Leonor Teles
| Leonor Teles | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Queen consort of Portugal | |
| Tenure | 5 May 1372 – 22 October 1383 |
| Born |
c. 1350 Disputed: Trás-os-Montes, Portugal or Castile |
| Died |
c. 1406 Valladolid, Castile |
| Spouse | Ferdinand I of Portugal |
| Issue | Beatrice of Portugal |
| House | Meneses |
| Father | Martim Afonso Telo de Meneses |
| Mother | Aldonça Eanes de Vasconcelos |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Leonor Teles (or Teles de Meneses) (c. 1350 – c. 1405), was by marriage queen consort of Portugal and one of the protagonists, along with her brothers and her daughter Beatrice, of the events that led to the Crisis of 1383 – 1385, which culminated in the defeat of her son-in-law, King John I of Castile and his armies in the Battle of Aljubarrota. Called "the Treacherous" (a Aleivosa in Portuguese) by her subjects, who execrated her on account of her adultery and treason to her native country, historian Alexandre Herculano considered her "the Portuguese Lucrezia Borgia".
The date or place of Leonor's and her siblings' birth is not recorded in any document. According to some sources, she was born in Trás-os-Montes because King Ferdinand I on 3 January 1375 donated Vila Real to his wife "for being a native of the province of Tralosmontes". If so, she would be the first queen of Portugal born in that country. Yet, her parents lived in Castile from 1340 and it was between that year and 1356 when the children of the marriage were born, as well as the illegitimate daughter; there are no sources that mention the births or the early years of the siblings. This is the reason Portuguese historian Ferro Tavares suspects the place of her birth was actually in Castilian territory and that the birthplace was changed on purpose. According to this hypothesis, the place of origin was moved to a Portuguese location in order to stress the political detachment he made from the Franco-Castilian diplomatic bloc in the Hundred Years' War with such a marriage. This situation is complicated by the fact Leonor's family held lands and tenancies in Portuguese territory, which makes the thesis of Trás-os-Montes still viable.
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