‘A bitter war between legitimate and illegitimate heirs was fought for the throne of fourteenth century Castile. The ensuing conflict pulled in many powers, large and small, including both the kingdoms of England and France.
On March 26th, 1350, Alfonso XI King of Castile, León and Galicia died during yet another siege (the fifth) of Muslim-held Gibraltar and in the midst of an outbreak of the Black Death which would soon decimate the populations of almost all of Europe. Alfonso had been king since 1312 and his death plunged Castile into a succession crisis. Alfonso and his wife, Maria of Portugal, had only one surviving legitimate son, Pedro, but Alfonso had neglected his wife in favour of his mistress, Eleanor de Guzman, by whom he had ten illegitimate children. These included the twins Henry (Enrique) and Fadrique Alfonso – and it would be Henry de Trastámara (Alfonso’s eldest surviving illegitimate male heir) around whom an alternative claim to the Castilian throne centred.’
This episode was written by Murray Dahm.
Murray is an ancient and medieval military historian from New Zealand, living in Australia. He has written more than 100 articles on various aspects of ancient and medieval military history and other historical topics from all periods. He is the author of Macedonian Phalangite vs Persian Warrior, Athenian Hoplite vs Spartan Hoplite and Leuctra 371 BC all from Osprey publishing. He is a regular on the Ancient Warfare Podcast.
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