Beatrice of Portugal (c. 1351 or c. 1354 – 1382) was Countess of Alburquerque as the wife of Sancho Alfonso of Alburquerque. She was the daughter of Peter I of Portugal and his second wife Inês de Castro, and the paternal aunt of Beatrice, Queen of Castile.
Contents
Life
Sources disagree on Beatrice's birth year, giving either 1351 or 1354.
Beatrice's entitlement to be considered an Infanta of Portugal is debated, and modern scholarship is not consistent on the question. Beatrice's parentage is not disputed: she was the biological daughter of Peter I and Inês de Castro. What is debated is her legal status, since the Catholic Church never ratified her parents' claimed marriage, and consequently whether the dynastic title Infanta properly applied to her. Historian César Olivera Serrano describes her at one point as an illegitimate ("bastarda") daughter of Peter I, while elsewhere in the same work referring to her as "the Infanta Beatriz" without addressing the distinction.
On 12 June 1360, three years after becoming king, Peter I declared before a notary at Cantanhede that he had married Inês de Castro on 1 January 1353. Six days later, at Coimbra, Bishop Gil of Guarda and Estêvão Lobato gave sworn testimony of the marriage. According to the chronicler Fernão Lopes, Peter then asked Pope Innocent VI to confirm the marriage and legitimize its children, and the Pope refused. In the papal registers for July 1361, Brásio found instead petitions in which Peter asked for privileges for himself and for his children Fernando, João, Dinis and Beatrice, including permission to marry within the fourth degree of kinship, and the Pope granted them. At the 1385 Cortes of Coimbra, João das Regras, the advocate of John of Avis, produced documents said to contain the papal refusal. Historian H. V. Livermore calls this enough to settle the case, since without a legal claim for Inês's sons João and Dinis the practical advantage lay with John.
Peter I dictated his will at the Monastery of São Francisco in Estremoz late on Sunday 17 January 1367 and died in the early hours of 18 January. Peter ordered that the Quinta de Canidelo, which had belonged to Inês de Castro, be delivered to her children (which includes Beatrice). He bequeathed Beatrice 100,000 libras "for her marriage", more than any of his other children received individually. His daughter Maria, then in Aragon, received 20,000 libras, and Beatrice's brothers João and Dinis received 20,000 libras each. Ferdinand was named heir to the other goods of the kingdom and headed the will's eight executors.
Beatrice married Sancho de Alburquerque, a brother of Henry II of Castile, under the 1373 Treaty of Santarém between Ferdinand I of Portugal and Henry II. The treaty styled her "Infanta of Portugal" and assigned her a dowry of 100,000 libras, the same sum Peter I had designated for her marriage in his 1367 will, payable in the currency that had circulated in Portugal during his reign, payment was due in three annual installments, with the first third owed within three months of the marriage. Ferdinand signed and swore to the treaty at Santarém on 19 March 1373, and Henry II ratified it in Lisbon on 22 March, where Beatrice's brother Dinis and Sancho himself were both named among the witnesses. The two kings met in person on the Tagus on 7 April to confirm the treaty again, and the wedding followed two days later. The couple received the lordship of Alburquerque. Sancho died the following year, in 1374, during a brawl in Burgos. The marriage produced one legitimate daughter, Eleanor of Alburquerque, later Queen of Aragon. Sancho also fathered an illegitimate daughter, who became prioress of the convent of Sancti Spiritus in Toro and remained in contact with her half-sister Eleanor. Beatrice died in 1382 and was buried in Burgos Cathedral.
Children
Beatrice and Sancho Alfonso of Alburquerque had one legitimate daughter from her marriage:
Eleanor of Alburquerque (c. 1374–(1435-12-16)16 December 1435). Married Ferdinand I of Aragon.
It was rumored that she also had an illegitimate daughter from an incestuous relationship with her half-brother, Ferdinand I
Isabel of Portugal, Lady of Viseu (c. 1364 – 4 April 1435). Married Alfonso Enríquez, Count of Gijón and Noreña, natural son of Henry II of Castile.