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Who was Inês de Castro? -

Inês de Castro was born in 1320 or 1325 in Galicia, Spain. She was the illegitimate daughter of the Galician nobleman Pedro Fernández de Castro and of a Portuguese lady, Aldonça Lourenço de Valadares.

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Origins -

Inês de Castro lived part of her childhood in the castle of Albuquerque (found in Spain near the Portuguese border), until she became a lady-in-waiting for Constanza Manuel, who was betrothed to the prince of Portugal, Dom Pedro.

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D. Pedro falls for the Galician maid -

Pedro quickly fell in love with Inês de Castro, who arrived in Évora as part of Constanza's entourage, who in the meantime had married D. Pedro.

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D. Constanza -

Needless to say, Constanza was not happy about the romance. So, in an attempt to make Inês de Castro’s relationship with D. Pedro incestuous, she invited her to be the godmother of her son.

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King’s move -

D. Pedro’s father, the King of Portugal D. Afonso IV, fearing this relationship, exiled Inês de Castro to the Spanish border in 1344.

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Constanza’s death -

When D. Constanza died, Pedro and Inês assumed their relationship, and came to live in the palace attached to the Santa Clara Convent, located next to the Mondego river and Quinta das Lágrimas (pictured).

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Pedro and Inês’ home -

The palace was built by D. Pedro’s grandmother, D. Isabel, who would later be canonized with the name of Saint Elizabeth of Portugal.

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Political opportunity -

D. Inês de Castro’s brothers, who were powerful noblemen, tried to allure D. Pedro with the possibility of becoming entitled to the throne of Castile and León, that would one day be ruled by a son of Pedro and Inês.

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D. Afonso IV became defensive -

D. Pedro’s father, who didn’t want to compromise Portugal’s independence, was convinced by his advisers that the only way to avoid the Spanish involvement would be to separate Pedro and Inês. For good.

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Trial -

Taking advantage of D. Pedro’s absence, a trial was held in Montemor-o-Velho, which sentenced D. Inês de Castro to death.

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Death -

D. Afonso IV, together with Pêro Coelho, Álvaro Gonçalves, Diogo Lopes Pacheco, and other men, executed D. Inês de Castro on January 7, 1355.

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D. Pedro’s reaction -

D. Pedro reacted violently to the death of his love and instigated a civil war against his father, which only ended when his mother, the Queen of Portugal, intervened.

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D. Pedro becomes king -

D. Pedro ascended to the throne in 1357. In 1360, he legitimized his children, stating that he had secretly married D. Inês, in 1354, in Bragança. This would make Inês Queen of Portugal.

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Long live the queen -

D. Pedro ordered tombs for himself and Inês to be built in the Monastery of Alcobaça.

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Long live the queen -

He then ordered her remains be moved from the Convent of Santa Clara in Coimbra to the new location.

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Long live the queen -

D. Pedro I ordered that all classes (clergy, nobility, and peasants) pay homage to the dead queen during a funeral procession.

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Posthumous coronation -

Perhaps the most popular part of the Pedro and Inês story is her coronation ceremony as a dead queen.

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Posthumous coronation -

Inês’ body was exhumed, dressed in a royal robe, sat on the throne, and crowned queen!

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Posthumous coronation -

D. Pedro I then ordered all nobles of the kingdom to kiss her hand and pay tribute to the posthumous queen.

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Posthumous coronation -

While a great part of this story is recorded in numerous ways and believed to be real, there is no reference to the said coronation ceremony until the 16th century.

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Taking revenge on Inês’ killers -

Two of the murderers, Pêro Coelho and Álvaro Gonçalves, were captured and executed.

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Taking revenge on Inês’ killers -

Legend has it that D. Pedro had the heart of one ripped out through the chest and the heart of the other cut out through the back. Some versions of the story say that the king did this himself!

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Taking revenge on Inês’ killers -

But it gets weirder. Other versions of the story say that the king was feasting, while he watched the execution, and even took a bite of their hearts...

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Taking revenge on Inês’ killers -

D. Pedro reportedly said that men who had killed an innocent woman could not have hearts.

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Taking revenge on Inês’ killers -

Diogo Lopes Pacheco, who had managed to escape to France, was later pardoned by D. Pedro on his deathbed.

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Tragic love story -

The love story of Pedro and Inês—the first and last posthumous queen of Portugal—has been immortalized in visual art and literature ever since.

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Fonte das Lágrimas -

Legend has it that the water flowing from the fountain where Inês died is made of her tears. Her blood is said to stain the fountain, and her ghost still apparently roams the estate.

Sources: (Fundação Inês de Castro)

See also: How dark were the Middle Ages, really?

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