Throughout History there have been a number of examples of Kings and Queens being exhumed,
or even left unburied for centuries.
The Queen of England, Catherine of Valois following her death was left inside of a coffin
in Westminster Abbey for around 400 years, and many people over the years would visit
and tamper with her remains.
Catherine had been the wife of Henry V, and also can be considered the great grandmother
of the Tudor dynasty.
Her remains were touched and even kissed over the centuries, until they were treated with
dignity man centuries after her death.
People at the time considered it lucky and blessed to touch the remains of a Queen, but
this today would be considered disgusting and shocking.
But there was one Spanish wife of a King, who’s remains were ordered to be dug up
on the orders of her husband, and the dead body of the would have been Queen consort
was paraded throughout the coronation.
But what is the horrific story of the terrible afterlife of the Spanish princess exhumed
by her husband?
Ines de Castro was a Galician noblewoman and a courtier, and she was born in 1325.
She was the daughter of Pedro Fernandez de Castro, the lord of Lemos and Sarria.
Her family descended from the Galician and Portuguese nobility, and she was well connected
to the Castilian royal family by illegitimate means however.
Her stepmother was Infanta Beatrix of Portugal, who was the youngest daughter of Afonso of
Portugal, the Lord of Portalegre.
Her grandmother was the illegitimate daughter of Sancho IV of Castile.
Ines arrived in Portugal in 1340 around the age of 15, and she then became a lady in waiting
to Constance of Castile, who had recently married Prince Peter, the heir to the Portuguese
throne.
The prince however quickly shifted his attention to Ines, and he fell in love with her.
He began to have an affair with Ines, and he neglected and turned his back on his wife,
which was causing a great amount of strain with Castile.
Peter loved Ines, and this problem almost brought the exiled Castilian nobility into
power.
However she and her brothers became rather powerful.
Like many Kings over the centuries, if a daughter or sister caught the eye of a Prince or King,
the family would benefit also, and would be given wealth and financial riches.
Ines’ brothers became trusted advisors to Prince Peter, and they would also become close
friends with him.
But the King of Portugal, Afonso IV did not like the fact his son was having an affair
with Ines de Castro, and he saw it as shameful what he was doing to his wife Constance, completely
ignoring her.
But Peter the Prince was in love, but the King did not like Ines’ influence on his
son, and he also believed that this romance would just blow over and be nothing more than
an affair.
But this did not happen.
In 1345, Constance of Castile, Peter’s wife died, and the King of Portugal would try to
negotiate a new marriage for his son to bring a strong alliance with a European power and
nation.
But Peter would refuse to marry anyone other than Ines, and he claimed that the only woman
who would be eligible to be his wife and Princess was Ines de Castro.
At the time, Peter’s legitimate son, the future King Ferdinand I of Portugal would
be a frail child, however Peter and Ines had a number of illegitimate children.
These all seemed very healthy, and were thriving which shocked many.
There was a considerable amount of discontent inside of the royal court because oft this,
and there was a worry that Peter was falling too heavily under Castilian influence.
But Afonso IV the King would go further and he would try to split the two lovers up.
He banished Ines from court following Constance’s death, but Peter would stick with her and
stay by her side, as he told her he loved her.
Afonso went further and he tried very hard to keep the two lovers apart, and he even
ordered Ines’ death and execution.
A group of assassins and executioners went to the Monastery of Santa Clara a Velha in
Coimbra, and here Ines had been held prisoner.
But whilst here, the executioners slaughtered Ines, and they cut her head clean off in front
of her small child, brutally massacring and slaying the Princes’ lover.
Peter would hear of her murder, and he made it his job to hunt down Ines’ killers, and
he would mange to capture two of them in 1361.
He had them executed, by ripping out their hearts in public and he said that they didn’t
deserve to have a heart as they ripped out his.
Peter would become the King of Portugal a few years earlier, and he then claimed that
he had married in secret Ines, and that she was the lawful Queen of Portugal.
The only proof was his word, however during the 1385-85 crisis of the royal succession,
evidence was gathered that showed the Pope had refused Peter’s request to recognise
the marriage of him and Ines, and to then legitimise their children, and make them the
heirs to the Portuguese throne.
This therefore strengthened the claims of the children who weren’t born to Ines that
Peter had.
However what was shocking was what Prince Peter did to Ines body and remains after he
became King.
It was claimed that he ordered Ines’ body to be exhumed from her grave.
Bearing in mind she had been slaughtered and brutally killed, it would not have been the
best state.
It was said Peter had her body dug up, clothes and then sat on the throne, and he ordered
the entire royal court to swear allegiance to their new queen, the dead body of Ines
de Castro.
It was said, ‘the King Peter caused the body of his beloved Ines to be disinterred,
and placed on a throne, adorned with the diadem and royal robes, and required all the nobility
of the kingdom to approach and kiss the helm of her garment, rendering her when dead that
homage which she had not recieved in her life.’
Some claim that the story that she was coronated and made a Queen was a legend, that she had
a post mortem coronation, and this story later appeared a few centuries later.
However what isn’t as disputed is the fact she was dug up and people were made to swear
allegiance to a dead body.
Ines de Castro and Peter I had four children, and these were all legitimised by Peter.
The first was a son named Afonso that died shortly after birth, a second son was John
the Duke of Valencia de Campos who would claim the throne, along with a third son named Denis
who would also claim the throne.
The youngest child was Beatrice, who later married the first count of Albuquerque, and
she was the great grandmother of Ferdinand II of Aragon, and therefore was an ancestor
of all the Spanish monarchs.
But the story of Ines de Castro’s exhumation and subsequent coronation after her death
is a story which is captivating.
It is a story of love and tragedy, in which one man’s heart was shattered by the horrific
murder of his lover.
Ines de Castro was never supposed to fall in love with the Prince and heir, and their
love had disastrous consequences, and led to crazy behaviour at the royal court.
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