María de Padilla

María Díaz de Padilla (María de Padilla) (1334 – August 1361) was the mistress of King Peter of Castile whom he married in secret in 1353.

She was a Castilian noblewoman. Her father was Juan García de Padilla, 1st Lord of Villagera, her mother was his wife María Fernández de Henestrosa, a relative of Juan Fernández de Henestrosa, who mediated an apparent pardon to Fadrique Alfonso of Castile, a half-brother and rival of María de Padilla's lover, King Peter.

In the summer of 1353, under coercion from family and court nobles, Peter denied the fact of his marriage to María to marry Blanche of Bourbon, but his relationship with María continued. María and Peter had at least four children: a daughter named Beatrice (born 1354), a daughter named Constance (1354–1394), another daughter named Isabella (1355–1394), and a son named Alfonso, crown-prince of Castile (1359 - October 19, 1362).

Two of their daughters were married to sons of Edward III, King of England. Isabella, married Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, while the eldest, Constance, married John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, leading him to claim the crown of Castile on behalf of his wife. The daughter of Constance, Catherine of Lancaster, was married by Henry III of Castile in order to reunify any claim to succession that may have passed via Constance.

Depictions in fiction

• Gaetano Donizetti composed Maria Padilla (1841), an opera about her relationship with King Peter.
• Rudolf Gottschall wrote Maria de Padilla (18??), a drama about her life.

Footnotes

External links

• Genealogy of María de Padilla

Persondata
Name	Padilla, Maria
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1334
Place of birth
Date of death	1361
Place of death