Peter I King Of PORTUGAL

Notes:

Wikipedia Encyclopedia:
Pedro I, King of Portugal (pron. IPA ['ped?u]; April 8, 1320 ? January 18, 1367) was the eighth king of Portugal and Algarve (in English, Peter I), (not to be confused with Pedro of Castile, also known as Pedro the Cruel) known as the Just (Port. o Justiceiro). He was the third but only surviving son of Afonso IV of Portugal and his wife, princess Beatrice of Castile. Pedro I succeeded his father in 1357.

Afonso IV married his daughter Maria to Alfonso XI of Castile, but quickly learned that she was being mistreated by her husband. Alfonso's cousin, Juan Manuel, had also been rebuffed by the king when his daughter Constanza was rejected in favor of the Portuguese princess. Feeling as though his daughter was being dishonored, Afonso was glad to enter into an alliance with Juan Manuel and married Pedro to Constanza. When Constanza arrived in Portugal, InÍs de Castro, the daughter of a Castilian landed aristocrat accompanied her as her lady-in-waiting. Pedro fell in love with InÍs very quickly and the two conducted an affair until Constanza's death in 1345. The scandal of this affair caused Afonso to banish InÍs from court, but this did not end the relationship since the two began living together in secret. According to the chronicle of Fern„o Lopes, this period was when Pedro began giving InÍs' brothers important positions at court. This behavior alarmed Afonso and made him believe that upon his death the Portuguese throne would fall to Castilians. This is the official motive behind Afonso's next actions: he sent three men to find InÍs and murder her in 1355. Pedro's rage at the murder of his love is what supposedly sparked his desire to revolt against his father. This revolt lasted from 1355 until 1356 when Afonso defeated his son. One year later, in 1357, Afonso died and Pedro succeeded the throne.

Fern„o Lopes labels Pedro as "the Just" and said that Pedro loved justice, especially the dispensing of it, something which he enjoyed doing himself. InÍs' assassins were the recipients of his harshest punishment. The three had escaped to Castile, but Pedro arranged for them to be exchanged with Castilian fugitives residing in Portugal with his nephew, the Castilian Pedro I. One man escaped, but the other two were brought to justice, and Lopes said that Pedro ripped their hearts out with his own bare hands. There is a possibility that Pedro of Portugal has been confused with Pedro I of Castile: they are both Pedro I, they both lived at the same time, the two were closely related, and are both credited with committing violent acts towards their subjects. Despite his gruesome legacy, Pedro of Portugal did lead a peacful reign and managed to install a system of justice which was relatively fair for the times. He attempted this with his Benepl·cito RÈgio in 1361, which forbade any Papal Bulls to be published without his prior consent. This was a result of the number of fake papal documents that had been entering the country. He also began the "nationalization" of the military orders by placing his youngest son Jo„o (the illegitinate son born after the death of InÍs) as the Master of the Order of Avis. He did attempt to claim that he and InÍs had been married and therefore their four children were legitimate, but nothing ever came of this, and InÍs' children went to live in Castile.

Legend holds that Pedro later had InÍs' body exhumed and placed on a throne, dressed in rich robes and jewels, and required all of his vassals to kiss the hand of the deceased "queen". This has never been proven, but what is known is that Pedro did have InÍs' body exhumed from her resting place in Coimbra and taken to AlcobaÁa where her body was laid to rest in the monastery. Pedro had two tombs commissioned for the monastery, one for each of them. The tombs still exist today; they are images of Pedro and InÍs facing each other, and inscribed on the marble is "AtÈ o fim do mundo..." or "Until the end of the world..."

Pedro was also the father of Fernando I and Jo„o I. Jo„o was the Master of the military order of Avis, and he would become the founder of the Avis dynasty in 1385 after defeating an attempt by Juan I to usurp the Portuguese throne.

Family/Spouse: ? UNKNOWN. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. John I King Of PORTUGAL was born on 11 Apr 1358; died on 14 Aug 1433 in Lisbon; was buried in Batalha.

Alfonso married Beatrice Of CASTILE in 1309. Beatrice (daughter of Sancho IV The Brave Of CASTILE and Maria DE MOLINA) was born in 1293; died in 1359. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]