Infanta Constance of Castile

Infobox Spanish Royalty|infanta
name = Constance of Castile
title = Duchess of Lancaster and Aquitaine


caption =
spouse = John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster
issue = Katherine, Queen of Castile
royal house = House of Plantagenet
House of Ivrea
father = Peter of Castile
mother = María de Padilla
date of birth = 1354
place of birth =
date of death = 24 March, 1394
place of death = Leicester Castle
place of burial = Newark Abbey, Leicester

Constance of Castile (1354 Castile – 24 March 1394 Leicester) was claimant of the Castilian throne after the death of her father Pedro the Cruel. Her mother María de Padilla was of Jewish converso descent. [Peggy K. Liss, "Isabel the Queen," New York: Oxford University Press, 1992, p. 165; James Reston, Jr. "Dogs of God," New York: Doubleday, p. 18.] She married, at Roquefort, near Bordeaux, Guienne, on 21 September 1371, John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, third son of Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault, as his second wife.

This was the way for Gaunt to obtain a kingdom of his own (he had also pursued Scotland), as his nephew Richard II and the descendants of his brother Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence stood between him and the Crown of England. John of Gaunt claimed the title of King of Castile "jure uxoris", and insisted that English nobles address him as "my lord of Spain", but was unsuccessful in his attempts to obtain the crown. Their daughter Katherine of Lancaster was married to the King of the Trastamara line, Henry III of Castile, thus uniting these two rival claims.

Constance died at Leicester Castle and was buried at Newark Abbey, Leicester.

Children

* Katherine of Lancaster (1372–1418), married King Henry III of Castile (1379–1406)
* John Plantagenet (1372–1375)

References

ee also

* Constance of Castile for other women with this name.

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