Enrique IV

The son of Juan II and Mary of Aragon , the older brother of Isabella the Catholic . He was brought up under the supervision of Alvaro de Luna , a favorite of his father. From his youth, he was influenced by the favorite Juan Pacheco , who over the years concentrated in his hands all the reins of state power. Adversaries, especially at the Aragonese court, ridiculed the relationship of the king and the favorite as homosexual , although there is no direct evidence of this ^{[1] [2]} .

The fight against the Moors

Having ascended the throne after the death of his father ( 1454 ), Enrique began his reign by declaring war on the Moors . The Castilians reached the walls of Granada and took possession of Gibraltar , but the king, avoiding decisive battles, nullified these victories. To know the kingdom began to treat Enrique with contempt caused by his behavior in the war with Granada. Soon, negative emotions intensified due to rumors of problems in his family life ^[3] .

First marriage

At the age of 15, Enrique married Infanta Blanca of Navarre , daughter of Blanca I of Navarre and Juan II of Aragon . The wedding ceremony was led by Cardinal Juan de Cervantes . In 1453, the marriage was annulled by Pope Nicholas V , since Enrique IV did not enter into an intimate relationship with his wife throughout the marriage. An official survey confirmed the virginity of the queen, while a priest survey of prostitutes in Segovia confirmed the king’s male viability. (However, they could well have given false evidence) ^[4] . Papa canceled their marriage on the grounds that some kind of "supernatural witchcraft" (the medieval name for the psychological bloc) kept Enrique from consummating .

This was explained by contemporaries to the failure of Enrique as a man, for which he was nicknamed Impotent (or Impotent Spanish. Impotente ). Queen Blanca was sent home, where her family placed her in custody. In 1464 she was poisoned.

Second marriage

In 1455, Enrique IV married a second time to Juan of Portugal , the sister of the Portuguese king . As they said, the first wedding night also did not bear fruit, and for conception it was necessary to resort to "mechanical devices" ^[2] . After 6 years of this union, the daughter of Juan , the rightful heir to the throne, was born. However, a shadow of illegitimacy always hung over her: her contemporaries considered her the biological father of the court handsome Beltran de la Cueva . And among contemporaries, and in history, she remained under the nickname " Juan Beltranekh . "

Enrique sent the queen to Coca Castle (according to another version to Alarcon Castle ), under the supervision of one of his supporters, Bishop Fonseca. Upon learning that she had made contact with the nephew of Bishop Pedro de Castilla and Fonseca (great-grandson of Pedro I of Castile ) and expecting a child from him, the king announced that their marriage was never legal and left her. The Queen gave birth to twins - Pedro and Andres.

Fighting the Cortes

Enrique IV wanted to establish peace between the monarchy and the nobility, violated by the actions of his father, Juan II . He returned the land and property confiscated from the nobles. Nevertheless, the Cortes rebellion continued. Surrounded by rebellion and a displeased nobility, Enrique IV was forced to sign an agreement under which his half-brother younger Alfonso became his heir, bypassing Juan Beltranejo in the line of succession.

Finally, the representatives of the nobility decided on the last step - they gathered in Avila and proclaimed the infant Infon Alphonse (his younger brother) king, proclaiming Enrique IV deposed. Young Alfonso went down in history as "Alfonso (XII) Rival".

However, this so-called. " Farce in Avila " did not suit the powerful family of Mendoza . Based on his resources, the king in 1467 gave the battle of Olmedo and won. But the war continued, and the rebels occupied Segovia , where the infantry Isabella was . They were stopped by the sudden death of Alfonso at the age of 14 (possibly from poison). Isabella refused to accept the crown during her brother's life, and the rebellion temporarily faded.

Wanting to strengthen his position, Enrique in 1467 made his temporary worker Juan Pacheco the supreme master of the Order of Santiago , and in 1472 gave him the title of Duke of Escalon .

Isabella's heiress

After the death of Alfonso, Enrique, at the request of the nobility, concluded an agreement with his sister Isabella for the bulls of Gisando , according to which she became his heir, under certain conditions, among which was Isabella's ban on marrying without the consent of the king. Thus, he again removed his daughter Juan from inheritance and indirectly confirmed the betrayal of his wife.

His wife, Joan protested, wanting to rehabilitate herself and her daughter. A conflict was brewing. In 1469 , shortly before the secret wedding of Isabella and Fernando of Aragon , Enrique IV declared the contract invalid and again proclaimed his daughter Juan the heir to the throne, publicly vowing that she was his legitimate daughter. One of the reasons for this was dissatisfaction with Isabella, who refused to marry Afonso V, King of Portugal and brother of Queen Joana.

In 1473, Enrique IV secured the appointment of his loyal bishop Pedro Gosales de Mendoza as head of the Seville archdiocese with the title of cardinal, and then made him royal chancellor.

Death and Successor

On December 12, 1474, he suddenly died in Madrid from "stomach pains", possibly caused by poisoning ^[5] . Back in October of that year in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, under the same suspicious circumstances, his omnipotent favorite Juan Pacheco died.

He was buried in the monastery of Santa Maria de Guadalupe , next to his mother Maria Aragon .

After the death of Enrique IV, a civil war broke out between the supporters of Isabella and Juana Beltraneja. The latter called for help from Uncle Beltraneja - King Afonso V of Portugal, and gave the infante his wife (later the papal marriage was annulled due to close relationship).

The culmination of the struggle was the battle of Thoreau on March 1, 1476 . The war ended in 1479 , following its results, Isabella I remained the queen of Castile.

Enrique IV is buried in the royal pantheon of the Guadalupe monastery .

• From his first marriage ( 1440 - 1453 ) with Blanca of Navarre (* 1424 † 1464 ), Enrique had no children.
• From his second marriage ( 1455 - 1474 ) with Joan of Portugal (* 1439 † 1475 ), Enrique had the only daughter of Juan (* 1462 † 1530 ). But it is not known for certain whether Juan was in fact the daughter of Enrique IV or his favorite Beltran de la Cueva .

• Miller, Townsend. The Castles and the Crown. - New York: Coward-McCann, 1963.
• Galan, Juan Eslava. In search of a unicorn. - M .: Corpus, Astrel, 2011.

• About Enrique and his stepmother Isabella of Portugal at Mad Monarch
• Enrique IV at Fuenterrebollo (Spanish)