The Tragic Love Story between King Pedro and Inês de Castro
Prince Pedro (the father of future King João I), the son of King Afonso IV was the heir to the Portuguese throne. When he was 19 his father had him marry Constança Manuel of Castile in order to build an alliance in 1340.
Ines de Castro,a daughter of a nobleman from Castile, was a lady-in-waiting to the Princess Constance. Ines was a radiant beauty who stole Pedro’s heart and they quickly fell madly in love.
The affair caused great conflict between the two countries which made King Afonso very mad. Constança tried to end the affair by making Ines Godmother to her children but to no avail. King Afonso was furious at the their affair so he banished Inês from Court and sent her back to Castile in 1344. However, the distance between them did not end their love for one another. Pedro’s passion could not be subdued and he would often visit Ines in Castile.
In 1349 Princess Constance died. Dom Pedro brought Ines back to Portugal and settled her in Coimbra, where they would live together openly. The lovers were closer than ever, and they went on to have four children.
Pedro wanted to marry Ines to make her the lawful Queen but his father opposed it because he feared that Ines’s children would claim the throne one day rather than the legitimate children borne by Princess Constance. The King wanted to end the relationship so when Pedro was away he decided the only way to end the relationship was to kill Ines. On Jan 7, 1355 the king sent three of his courtiers – Pêro Coelho, Álvaro Gonçalves and Diogo Lopes Pacheco – to Coimbra, to end her life.The assassination took place in Santa Clara-a-Velha but the myth associates Inês’ tragedy with the Quinta das Lágrimas.
It is believed that her blood still stains the red stone-bed of the natural spring on this estate which irrigates the estate’s farmland through channels. Thin grasses sway the water, representing Inês’ hair. This is said to be where Ines shed her last tears at the hands of the assassins thus giving the spring it’s name.Legend say’s Ines’s spirit still haunts the ground of the estate and you can see her blood stains embedded into the stones of the fountain.
Pedro’s love for Inês lived on after her death. He waged war against his father for having killed her thus creating a Civil war in the country for two years until the Queen, Pedro’s mother arranged a truce between the father and Son. However, Pedro never forgave his father and when he became king in 1357 after his father died, Pedro exhumed Ines’s body from the Monastery of Santa Clara of Coimbra, built her a royal tomb, and crowned as queen, claiming that they had married in secret before she died. After forcing the members of his court to kiss her decomposing hand and swear allegiance to their new queen, Pedro tracked down her assassins and killed them, ripping out their hearts with his bare hands.
To ensure they would be together in the afterlife, Pedro installed Inês body in the monastery of Alcobaça .
This true Love story inspired many artists, in epic and lyric poetry, in novels, dramas, in paintings and in music.
So to everyone who already and loves reading Romeo and Juliet, remember that there was a real “Romeo and Juliet” love story and also ended in tragedy.
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