Beatrice of Castile (1242–1303)

Beatrice of Castile
Beatrice of Castile, in Antonio de Hollanda's Genealogy of the Royal Houses of Spain and Portugal (1530–1534)
Queen consort of Portugal and the Algarve
Born	1242/44
Died	27 October 1303
Burial	Monastery of Alcobaça
Spouse	Afonso III of Portugal
Issue	See Issue
House	House of Ivrea
Father	Alfonso X of Castile
Mother	Mayor Guillén de Guzmán

Beatrice of Castile (1242/1244 – 27 October 1303), an illegitimate daughter of Alfonso X of Castile and his mistress Mayor Guillén de Guzmán,^[1][2] was the second Queen consort of Afonso III of Portugal.^[2][3]

Biographical sketch

She was probably born shortly before 31 December 1244 when her father, King Alfonso, "with the consent of his father" donated Elche to his daughter Beatrice and all the children that he had with Mayor Guillén de Guzmán.^[2][3] As part of his strategy to reach an agreement with the Kingdom of Portugal on the sovereignty of the Algarve, King Alfonso X offered his daughter Beatrice in marriage to King Afonso III of Portugal. The wedding was celebrated in 1253.^[4] Under the agreement, the king of Castile promised that we would cede all the rights he held in the Algarve to the first male offspring of Alfonso III and Beatrice when the child was seven years' old.^[4] The Portuguese nobility considered this marriage "humiliating for the King of Portugal",.^[5] Much more serious though, was the fact that when the nuptials took place, the Portuguese monarch was still married to Matilda II, Countess of Boulogne who, in 1255, accused her husband before Pope Alexander IV of bigamy.^[6] In 1258, the Roman Pontiff condemned him for adultery, demanded that he return Matilda's dowry^[5] and placed him under interdict.^[6] Matilda, however, died that year and the Pope's threats were left in suspense.^[5]

Until her husband's death, Beatrice had great influence in the Portuguese court and supported the rapprochement of the kingdoms of Portugal and Castile.

When her mother died no later than 1267, she inherited her estates in La Alcarria which included Cifuentes, Viana de Mondejar, Palazuelos, Salmerón, Valdeolivas and Alcocer. In the last-mentioned city, she took under her protection the Monastery of Santa Clara that her mother, Mayor Guillén de Guzmán, had founded.^[7]

She returned to Seville in 1282 due to discrepancies with her son, King Denis. Before November 1282, already a widow, she showed her monetary and personal support for her father in the dispute with her half-brother, Infante Sancho, later King Sancho IV. A charter kept at the Torre do Tombo National Archive in Lisbon documents the donation made by King Alfonso X of Castile to his daughter Beatrice of the villas of Mourão, Serpa, Moura with their castles and, on the same day, he also gave her the Kingdom of Niebla and the royal tithes of the city of Badajoz.^[3] She remained at her father's side and was at his deathbed in 1284.^[3]

Beatrice died on 27 October 1303 and was buried at the Monastery of Alcobaça

Marriage and issue

The bride was about 11 years old and the groom was 42 years old. They had the following children:

Name	Birth	Death	Notes
Branca	25 February 1259	17 April 1321	Lady of Las Huelgas[2][5]-1321)
Ferdinand	1260	1262
Dinis	9 October 1261	7 January 1325	Succeeded him as 6th King of Portugal; married Infanta Elizabeth of Aragon[8]
Afonso	8 February 1263	2 November 1312	Lord of Portalegre; married to Infanta Violante Manuel of Castile (daughter of Manuel of Castile)
Sancha	2 February 1264	c. 1302
Maria	21 November 1264	6 June 1304	Nun at the Convent of Saint John in Coimbra
Constance	1266	1271
Vincent	1268	1271

Ancestry

Ancestors of Beatrice of Castile (1242–1303)

16. Ferdinand II of León               8. Alfonso IX of León                       17. Urraca of Portugal               4. Ferdinand III of Castile                             18. Alfonso VIII of Castile               9. Berenguela of Castile                       19. Eleanor of England               2. Alfonso X of Castile                                   20. Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor[9]               10. Philip of Swabia[9]                       21. Beatrice I, Countess of Burgundy[9]               5. Elisabeth of Hohenstaufen                             22. Isaac II Angelos[9]               11. Irene Angelina[9]                       23. Unknown Palaiologina?, afterwards Irene[10]               1. Beatrice of Castile                                         24. Rodrigo Muñoz de Guzmán               12. Pedro Rodríguez de Guzmán[11]                       25. Mayor Díaz               6. Guillén Pérez de Guzmán[12] Lord of Vecilla                             26. William VIII of Montpellier[13]               13. Mahalda[11]                       27. Eudokia Komnene               3. Mayor Guillén de Guzmán                                   28. Rodrigo Gutiérrez Girón               14. Gonzalo Rodríguez Girón[11]                       29. Maria de Guzmán               7. María González Girón [12]                             30. Rodrigo Fernández de Toroño[14]               15. Sancha Rodríguez[11][14]                       31. Aldonza Pérez[14]

Notes

References

1. Valdeón Baruque 2003, p. 25.
2. Salazar y Acha 1990, p. 222.
3. García Fernández 1999, p. 910.
4. García Fernández 1999, p. 908.
5. García Fernández 1999, p. 909.
6. Livermore 1947, p. 136.
7. Villalba Ruiz de Toledo 1989, pp. 319-320.
8. García Fernández 1999, pp. 903 and 909-910.
9. Salazar y Acha 1990, p. 227.
10. Salazar y Acha 1990, p. 228.
11. Salazar y Acha 1990, p. 223.
12. Salazar y Acha 1990, pp. 222-223.
13. Salazar y Acha 1990, pp. 224-225.
14. Salazar y Acha 1989, p. 81.

Bibliography

• García Fernández, Manuel (1999). "La política internacional de Portugal y Castilla en el contexto peninsular del Tratado de Alcañices (1267-1297). Relaciones diplomáticas y dinásticas" (PDF). Work da Faculdade de Letras, Serie Historia (in Spanish). Universidade de Porto (XV): 901–943. OCLC 632487275.
• González Jiménez, Manuel (2004). Alfonso X el Sabio. Barcelona: Publisher Ariel S. A. ISBN 84-344-6758-5.
• Livermore, H.V. (1947). A History of Portugal. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. OCLC 1368719.
• Salazar y Acha, Jaime de (1989). "Los descendientes del conde Ero Fernández, fundador de Monasterio de Santa María de Ferreira de Pallares". El Museo de Pontevedra (in Spanish) (43): 67–86. ISSN 0210-7791.
• Salazar y Acha, Jaime de; Masnata y de Quesada, David (1990). "Precisiones y nuevos datos sobre el entorno familiar de Alfonso X el Sabio fundador de Ciudad Real" (PDF). Cuadernos de Estudios Manchegos (in Spanish). Instituto de Estudios Manchegos (20): 210–231. ISSN 0526-2623.

• Valdeón Baruque, Julio (2003). Alfonso X: la forja de la España moderna (in Spanish). Madrid: Ediciones Temas de Hoy, S.A. ISBN 84-8460-277-X.
• Villalba Ruiz de Toledo, Francisco Javier (1989). "El Monasterio de Santa Clara de Alcocer y su conexión con la monarquía (siglos XIII-XV)" (PDF). Wad al-Hayara: Trabajo de estudios de Guadalajara (in Spanish) (16): 319–324. ISSN 0214-7092.