Enrique of Castile (Senior de Esih)

Enrique was born and spent his childhood in Burgos , where among his mentors was the future Cardinal Gilles Torres.

In 1246, Enrique accompanied his father Ferdinand III during an expedition to Jaen . His father granted him the feudal possession of the first of the estates conquered from the Moors: Moron de la Frontera and Cote. After the fall of Seville, the infante Enrique also took possession of the surrounding villas of Jerez de la Frontera , Lebrich , Arcos and Medina Sidonia . He spent the next few years mainly in Seville, often at the court of his stepmother, Jeanne Pontier , the second wife of Ferdinand III . However, hints by the troubadours of illegal communications have no evidence.

Back in 1246, the Infante Enrique rejected his father's request to bring homage to his older brother, the future King of Castile Alfonso X. After the death of his father, Ferdinand III in 1252, Enrique and his brother Fadrique (1223–1277) were unhappy with the rule of their brother Alfonso X. In March 1253, King Alfonso X revoked the privileges that Ferdinand III granted to Infanta Enrique on his vast southern estates. He also intervened and prevented Enrique from making a profitable marriage. In Calatayud , according to the Libro de las armas of Juan Manuel, Enrique requested the hands of the infantry of Constance of Aragon , the daughter of King of Aragon, Jaime I of the Conqueror , but the king of Castile Alfonso prevented the marriage.

In response, Enrique conspired against his older brother, King of Castile Alfonso X. At a meeting in Muluend in 1255, Enrique temporarily attracted King Aragon Jaime I to his side. In October of that year, teaming up with Diego Lopez IV de Aro, Senor of Biscay , and gaining the support of Galicia , Enrique raised an open rebellion against royal power. Despite the initial victory over the troops of the royal supporters, Enrique was defeated in the battle of Moron and was forced to flee Castile. He boarded a ship in Cadiz and by sea arrived in Valencia , from where he moved to France, initially seeking refuge from his stepmother in the county of Pontieux . Perhaps she invited him to visit her half-sister Eleanor , who was married to Edward , the eldest son and heir to the English king Henry III Plantagenet .

In mid- 1256, the infantry Enrique of Castile arrived at the court of the English king. For three years he lived there comfortably, fully relying on the mercy of King Henry III , but the British did not give him any political support. After several unsuccessful trips to France, Infante Enrique of Castile decided to seek his fortune in North Africa, where the Hafsid emir of Tunisia, Muhammad al-Mustansir, created a large empire. Having made a vow that he would not attack Castile, the king of England permitted Enrique to leave for Tunisia in July 1259 , providing him with guides through the Gascon ports under his control.

Enrique of Castile sailed to Catalonia, but King of Aragon Jaime I did not allow any of his vassals to accompany Enrique to Tunisia. In 1260, Enrique arrived in Tunisia, where he was soon joined by his older brother Fadrique. Enrique took command of a detachment of Spanish knights in the service of Muhammad al-Mustansir. In 1261, together with the emir’s brother Abu Haf, he led an attack on the deserted city of Milian . These campaigns strengthened the Hafsids' independence from the Moroccan Almohad dynasty, which owned most of Spain in the previous century. In Tunisia, Enrique adopted the customs and clothing of the Hafsids' court, which shocked the local Christian community. He used the money earned in the service of the emir to finance the commercial enterprises of the Genoese trading colony in Tunisia. Due to the funds received as a result of this trade, the king of France Louis IX was able to subsequently give a loan to Henry of England .

Later, the infantry Enrique of Castile appeared in Italy, where he joined his cousin, Count Karl of Anjou in 1266 , participated on the side of the latter in the battle of Benevento and lent him large sums of money. It was here that Enrique received his title of senator when Karl of Anjou made him senator of Rome (at that time the ancient Senate of Rome turned into an institute where civil authority in the city of Rome was entrusted to one "senator"). However, Karl of Anjou did not repay him; in Enrique, Castile sought to obtain the title of King of Sardinia and or some other high title and found senatorialism poor compensation.

As a result, when his cousin, Duke Konradin of Swabia , invaded Italy in 1268 , the Infante Enrique of Castile switched to his side and joined him. He was one of Conradin’s generals at the Battle of Tagliacozzi . He commanded a detachment of three hundred Spanish knights sent by his older brother, King of Castile Alfonso X. He won the first battle with the French, but was defeated by a surprise attack of hidden reinforcements into a thousand French knights led by Karl of Anjou. After losing the battle, Enrique of Castile fled to the monastery of San Salvatore in Monte Cassino , where he was captured by the Anjou.

According to Ferdinand Gregorovius , the infante Enrique of Castile spent the next twenty-three years in captivity, in Castello di Canosa from 1268 to 1277, and in Castell del Monte from 1277 to 1291.

In 1272, his half-sister Eleanor of Castile and her husband, King of England Edward I Plantagenet , returned to Sicily after the Crusade. Eleanor’s attempts to free him from prison were unsuccessful, but she kept in touch with him until her death.

On March 8, 1286, Pope Honorius IV freed Enrique of Castile from excommunication, which he imposed on him when Enrique supported Conradin, and insulted and harmed Cardinal Giordano Orsini (future pope Nicholas III), his nephew Matteo Rosso Orsini and Giordano Savelli .

In 1291, the infantry Enrique of Castile was released from prison. In 1295, he returned to Castile, where he was appointed regent of his great-nephew, King Ferdinand IV .

In 1299, Enrique of Castile married Juan Nunez de Lara (1286–1351), daughter of Juan Nunez I de Lara and Teresa Diaz de Aro. Their marriage was childless. For the second time, Juan Nunez de Lara married Fernando de la Cerda (1275-1322), the son of Fernando de la Cerda and Blanca of Castile.

According to legend, he had an illegitimate son from a relationship with Lady Major Rodriguez Pecha, the daughter of the lord ( Alkaid ) of Zamora Castle . This son was named Enrique Henriquez de Sevilla, who became the chief justice and chief judge of Castile under King Alfonso XI .

• Kamp, Norbert (1993). "Enrico di Castiglia (Henricus de Castella, Henricus de Hispania, Arrigo di Castiglia, Anrricus, Don Enrrique)." Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani. 42. Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana.