Don Juan of Portugal ( port. João de Portugal ; 1349 - 1397 ) - the eldest son of the Portuguese king Pedro I and his metresses Ines de Castro . One of the main contenders for the throne during the succession crisis of 1383–85.
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Infant Juan was known in Portugal for his courageous article and loved by the people. At a fairly mature age, he ignited a passion for the red-haired Maria Telles de Menezes (sister of Queen Leonor ), who was 11 years older than him and already had a son from his first marriage (future great master of the Order of Christ ). To avoid the anger of the queen, they married secretly (in 1376).
According to the traditional point of view, the power-hungry Leonor was afraid that if the throne was inherited by Juan, the new queen would force her out of power and therefore persuaded don Juan to get rid of her wife, promising him his wife Beatrice (the rightful heir to the crown) as his wife. In 1378, Don Juan, allegedly in a fit of jealousy , strangled his wife in Coimbra . The crime was widely publicized, and don Juan suddenly turned from the most beloved by the people member of the royal family into an outcast.
Fearing for his life, don Juan left Portugal. He found refuge at the court of the Castilian king Enrique II , who gave him his illegitimate daughter Constance as his wife. As a wedding gift, he received the castle of Valencia de Campos with the title of Duke . There he built a new castle, named after him Valencia de Don Juan ("Valencia don Juan").
Don Juan - as the most likely heir to the Portuguese crown - for 5 years led a free life in the castle of Valencia. Only Infant Beatrice separated him from the throne. In 1383, Beatrice was married to the new Castilian monarch Juan . Seeing in don Juan a potential heir, he ordered to imprison him. He died in captivity 14 years later, buried in Salamanca .
The progeny of Juan of Portugal on the male line continued until the middle of the 17th century . His grandson Fernando occupied the archbishopric chair in Braga . Valencia Castle was inherited by the daughter Maria, the wife of Martin Vazquez de Cugny - the ancestor of the clan Telés-Gironov . The daughter and heiress of the last Count of Valencia from the de Cugna clan married the Duke of Nahersky .