Family Card - Person Sheet
Family Card - Person Sheet
NamePedro (Peter) I “the Cruel” , King of Castile and León 
Birth30 Aug 1334
Death23 Mar 1369, Campo de Montiel, Spain
FatherAlfonso XI , King of Castile and León (~1310-1350)
MotherPrincess Maria of Portugal (1313-1357)
Misc. Notes
Pedro (or Peter; August 30, 1334 – March 23, 1369), sometimes known as Pedro the Cruel (Pedro el Cruel) or Pedro the Lawful, was the king of Castile from 1350 to 1369. He was the son of Alfonso XI and Maria of Portugal, daughter of Alphonso IV of Portugal.
He earned for himself the reputation for monstrous cruelty that is indicated by the accepted title. In later ages, when the royal authority was thoroughly established, there was a reaction in Pedro's favour, and an alternative name was found for him. It became a fashion to speak of him as El Justiciero, the executor of justice (the Lawful). Apologists were found to say that he had only killed men who themselves would not submit to the law or respect the rights of others. There is this amount of foundation for the plea, that the chronicler Lopez de Ayala, who fought against him, has confessed that the king's fall was regretted by the merchants and traders, who enjoyed security under his rule. Pedro began to reign at the age of sixteen, and found himself subjected to the control of his mother and her favourites.
Pedro was to be married to Joan Plantagenet, the daughter of Edward III of England, but on the way to Castille, she travelled through cities infested with plague, ignoring townspeople who had warned her not to enter the town. Joan soon contracted the disease and died.
He was unfaithful to his wife, as his father had been. But Alfonso XI did not imprison his wife, or cause her to be murdered, which Pedro did. He had not even the excuse that he was passionately in love with his mistress, Maria de Padilla; for, at a time when he asserted that he was married to her, and when he was undoubtedly married to Blanche of Bourbon, he went through the form of marriage with a lady of the family of Castro, who bore him a son, and then deserted her. Maria de Padilla was the only lady of his harem of whom he never became quite tired.
Pedro's daughters by Maria de Padilla, Constance and Isabella, were each married to sons of Edward III, king of England, Constance to John of Gaunt and Isabella to Edmund of Langley.
In the summer of 1366 Peter took refuge with Edward the Black Prince, by whom he was restored to his throne in the following year after the Battle of Najera. But he disgusted his ally by his faithlessness and ferocity, as well as his failure to repay the costs of the campaign, as he had promised to do. The health of the Black Prince broke down, and he left Spain. When left to his own resources, Peter was soon overthrown by his brother Henry, with the aid of Bertrand du Guesclin and a body of French and English free companions. After Pedro's decisive loss at the Battle of Montiel, he was murdered by Henry in du Guesclin's tent on March 23, 1369.
He earned for himself the reputation for monstrous cruelty that is indicated by the accepted title. In later ages, when the royal authority was thoroughly established, there was a reaction in Pedro's favour, and an alternative name was found for him. It became a fashion to speak of him as El Justiciero, the executor of justice (the Lawful). Apologists were found to say that he had only killed men who themselves would not submit to the law or respect the rights of others. There is this amount of foundation for the plea, that the chronicler Lopez de Ayala, who fought against him, has confessed that the king's fall was regretted by the merchants and traders, who enjoyed security under his rule. Pedro began to reign at the age of sixteen, and found himself subjected to the control of his mother and her favourites.
Pedro was to be married to Joan Plantagenet, the daughter of Edward III of England, but on the way to Castille, she travelled through cities infested with plague, ignoring townspeople who had warned her not to enter the town. Joan soon contracted the disease and died.
He was unfaithful to his wife, as his father had been. But Alfonso XI did not imprison his wife, or cause her to be murdered, which Pedro did. He had not even the excuse that he was passionately in love with his mistress, Maria de Padilla; for, at a time when he asserted that he was married to her, and when he was undoubtedly married to Blanche of Bourbon, he went through the form of marriage with a lady of the family of Castro, who bore him a son, and then deserted her. Maria de Padilla was the only lady of his harem of whom he never became quite tired.
Pedro's daughters by Maria de Padilla, Constance and Isabella, were each married to sons of Edward III, king of England, Constance to John of Gaunt and Isabella to Edmund of Langley.
In the summer of 1366 Peter took refuge with Edward the Black Prince, by whom he was restored to his throne in the following year after the Battle of Najera. But he disgusted his ally by his faithlessness and ferocity, as well as his failure to repay the costs of the campaign, as he had promised to do. The health of the Black Prince broke down, and he left Spain. When left to his own resources, Peter was soon overthrown by his brother Henry, with the aid of Bertrand du Guesclin and a body of French and English free companions. After Pedro's decisive loss at the Battle of Montiel, he was murdered by Henry in du Guesclin's tent on March 23, 1369.