Maria of Castile (Queen of Aragon)

Maria of Castile was the eldest daughter of Enrique III, King of Castile and Leon, and Catherine of Lancaster , the only daughter of John Gaunt , Duke of Lancaster , and his second wife, Constance of Castile . Maternally, Mary was a descendant of the English and French kings. The godmother of the girl was her mother’s aunt - nun Maria de Ayala, illegitimate daughter of the Castilian king Pedro I. The education of the young princess was entrusted to the poet Pedro González de Mendoza and Ines de Ayala i Toledo, señor de Casarrubios del Monte ^[1] . As the eldest child of the ruling king, Maria of Castile received the title of Princess of Asturias , and on January 6, 1402, the Cortes of Toledo recognized her as the alleged heir to the throne, since at that time her father had no other heirs, including the male one. At the same time, an agreement was reached on the betrothal of Mary with her cousin - Infant Alfonso of Aragon , son of Ferdinand I , King of Aragon. Such a marriage was supposed to strengthen the position of Mary as heir to the throne, but in 1405, after the birth of her younger brother - Infant Juan , she lost her status as heiress. From that moment on, the girl became known as the Infanta Maria ^[2] .

Infanta's childhood was quite happy; in addition, she did not experience any health problems until her marriage. Mary's father died in 1406 and the infant king, the one-year-old brother, became the new king. The girl’s mother became regent with her young son, while Mary herself again received the status of the alleged heiress . Maria’s closest relationship was with her mother, with whom she continued to conduct frequent correspondence even after marriage ^[1] .

The engagement between Maria and Alfonso was not formalized until the infante was seven years old, but it was confirmed by the last will of Enrique III. In his will, Maria’s father also stipulated future marriages of the rest of his children, all of them were connected with the royal house of Aragon: Maria’s brother, Juan, was to marry Alfonso’s sister - Maria of Aragon , and the Infanta’s sister, Catherine , was to become the wife of Alfonso’s brother - Enrique of Aragon ^[3] .

On June 12, 1415, the wedding of Mary and Alfonso took place in the Cathedral of Valencia; The ceremony was held by the antipope Benedict XIII , who also issued a couple’s marriage permission ^[1] . The bride brought a large dowry in the form of lands and numerous incomes, her husband was given the title of Infant of Castile. However, the marital happiness of the spouses was shaken due to the actions of the husband's family members. Later, Mary's brother, King Juan, complained that the dowry was too large and that in fact it was the largest dowry ever received by the Infanta of Castile ^[4] .

The family life of the newlyweds was overshadowed by the policies pursued by the father-in-law of the Infanta, as well as by the interference in their personal lives of mother Alfonso Eleonora Albuquerque . In addition, shortly after the wedding, Maria's health problems appeared: she suffered from epilepsy and also suffered from smallpox, which caused scars on the face of the infantry. The first regulae of Mary came only at the age of sixteen, which caused the consummation of the marriage to be postponed. In the early years of marriage, Maria was happy, but in the future, the absence of children turned their marriage into an ordinary political union and greatly influenced the personal relations of the infante with her husband and his reign. Relations between the spouses finally collapsed in 1423, when, upon the return of Alfonso from Naples, Maria found out that he had an Italian lover, Giraldona Carlino, who gave birth to Alfonso's son Ferdinand two years later. Deeply saddened by her husband's betrayal, Maria told her husband false news about the death of his mother. Maria and Alfonso retained marriage only for political reasons ^[5] .

Less than a year later, on April 1, 1416, the king of Aragon Ferdinand I the Just died and the spouse of Mary inherited the throne. The disease did not allow Mary to attend the funeral of the royal father-in-law; she could not attend the funeral of her own mother in 1418. Like many other queens of Aragon, Mary was not crowned. The hostess at the royal court continued to be her ambitious mother-in-law, who, contrary to tradition, did not prepare her daughter-in-law for the role of the queen. The young queen appeared in public only in case of emergency and refrained from participating in the political life of the country, giving way to her mother-in-law. Mary came to the center of public attention only when the health of the queen mother shook ^[7] .

In 1420, Alfonso II went to the Kingdom of Naples to confirm his right to his throne; he did not want to trust the regency to any of his ambitious and unreliable brothers who pushed the country to war with Castile. Despite the failure in family life, Alfonso, who trusted his spouse more than other relatives, declared Maria regent and before his departure issued a document that granted the Queen power that was second only to his own power, and the right to rule as if she were himself ^[8] . During the entire reign of her husband, Maria, who received the title of lieutenant general, ruled the country in his absence. While the queen’s personal retinue consisted mainly of Castilians, she appointed Catalans to public office, which contributed to her popularity and the quiet work of the court ^[9] .

Maria twice served as regent - from 1420 to 1423 and from 1432 until the death of her husband in 1458. She was able to resolve conflicts with the townspeople and peasants that erupted during the reign of her husband. When King Alfonso II was captured after his defeat at the Battle of Ponza in Italy on August 5, 1435, his wife raised funds and arranged for the ransom of her husband. Maria, on behalf of her husband, made peace in Valladolid between Aragon and Castile, which was also represented on behalf of her husband by Maria of Aragon, the wife of her brother ^[10] . In 1454, after the death of her brother, Maria went to Castile to negotiate with the new king, her nephew Enrique IV . Mary remained in Arevalo until 1457; then she returned home ^[11] , where on June 27, 1458 she was widowed. Mary herself died three months later, on October 4, 1458, in Valencia and was buried here in the monastery of the Holy Trinity.

• Earenfight, Theresa. The king's other body: María of Castile and the crown of Aragon . - Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010 .-- ISBN 0-8122-4185-1 .
• Hernández-León de Sánchez, Francisca. Doña María de Castilla, esposa de Alfonso V el Magnánimo . - Valencia: Universidad de Valencia, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, 1959.
• Jansen, Sharon L. The Monstrous Regiment of Women: Female Rulers in Early Modern Europe . - Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002 .-- ISBN 0-312-21341-7 .

• María de Castilla, Reina de Aragón (1401-1458) (neopr.) . Mcnbiografias.com. (Spanish)