Afonso IV of Portugal

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Afonso IV
Denis
SuccessorPeter I
Born8 February 1291
Lisbon, Portugal
Died28 May 1357 (aged 66)
Lisbon, Portugal
Burial
Lisbon Cathedral
, Portugal
Spouse
​
(m. 1309)​
Issue
Elizabeth of Aragon

Afonso IV

Elizabeth of Aragon
.

Early life

Afonso, born in

Elizabeth.[2]

In 1309, Afonso married Beatrice of Castile, daughter of King Sancho IV of Castile and María de Molina. The first-born of this union was a daughter, Maria of Portugal.

King of Portugal and Algarve

In 1325

Don Juan Manuel, waged war against Alfonso XI until 1329. Eventually, the two reached a peaceful accord after mediation by Juan del Campo, Bishop of Oviedo
; this secured Constanza's release from prison.

The public humiliation of his daughter led Afonso IV to have his son and heir, Peter I of Portugal, marry the no less aggrieved Castilian infanta, Constanza. Afonso subsequently started a war against Castile,[2] peace arriving four years later, through the intervention of the infanta Maria herself. A year after the peace treaty was signed in Seville, Portuguese troops played an important role in defeating the Moors at the Battle of Río Salado in October 1340.

Later life

Political intrigue marked the last part of Afonso IV's reign, although Castille was torn by civil war after Alfonso XI died.

Henry of Trastámara challenged the new King Peter of Castile, who sent many Castilian nobles into exile in Portugal. Afonso's son Peter fell in love with his new wife's lady-in-waiting, Inês de Castro. Inês was the daughter of an important noble family from Galicia, with links (albeit illegitimate) to both the royal houses of Castile and Portugal. Her brothers were aligned with the Trastamara faction, and became favorites of Peter, much to the dismay of others at the Portuguese court, who considered them Castilian upstarts. When Constanza died weeks after giving birth to their third child, Peter began living openly with Inês, recognized all her children as his and refused to marry anyone other than Inês herself. His father refused to go to war again against Castile, hoping the heir apparent's infatuation would end, and tried to arrange another dynastic marriage
for him.

The situation became worse as the years passed and the aging Afonso lost control over his court. His grandson and Peter's only legitimate son,

Minho rivers before he was reconciled to his father in early 1357.[3]
Afonso died almost immediately after, in Lisbon in May.

Afonso IV's nickname the Brave alludes to his martial exploits. However, his most important accomplishments were the relative peace enjoyed by the country during his long reign and the support he gave to the Portuguese Navy. Afonso granted public funding to raise a proper commercial fleet and ordered the first Portuguese maritime explorations. The conflict with Pedro, and the explorations he initiated, eventually became the foundation of the Portuguese national epic, Os Lusíadas by Luís de Camões.

The dramatic circumstances of the relationship between father, son and Inês was used as the basis for the plot of more than twenty operas and ballets. The story with its tragic

Luis Vélez de Guevara, as well as a play by French playwright Henry de Montherlant called La Reine morte (The Dead Queen). Mary Russell Mitford also wrote a drama based on the story entitled Inez de Castro. Inês de Castro is a novel by Maria Pilar Queralt del Hierro
in Spanish and Portuguese.

Marriage and descendants

On 12 September 1309,[4][5] Afonso married Beatrice of Castile, daughter of Sancho IV of Castile, and María de Molina,[4][6] and had four sons and three daughters. Afonso broke the tradition of previous kings and did not have any children out of wedlock.[b][c][d]

Notes

  1. Portuguese-Galician
    ) or Alphonsus (Latin).
  2. ^ "We assume that after the marriage of dona Beatriz and don Alfonso IV, married life was harmonious (...) based on the fact that D. Afonso IV did not have any bastard children, thereby breaking a long family tradition" (loose translation)[7]
  3. ^ "Perhaps since he had so many problems with those of his father, D. Afonso did not have any illegitimate children." (loose translation)[8]
  4. ^ "There are no known bastard children of the king. Two possible explanations could be the ties of profound esteem, friendship and respect that existed because he had been raised and had lived from a very early age with his future wife or, perhaps, because he wanted to avoid that his heirs had the same problems that he had had with his bastard brothers".(loose translation)[5]

References

  1. ISBN 978-84-9840-546-0
    .
  2. ^ a b c Spain and Portugal, Graeme Mercer Adam ed., J. D. Morris, 1906
  3. ^  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Hannay, David (1911). "Alphonso s.v. Alphonso IV.". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 733.
  4. ^ a b Sousa 1735, p. 312.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Rodrigues Oliveira 2010, p. 217.
  6. ^ Rodrigues Oliveira 2010, p. 215.
  7. ^ Lourenço Menino 2008, p. 356.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Sotto Mayor Pizarro 1997, p. 201.
  9. ^ Sousa 1735, pp. 317 y 322.
  10. ^ Rodrigues Oliveira 2010, p. 218.
  11. ^ a b c Sousa 1735, p. 315.
  12. ^ Rodrigues Oliveira 2010, pp. 228–229.
  13. ^ Rodrigues Oliveira 2010, pp. 217, 220.

Bibliography

Afonso IV of Portugal
Born: 8 February 1291 Died: 28 May 1357 Capetian dynasty
Regnal titles
Preceded by
King of Portugal

1325–1357 		Succeeded by
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