1383–1385 Portuguese interregnum

1383–1385 Portuguese interregnum
The Battle of Aljubarrota by Jean de Wavrin
Date April 1383 – October 1385 Location Portugal and Castile Result Portuguese victory Consolidation of Portuguese independence
Belligerents
Kingdom of Portugal Supported by: Kingdom of England	Crown of Castile Supported by: Kingdom of France Crown of Aragon
Commanders and leaders
John I of Portugal Nuno Álvares Pereira	John I of Castile Fernando Sanchez de Tovar † Pedro Álvares Pereira †

The 1383–1385 Portuguese interregnum was a time of civil war in Portuguese history when no crowned king reigned. It began when King Ferdinand I died without a male heir, and ended when King John I was crowned in 1385 after his victory in the Battle of Aljubarrota. Portuguese interpret this era as their earliest national resistance movement countering Castilian intervention; Robert Durand considers it the "great revealer of national consciousness". Burgesses and nobles worked together to establish the Aviz dynasty (a branch of the Portuguese House of Burgundy) securely on an independent throne, unlike the lengthy civil wars in France known as the Hundred Years' War, and England as the War of the Roses, where aristocratic factions fought powerfully against a centralised monarchy.

In 1383, King Ferdinand I of Portugal was dying. From his marriage to Leonor Telles de Menezes only a girl, Princess Beatrice of Portugal, survived. Her marriage was the major political issue of the day, since it would determine the future of the kingdom.

Several political factions lobbied for possible husbands, which included English and French princes. Finally, the king settled for his wife's first choice, King John I of Castile. Ferdinand had waged three wars against Castile during his reign, and the marriage, celebrated in May 1383, was intended to put an end to hostilities by a union of the two crowns; however, this was not a widely accepted solution. This dynastic union meant that Portugal would lose independence to Castile; many nobles were fiercely opposed to this possibility, but they were not united under a common pretender to the crown. The two candidates, both illegitimate half-brothers of Ferdinand, were:

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