John I of Portugal

John I of Portugal (Lisbon, April 11, 1357-Lisbon, August 13, 1433) was king of Portugal, founder of the Avis Dynasty. He was the natural son of the Infante Pedro (who would later be King Pedro I of Portugal) and the commoner (Lisbon or Galician) Teresa Gille Lourenço.

He was the first monarch to write the laws of his kingdom in the vernacular language (Portuguese); He executed numerous public works and earned the nicknames “John the Great”, “John the Great” and “John the Father of the People”. However, the only title attributed to him in Portugal is "He of Good Memory."

Born during the latter part of the reign of his grandfather Alfonso IV, his father ascended the Portuguese throne in May 1357, one month after his birth. Since he could not be raised at Court, at the request of his father, the Infante Pedro, Juan was raised and educated by his maternal grandfather, the merchant Lourenço Martins da Praça. In 1364 he was consecrated master of the Order of Avis.

On the death of Peter I, on January 18, 1367, his son (John's half-brother), Ferdinand I of Portugal, ascended the throne. Ferdinand I died in Lisbon on October 22, 1383.

On the death of King Ferdinand I, Leonor, his widow, in accordance with the treaty of Salvaterra de Magos by which the marriage between his daughter Beatriz and King Juan I of Castile took place, and in accordance with the king's will deceased, he took charge of the regency and the government on behalf of his daughter Beatriz.

Upon his death (caused by the Black Death) in 1433 he was succeeded to the throne by his son Edward.

Dynastic crisis of 1383-1385

When King Ferdinand I died on October 22, 1383, an important dynastic crisis broke out, due to the non-existence of a male heir. The throne corresponded by right to the Infanta Beatrice of Burgundy, daughter of the late king, but this possibility had strong opponents, since Beatrice had married John I, king of Castile, so if the Castilian king were to inherit the Portuguese crown he would become monarch of Portugal, which would mean the submission of Portugal to Castile and the loss of independence.

King John I of Castile took the title of king of Portugal by right from his wife Beatriz, and began a military intervention in Portugal, establishing himself in Guarda; Given this, the fear of the integration of Portugal into Castile, and the opposition to the regency of Leonor Téllez, generated a popular rebellion and a civil war. At the beginning of December 1383, the uprising occurred in Lisbon. The master of Avís murdered the regent's favorite, Juan Fernández de Anderio, count of Ourém, and after that the common people rose up against the government at the instigation of Álvaro Pais, in which Martinho Anes, bishop of Lisbon, was killed. The uprising spread to the provinces, claiming the lives of the abbess of Benedictine nuns in Évora, the prior of the collegiate church of Guimarães, or Lançarote Pessanha, Admiral of Portugal, in Beja.

Queen Leonor fled Lisbon with the Court and took refuge in Alenquer. In Lisbon, Álvaro Pais proposed the marriage of the master of Avís with Leonor to take charge of the regency jointly, but Leonor rejected it, and given the news of the coming of the Castilian king, the master of Avís was elected defender and ruler of the kingdom. On December 16, 1383, as defender of the rights of the infant Juan de Portugal, first-born of Inés de Castro, he appointed João das Regras as chancellor and Nuno Álvares Pereira as constable, and asked England for help. He tried to besiege Alenquer but Leonor fled to Santarém, so they returned to prepare the defense of Lisbon. In Santarém, Leonor proceeded to recruit an army and asked for help from her son-in-law, the King of Castile. Juan I of Castile set out on the road to Santarém, and there he obtained Leonor's resignation from the regency on January 13. The uprising had the support of the bourgeoisie but not of the aristocracy, which continued to support Leonor's regency. And when she resigned, in support of King Juan I of Castile and his wife Beatriz. However, this encouraged the cause of the master of Avis to justify the revolt since the treaty of Salvaterra de Magos had been violated.

The failures of John I of Castile favored the cause of the master of Avis, and on April 6, 1385 the Portuguese Cortes met in Coimbra, after having declared Beatrice illegitimate, proceeded to elect and proclaim the master of Avis as John I of Portugal. The following Castilian defeats in Trancoso and Aljubarrota in May and August 1385 marked the end of the possibility of Juan I of Castile and Beatriz prevailing as kings of Portugal.

After these Castilian defeats, John I of Portugal obtained control of the places that were still adverse to him. From the region of Santarem, he undertook the dominion of the region north of the Duero where there were Portuguese knights who maintained loyalty to Beatrice and John I of Castile: Villareal de Pavões, Chaves and Braganza capitulated at the end of March 1386, and Almeida, at the beginning of June 1386. On May 9, 1386, Portugal and England established an alliance by the Treaty of Windsor by which Portugal supported the legitimist claims of the descendants of Peter I the Cruel: his daughter Constance and his husband John of Gaunt, who titled themselves kings of Castile since 1372. However, the Anglo-Portuguese campaign against Castile was not successful, so John of Gaunt and John I of Castile negotiated an agreement behind the Portuguese king's back. the treaty of Bayonne of July 8, 1388. The interruption of the Hundred Years' War in the truce of Leulinghem motivated the truce of Monçao of November 23, 1389, by which Castile and Portugal restored the occupied places to the adversary, but the dynastic claims that extended the system of truces with Castile until the definitive peace in 1431 were still pending.

Reign

John I of Castile died in 1390 childless by his wife Beatrice, which meant that a competing legitimate bloodline with a claim to the throne of Portugal became extinct. John I of Portugal was able to govern in peace and concentrate on the economic development and territorial expansion of his kingdom. The most important military actions were the siege and conquest of the city of Ceuta by Portugal in 1415, and the successful defense of Ceuta from a Moroccan counterattack in 1419. These measures were intended to help take control of the shipping of the African coast and the trade routes of the interior of Africa

The Reconquista raids and attacks on the Iberian Peninsula created captives on both sides who were ransomed or sold as slaves. The Portuguese crown extended this practice to North Africa. After the attack on Ceuta, the king sought papal recognition of the military action as a crusade. Such a decision would have allowed those captured to be legitimately sold as slaves. In response to John's request, Pope Martin V issued the papal bull Sane charissimus of April 4, 1418, which confirmed to the king all the lands he could gain from the Moors. Under the auspices of Prince Henry the Navigator, voyages were organized to explore the African coast. This led to the discovery of the uninhabited islands of Madeira in 1417 and the Azores in 1427; all were claimed by the Portuguese crown.

He died in 1433 and was buried in the Capela do Fundador in the Batalha monastery, where the remains of Queen Felipe had also been deposited.

Legacy

Contemporary writers describe John as a resourceful man who was very interested in concentrating power in himself, but at the same time possessed a benevolent and kind demeanor. His youthful education as a teacher of a religious order made him an exceptionally learned king for the Middle Ages. His love of knowledge and culture was passed on to his children, whom Portuguese historians refer to collectively as the 'illustrious generation'. (Ínclita geração): Eduardo, the future king, was a poet and writer; Pedro, Duke of Coimbra, was one of the most learned princes of his time; and Prince Henry the Navigator, the Duke of Viseo, invested heavily in science and the development of nautical activities. In 1430, John's only surviving daughter, Elizabeth, married Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, and enjoyed an extremely refined court culture in his lands; she was the mother of Charles the Bold.

Offspring

Before marrying Philippa of Lancaster and while he was still master of Avis, he had a love relationship with Inés Pires, with whom he had two children:

• Alfonso (c. 1371-1461), VIII count of Barcelos and I duke of Braganza, was the founder of the Dinastía de Braganza;
• Beatriz, married to Thomas FitzAlan, XII Count of Arundel.

In the year 1387 he married Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and son of Edward III of England, and sister of Henry IV of England. From this union were born:

• Blanca (Lisbon, 13 July 1388-1389), lived about eight months and was buried in the cathedral of Lisbon at the foot of his great-grandfather, King Alfonso IV;
• Alfonso (Santarém, 30 July 1390-22 December 1400), the heir, lived about ten years and was buried in the Cathedral of Braga;
• Eduardo o Duarte (Viseo, 31 October 1391-1438), successor of his father with the name of Eduardo I;
• Peter (Lisbon, 9 December 1392-20 May 1449), I duke of Coimbra, lord of Montemor-o-Velho, and regent of Portugal during the minority of his nephew Alfonso V;
• Enrique el Navegante (Oporto, March 4, 1394-1460), I duque de Viseo and Mr de Covillana;
• Isabel (Evora, February 21, 1397-1471), duchess consort of Burgundy for his marriage to Philip III the Good and Mother of Charles the Temerario;
• Juan (Santarém, January 1400-1442), a governer and governor of the Order of Santiago;
• Fernando el Santo Infante (Santarém, September 29, 1402-1443), governer and governor of the Order of Avis.

Ancestors

Predecessor: Leonor Téllez de Menes (in 1384)	Regent and Defender of the Kingdom Interregno in his name being at war against the kings proclaimed Beatriz of Portugal and Juan I of Castile 1384-1385	Successor: Leonor de Aragón (in 1438)
Predecessor: Interregno: Beatriz de Portugal y Juan I de Castilla (reyes proclaimed; war against himself as defender and regedor do Reino)	King of Portugal and Algarve 1385-1433	Successor: Eduardo I