| King João was Pedro's bastard son, and became king on the death of
Fernando. With his accession, the hatred that had arisen through the many wrongs
and crimes that Fernando's negligence had allowed burst out into anger, and the
people rose, spreading havoc. Fernando's wife, Queen Leonor, found her lover,
the Count of Ourem, killed before her eyes, and many others perished, including
the Bishop of Lisbon. The unrest provoked Leonor to call upon King Juan I of
Castile for help to establish her daughter, Beatriz (Juan's wife), on the
throne. Juan rose to take the throne, and João, supported by the valiant
Nuno Alvares Pereira, set out to meet him. João was supported by the
famous knight Mem Vasques de Vasconcelos, and Antão Vasques de Almada,
who later became Count of Avranches. Battle was joined in mid August, and Joao
won.
|
Lusiads
p. 102-110
|
| João was the bastard son of Pedro and Ines de Castro (TPS says of Pedro and Teresa Lourenço), and
master of the Order of Avis. In his battle with Juan, João also had the
powerful English ally John of Gaunt. When the armies met at the field of
Aljubarrota, a company of English archers in the small Portuguese army made a
major contribution to João's crushing victory. [In fact, the archers were
not led by John of Gaunt, who turned up later - see PQI
pp. 23-27]. João's election by the cortes was confirmed, and his
friendship with John of Gaunt was cemented by his marriage to John's daughter,
Phillipa of Lancaster. A treaty was signed with England which established the
longest-lived alliance in history.
|
MRW p.200
|
| Philippa bore João six sons. The eldest died in infancy. The second,
born in 1391, was Duarte, the philosophical man of letters who succeeded João.
The third, born in 1392 was Dom Pedro, the traveler. |
TPS p.78
|
| Prince Henry the Navigator, Master of the Order of Christ, was the fourth
son, and his voyages of discovery extended through João's reign. |
About Prince Henry
|
| The fifth son, born six years later, became the Master of the Order of
Santiago, and the sixth, Dom Fernando, died as a captive of the Moors. Isabel,
the only daughter who survived, formed through her patronage after her marriage
to the Duke of Burgundy, a link between the painters of the Low Countries and
the Portuguese schools of art. It was to paint her portrait that Jan van Eyck
first came to Lisbon. |
TPS p.78
|
| Portugal under João was more tolerant of different religions than
the rest of the peninsula at the time. Unconverted Moors were the main artisans
and stonecarvers, and the Jews were bankers, financiers and physicians, and also
merchants. Although many Moors formed a slave class, and the Jews were confined
to the Juderia after curfew, religious and racial hatreds had hardly reached
Portugal. The Jews retained their own courts and tribunals, and held offices of
responsibility under the crown. The Polytriptych of St. Vincent, painted in the
mid fifteenth century by Nuno Gonçalves, shows the grand rabbi of Lisbon,
with an open torah in his hands, joining King Afonso, Prince Henry and other
dignitaries in adoring Lisbon's patron saint. |
TPS p.80 |
| João died in 1433 and was succeeded by his first son, Duarte.
|
|
