Maria de Molina

Maria de Molina (* around 1265; † July 1, 1321 in Valladolid ) was Queen (1284-1295) of Castile and León .

Life

Maria was the daughter of the Infante Alfonso de Molina and the Mayor Alfonso de Meneses; her paternal grandparents were Alfonso IX. of León and Berenguela of Castile . In 1281 she married her nephew, later Sancho IV of Castile , the second son of Alfonso X of Castile . However, Maria, who was actually too closely related to her husband for this marriage, had not applied for the necessary dispensation from the Pope. During the reign of her husband (from 1284) there was a great struggle to get their marriage recognized. A half-sister of Mary was the mistress of Molina and after her death (1293) bequeathed the government to her brother-in-law, who ceded it to Maria.

When Sancho IV died in 1295, Maria took over the reign of her eldest, still underage son, Ferdinand IV of Castile . For its recognition she had to fight hard against the powerful aristocratic relatives. Since the dispensation had still not been granted, the legitimacy of the minor heir to the throne was called into question by his ambitious uncles, the Infants Juan and Enrique, as well as by the Infants de la Cerda, sons of the eldest son of Alfonso X. The adversaries of Ferdinand IV found support from Jacob II of Aragon and Dionysius of Portugal , who invaded Castile in 1296. The clever and courageous Maria allied herself with the Third Estate, was able to repel the invasion of Portugal and finally won the day. In 1301 she obtained the confirmation of the validity of her marriage by the Pope and thus the legitimacy of her eldest son's succession to the throne. Ferdinand IV came to power in 1302, but did not behave very gratefully towards his mother and did not have her governmental skills. He died in 1312 and his wife Konstanze in 1313. Therefore Maria now acted as regent for her young grandson Alfonso XI. , but died before he came of age.

progeny

Maria de Molina coat of arms.

The children of Maria de Molina with Sancho IV were:

• Isabella of Castile (* 1283, † 1328), wife of Jacob II of Aragón , then of John III. from Brittany
• Ferdinand IV of Castile (* 1285, † 1312), husband of Constance of Portugal
• Alfonso (* 1286, † 1291)
• Enrique (* 1288, † 1299)
• Pedro of Castile (* 1290, † 1319), husband of Mary of Aragon
• Felipe (* 1292, † 1327), husband of his cousin Margarita de la Cerda
• Beatrix of Castile (* 1293, † 1359), wife of Alfonso IV of Portugal

literature

• M. Rábade-Obradó: Maria 7). In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages . Vol. 5, Col. 277.

Web links

Commons : Maria de Molina  - Collection of images, videos and audio files