Catherine of Lancaster

Catherine of Lancaster

Katharina von Lancaster LG (English Katherine of Lancaster or Catherine Plantagenet , Spanish Catalina de Lancáster ) (* probably March 31, 1373 in Hertford , England; † June 2, 1418 in Valladolid ) was the wife of Henry III. Queen of Castile and León (1393–1406). From 1406 until her death, this female member of the Anjou-Plantagenêt family acted as regent for her underage son, Johann II.

origin

Catherine was the daughter of the English Prince John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and his second wife Constance of Castile , the daughter and heir to the throne of Peter I the Cruel . Katharina had only one full brother, John , who died as a toddler , but had several half-siblings who came from her father's other marriages.

youth

As a toddler, Katharina received her own court in Melbourne in Derbyshire in January 1375 . From mid-April 1380 until at least 1382 she was living with a widowed relative of her father, Joan Burghersh, Lady Mohun. Since Katharina's maternal grandfather had been murdered in 1369 by his half-brother Heinrich von Trastámara , John of Gaunt wanted to make himself King of Castile through the claims of his wife. After the victory of John I of Portugal in 1385 in the battle of Aljubarrota against John I of Castile , the son of Henry of Trastámaras, England and Portugal allied themselves against Castile. John of Gaunt then undertook a campaign there, accompanied by his wife, daughter Katharina and their sisters in 1386, but he had to retreat to Portugal after a failed invasion of León . To end the rivalries, John I of Castile proposed that Catherine marry his son Heinrich (III) and in return John of Gaunt should renounce his claim to the throne. The Duke of Lancaster agreed in 1387, and on July 8, 1388 the corresponding treaty was signed by Bayonne .

marriage

In a statement dated August 5, 1388, Catherine accepted her planned marriage and the terms of the Treaty of Bayonne, according to which she received the cities of Soria , Almazán , Atienza, Deza and Molina as a dowry and privately the authority of Pope Urban VI. was allowed to recognize. The marriage of Catherine and the only nine-year-old Heinrich (III.) Took place on September 17, 1388 in the cathedral of Palencia . In September 1390, Catherine had to agree to submit to the religious suzerainty of the anti-popes of Avignon .

After the death of Johann I (1390) he was followed by his son Heinrich III. to the throne of Castile, but was only declared of age in 1393 and was now able to take over the government. Katharina's political influence on her husband's government was rather small. After all, their support is known to the Dominicans .

Queen widow

Katharina only played an important political role after the death of her husband (December 25, 1406), since according to his will, she and her brother-in-law Ferdinand were supposed to manage the affairs of state for their underage son Johann II. But she should have entrusted her son to the nobles Diego López de Stúñiga and Juan Fernandez de Velasco . However, she did not want to surrender her son, but instead took up a position in a famous Spanish castle, the Alcázar of Segovia , in 1407 when her brother-in-law was able to negotiate an agreement that guaranteed her supervision over her son.

Nevertheless, there were disagreements between the two rulers, which were exacerbated by Ferdinand's planned war against the southern Spanish emirate of Granada in continuation of his brother's policy . According to the will of the late king, the empire was therefore divided into spheres of influence. Catherine the north was awarded with Old Castile and León. Nonetheless, tensions persisted between the queen widow and her brother-in-law. Ferdinand was a thorn in the side of Katharina's sponsorship of Velasco and Stúñiga, and in 1409 he finally demanded that the two nobles be removed from the court. Now the queen widow also financially supported her brother-in-law's expensive fights against Granada.

Because of Katharina's contribution to these wars, her alliance with France cooled off, but she was able to establish better relations with Portugal - where her older half-sister Philippa of Lancaster ruled as the wife of King John I - and with England. She had a good relationship with King Richard II of England, and she even maintained cordial personal contacts with his successor, her half-brother Henry IV , who had been in power since 1399 . Although there was no peace treaty between Castile and England, the rulers encouraged trade between the two countries. Katharina herself bought expensive fabrics in London . As a result of their foreign policy, the Castilian communities became prosperous. Ferdinand's policy, on the other hand, was a heavy burden on her budget. His pursuit of the Crown of Aragon first brought the cities of Seville , Cordoba and Jaén under Katharina's control. But when Ferdinand actually became King of Aragon in 1412 and died four years later, his rivals were increasingly less supportive of Catherine. Because of her opposition to Ferdinand, she advocated the position of the antipope Benedict XIII. and initially opposed the Council of Constance (1414 to 1418). After Ferdinand's death (1416), Katharina had to wrestle with his influential sons, who also received support from aristocratic parties.

Influenced by Bishop Pablo de Santa María ( Paulus von Burgos ), who raised the little heir to the throne John II, as well as the ideas of the Catalan preacher Vinzenz Ferrer , Catherine decreed strict laws against Jews and Muslims.

A report handed down by Fernán Pérez de Guzmán about Katharina's condition shortly before her death describes her as a sick, partially paralyzed woman, but also shows that she inherited a number of physical characteristics from her father. This portrayal portrays her as tall, overweight, blond and masculine, and as virtuous and generous in character, but too much under the influence of her favorites. So she had to remove court ladies from her environment twice.

Katharina died in Valladolid in 1418 of a stroke that was perhaps due to her excess weight. She was buried with her husband in the Capilla de los Reyes Nuevos in the Cathedral of Toledo . On her grave picture she is shown with a long face and a strongly arched forehead.

children

Katharina and her husband had three children:

• Mary of Castile (* 1401; † 1458), wife of King Alfonso V of Aragon
• Catherine of Castile (* 1403; † 1439), wife of Heinrich of Aragon, Marquis of Villena
• John II (* 1405, † 1454), successor to his father as King of Castile since 1406.

literature

• Anthony Goodman: Katherine of Lancaster. In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . 2004, Vol. 30, pp. 890f.
• L. Vones: Katharina 3) . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages . Vol. 5, Col. 1070.

Web links

Commons : Katharina von Lancaster  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

1. ↑ L. Vones (see Lit.), Col. 1070, names 6 June 1372 as a possible alternative date of birth.