Catherine of Lancaster

Catherine of Lancaster
Queen consort of Castile and Leon
Tenure	1393–1406
Burial	Cathedral of Toledo, Castile-La Mancha
Spouse	Henry III of Castile
Issue	Juan II of Castile Catherine, Duchess of Villena Maria, Queen of Aragon
House	House of Lancaster (by birth) House of Trastamara (by marriage)
Father	John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster
Mother	Infanta Constance of Castile

Katherine of Lancaster, also known as Katherine Plantagenet or in Spanish, Catalina (1373-1418) was the daughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, and his second wife, Constance of Castile (the daughter, and rightful heir of King Peter of Castile, who died at the hands of his half brother Henry II). She was born in Hertford Castle, her father's chief country home, on 31 March 1373. Katherine became Queen of Castile through her marriage to Henry III.

Marriage

After King Juan I of Portugal defeated King Juan I of Castile at the Battle of Aljubarrota, South Leiria, in 1385, fully establishing Portuguese independence, Katherine's parents, the Duke and Duchess of Lancaster, were encouraged to press their claim for the Castilian throne. In 1386, Katherine joined her father and mother in an expedition to Castile to gain John of Gaunt's rights to the throne. England and Portugal entered into an alliance against Castile in 1386 and solidified their ties through the marriage of King Juan I and Katherine's half-sister, Philippa.

John of Gaunt had ruled Santiago de Compostela, Vigo, and Pontevedra with ease, but had to withdraw to Portugal in 1387 because of an unsuccessful invasion of Leon. It was then that he accepted the proposal of King Juan I of Castile, to marry Katherine to his son, the future Henry III, and that Constance, Duchess of Lancaster should renounce all claims to the Castilian throne. A final treaty in regards to this proposal was ratified at Bayonne in Gascony on 8 July 1388. The marriage helped to restore a semblance of legitimacy to the Trastamara line. Furthermore, together with the truce of Leulingham and the one made at Moncao, the betrothal helped to end the Spanish period of the Hundred Years War .

On 5 August 1388, Katherine announced that she entered into the marriage freely and fully accepted the treaty. The treaty had included a dower of the towns of Soria, Almazan, Atienza, Deza, and Molina. By 17 September 1388 Katherine was married to the nine-year-old Henry in Palencia Cathedral. Her husband took over the throne after the death of his father in 1390, but only in 1393 he was declared of age and began to rule. Katherine's only contribution to Henry's rule was the bearing of his three children and her devotion to the religious patronage of the Dominican Order. In September 1390, Katherine accepted the authority of the Avignon Papacy, under Antipope Clement VII and became a staunch supporter.

The couple's three children:

• Maria of Castile (1401-1458), who married Alfonso V "the Magnanimous", King of Aragon and Naples,
• Catharina of Castile (1403-1439), who wed Enrique of Aragón, Duque de Villena,
• Juan II (1405-1454), who succeeded his father as King of Castile.

Widowhood

Regency with Ferdinand

Henry III died in 1406, and according to his will, his widow, Katherine, and his brother, Ferdinand I of Aragon were to be joint regents during Juan II's minority, sharing their power with a royal council. Of those three parties, Ferdinand was to be the one with the greatest share of power . However, the custody of Juan II was given to two nobles, Diego López de Stúñiga and Juan Fernandez de Velasco. Katherine prepared to defend herself and her household in a famous Spanish castle, the Alcázar of Segovia, due to the fact that she was not willing to relinquish her year-old son. Ferdinand was eventually able to make a deal that allowed Katherine to maintain custody of her son.

Ferdinand ordered Mudéjars (peasants, carpenters, seaman, and shipbuilders) to wear a symbol; a blue moon on their clothing. They were not allowed to leave their homes, nor were they allowed to work or trade with Christians. The Jewish, too were not allowed to work or trade with Christians. This was an attempt by Juan II to suppress religious minorities, which was supported by Katherine and only lasted until her death. Furthermore, tensions between the regents led to a division of rule. The royal council awarded Katherine control over the Northern part of the Kingdoms of Castile, and Leon.

As Katherine became increasingly involved in the wars of Ferdinand against Granada in the south, Castile's alliance with France suffered and she was able to strengthen her relations with Portugal, where her half-sister Philippa was queen, and with England, where her half-brother Henry IV ruled since 1399. Katherine and her half-brother fostered the trade between Castile and England. Her international policies were beneficial to the Castilian communities, but her co-regents did not always act in their best interests. Because of Katherine's opposition to Ferdinand, she supported the position of Antipope Benedict XIII and initially spoke up against the Council of Constance (1414-1418).

Solo regency

When Ferdinand died in 1416, Katherine's authority was reduced, due to the fact that his rivals no longer supported her. The government became very conciliar. Katherine, sickly due to a stroke, relinquished the custody of her son.

There is one vivid account of Katherine towards the end of her life recorded by Fernán Pérez de Guzmán. It alludes to the fact that she probably inherited physical characteristics from her father, and that she was a sickly woman. He describes her as being very tall and fat, pink with white in her complexion and fair. He states that she moved as though she was a man. He also says that she was virtuous and reserved, in both her person and her reputation. She was said to be generous and magnificent in her ways, although she did play "favourites" and was greatly influenced by them. Despite her "favouritism", she was twice as likely to banish women from her household.

Death and burial

Queen Katherine died at Valladolid on 2 June 1418, of a stroke, possibly precipitated by her great obesity, leaving her thirteen year-old son at the mercy of self-interested courtiers. She is buried with her husband in the Capilla de los Reyes Nuevos in Cathedral of Toledo. Her monumental effigy shows her with a long face and a highly arched forehead. She is the namesake of her great granddaughter Katherine of Aragon, first of the six wives of Henry VIII of England.

Ancestors

Katherine's ancestors in three generations

Edward II of England

Edward III of England

Isabella of France

John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster

Willem I, Count of Hainaut

Philippa of Hainault

Jeanne of Valois

Katherine of Lancaster

Alfonso XI of Castile

Pedro I of Castile

Maria of Portugal

Constance of Castile

Juan García de Padilla

María de Padilla

María Fernández de Henestrosa

Coat of Arms

The following are Armorials of the House of Lancaster under her father, John of Gaunt.

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References

• Anthony Goodman: Katherine of Lancaster. In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 30 (2004), p. 890-891.
• MacKay, Angus. Spain in the Middle Ages : From Frontier to Empire, 1000-1500. New York : St. Martin’s Press, 1977.
• The Breakdown Of Convivencia " The Iberian Peninsula 1350-1506"
• Lopes, Fernão. The English in Portugal, 1367-1287. P 227-237