Sancho of Castile (1342-1374)

Sancho of Castilla (Seville, 1342 - Burgos, February 19, 1374). Castilian nobleman and bastard son of Alfonso XI of Castile and his lover Leonor de Guzmán.

He was the 1st Count of Alburquerque and 1st Lord of Ledesma, Haro, Briones, Belorado, Cerezo, Alba de Liste, Medellín, Tiedra and Montalbán. And he was also an ensign of King Enrique II of Castile, who was his brother.

Family origins

Son of Alfonso XI and Leonor de Guzmán, his paternal grandparents were Ferdinand IV of Castile and Queen Constanza of Portugal and his maternal grandparents were Pedro Núñez de Guzmán and Juana Ponce de León.

He had several brothers, among them Pedro I, Enrique II Fadrique Alfonso de Castilla, Master of the Order of Santiago and Tello de Castilla, Lord of Vizcaya and Aguilar de Campoo.

Biography

Sancho de Castilla, the ninth of the ten extramarital children of Alfonso XI and his mistress Leonor de Guzmán, was born in the city of Seville in 1342. His father died in 1350 and his legitimate son, Pedro I, succeeded him on the throne.

In April 1366, his brother Enrique, who was at war with Pedro I, named him Count of Alburquerque, Lord of Ledesma, Alba de Liste, Medellín, Tiedra and Montalbán. Together with his brothers Enrique (future Enrique II of Castile), Fadrique and Tello, Sancho fought against his stepbrother Pedro I.

He also participated in the uprising of the Castilian nobles, motivated by the discontent caused by the crimes of King Pedro, who would go down in history with the nickname "el Cruel".

About his death, Domingo Hergueta y Martín reports that Henry II feared that Juan de Gante, Duke of Lancaster, would go to Spain to uphold his rights to the crown of Castile as the husband of Doña Constanza, daughter of King Pedro I, ordered to gather in Burgos all the possible companies; Don Sancho appeared with his, on a Sunday, February 19, 1374, and due to a question of accommodation or inn, a dispute was promoted, while the King was at Mass, at the inn of Diego Fernández de Gudiel, in the neighborhood of San Esteban; between the company of don Sancho and the vassals of the infant don Juan son of the King; commanded by Pedro González de Mendoza; To calm the noise, Sancho came quickly, but the same haste caused him to don a jaquepeto and a bacinete that were not his and that were the cause of his downfall, because, ignoring him when trying to put peace among the unruly, one of them He gave such a blow with the spear that penetrating the tip through the eye it reached the brain, causing death shortly after.

Burial

The body of Sancho de Castilla was buried in the presbytery of Burgos Cathedral, where his wife, Beatriz de Portugal, would later be buried.

On the Gospel side of the main chapel of Burgos Cathedral is his tomb, sheltered by an arch. On the sepulcher is placed the reclining statue, somewhat deteriorated, which represents the deceased with a youthful appearance, and who appears with his hand resting on the pommel of his sword. The left hand is positioned below the crosshair of the sword.

Marriage and offspring

In the year 1373 he married Beatriz of Portugal, daughter of King Pedro I of Portugal and Inés de Castro, with whom he had two children:

• Fernando Sánchez de Castilla (1373-1385). II count of Alburquerque, II lord of Ledesma, Alba de Liste, Medellín, Tiedra and Montalbán.
• Alburquerque Leonor (1374-1445). III Countess of Alburquerque, III Lady of Ledesma, Alba de Liste, Medellín, Tiedra and Montalbán, and queen consorte de Aragón for his marriage to Fernando I of Aragón.

And as a result of an extramarital relationship he had an illegitimate daughter:

• Leonor Sánchez de Castilla (1373-1440), wife of Sancho de Rojas, lord of Monzón de Campos, murdered in 1393 by the servants of the I duque de Benavente Fadrique de Castilla. After enviudar Leonor was engaged to the Duke, his cousin, and the fruit of that relationship was born his daughter Leonor of Castile (1393-1470). He was later prior to the monastery of Sancti Spiritus the Real de Toro, in which he was buried to his death.

Ancestors