Eleanor of Castile (1307–1359)

Eleanor of Castile
Queen consort of Aragon
Tenure	1329–36
Born	1307
Died	1359 (aged 51–52)
Spouse	Alfonso IV of Aragon
Issue	Ferdinand, Marquis of Tortosa John of Aragon
House	House of Ivrea Burgundy
Father	Ferdinand IV of Castile
Mother	Constance of Portugal
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Eleanor of Castile (1307–1359) was the eldest child of Ferdinand IV of Castile by his wife Constance of Portugal. She was Queen of Aragon.

She was engaged to marry James, eldest son of James II of Aragon and Blanche of Anjou. James refused to consummate the marriage, wishing instead to be a monk. He renounced his right to the throne in 1319, and the marriage was dissolved.

In February 1329, Eleanor married James' widowed younger brother, Alfonso IV of Aragon. They had two sons:

• Ferdinand, Marquis of Tortosa (1329–63), married Maria, Marchioness of Tortosa;
• John (1331–58), married in 1355 to Isabel Núñez de Lara (daughter of Juan Núñez III de Lara) and was killed by order of his cousin, Peter of Castile.

Alfonso died in 1336. His son from his first marriage became Peter IV of Aragon. While Peter was at Zaragoza, an embassy from Castile met him and asked that he promise to uphold the donations of land his father had made to Eleanor, but he refused to give a clear answer as to the legitimacy of the donations.

Eleanor became a disruptive influence in Aragon, plotting to advance the interests of her own sons over those of her stepson. Peter at first moved to confiscate her revenues and prosecute her protector, Pedro de Ejérica, but in 1338 he confirmed her and her sons in possession of their domains, not wishing to antagonise Castile at a time when Spain was threatened by a new Moorish invasion. She continued to plot against her stepson, eventually returning to Castile where she was also a disruptive influence.^[1]

Eleanor went home to Castile with her children while Peter IV of Aragon was fighting Peter of Castile. Her son, John, was imprisoned by the King of Castile and then murdered, but her son Ferdinand stayed away.

Eleanor was imprisoned and murdered on the orders of Peter in 1359 in the Castle of Castrojeriz in Castile, along with Juana de Lara.^[2] Her remains are believed to be interred in the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Manzano in Castrojeriz.^[3] Ferdinand was killed in 1363 by his half-brother, the King of Aragon.

Ancestry

References