important subjects, causing many to side with his chief
rival, his half-brother Enrique de Trastámara, during
the Castilian civil war of 1366–1369. The reign ended
violently with Pedro’s death and the usurpation of the
throne by Enrique.
Coming to the throne 28 March 1350 shortly before
his sixteenth birthday, Pedro spent the fi rst two years
under the infl uence of Juan Alfonso de Alburquerque,
a Portuguese nobleman who had been in the service of
Queen María, and had become Pedro’s fi rst minister.
Under the auspices of Alburquerque, Pedro convened
the Cortes of Valladolid in 1351, the only such meeting
for which we have any detailed records for the entire
reign. Through a series of measures redacted during
these proceedings, Pedro attempted to remedy some
of the economic consequences of the plague such as
the abandonment of arable lands, and the steep rise
in the cost of living. At the same time, the cuadernos
de cortes (records of the courts) reveal Pedro’s inter-
est in a healthy royal treasury and an effective system
of tax-collection. This concern with sound fi nances
remained a constant feature of his reign, and resulted
in the unpopular appointment of Samuel Halevi, a Jew,
as his chief treasurer and the extensive use of Jews as
tax-farmers. These measures, for which Pedro was
severely criticized, served as evidence to his detractors
of the king’s presumed philojudaism, a quality almost
as objectionable as his cruelty.
From the early days of his reign, Pedro also had to
contend with an endemic feature of Castilian medieval
politics, a restless and rebellious aristocracy. In his
particular case, the situation was aggravated by the
existence of a rival group of wealthy and infl uential
individuals composed of the bastard children of Alfonso
XI and his mistress Leonor de Guzmán, their allies,
and retainers who challenged Pedro’s authority almost
from the beginning of the reign. Pedro reacted to these
challenges in an increasingly suspicious and retaliatory
manner.
In 1353 Pedro married the French princess Blanche
de Bourbon and abandoned her two days after the
wedding. It is likely that Blanche’s sponsor, the French
crown, was not able to fulfi ll the fi nancial obligations
of the marriage contract, and that Pedro left her for that
reason. The more popular yet unverifi able reason given
to explain the king’s actions states that he abandoned
Blanche because he could not bear to be away from the
woman he loved, María de Padilla, whom he had met
in 1352.
Whatever his motives, Pedro’s refusal to cohabit with
Blanche served to alienate his mother and Alburquerque,
the principal architects of the marriage contract with the
French, and gave his half-brothers a pretext for rebellion.
As the minister and the bastards became allies, they
were joined by other prominent Castilians displeased
with the king’s behavior. Outnumbered, Pedro gave
himself up to the rebels at Toro only to escape after a
month to begin a slow but successful campaign against
them. With the capitulation of Toledo in 1355 and Toro
in 1356, the main centers of antiroyal activity, Pedro
succeeded in defeating the fi rst serious challenge to
his authority.
Shortly after this victory, Pedro went to war against
Aragón, seeking redress over several territorial and dy-
nastic grievances. Pedro IV was soon joined by Enrique
de Trastámara, who had escaped from Castile before
Pedro’s victory at Toro, and other Castilians who had
fl ed fearing the king’s justice while Pedro counted on
the support of Pedro’s hated half-brother Ferrán. Pedro
experienced several successes at Tarazona (1357); Guar-
damar (1359); Calatayud (1362); Teruel; Segorbe and
Murviedo (1363); Alicante, Elche, Denia (1363), and
Orihuela (1365); but he was never able to win a decisive
victory. Several truces and peace efforts mediated by
papal legates did not succeed in bringing a lasting peace
between the two kingdoms.
Meanwhile, from the conspiracy at Toro onward Pe-
dro had turned increasingly against those he suspected
of treason. He eliminated many of his former allies;
several of his half-brothers, among them Fadrique; and
his aunt Leonor and her son Juan, and he was believed
responsible for the death of his wife Blanche in 1361.
Pedro’s policies, Enrique de Trastámara’s ambitions,
Pedro’s predicament, and even the politics of Navarre
all contributed to the participation of the French in
peninsular affairs, beginning in 1360. The French crown
agreed to sponsor Enrique’s ambitions by commission-
ing Bertrand du Guesclin and an army of mercenaries
to fi ght in Castile. When they entered the kingdom in
1366, Pedro was forced to fl ee in search of outside help,
which he fi nally secured from Edward the Black Prince
in Bordeaux. The ensuing battle at Nájera on 13 April
1367 was a resounding, albeit shortlived, victory for
Pedro. His alliance with the English collapsed when the
Castilian would not meet the terms of their agreement
and, as the Black Prince’s troops withdrew from the
peninsula, Enrique and Guesclin returned in 1368 and
received the support of several important regions.
Pedro determined to meet his enemy in the vicinity
of Toledo. At the Battle of Montiel on 14 March 1369
Enrique and the French soundly defeated Pedro’s scat-
tered army. Pedro, who had fl ed to a nearby fortress,
tried to buy his freedom from Guesclin. Some days
later, believing that the French captain had accepted his
terms, Pedro went to Guesclin’s tent where, within a few
minutes, Enrique arrived. He killed Pedro with a dagger,
after a short struggle on 23 March 1369. Through this
fratricide Enrique became uncontested king of Castile,
a title he began to use when he fi rst entered the kingdom
alongside the French in 1366.PEDRO I THE CRUEL, KING OF CASTILE