Eleanor of Aragon, Queen of Castile

Eleanor of Aragon (20 February 1358 – 13 August 1382) was a daughter of King Peter IV of Aragon and his wife Eleanor of Sicily. She was a member of the House of Aragon and Queen of Castile by her marriage.^[1]

Family

Eleanor was the youngest child and only daughter of her father by his third marriage. Eleanor was a sister of John I of Aragon and Martin of Aragon. She was a half-sister of Constance, Queen of Sicily, Joanna, Countess of Ampurias and Isabella, Countess of Urgell.

On the death of Eleanor's mother in 1375, her father married Sibila of Fortia, who had been Eleanor of Sicily's lady-in-waiting. This caused disagreements between King Peter and his children especially John.^[2]

Eleanor's maternal grandparents were Peter II of Sicily and his wife Elisabeth of Carinthia, granddaughter of Henry V, Duke of Legnica and Elisabeth of Kalisz. Eleanor's paternal grandparents were Alfonso IV of Aragon and his first wife Teresa d'Entença.

Marriage

At Soria on the 18 June 1375, Eleanor married John I of Castile. Her marriage was arranged as part of the arrangements for peace between Aragon and Castile agreed at Almazán on the 12 April 1374 and at Lérida on the 10 May 1375.^[3]

Eleanor and John were married for seven years, in which time they had three children:

1. Henry (4 October 1379 – 25 December 1406), succeeded his father as King of Castile.
2. Ferdinand (27 November 1380 – 2 April 1416), became King of Aragon in 1412.
3. Eleanor (b. 13 August 1382), died young

After seven years of marriage on 13 August 1382, Eleanor died giving birth to her daughter and namesake Eleanor, who died young. Eleanor's son Ferdinand later claimed his mother's rights on the Kingdom of Aragon when both of Eleanor's brothers died without surviving sons.

Coat of arms and shield of Eleanor of Aragon as Queen Consort of Castile

Ancestry

Notes

References

• Lundy, Darryl (10 May 2003), Eleanor de Aragón, thepeerage.com, pp. 11340 §113398  cites:
  • Louda, Jirí; MacLagan, Michael (1999), Lines of Succession: Heraldry of the Royal Families of Europe (2nd ed.), London: Little, Brown and Company