Pedro I, king

(1320-1367)

   The eighth king of Portugal and fourth son of King Afonso IV and Beatriz of Castile. His first marriage as prince and heir was to a daughter of a Castilian hidalgo (in Portuguese, fidalgo), Constança Manuel. In Constanca's retinue from Spain came the alluring lady-in-waiting, Dona Inês de Castro, a Gallician of Castilian stock. The notorious love affair between Inês and Pedro soon sparked a bitter conflict between Pedro and his father. Fearing the threat of Castilian intervention in Portuguese affairs using Ines's connection with Pedro, Afonso ordered the murder of Inês in 1355. Reacting to this tragedy, Pedro rebelled and went to war against his father, although a truce was called after a short period. Afonso died in 1357. Pedro became noted, during his brief reign of a decade, for avoiding war and for a record of even-handed justice. The legend that Pedro disint erred the corpse of Inês de Castro and proclaimed it queen grew up after Pedro's death in 1367 and became a popular theme in European literature centuries later.