Enrique de Villena - Biography

Biography

He was born in Torralba de Cuenca, in Castile. After the death of his father, Pedro de Aragón y Villena, Enrique went to the Aragonese court, where he was raised by his aristocratic grandfather, Alfonso de Aragón, first marquess of Villena. There he met the leading literary and intellectual minds of his era and became skilled in mathematics, chemistry and philosophy. The Aragonese Queen Violant of Bar, aware of Villena’s academic gifts, invited him to study at the royal court of Barcelona – where Villena met the leading authors of Catalan literature. This experience further solidified Villena’s already promising future.

However, Villena encountered difficulty towards the end of the fourteenth century when his grandfather began losing power in the Castilian court. By 1398, Alfonso had lost his position as marquess of Villena. This loss did not rest well with either Alfonso or Villena. Alfonso spent the next many years attempting to re-instate his grandson as marquess of Villena. Meanwhile, Villena straightforwardly declared himself Marquess of Villena – signing all official documents in this name, though not legally correct.

Historians believe Villena traveled to Castile during the first years of the fifteenth century, took residence there, and married María de Albornoz – a wealthy heiress from Cuenca, Spain. Continuing this rise towards aristocratic prominence, Villena soon received titles as count of Cangas and Tineo – offered to him by his cousin, King Henry III of Castile. However, in 1404, Villena resigned from the court to pursue world travel. Ironically, that same year, Villena tried to become master of the Order of Calatrava – a prestigious religious and military order. Pursuing this position, Enrique divorced his wife, claiming impotence, and renounced his position as count so he could officially become a friar of Calatrava. The King of Castile mandated that the comendadores (commanders) of Calatrava promote Enrique as master of the Order. This position, however, did not suit Villena well for, although intelligent, he was not politically competent. Authorities soon stripped him of his leadership position.

Fortunately for Villena, he received a token of good fortune when his cousin, Infante Ferdinand of Castile became King of Aragon in 1412. Villena enjoyed several years of tranquil peace as Fernando’s personal assistant. However, upon Ferdinand I's death in 1416, Villena returned to Castile and spent the next several years at his wife’s estates in Cuenca taking care of family affairs. But he also had affairs with other aristocratic ladies. Therefore he had two daughters born out of wedlock. One of them lived from 1430 to 1490, was baptized as Elionor Manuel, and entered under the name of Isabel de Villena a convent in Valencia. There she became abbess in 1463 and wrote a Vita Christi that was published posthumously by the new abbess in 1497.

During the years 1420 – 1425 not much is known about Villena other than that he wrote Arte cisoria and various treatises during this time.

From 1426 to 1429, Alfonso V of Aragon, the Magnánimo of Aragón, stripped Villena of his promised inheritance as Duke of Gandía, giving the position instead to his own brother. Thus, facing financial straits, Villena depended on his nephew for economic support until his death in 1434.