Peter of Castile
Peter, called Peter 'the Cruel or the Just', was King of Castile and León from 1350 to 1369. Peter was the last ruler of the main branch of the House of Ivrea. He was excommunicated by Pope Urban V for his persecutions and cruelties committed against the clergy.
Early life
Peter was born in the defensive tower of the Monasterio de Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas in Burgos, Spain. His parents were Alfonso XI of Castile and Maria of Portugal.According to chancellor and chronicler Pedro López de Ayala, he had a pale complexion, blue eyes and very light blonde hair; he was tall and muscular. He was accustomed to long, strenuous hours of work, lisped a little and "loved women greatly". He was well read and a patron of the arts, and in his formative years he enjoyed entertainment, music and poetry.
He was to be married to his contemporary Joan, the second and favourite daughter of King Edward III of England; however, on their way to Castile she and her retinue travelled through cities infested with the Black Death, ignoring townspeople who had warned them not to enter their settlements. Since the plague had not yet entered England, it is likely that they underestimated the danger. Joan soon contracted the disease and died in 1348, aged 14.
File:Double de 35 maravédis à l'effigie de Pierre I dit le Cruel ou le Justicier.jpg|thumb|Dobla of 35 maravedís with the effigy of Peter of Castile
About two years later Peter began his reign when almost sixteen years old and subject to the control of his mother and her favourites. Though at first controlled by his mother, Maria of Portugal, Peter ascended the throne with the encouragement of his mother's second cousin, the Portuguese minister Count Alburquerque.
In the summer of 1353, Peter married Blanche of Bourbon. Two days later, he abandoned her for María de Padilla. In 1355 he married Juana de Castro, widow of Don Diego de Haro, convincing her that his previous marriage to Queen Blanche was a nullity. The bishops of Avila and Salamanca were asked to concur, and were afraid to say otherwise. Peter and Juana were married in Cuellar, and Juana was proclaimed Queen of Castile. After two nights, he then deserted her. They had a son Juan, who died in 1405 at the age of fifty. The king was briefly captured at the Monastery of Santo Domingo of Toro, with his Jewish treasurer. They both were released after being ransomed. Segovia.
In 1361, Queen Blanche died at Medina Sidonia. French historians claim that Peter ordered two Jews to murder her; another version of the story says she was poisoned; a third one that she was shot with a crossbow, although it may have been the plague. Also that year, Maria de Padilla died in Seville. After Maria's death, Peter declared that she had been his first and only legitimate wife.
Wars with Aragon
From 1356 to 1366, Peter engaged in constant wars with Aragon in the "War of the Two Peters". The Catholic Church’s French pope in Avignon, responded to the multiple pleas to have the border war cease. France and Aragon had been losing valuable lands and men to Castile. Pope Innocent VI played peacemaker, using his authority with a papal legate. He sent Cardinal Guillaume to discuss a truce, stopping the war for one year between the two Catholic kings named Pedro. The king of Aragon supported Peter's bastard brothers against him. It was during this period that Peter perpetrated the series of murders which made him notorious.In 1366 began the calamitous Castilian Civil War, at the end of the War of Two Peters which would see him dethroned. He was assailed by his bastard brother Henry of Trastámara at the head of a host of soldiers of fortune, including Bertrand du Guesclin and Hugh Calveley, and abandoned the kingdom without daring to give battle, after retreating several times in the face of the oncoming armies. Peter fled with his treasury to Portugal, where he was coldly received by his uncle, King Peter I of Portugal, and thence to Galicia, in the northern Iberian Peninsula, where he ordered the murder of Suero, the archbishop of Santiago, and the dean, Peralvarez.
Relationship with the Islamic World
Cultural "Arabization" and the Mudéjar Court
Unlike his contemporaries in France or England, Peter I was deeply influenced by the Islamic culture of Al-Andalus. His reign marked the height of Mudéjar influence in the Castilian court, leading modern historians to describe him as "the most Andalusi of Christian kings."Peter was reportedly fluent in Andalusi Arabic and frequently appeared in court wearing Moorish kaftans and silk turbans rather than Frankish tunics. This cultural assimilation was used as propaganda by his half-brother and rival, Henry of Trastámara, who accused Peter of being a "crypto-Muslim" and a "friend to Jews and Saracens" to delegitimize his claim to the throne during the Castilian Civil War.
His administration relied heavily on Jewish and Muslim courtiers. His treasurer was the Jewish scholar Samuel ha-Levi, and his royal guard included a corps of Muslim horsemen, similar to the Jenets used by the Nasrid dynasty.
The Alcázar of Seville and Arabic Epigraphy
Peter's most significant architectural legacy is the Palacio de Don Pedro within the Alcázar of Seville. Rejecting the Gothic style prevalent in Europe, Peter employed craftsmen from Granada and Toledo to build a palace in the style of the Alhambra.The palace is unique in Christendom for its extensive use of Arabic epigraphy glorifying a Christian monarch. The facade of the Patio de las Doncellas features the motto of the Nasrid Sultans, "wa-lā ghāliba illā Allāh", carved repeatedly in stucco.
More notably, inscriptions in Kufic script explicitly refer to Peter using Islamic royal titles. One inscription on the wooden doors of the Hall of Ambassadors reads:
Coinage
Peter issued gold coins that imitated the Almohad dinar. These coins featured bilingual inscriptions. On the reverse, Arabic script proclaimed Peter as the "Pope of the Church of Rome", a direct challenge to the Papacy's political authority and an assertion of his own caesaropapist power within Castile.Alliance with the Nasrid Dynasty
Friendship with Muhammad V
Peter maintained a close personal and military alliance with Muhammad V of Granada. When Muhammad V was deposed in a coup in 1359, he fled to the Castilian court in Seville, where Peter hosted him with full royal honors. Peter eventually provided the military support necessary for Muhammad V to retake the Alhambra in 1362. In exchange, the Granadan fleet often patrolled the coast of Valencia to support Peter's wars against Aragon.The Incident of the "Red King"
In 1362, the usurper Sultan of Granada, Abu Said, traveled to Seville to negotiate with Peter, after being chased out of Granada. According to the chronicler Pero López de Ayala, Peter invited Abu Said to a banquet, where he was seized. Peter personally executed Abu Said, reportedly stabbing him with a lance to fulfill his pact with Muhammad V.Among the jewels taken from Abu Said's corpse was a large spinel, which Peter later presented to Edward the Black Prince as payment for English military assistance at the Battle of Nájera. This gem, known as the Black Prince's Ruby, is currently set in the front of the Imperial State Crown of the United Kingdom.
Peter and the Spanish Jewry
Peter's rival Henry II of Castile continuously depicted Peter as "King of the Jews", and had some success in taking advantage of popular Castilian antisemitism. Henry instigated pogroms beginning a period of anti-Jewish riots and forced conversions in Castile that lasted approximately from 1370 to 1390. Peter took forceful measures against this, including the execution of at least five anti-Jewish leaders of a riot.The prominence of Samuel ha-Levi, King Peter's treasurer, has often been cited as evidence of Peter's supposed pro-Jewish sentiment, but Ha-Levi's success did not necessarily reflect the general experience of the Spanish Jewry in this period which was often marked by discrimination and pogroms. Following Peter's death, Jews had to wear a yellow badge, as punishment for having supported him.
Death
In the summer of 1366, Peter took refuge with Edward, the Black Prince, who restored him to his throne in the following year after the Battle of Nájera. The health of the Black Prince broke down, and he left the Iberian Peninsula, bringing with him two of Peter's daughters, Constance and Isabella of Castile, whom he had taken as hostages as assurers that Peter would pay up. He married the princesses to his younger brothers, most famously Constance to his brother John of Gaunt, in order to make a claim on the Castilian throne.Meanwhile, Henry of Trastámara returned to Castile in September 1368. The cortes of the city of Burgos recognized him as King of Castile. Others followed, including Córdoba, Palencia, Valladolid, and Jaén. Galicia and Asturias, on the other hand, continued to support Peter. As Henry made his way toward Toledo, Peter, who had retreated to Andalusia, chose to confront him in battle. On 14 March 1369, the forces of Peter and Henry met at Montiel, a fortress then controlled by the Order of Santiago. Henry prevailed with the assistance of Bertrand du Guesclin. Peter took refuge in the fortress, which, being controlled by a military order of Galician origin, remained faithful to him. Negotiations were opened between Peter and his besieger, Henry. Peter met with du Guesclin, who was acting as Henry's envoy. Peter offered du Guesclin 200,000 gold coins and several towns, including Soria, Almazán, and Atienza to betray Henry. Ever opportunistic, du Guesclin informed Henry of the offer and immediately bargained for greater compensation from Henry to betray Peter.
Having made a deal with Henry, Du Guesclin returned to Peter. Under the guise of accepting his deal, du Guesclin led Peter to his tent on the night of 23 March 1369. Henry was waiting. The historian López de Ayala described the encounter as follows: "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." Having dispatched his half-brother, Henry left Peter's body unburied for three days, during which time it was subjected to ridicule and abuse.