Castro, Inês de

(?-1355)

   Born in Galicia, Inês de Castro came from an important Castilian family; she went to Portugal in the retinue of the Castilian princess Constança, who married Pedro I, when he was a prince. Inês and Pedro fell in love, had one or two children, and continued their relationship despite the existence of the approved royal marriage to Constança. This contributed to the premature death of Constança and introduced once again the fear of Castil-ian intervention in Portugal into royal court politics. Pedro's father, King Afonso IV, feared that Ines's Castilian family might meddle in succession politics and threaten the future accession of Pedro and Constança's legitimate son, Fernando, to the Portuguese throne. Taking advice from leading counselors, King Afonso had Inês murdered in 1355. For a while, Pedro rebelled against his father's action, but later a truce was declared.

   Historians debate what happened next, but in the following century, after Pedro's death, a legend grew in Spain that became the basis for the romantic story of Pedro and the corpse of Inês. The legend was adopted in various novels, operas, songs, poetry, and folklore, and was noteworthy in the literature of France, Portugal, and other countries. It was said that Pedro tracked down and killed all who had been involved in Inês's murder, then disinterred her corpse, put it on the throne, and ceremonially acclaimed it queen of Portugal.