Isabel de la Cerda also known as ''Isabel de la Cerda Pérez de Guzmán'' (

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

c.1329 - after 1383) was the only surviving daughter of Luis de la Cerda and his first wife Leonor de Guzmán; she was Lady of

Puerto de Santa María Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places *El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines *Puerto Colombia, Colombia *Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela *Puerto Galera, Orient ...

and titular Princess of

Fortuna Fortuna ( la, Fortūna, equivalent to the Greek goddess Tyche) is the goddess of fortune and the personification of luck in Roman religion who, largely thanks to the Late Antique author Boethius, remained popular through the Middle Ages until at ...

. She was a member of the House de la Cerda.

Life

Isabel was born in

around 1329, she was the youngest of three surviving children; her elder brothers were Luis and Juan de la Cerda y Guzmán, she had five other siblings who died in childhood. Her paternal grandfather was

Alfonso de la Cerda Alfonso de la Cerda, (Valladolid 1270 - Ávila 1333), called "the Disinherited", was the elder son of Ferdinand de la Cerda and his wife Blanche of France, and was a grandson of Alfonso X of Castile. Alfonso and his brother Fernando were cand ...

, heir to the throne of Castile but disinherited in favor of his uncle,

Sancho IV of Castile Sancho IV of Castile (12 May 1258 – 25 April 1295) called the Brave (''el Bravo''), was the king of Castile, León and Galicia from 1284 to his death. Following his brother Ferdinand's death, he gained the support of nobles that ...

. She first married in 1346 to Rodrigo Pérez Ponce de León; "Ruy Pérez Ponce de León" confirmed receipt of the dowry of "doña Isabel de la Cerda" by charter dated 11 March 1349. The couple were married up until before 26 May 1354, when Rodrigo died; they had no children. A charter dated 30 December 1353 records the agreement between Isabel and her two brothers over their father's estate, who had died in 1348. Isabel remained unmarried for up to fourteen years, she then remarried at Seville on 15 September 1370 to Bernal de Foix, an illegitimate son of

Gaston III, Count of Foix Gaston Fébus (also spelt Phoebus) (30 April 1331 – 1391) was the eleventh count of Foix (as Gaston III) and twenty-fourth viscount of Béarn (as Gaston X) from 1343 until his death. Early life Gaston was born either in Orthez or Foix, the el ...

. After the marriage, Bernal was made Count of Medinaceli. As Isabel had a strong claim on the Castillian throne, on 25 May 1366 she was granted large estates by

Henry II of Castile Henry II (13 January 1334 – 29 May 1379), called Henry of Trastámara or the Fratricidal (''el Fratricida''), was the first King of Castile and León from the House of Trastámara. He became king in 1369 by defeating his half-brother Peter the ...

on the condition that she relinquish all claim to the Crown of Castile for herself and her heirs.RAH, Colección Salazar y Castro, M-20, fo 36 (no. 49081). The Medinaceli dukes had extensive estates in the Spanish provinces of Soria and Guadalajara. Isabel and Bernal had two children: *Gaston (c 1371–1404), succeeded his father as Count of Medinaceli *Maria (died 1381), died in childhood Isabel died after 1383 and was buried at the

Monastery of Santa María de Huerta The Monastery of Santa María de Huerta (Spanish: ''Monasterio de Santa María de Huerta'') is a Cistercian monastery located in Santa María de Huerta, a town of the Spanish Province of Soria, within the autonomous community of Castile and Leó ...

. Bernal died in 1391 and was succeeded by their son, Gaston. The county of Medinaceli was later turned into a Duchy by

Isabella I of Castile Isabella I ( es, Isabel I; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''la Católica''), was Queen of Castile from 1474 until her death in 1504, as well as List of Aragonese royal consorts, Queen consort ...

References

{{Reflist, 2 House de la Cerda 14th-century Castilians 14th-century Spanish women