Eleanor de Guzmán

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Eleanor de Guzmán
Spouse(s) Juan de Velasco
(as mistress) Alfonso XI of Castile
Issue
Father Pedro Núñez de Guzmán
Mother Beatriz Ponce de León
Born 1310
Seville
Died 1351
Abderrahman III Castle, Talavera de la Reina
File:Alcazardefinitivo copia.jpg
Arab castle of Talavera de la Reina (Reproduction), where Eleonor de Guzmán was killed.

Eleanor de Guzman born Leonor Núñez de Guzmán Ponce de León and later on, Vda. De de Velasco (1310–1351) was a Castilian noblewoman and long-term mistress to Alfonso XI of Castile. She was the mother of King Henry II of Castile.

Life

Eleanor was the daughter of nobleman Pedro Núñez de Guzmán and his wife, Beatriz Ponce de León, a great-granddaughter of King Alfonso IX of León. Her parents married Eleanor off as a young girl to Juan de Velasco.

Eleanor's husband died in 1328, at twenty years old. Soon thereafter, in Seville she met King Alfonso XI. He was so impressed by her beauty that he made her his mistress. He preferred Eleanor to his wife Maria of Portugal, daughter of Alfonso IV of Portugal, whom he married in 1328. After Maria's son and heir, the future Peter of Castile, was born in 1334, Alfonso left Maria and lived with Eleanor instead. The humiliated queen resented her unfaithful husband and asked him to cease his public displays of preference for his mistress. The king ignored his wife's pleas, and gave Eleanor Huelva, Tordesillas, and Medina-Sidonia in addition to other holdings. He also established Eleanor's household in Seville where she was allowed to hear political matters. The court was increasingly troubled by Alfonso's behavior and as a result, the Pope intervened by forcing Portugal to invade Castile.

The King died on 27 March 1350 and was succeeded by his heir Peter and his wife Maria who served as regent. Maria had not forgotten the myriad slights that she had endured because of her husband's love for his mistress. Thirsting for revenge, Maria imprisoned Eleanor, and later ordered the execution of her rival in 1351 in the Arab castle of Abderrahman III of Talavera de la Reina.[1] Eleanor's death only exacerbated the rift within the royal family. Eleanor's son Henry and Maria's son Peter continued to fight one other for control of Castile. Henry eventually won and was crowned King of Castile.

Children

Eleanor was a common ancestor to the Catholic Monarchs. Three of Eleanor's sons, Henry II of Castile,[2] Fadrique Alfonso[3] and Sancho Alfonso, 1st Count of Alburquerque[4] were ancestors of Ferdinand II of Aragon. In addition, Isabella I of Castile, wife of Ferdinand II of Aragon was descended from both Eleanor and Maria, as follows: Henry II of Castile's grandson, Henry III of Castile, married Peter of Castile's granddaughter, Catherine of Lancaster; their son, John II of Castile, was the father of Isabella I of Castile.

Ancestors

Family of Eleanor de Guzmán
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
16. Guillen Perez de Guzman
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8. Pedro Nuñez de Guzman
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
17. Maria Gonzalez Giron
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4. Álvaro Perez de Guzman
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
9. Teresa Rodriguez Brizuela
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2. Pedro Núñez de Guzmán
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
20. Gonzalo Rodriguez Giron
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10. Gonzalo Rodriguez Giron
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
21. Teresa Arias Quijada
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5. Maria Giron
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
22. Diogo Gomes de Castanheda
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
11. Elvira Diaz de Castañeda
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
23. Mór Álvarez
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Eleanor de Guzmán
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
24. Ponce Viegas de Cabrera
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
12. Pedro Ponce de Cabrera
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
6. Fernán Pérez Ponce de León
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
26. Alfonso IX of León
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
13. Aldonza Alonso de León
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
27. Aldonza Martínez da Silva
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3. Beatriz Ponce de León
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
28. Suer Telez de Meneses
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
14. Gutierre Suarez de Meneses
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
29. Maria Gutierrez de Castro
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7. Urraca Gutiérrez de Meneses
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
30. João Garcia de Sousa
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
15. Elvira Anes de Sousa
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
31. Urraca Fernandes de Lumiares
 
 
 
 
 
 

References