Henry II of Castile

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For other people of the same name, see Henry of Castile.
Henry II of Castile
King of Castile[lower-alpha 1]
King of Castile
Reign1366–1367
PredecessorPeter I
SuccessorPeter I
King of Castile
Reign1367–1379
PredecessorPeter I
SuccessorJohn I
BornJanuary 13, 1334
Seville, Crown of Castile
DiedMay 29, 1379 (aged 45)
Santo Domingo de la Calzada, Crown of Castile
Cause of death: poisoning
Burial
Toledo Cathedral, Spain
SpouseJuana Manuel of Villena
Partner: Beatriz Ponce de León
IssueSee Marriage and issue
HouseHouse of Burgundy (Castile) and House of Trastámara
FatherAlfonso XI of Castile
MotherLeonor de Guzmán
ReligionCatholic

Henry II of Castile, also known as Henry of Trastámara, called "the Fratricide" (el Fratricida) or "he of the Grants" (el de las Mercedes) (Seville, January 13, 1334 – Santo Domingo de la Calzada, May 29, 1379), was King of Castile, the first of the House of Trastámara.

Biography

He was the fourth of the ten children born out of wedlock to Alfonso XI and Leonor de Guzmán. The product of a twin pregnancy, he was the first of the couple's children to reach adulthood, as was his brother, whom he outlived. Henry and his fraternal or identical twin brother Fadrique Alfonso of Castile were born in the Alcázar of Seville,[1] although some authors place his birth in the Castle of Cabra, property of his mother Leonor de Guzmán.[2] Adopted at his birth by Rodrigo Álvarez de las Asturias, he inherited the following year, upon the latter's death, his lordship of the County of Noreña. His father later granted him the County of Trastámara and the lordships over Lemos and Sarria, in Galicia, and the towns of Cabrera and Ribera, thereby building up for him a very large and important patrimony in the northwest of the Peninsula. He is the head of the new dynasty that arises from the main branch of that of Burgundy-Ivrea, the Trastámara dynasty.

While Alfonso XI lived, his mistress Leonor obtained titles and privileges in exaggerated number for the children she had with the King. This was the cause of the discontent of numerous nobles, and above all of the legitimate Queen, Maria of Portugal, and of the heir Infante, Peter, better known as Peter I the Cruel or the Just. These had occasion for revenge when Alfonso XI died unexpectedly of plague at the siege of Gibraltar, in March 1350. The King had not even been buried when many followers of Leonor and her children already turned their backs on them, and Henry and his brothers fled and scattered, fearful of the measures that their half-brother, the new king, might take.

After the death of Alfonso XI

Coat of arms of Henry of Trastámara before becoming King

Although Leonor and her children reached an agreement with Peter I to integrate peacefully into his court, the situation remained unstable. Henry and his brothers Fadrique, Tello and Sancho led numerous rebellions from the beginning of the reign. In addition, to secure his position and gain allies, Henry married Juana Manuel of Villena, daughter of Don Juan Manuel, Adelantado Mayor of Murcia and Lord of Villena, the most powerful nobleman of the previous reign. In 1351 the Monarch (or his counselor Juan Alfonso de Alburquerque, a man trusted by Maria of Portugal), convinced that his father's mistress was the instigator of the uprisings, ordered that Leonor be imprisoned and finally executed in Talavera de la Reina.

After this Henry fled to Portugal. Pardoned by Peter I and having returned to Castile, he rose up in Asturias (1352). He reconciled with his brother only to rebel against him in a long and intermittent war that ended with the flight of the Count of Trastámara to France, where he entered the service of John II of France. Shortly afterward Henry and his men went on to serve in the ranks of Peter IV of Aragon, in the war that the latter waged against Castile (1358). During this conflict he was defeated and captured at Nájera (1360), but he was freed (with the help of Juan Ramírez de Arellano, among others) and went into exile in France.

When Aragon was attacked again, Henry came to its aid, but in exchange for support in dethroning his brother Peter. The combined attack of Henry and his Castilian, Aragonese and French allies (the mercenary companies of Bertrand du Guesclin) succeeded in expelling Peter, who took refuge in Guyenne. Henry was proclaimed King at Calahorra (1366), but in return he had to grant his allies titles and riches without measure, as payment for the help received. This earned him the nickname el de las Mercedes ("he of the Grants").

Meanwhile, Peter I organized an invasion of Castile from the English dominions north of the Pyrenees. Edward, Prince of Wales (known as the Black Prince), placed at his disposal a large army of knights and archers. Peter I defeated Henry at the Battle of Nájera, fought on April 3, 1367. Henry returned to France, protected by Charles V. From the castle of Peyrepertuse he reorganized his armies, and, aided by the insurgents of numerous Castilian cities and by the French of Bertrand du Guesclin, he defeated Peter at the Battle of Montiel on March 14, 1369. Peter I, already a prisoner, was killed at the hands of Henry, who definitively ascended the throne of Castile under the name of Henry II.

Reign

Imaginary portrait of Henry II of Castile. José María Rodríguez de Losada. (City Council of León).

Before becoming consolidated on his throne and being able to pass it on to his son John, Henry had to defeat Ferdinand I of Portugal, whom he had to defeat in two of the so-called Fernandine Wars, and afterward John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, married to the Infanta Constance of Castile, daughter of Peter I. In his conflict with the English of Edward III of England, Henry II was an ally of Charles V of France, at whose disposal he placed the Castilian fleet, a fundamental piece in the siege of La Rochelle, in whose first phase Admiral Ambrosio Boccanegra completely defeated the English squadron. In addition, the future Admiral of Castile Fernando Sánchez de Tovar sacked the entire southern coast of England.

Cornado of Henry II from the Toledo mint.

Henry II rewarded his allies, alienating large expanses of crown land (realengo), but he also knew how to defend the interests of the Kingdom of León and Castile. Thus, he denied the King of Aragon all the territorial cessions he had promised him in difficult times. To pay the White Companies and the other mercenaries who had helped him, he debased the currency, which caused the other kingdoms to lose confidence in Castilian money.

In domestic policy, he began the reconstruction of the kingdom, protected the Jews after having persecuted them in the civil war, accelerated the transformation of the royal administration and convened numerous Cortes. Likewise, he definitively incorporated the Lordship of Biscay into the royal patrimony after the death of his brother Tello of Castile. In foreign policy, he favored France against England.

Henry II of Castile died on May 29, 1379, in Santo Domingo de la Calzada. He was succeeded on the Castilian throne by his son, John I of Castile.

Burial

After his death, the body of Henry II of Castile was moved to Burgos, then to Valladolid, and subsequently to the city of Toledo, where he would be buried in the Chapel of the New Kings of Toledo Cathedral,[3] where his mortal remains rest today. The King's tomb is placed above the choir stalls, on the Epistle side, and is a wall tomb in the Plateresque style. The tomb chest is adorned with the coats of arms of Castile and León, and in the lower part of the interior of the burial niche three panels decorated with trophies are placed, and above the three panels two children appear holding the cartouche that contains the Monarch's epitaph:[4]

Tomb of Henry II of Castile in Toledo Cathedral.

AQUI YAZE EL MUY AVENTURADO E NOBLE CAVALLERO REI DON ENRRIQUE DE DULCE MEMORIA, HIJO DEL MUI NOBLE REI DON ALFONSO, QUE VENCIO LA DE BENAMARIN E FINO EN SANTO DOMINGO DE LA CALÇADA, E ACABO MUI GLORIOSAMENTE A XXX DIAS DE MAYO, AÑO DEL NACIMIENTO DE NUESTRO SALVADOR JESUCRISTO DE MCCCLXXIX AÑOS.

Above the tomb is placed the recumbent statue representing Henry II, made of polychromed alabaster. The Monarch, dressed with the royal attributes, holds in his left hand the sword and the sword belt adorned with lions and castles. In his right hand the Monarch grasps the scepter, whose upper end rests on the three cushions that support the Monarch's head. The King wears chopines and his feet rest on a lying lion.

The Monarch's entrails are buried in the Cathedral of Santo Domingo de la Calzada.

Marriage and issue

Henry II married on July 27, 1350, Juana Manuel of Villena, lady of Villena, Escalona and Peñafiel and daughter of the celebrated magnate and writer Don Juan Manuel and of Blanca Núñez de Lara, with whom he had three children:

  • John (1358–1390), his father's successor under the name of John I.
  • Eleanor (1362–1415), married to Charles III of Navarre
  • Juana (1367–1374), who died in childhood.

He had several children out of wedlock, some of whom he mentions in the testament he executed on May 29, 1374:[5]

Ancestors

Ancestors of Henry II of Castile

Titles

At the end of his reign he held the titles of King of Castile, Toledo, León, Galicia, Seville, Córdoba, Murcia, Jaén, the Algarve and lord of Molina.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The full titulature was: King of Castile, of Toledo, of León, of Galicia, of Seville, of Córdoba, of Murcia, of Jaén, of the Algarve, of Algeciras and Lord of Molina
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 In some old genealogies she is called Inés Díaz de la Vega, although King Henry in his testament mentions her several times, always calling her Elvira Íñiguez. Either it is an error transmitted in those genealogies, or she may have been another of the King's mistresses and the mother of some of the children.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 In some old genealogies she is called Beatriz Fernández de Angulo, lady of Villafranca, although King Henry in his testament mentions her several times, always calling her Beatriz Fernández. Either it is an error transmitted in those genealogies, or she may have been another of the King's mistresses and the mother of some of the children.
  4. ↑ Both sisters appear in the documentation of said monastery, receiving several grants from their uncle King John I of Castile, as well as from King Henry III of Castile.
  5. ↑ She is not mentioned in her father's testament.
  6. ↑ His father does not mention him in his testament executed in 1374.

References

  1. ↑ "Conferencia del Catedrático Manuel García Fernández" (in español). 24 de enero de 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ↑ Muñoz Vázquez (1962). "Número 83". In Boletín de la Real Academia de Ciencias, Bellas Letras y Nobles Artes de Córdoba (ed.). (in español). {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  3. ↑ Elorza et al. 1990, pp. 63–64.
  4. ↑ Elorza et al. 1990, p. 64.
  5. ↑ López de Ayala 1780, pp. 106–121.
  6. ↑ Olaya, Vicente G. (2 de octubre de 2020). "La muerte del infante don Pedro, un misterio de hace siete siglos". El País (in español). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2 de octubre de 2020. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |access-date= and |date= (help)
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Braamcamp Freire 1930, p. 153.
  8. ↑ Braamcamp Freire 1930, pp. 153–154.
  9. ↑ Sousa 1946, p. 181.
  10. ↑ López de Ayala 1780, pp. 111–113 and n. 11 on p. 113.
  11. ↑ Arco y Garay 1954, p. 310.
  12. ↑ Nieto Cumplido 1979, p. 208.

Bibliography

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