Beatrix of Portugal

Beatrix of Portugal

Beatrix of Portugal (Portuguese Beatrice ; also called British ; * probably February 1373 in Coimbra ; † after 1409) was the wife of the Castilian King John I from 1383 to 1390 Queen of Castile and León .

Life

Beatrix was the only daughter of the Portuguese King Ferdinand I and his wife Leonore Teles de Menezes ; her two brothers died in infancy. After Ferdinand had to conclude the shameful Peace of Santarém on March 19, 1373 after a lost war against the Castilian King Henry II of Trastámara , the better understanding of the neighboring monarchs since then seemed even more secure than Ferdinand was his young daughter and presumed heir to the throne Beatrix In 1376 betrothed to Duke Friedrich von Benavente, an illegitimate son of Henry II. But when the Castilian king died in May 1379 and his son John I succeeded him on the throne, he negotiated a contract with the Portuguese side for a later marriage between his eldest, only one-year-old son Heinrich and Ferdinand's daughter. It was stipulated that in the event of the premature death of one of the future spouses, their kingdom should fall to the survivor. The Portuguese and Castilian Cortes confirmed this treaty.

Meanwhile there was another war between Portugal and Castile in 1381, in which Ferdinand was supported by England. In July 1381 Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York , the fifth son of the English King Edward III landed . , with reinforcement troops in Portugal. Now Beatrix was married to Edmund's eight-year-old son Edward and the wedding was celebrated. The child couple symbolically climbed into the marriage bed in the presence of numerous nobles and prelates. After the peace agreement between Ferdinand and John I of Castile in August 1382, the English left again and the Pope annulled Edward and Beatrix's marriage because both were minors. The settlement between Portugal and Castile provided that Beatrix should instead be married to Ferdinand , the second son of King John I of Castile. To better secure the succession of their daughter to the throne, Ferdinand and his wife had Juan Fernández Andeiro , Count of Ourém, renegotiate with the Castilian side at the beginning of 1383 and achieved that the recently widowed John I would now himself take Beatrix as his wife. In the Treaty of Salvaterra de Magos (April 2, 1383), however, it was determined that after the death of Ferdinand, the reign of Portugal would initially pass to Leonore Teles de Menezes until a son of Beatrix had reached the age of 14, and various other clauses of the The marriage contract was intended to prevent Portugal's full union with Castile. After the engagement of Beatrix and Johann I zu Estremoz , the couple's wedding took place on May 17, 1383 in the cathedral church of the border town of Badajoz ; the bride was only 10 years old at the time.

Soon afterwards King Ferdinand died on October 22nd, 1383. His widow Leonore Teles took over the reign in the name of her daughter Beatrix, but wanted her to be proclaimed Queen of Portugal at the request of the Castilian king, contrary to her marriage contract. But the Portuguese people did not want their state to join Castile. Soon there was an uprising against the already unpopular queen widow led by Johann , the grand master of the Avis order and half-brother of the late King Ferdinand ( revolution of 1383 ). John I of Castile then penetrated Portugal with his troops and in January 1384 forced Leonore Teles to resign her reign in favor of her daughter. From March onwards he besieged Lisbon for several months, which was defended by Johann von Avis . But then the plague broke out among the Castilian troops and thinned their ranks. When Beatrix also seemed to have contracted this epidemic, the Castilians finally withdrew in September 1384.

To clarify the Portuguese succession to the throne, the Cortes were convened in Coimbra in March 1385. The legal scholar João das Regras, who was trained at the University of Bologna and others, stood up for the claims of Johann von Avis . This eloquent lawyer tried to cast doubt on Beatrix's legitimate parentage because her parents had only entered into a secret marriage at first and Leonore Teles had also been around other lovers. Therefore it would be uncertain whether Beatrix had been conceived before or after the wedding of her parents; it is not even certain whether Ferdinand is actually her father. João das Regras also put forward successful arguments against another promising contender for the Portuguese throne, Ferdinand's other half-brother John , whom the Castilian king had therefore interned, so that the Cortes of Coimbra on April 6, 1385 John of Avis became their new one King chose. After the devastating Castilian defeat in the Battle of Aljubarrota (August 14, 1385), the rule of John of Avis was secured, even if the Castilian king and his wife Beatrix continued to call themselves King and Queen of Portugal.

The marriage of Beatrix and her husband probably remained childless. On October 9, 1390, John I of Castile died as a result of falling from his horse. His successor was his underage son from his first marriage, Heinrich III., Who was briefly engaged to Beatrix in 1380. Portuguese nobles who had gone into exile continued to force Beatrix's claims to the throne, but Henry III. according to an agreement he had made with the King of Portugal in 1402. Beatrix's exact year of death is unknown; she probably died in Castile around 1420 and was buried in a monastery in Toro .

literature

• P. Feige: Beatrix 3) . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA). Volume 1, Artemis & Winkler, Munich / Zurich 1980, ISBN 3-7608-8901-8 , Sp. 1743 f.
• Olivera Serrano, César (2005). Beatrice de Portugal. La pugna dinástica Avís-Trastámara. CSIC. ISBN 9788400083434 . (Spanish) .

Remarks

1. ↑ According to other sources, Beatrix was born in 1372.