Constance of Castile
Konstanze von Kastilien LG (* 1354 , † 1394 ) was a pretender to the throne of Castile and León and by marriage Duchess of Lancaster .
She was the eldest surviving daughter of King Peter I of Castile-León (1334-1369) from his next marriage with María de Padilla . When her father was overthrown and murdered by his illegitimate half-brother Heinrich von Trastámara and left no legitimate sons, she cherished her father's throne.
On September 21, 1371 she married in Roquefort in Guyenne John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster , the third son of King Edward III. of England . A year later, her younger sister married Isabella John's younger brother Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York , so that the sisters also became their own by-laws.
In 1378 Konstanze was accepted into the Order of the Garter as Lady of the Garter .
The widowed John of Gaunt entered this marriage despite his longstanding relationship with Catherine Swynford in order to gain claim to the throne of Castile and León through it. John's diplomatic as well as military pursuit of the crown was ultimately unsuccessful. The conflict against Heinrich von Trastámara and his son John I was finally settled in 1388, when the son of the latter Constance married daughter Katharina and she became Queen of Castile and León.
progeny
She had two children with John of Gaunt:
- John Plantagenet (1372-1375)
- Catalina (Katharina) Plantagenet (1373–1418), ⚭ King Heinrich III. of Castile (1379–1406), grandmother of Isabella the Catholic
Individual evidence
Web links
- Constanza de Castilla, Reina de Castilla on thepeerage.com , accessed July 26, 2015.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Constance of Castile |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Castilian pretender and Duchess of Lancaster |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1354 |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1394 |