Catherine of Lancaster

Catalina de Lancaster (Hertford, March 31, 1373-Valladolid, June 2, 1418), daughter of Juan de Gante and his second wife, Constanza of Castile, and queen consort of Castile for her marriage to King Henry III of Castile.

Family origins

She was the daughter of Juan de Gante and his second wife, Constanza de Castilla. On her paternal side her grandparents were King Edward III of England and his wife Felipa of Hainaut. On her maternal side, her grandparents were King Pedro I of Castile and his wife, María de Padilla.

She was the sister of King Henry IV of England and Felipa de Lancaster and grandmother of Isabella the Catholic.

Biography

Granddaughter of King Pedro I of Castile, Catalina was raised in her own home as an heiress and entered Castilian politics when her father, Juan de Gante, claimed the throne in her name and that of her mother Constanza, organizing an expedition with the help of Richard II of England who landed in La Coruña in 1386.

To resolve the conflict, under the Treaty of Bayonne, on September 17, 1388, in the cathedral of San Antolín in Palencia, betrothal was celebrated with his cousin Enrique de Trastámara. Enrique was the heir to the House of Trastámara, a bastard branch of the House of Burgundy. For this reason, Enrique was granted the title of Prince of Asturias, since then this title has been used by the heir to the Castilian crown and, later, by the heir to the Spanish crown.

This put an end to the dynastic conflict between the descendants of Pedro I of Castile and Enrique II of Castile, consolidating the House of Trastámara and establishing peace between England and the Crown of Castile.

The marriage would take place in the town of Madrid in 1393, when Enrique III was already King of Castile.

She is credited with introducing fashion for companies or currency in Spain, and used the pineapple currency as a personal symbol, considered the first female currency of a Queen of Castile of the House of Trastamara.

Regency during the minority of Juan II

When Henry III of Castile died on December 25, 1406, at the age of 27, Catherine of Lancaster, together with her brother-in-law Fernando de Antequera, future King of Aragon, exercised the regency of the kingdom during the minority of his son Juan II, barely one year old.

Catalina coordinated, together with a council of nobles, ecclesiastical and municipal authorities of some cities, the administration of the current territories of Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, the Basque Country, Old Castilla, León and parts of New Castilla, while that Fernando de Antequera, the brother of Enrique III, administered the areas of Extremadura and the Christian kingdoms of Andalusia, Jaén, Córdoba and Seville. The lands of Almería, Granada and Málaga were still part of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada.

During the regency, the queen actively participated in the kingdom's foreign policy, maintaining contacts with England and Portugal, which facilitated the signing of peace and ensured trade contacts with both kingdoms.

In 1412, the Castilian infante Fernando de Trastámara became Fernando I of Aragón, as agreed by the Aragonese magnates in the Compromiso de Caspe. For this, he received formal and financial support from Castilla, which subsidized his candidacy for the Aragonese throne, and even the crown. To confront the Castilian regency from Aragon, Fernando used his closest advisers, including Archbishop Sancho de Rojas, as well as the influence of his wife, Leonor de Alburquerque, a large landowner in Castile, and their children, the Infantes. from Aragon. Once he died in 1416, Catalina was able to assume other aspects of the Castilian government such as diplomacy with Granada or dealings with the military orders that until then had been Ferdinand's prerogative.

Leonor López de Córdoba was a close adviser to Queen Catherine of Lancaster. Leonor was a Cordovan noblewoman, daughter of Martín López de Córdoba, master of the Order of Alcántara, who had been executed by order of Enrique II of Castile for having been protector, behind the walls of Carmona, of the orphaned children of King Pedro I. from Castile.

Under the influence of Bishop Pablo de Santa María, who was in charge of the education of King Juan II of Castile, as well as the ideas of the preacher Vicente Ferrer, the legal system of Valladolid was published, establishing the first laws for the removal of Jews and Mudejars in the cities of the kingdom, as well as other measures designed to reduce their participation in the social life of the kingdom. The ordinance could only be applied to some cities, due to the complaints of those affected, who resorted to their ancient jurisdictions to refute it.

A portrait of Catalina de Lancaster by Fernán Pérez de Guzmán describes her as having a sickly countenance and somewhat crippled, but also with the veracity of the traits that the Angevin and Burgundian heritage of her father, the Duke of Lancaster, and from his grandfather, King Pedro I, he inherited. Being she of great stature, very blonde and pink and of great bodily strength, greater than that of many men but already loaded with overweight due to age, but more due to being very given to eating and drinking too much. She has a personality full of virtues and very generous, but with the weakness of allowing herself to be influenced by the needy of the Court, in such a way that several times she had to expel the personnel in charge of her service from the Castilian Court.

Queen Catalina de Lancáster died in the city of Valladolid on June 2, 1418, at the age of 45, of "perlesia" according to sources. Her son immediately took power, without continuing the regency.

Burial

After her death, the body of Queen Catalina de Lancaster was transferred to the city of Toledo, where she was buried in the Chapel of the New Kings of the Toledo Cathedral, where her mortal remains rest today.. The queen's tomb is located on the Gospel side and next to the altar of San Hermenegildo. Two angels hold the cartouche on which the queen's epitaph is carved:

Sepulchre of Catherine of Lancaster

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It is an attached tomb in the Plateresque style. The queen appears dressed in a tunic and cloak, the latter adorned with flowers. The queen's hands are placed on her chest, and her left hand holds a prayer book. The queen's head, which rests on three embroidered cushions, is covered by a headdress, and a royal crown encircles her forehead.

Family

Marriage and offspring

Catherine of Lancaster married Henry III of Castile in 1388. The religious ceremony took place in the cathedral of Palencia. As a result of her marriage, three children were born:

• Mary (1401-1458). He married Alfonso V of Aragon and was buried in the monastery of the Holy Trinity of Valencia.
• Catalina (1403-1439). He married Enrique de Trastamara, son of King Fernando I of Aragon and Queen Leonor of Alburquerque. He was buried in the monastery of Poblet.
• Juan (1405-1454). King of Castile (John II) at the death of his father. He was buried in the Miraflores Cartuja.

Ancestors

Succession