Peter of Castile, in Spanish Pedro de Castilla (1290 – 25 June 1319), was an ''

infante ''Infante'' (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as Infant or translated as Prince, is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to t ...

'' of Castile, a younger son of King Sancho IV and his wife

María de Molina María Alfonso Téllez de Meneses (c. 1265 – 1321), known as María de Molina, was queen consort of Castile and León from 1284 to 1295 by marriage to Sancho IV of Castile, and served as regent for her minor son Ferdinand IV (1295 - c.1301) ...

. He held the lordships (''señoríos'') of Cameros,

Almazán Almazán () is a municipality located in the province of Soria, Castile and León, Spain. As of 2013, the municipality has a population of 5,843 inhabitants. It is also the seat of the judicial district of Almazán, and ecclesiastically it belongs ...

, Berlanga, Monteagudo and Cifuentes and was the ''

majordomo A majordomo is a person who speaks, makes arrangements, or takes charge for another. Typically, this is the highest (''major'') person of a household (''domūs'' or ''domicile'') staff, a head servant who acts on behalf of the owner of a large ...

'' of his brother, King

Ferdinand IV of Castile Ferdinand IV of Castile (6 December 1285 – 7 September 1312) called the Summoned (''el Emplazado''), was King of Castile and León from 1295 until his death. His upbringing and the custody of his person were entrusted to his mother, Queen Mar ...

. During the minority of his nephew

Alfonso XI Alfonso XI (13 August 131126 March 1350), called the Avenger (''el Justiciero''), was King of Castile and León. He was the son of Ferdinand IV of Castile and his wife Constance of Portugal. Upon his father's death in 1312, several disputes en ...

, he shared the regency of Castile with his mother and uncle, John ''el de Tarifa'', between 1313 and his death. Peter married María, a daughter of King

James II of Aragon James II (Catalan: ''Jaume II''; Spanish: ''Jaime II;'' 10 April 1267 – 2 or 5 November 1327), called the Just,, an, Chaime lo Chusto, es, Jaime el Justo. was the King of Aragon and Valencia and Count of Barcelona from 1291 to 1327. He ...

. Their only child, Blanche, was born after Peter's death. Although she was betrothed to King

Peter I of Portugal Peter I (Portuguese: ''Pedro I'', ; 8 April 1320 – 18 January 1367), called the Just (''o Justiceiro'') or the Cruel (''o Cruel''), was King of Portugal from 1357 until his death. He was the third but only surviving son of Afonso IV of Portug ...

, the marriage never took place. In 1313, reached at divided the regency of the young Alfonso XI between Peter, John and María, with the men being described as ''tutores''. This was confirmed by a ''

cortes Cortes, Cortés, Cortês, Corts, or Cortès may refer to: People * Cortes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), a Spanish conquistador Places * Cortes, Navarre, a village in the South border of ...

'' at

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of t ...

in 1315. Throughout the disputes over the regency in the years 1312–15 that often devolved into open conflict, Peter supported his mother and was often at odds with his uncle. In 1316, Peter led a military expedition to the frontier of the

Kingdom of Granada ) , common_languages = Official language:Classical ArabicOther languages: Andalusi Arabic, Mozarabic, Berber, Ladino , capital = Granada , religion = Majority religion:Sunni IslamMinority religions:Roman ...

. According to Christian sources, he won a great victory in the field, but unsuccessfully besieged two castles. Muslims sources mention no victory. In 1317, he again invaded Granada, relieving the

siege of Gibraltar There have been fourteen recorded sieges of Gibraltar. Although the peninsula of Gibraltar is only long and wide, it occupies an extremely strategic location on the southern Iberian coast at the western entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. It ...

and capturing the castle of

Bélmez de la Moraleda Bélmez de la Moraleda, or simply ''Bélmez'', is a city located in the province of Jaén, Andalusia, southern Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_mo ...

. In 1319, having received papal approval for a

crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were i ...

against Granada, Peter and John jointly led an expedition to besiege the fortress of Tíscar. They separated their armies and were ambushed by a Muslim relief force. Both Peter and John were killed in the ensuing rout, known as the

Disaster of the Vega de Granada The Battle of Sierra Elvira, also called the Disaster of the Vega de Granada, was a battle of the Spanish Reconquista fought near the city of Granada on 25 June 1319 (6 Jumada al-Awwal Hijri year, 719 AH). The battle was fought between the troo ...

Notes

References

* *{{cite book , title=María de Molina, Queen and Regent: Life and Rule in Castile-León, 1259–1321 , first=Paulette Lynn , last=Pepin , publisher=Lexington Books , year=2016 1319 deaths Castilian infantes Lords of Spain 1290 births Castilian House of Burgundy Sons of kings