Fadrique Alfonso of Castile, 1st Señor de Haro (1334–1358), 25th Master of the Order of Santiago (1342–1358), was the fifth illegitimate child of Alfonso XI of Castile and Eleanor of Guzman. He was born in Seville.
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Biography
Fadrique was a twin to Henry of Trastámara. While his father lived, the children of Eleanor de Guzman, the king's favorite, profited from appointments and royal grants. With this backing, in 1342, Fadrique rose to the leading role of Maestre of the militant monastic Order of Santiago. The prior Maestre had been Alonso Meléndez de Guzmán, his maternal uncle. In 1354, Fadrique was granted the role as custodian (Adelantado Mayor de la Frontera) of the Portuguese frontier. The rebelling Count Henry of Trastamara took refuge in the French court of Jean II after he was cornered in Asturias in 1354, and the count sought support from the French monarchy. Fadrique did not join his brother's rebellion until much later, during the War of Two Peters (Aragon vs. Castile).
When Alfonso XI died from the Black Death during a siege of Gibraltar, the sons of Dona Eleanor Guzman rebelled after the king's death, refusing to acknowledge the new fifteen year-old heir, Peter I of Castile. During the reign of King Alfonso XI, Dona Eleanor de Guzman (the king's favorite concubine) had taken Queen Maria of Portugal's place at many important events, thus causing bad feelings between the two. Queen Maria of Portugal was regent for one year after her husband's death. When Dona Eleanor's sons' rebelled Count Joao de Albuquerque easily convinced the Queen Mother that Eleanor de Guzman had played a part in the rebellion, and not needing much prodding, Dona Eleanor was executed. The subsequent execution of Eleanor in Talavera in 1351, added more fuel to the fire of the rebellion by Guzman's sons, in particular her fourth born, Count Henry of Trastamara, who through marriage, ruled the northeastern portion of the kingdom. The future Henry II of Castile and León, had several brothers: Fadrique, Tello of Castile, and Sancho of Castile. Through a combination of threats and diplomacy, Peter I of Castile was able to elicit fealty and a temporary reconciliation with his half-brothers. But this was not to last. Master Fadrique of The Order of Santiago, a religious knight, was named royal emissary to Bourbon, France, when he went to escort Peter's bride-to-be, Blanche of Bourbon. There were rumors he had slept with his brother's bride. “Just what had happened, it is somewhat difficult to discover, and the story is told that the king, listening to scandalous talk, was made to believe that his royal messenger and half-brother, Fadrique, had played the role of Sir Tristan as he had brought the lady back and that she had been a somewhat willing Isolde.” Women of Romance Countries, John Effinger (2021). The subsequent turmoil of this marriage and Peter's entanglement with his concubine, María de Padilla, who King Peter later swore he had married in a secret ceremony, was unlikely to have help cement a relationship between King Peter and Master Fadrique.