✎ About Peter of Castile

Peter of Castile was born on August 30, 1334 in Burgos, Spanish, is King of Castile and León. Peter of Castile, also known as Peter the Cruel and the Just, was the Spanish king of Castile and León from 1350 to 1369. His contemporaries accused him of being an extremely cruel ruler while later historians came to view him as a strong executor of justice and nicknamed him "Peter the Lawful". Born as the son and successor of Alfonso XI of Castile, he came to the throne when he was around 16 years old. The early years of his reign were subjected to stringent control by his mother and her favorite courtiers. Tired of his controlling mother, he sought the help of the minister Alburquerque and eventually freed himself from his mother’s control. However, he buckled under his mother’s pressure to marry Blanche of Bourbon who he deserted immediately after the forced marriage. Several years of his reign were spent in constant wars with Aragon in what came to be known as the "War of the Two Peters". During the war period, Peter gained much notoriety for the series of brutal murders he committed which earned him the name Peter the Cruel. As the king he faced much competition from his own half-brothers, including Henry of Trastámara who ultimately assassinated the king.
Peter of Castile is a member of Historical Personalities

💰 Net worth: Under Review

Some Peter of Castile images

Famous Quotes:

Upon entering du Guesclin's tent, Henry "saw King Peter. He did not recognize him because they had not seen each other for a long time. One of Bertrand's men said 'This is your enemy.' But King Henry asked if it was he and ... King Peter said twice, 'I am he, I am he.' Then King Henry recognized him and hit him in the face with a knife and they ... fell to the ground. King Henry struck him again and again."

Biography/Timeline

1818

The English, who backed Peter, also remembered the king positively. Geoffrey Chaucer visited Castile during Peter's reign and lamented the monarch's death in The Monk's Tale, part of The Canterbury Tales. (Chaucer's patron, John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, had fought on Peter's side in his struggle to reclaim the throne.) The English Lake Poet Robert Southey was presented in 1818 with a copy of a five-act play by the Novelist Ann Doherty, entitled Peter the Cruel, King of Castile and Leon.

2016

The change of dynasty can be considered as the epilogue of the first act of a long struggle between the Castilian monarchy and the aristocracy; this struggle was to continue for more than three centuries and come to an end only under Charles I of Spain, the grandson of Ferdinand II of Aragon (Ferdinand V of Castile) and Isabella I of Castile (The Catholic Monarchs), in the first quarter of the 16th century.

Tags:

1334 births 1369 deaths House of Burgundy (Spain) Castilian infantes Castilian monarchs Leonese monarchs Galician monarchs 14th-century Spanish people Burials at Seville Cathedral 14th-century murdered monarchs 1330s births