Reine morte (The Dead Queen).

There have been over 20 operas, including
  • Ines de Castro by Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli
    Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli
    Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli was an Italian composer, chiefly of opera.-Early career:Zingarelli was born in Naples, where he studied at the Santa Maria di Loreto Conservatory under Fenaroli and Speranza....

     (1798)
  • Ines de Castro by Giuseppe Persiani
    Giuseppe Persiani
    Giuseppe Persiani was an Italian opera composer. He wrote his first opera - one of 11 - in 1826 but, after his marriage the soprano Fanny Tacchinardi Persiani, who was to become a significant singer in her time, he devoted much of his efforts to supporting her career...

     to a libretto by Salvadore Cammarano (1835)
  • Ines de Castro by Scottish
    Scotland
    Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

     composer James MacMillan
    James MacMillan (musician)
    James MacMillan CBE is a Scottish classical composer and conductor.-Early life:MacMillan was born at Kilwinning, in North Ayrshire, but lived in the East Ayrshire town of Cumnock until 1977....

     was first performed at the 1996 Edinburgh International Festival
    Edinburgh International Festival
    The Edinburgh International Festival is a festival of performing arts that takes place in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, over three weeks from around the middle of August. By invitation from the Festival Director, the International Festival brings top class performers of music , theatre, opera...

    http://www.scottishopera.org.uk/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26&Itemid=48&limit=1&limitstart=2
  • The opera Wut (Rage) in German
    German language
    German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

     by Swiss composer Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzini (born 1971) was performed for the first time at the Theater Erfurt
    Erfurt
    Erfurt is the capital city of Thuringia and the main city nearest to the geographical centre of Germany, located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nuremberg and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich. It lies in the southern part of the Thuringian...

    , Germany, on 9 September 2006.

  • Ines de Castro by American composer Thomas Pasatieri
    Thomas Pasatieri
    Thomas Pasatieri is an American opera composer.He began composing at age 10 and, as a teenager, studied with Nadia Boulanger...

     premiered in 1976 with the Baltimore Opera
  • Ines by Canadian composer James Rolfe
    James Rolfe
    James Simon Rolfe is one of Canada's leading composers of contemporary music. He studied composition with John Beckwith at the University of Toronto and Jo Kondo in Japan...

     premiered in 2009 by the Queen of Puddings Music Theatre Company in Toronto.

Ancestry



External links

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