Dulce of León

Dulce or Aldonza (born c. 1195) was the second daughter of Alfonso IX of León by his first queen, Theresa of Portugal. She was raised with her mother in Portugal after her parents' divorce, along with her brother, Ferdinand, while her elder sister Sancha was raised at the court of their father in 1195.^[1][2]

After the death of Sancha's brother (1214), Alfonso IX named his second son, also Ferdinand, his heir, bestowing on him the title infante (1216). In 1217, with the support of the aristocracy, Alfonso granted his daughters Sancha and Dulce the villages of Portela de San Juan, Burgo de Ribadavia and Allariz, to be ruled by them until their deaths, after which they would revert to the Crown.^[3] In that same year, Ferdinand's mother, Berengaria, inherited the crown of the Kingdom of Castile, but ceded it to her son, who was proclaimed king at Valladolid on 2 July. With his heir out of the kingdom and ruling in another place, Alfonso attempted to make his eldest daughters his joint heirs. In the Treaty of Boronal concluded with Portugal in 1219, Alfonso expressly states that if he should die, Portugal should respect the agreement with his daughters.^[3]

On Alfonso's death on 24 September 1230, the people of León, who had pledged for Ferdinand in 1206, refused to recognise his daughters, and they in turn ceded their rights to his kingdom to their half-brother. She was thirty-five years of age at the time. This agreement, negotiated at Valencia de Don Juan by Berengaria, the queen mother, and Theresa, with Sancha and Dulce present, is known as the "pact of the mothers".^[1] The treaty was signed Benavente and in compensation Ferdinand promised a yearly stipend of 30,000 maravedíes to each of his half-sisters and the lordship of certain castles.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Dulce of León

16. Raymond of Burgundy               8. Alfonso VII of León and Castile                       17. Urraca of León and Castile               4. Ferdinand II of León                             18. Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona (=28)               9. Berengaria of Barcelona                       19. Douce I, Countess of Provence (=29)               2. Alfonso IX of León                                   20. Henry, Count of Portugal (=24)               10. Afonso I of Portugal (=12)                       21. Theresa of León (=25)               5. Urraca of Portugal                             22. Amadeus III, Count of Savoy (=26)               11. Maud of Savoy (=13)                       23. Mahaut of Albon (=27)               1. Dulce of León                                         24. Henry, Count of Portugal (=20)               12. Afonso I of Portugal (=10)                       25. Theresa of León (=21)               6. Sancho I of Portugal                             26. Amadeus III, Count of Savoy (=22)               13. Maud of Savoy (=11)                       27. Mahaut of Albon (=27)               3. Theresa of Portugal                                   28. Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona (=18)               14. Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona                       29. Douce I, Countess of Provence (=19)               7. Dulce of Aragon                             30. Ramiro II of Aragon               15. Petronila of Aragon                       31. Agnes of Aquitaine

Notes

1. Salvador Martínez, 32–33.
2. Yáñez Neira, 53.
3. Yáñez Neira, 54.

Bibliography

• Janna Bianchini. 2015. "Foreigners and Foes in the Leonese Succession Crisis of 1230". James Todesca, ed. The Emergence of León-Castile, c.1065–1500: Essays Presented to J. F. O'Callaghan. Aldershot: Ashgate, pp. 47–68.
• H. Salvador Martínez. 2010. Alfonso X, the Learned: A Biography. Brill.
• María Damián Yáñez Neira. 1982. "La princesa Doña Sancha, hija primogénita de Alfonso IX". Tierras de León, 22(47):47–60.