Inés de Castro

Inês de Castro
Recumbent effigy on the tomb of Inês de Castro (c. 1360), Alcobaça Monastery.
Queen consort of Portugal Posthumous
Born	1325 Galicia
Died	7 January 1355(1355-01-07) (aged 29) Coimbra, Portugal
Burial	Alcobaça Monastery
Spouse	Peter I of Portugal (secretly 1346, openly in Bragança, 1 January 1354)
Issue	Beatrice, Countess of Alburquerque John, Duke of Valencia de Campos Denis, Lord of Cifuentes
Noble house	Castro
Father	Pedro Fernández de Castro
Mother	Aldonça Lourenço de Valadares
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Inês de Castro (Portuguese pronunciation: [iˈneʃ dɨ ˈkaʃtɾu], Inés de Castro in Castilian; 1325 – 7 January 1355) was a Galician noblewoman born of a Portuguese mother. She is best known as lover and posthumously-recognized wife of King Peter I of Portugal. The dramatic circumstances of her relationship with Peter I, which was forbidden by his father King Afonso IV, her murder at the orders of Afonso, Peter's bloody revenge on her killers, and the legend of the coronation of her exhumed corpse by Peter, have made Inês de Castro a frequent subject of art, music, and drama through the ages.

Inês was the natural daughter of Pedro Fernández de Castro, Lord of Lemos and Sarria and his noble Portuguese mistress Aldonça Lourenço de Valadares. Her family descended both from the Galician and Portuguese nobilities. She was also well connected to the Castilian royal family, by illegitimate descent. Her stepmother was Infanta Beatrix of Portugal, the youngest daughter of Afonso of Portugal, Lord of Portalegre and Violante Manuel. Her grandmother was Violante Sánchez de Castile, Lady of Uzero, the illegitimate daughter of Sancho IV of Castile. Her great-great grandfather was Rodrigo Alfonso de León, Lord of Aliger, the illegitimate son of Alfonso IX of León. She was also legitimately descended from Infanta Sancha Henriques of Portugal, the daughter of Henry, Count of Portugal.

Inês came to Portugal in 1340 as a maid of Constance of Castile, recently married to Peter, the heir apparent to the Portuguese throne. The prince fell in love with her and started to neglect his lawful wife, endangering the already feeble relations with Castile. Moreover, Peter's love for Inês brought the exiled Castilian nobility very close to power, with Inês's brothers becoming the prince's friends and trusted advisors. King Afonso IV of Portugal, Peter's father, disliked Inês's influence on his son and waited for their mutual infatuation to wear off, but it did not.