Marriage
After King John I of Portugal defeated King John I of Castile at the Battle of Aljubarrota, South Leiria, in 1385, fully establishing Portuguese independence, Catherine's parents, the Duke and Duchess of Lancaster, were encouraged to press their claim for the Castilian throne. In 1386, Catherine joined her parents in an expedition to Castile to claim the throne. England and Portugal entered into an alliance against Castile in 1386 and solidified their ties through the marriage of King John I and Catherine's half-sister, Philippa.
John of Gaunt had ruled Santiago de Compostela, Vigo, and Pontevedra with ease, but had to withdraw to Portugal in 1387 because of an unsuccessful invasion of León. It was then that he accepted the proposal of King John I of Castile, to marry Catherine to his son, the future Henry III, and that Constance, Duchess of Lancaster, should renounce all claims to the Castilian throne. A final treaty in regards to this proposal was ratified at Bayonne in Gascony on 8 July 1388. The marriage helped to restore a semblance of legitimacy to the Trastámara line. Furthermore, together with the Truce of Leulingham and the one made at Monção Municipality, the betrothal helped to end the Spanish period of the Hundred Years War.
On 5 August 1388, Catherine announced that she entered into the marriage freely and fully accepted the treaty. The treaty had included a dower of the towns of Soria, Almazán, Atienza, Deza, and Molina. By 17 September 1388, Catherine was married to the nine-year-old Henry in Palencia Cathedral. Her husband took over the throne after the death of his father in 1390, but only in 1393 he was declared of age and began to rule. Catherine's only contribution to Henry's rule was the bearing of his three children and her devotion to the religious patronage of the Dominican Order. In September 1390, Catherine accepted the authority of the Avignon Papacy, under Antipope Clement VII and became a staunch supporter.
The couple's three children:
- Maria of Castile (1401–1458), who married Alfonso V "the Magnanimous", King of Aragon and Naples, without issue
- Catherine of Castile (1403/1406–1439), who wed as his first wife in 1420 Henry of Aragon, 4th Count of Alburquerque, 32nd Count of Ampurias and 35th Master of the Order of Santiago (1400-Calatayud, 1445), without issue
- John II (1405–1454), who succeeded his father as King of Castile.
Read more about this topic: Catherine Of Lancaster
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