Peter of Coimbra (also known as Peter the Constable) (, pronounced ; c. 1429 –

Granollers Granollers (; ) is a city in central Catalonia, about 30 kilometres north-east of Barcelona. It is the capital and most densely populated city in the comarca of Vallès Oriental. Granollers is now a bustling business centre, having grown from ...

, 30 June 1466), sometimes known as Peter V of Aragon or the Intruder King (el Rey Intruso), was the son of

Infante Peter, Duke of Coimbra Dom Peter, Duke of Coimbra, KG ( ; 9 December 1392 – 20 May 1449) was a Portuguese ''infante'' (prince) of the House of Aviz, son of King Dom John I of Portugal and his wife, Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt. In Portugal, h ...

, who became the fifth

Constable of Portugal Constable of Portugal ({{langx, pt, Condestável de Portugal) was an office created by King Ferdinand I of Portugal in 1382, to replace the High Standard-bearer ('' Alferes-Mor'') as the head of the Portuguese Military. It was also referred as the ...

and third Grand Master of the Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz. The

Consell de Cent The Consell de Cent (, meaning in English "Council of One Hundred") was a governmental institution of Barcelona. It was established in the 13th century and lasted until the 18th century. Its name derives from the number of its members: one hund ...

later granted Peter the

Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon (, ) ;, ; ; . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of Barcelona (later Principality of Catalonia) and ended as a consequence of the War of the Sp ...

, which he claimed from 1463 to 1466 in opposition to

John II John II may refer to: People * John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (1455–1499) * John II Casimir Vasa of Poland (1609–1672) * John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch (died 1302) * John II Doukas of Thessaly (1303–1318) * John II Komnenos (1087–114 ...

. His status as king of Aragon, however, along with that of John II's other challengers, is disputed.

Early life and background

Peter was the eldest son of

and

Isabella of Urgell Isabella of Urgel (Aragonese: ''Isabel d'Urchel''; died 1071) was Queen of Aragon; the only daughter of Ermengol III, Count of Urgell by his first wife Adelaide of Besalú. Isabella is mentioned in her brother Ermengol IV, Count of Urgell, Ermengo ...

. His father served as regent of the

Kingdom of Portugal The Kingdom of Portugal was a Portuguese monarchy, monarchy in the western Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of the modern Portuguese Republic. Existing to various extents between 1139 and 1910, it was also known as the Kingdom of Portugal a ...

for Afonso V between 1439 and 1448. Peter inherited a claim to the Aragonese throne through his maternal grandfather

James II, Count of Urgell James II (in Catalan language, Catalan ''Jaume II d'Urgell'' or ''Jaume el Dissortat'' ("James the unlucky"), in Spanish ''Jaime II el desafortunado'') (1380 – 1 June 1433) was the Count of Urgell (1408–1413), Viscount of Àger, and lord of An ...

, who was the last male descendant of the

House of Barcelona The House of Barcelona was a medieval dynasty that ruled the County of Barcelona continuously from 878 and the Crown of Aragon from 1137 (as kings from 1162) until 1410. They descend from the Bellonids, the descendants of Wilfred the Hairy. Th ...

and heir to the Crown of Aragon by the rights of

agnatic primogeniture Primogeniture () is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit all or most of their parent's estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relat ...

Maturity

In 1443, after the death of his cousin Infante Diogo and by the instigation of his father, Peter was elected the

, enraging Afonso, Marquis of Valença, the son of his half-uncle

Afonso, 1st Duke of Braganza Dom Afonso I of Braganza (; 10 August 1377 – 15 December 1461) was the first duke of Braganza and the eighth count of Barcelos. He founded the House of Braganza, the most powerful and wealthy dynasty in Portugal. His descendants became high-ra ...

, who believed the title was rightfully his. This political move, along with Afonso V's marriage to

Isabella of Coimbra Infanta Isabel of Coimbra (Isabella of Portugal) (1 March 1432 – 2 December 1455) was a Portuguese infanta and Queen of Portugal as the first spouse of King Afonso V of Portugal. Life Born in Coimbra in 1432, Isabella was a daughter of the ...

, Peter's sister, instead of the granddaughter of the Duke of Braganza, caused significant conflict between the two parties. In the same year, after the death of his uncle

Ferdinand Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "courage" or "ready, prepared" related to Old High German "to risk, ventu ...

, Peter was granted the mastership of the order of Avis. In 1448, when King

Afonso V of Portugal Afonso V (; 15 January 1432 – 28 August 1481), known by the sobriquet the African (), was King of Portugal from 1438 until his death in 1481, with a brief interruption in 1477. His sobriquet refers to his military conquests in Northern Africa. ...

became of age and took reign, the Duke of Coimbra stepped down as regent. Afonso V, because of influence of the Duke of Braganza, who became the political enemy of Peter's father, voided all laws created under Coimbra's regency. Peter was stripped of both the constableship and the master of Avis. Intense disagreement and intrigue led to the

Battle of Alfarrobeira The Battle of Alfarrobeira () took place on 20 May 1449. It was a confrontation between the forces commanded by King Afonso V of Portugal and his uncle Afonso, Duke of Braganza, against the army of the rebellious Peter, Duke of Coimbra. The ...

, culminating in the death of Pedro and the exile of his children. Unlike his siblings, who went to the court of their aunt

Isabella Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpo ...

in Burgundy, Peter fled to Castile. Peter's exile in Castile constitutes the main period of his activity as a writer. Described as a disciple of Rodríguez del Padrón, he completed two projects, ''Satira de Infelice e Felice Vida'' and ''Tragédia de la insigne reina doña Isabel''. The works are considered some of the earliest examples of sentimental fiction. In 1456 or 1457, Peter reconciled with King Afonso V and the Duke of Braganza, thus allowing him to return to Portugal and reclaim all his family's previous possessions. Upon his return, he participated in several of Afonso's expeditions to northern Africa.

King of Aragon

In 1463, the Catalan institutions, which were in

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

with

John II of Aragon John II (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Juan II'', Catalan language, Catalan: ''Joan II'', Aragonese language, Aragonese: ''Chuan II'' and ; 29 June 1398 – 20 January 1479), called the Great (''el Gran'') or the Faithless (''el Sense Fe''), was ...

, offered their crown to Peter. He was crowned

King of Aragon This is a list of the kings and queens of Aragon. The Kingdom of Aragon was created sometime between 950 and 1035 when the County of Aragon, which had been acquired by the Kingdom of Navarre in the tenth century, was separated from Navarre in ...

Count of Barcelona The count of Barcelona (, , , ) was the ruler of the County of Barcelona and also, by extension and according with the Usages of Barcelona, Usages and Catalan constitutions, of the Principality of Catalonia as Prince#Prince as generic for ruler, p ...

, and

King of Valencia For the majority of the Middle Ages, Valencia was a constituent part of larger polities. From the time of the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, Valencia was controlled by the Umayyad Caliphate in Damascus and the Emirate/Caliphate o ...

by the

. He reigned de facto in the

Principality of Catalonia The Principality of Catalonia (; ; ; ) was a Middle Ages, medieval and early modern state (polity), state in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. During most of its history it was in dynastic union with the Kingdom of Aragon, constituting together ...

and parts of the

Kingdom of Aragon The Kingdom of Aragon (; ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Monarchy, kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, in Spain. It became a part of the larger ...

, but only de jure in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, which was occupied by

. The territory under his control only included

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, most of

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

and parts of

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

. With the support of his aunt Isabella, Duchess of Burgundy he became engaged to

Margaret of York Margaret of York (3 May 1446 – 23 November 1503), also known as Margaret of Burgundy, was Duchess of Burgundy from 1468 to 1477 as the third wife of Charles the Bold, and after his death (1477) acted as a protector of the Burgundian State. ...

, sending her an engagement ring and a marriage contract. Margaret would later marry Isabella's son

Charles the Bold Charles Martin (10 November 1433 – 5 January 1477), called the Bold, was the last duke of Burgundy from the House of Valois-Burgundy, ruling from 1467 to 1477. He was the only surviving legitimate son of Philip the Good and his third wife, ...

Death

After a period of ineffectual rulership, Peter died in 1466 of natural causes. He is buried in Church of Santa Maria del Mar in

. After his death, the Catalans offered the crown to

René of Anjou René of Anjou (; ; 16 January 1409 – 10 July 1480) was Duke of Anjou and Count of Provence from 1434 to 1480, who also reigned as King of Naples from 1435 to 1442 (then Aragonese conquest of Naples, deposed). Having spent his last years in Aix ...

Ancestry

Citations

Sources

*"Nobreza de Portugal e do Brasil" – Vol. I, pages 268–270. Published by Zairol Lda., Lisbon 1989. * * Deals with Peter the Constable, his father the Duke of Coimbra, their allies and friends and servants. * * *

External links

Genealogical information on Infante John, Lord of Reguengos (in Portuguese)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peter 05 of Aragon 1420s births 1466 deaths 15th-century Aragonese monarchs Counts of Barcelona Portuguese infantes 15th-century Portuguese people Constables of Portugal