User:Walrasiad/Fernandinas

Fernandine Wars

The Fernandine Wars (Guerras Fernandinas) were a series of conflicts between the Kingdom of Portugal and the Crown of Castile, from 1369 to 1382.

They were launched after the assassination of Peter I of Castile by his illegitimate half-brother Henry of Trastámara in 1369, at the end of the Castilian Civil War. The King Ferdinand I of Portugal, backed by the "legitimist" party in Castile and other Iberian monarchs (Granada, Aragon, Navarre), refused to recognize the claims of the bastard House of Trastámara and laid claim to the throne of Castile for himself. The kingdoms of England and France backed opposing parties as a side-interest of the Hundred Years' War.

The conflict can be divided into were three distinct wars, 1369-1370 (settled in the Treaty of Alcoutim, 1371), 1372-73 (settled in the Treaty of Santarém, 1373) and 1381-82 (settled in the Treaty of Elvas, 1382). It culminated in a victory for Henry of Trastámara, who succeeded in obtaining recognition as King Henry II of Castile by the other Iberian kingdoms. After Ferdinand I bowed out, the "legitimist" cause was taken up by John of Gaunt (Duke of Lancaster).

Background
In the Castilian Civil War that raged from 1366 to 1369, King Peter I of Castile (with English support) had been faced with a rebellion led by his half-brother Henry of Trastámara (a bastard son of Alfonso XI of Castile, backed by France). Henry defeated Peter I at the Battle of Montiel in March, 1369 and, in the aftermath, Henry personally assassinated the captive Peter I in his tent.

Peter had no legitimate male sons, but the Cortes of Seville of 1361 had recognized the children of Peter and María de Padilla as his legitimate heirs. But Henry of Trastámara set that aside, and laid claim to the Crown of Castile for himself as Henry II of Castile, proceeding on to Seville and then Toledo to receive the homage of the remaining nobles of the kingdom.

Many Petristas, Peter I's supporters within Castile, were apalled by the cold-blooded assassination of the king. Led by Martín López de Córdoba, Master of the Order of Calatrava, in the defiant citadel of Carmona, they recast themselves as the "Legitimist" party and vowed to fight on, to prevent Henry of Trastámara's ascension. The usurpation of the throne by a bastard line also alarmed the neighboring monarchs on the Iberian peninsula, in part because they were connected to the old Burgundian dynasty of Castile-León, but also because of the precedent it set - a violation of the legitimate rules of succession that might encourage other pretenders and threaten the stability of their own thrones. Although Constance of Castile, daughter of Peter I and María de Padilla, had probably the best claim as the legitimate heir, she had no sponsor at the time. Other plausible candidates included the kings Ferdinand I of Portugal, Peter IV of Aragon, Charles II of Navarre. The Legitimist party settled on Ferdinand I, principally on account of Portugal being better positioned of bringing the Legitimist cause to successful fruition - Ferdinand was undistracted, his kingdom adjoined the westerly regions of the Castilian kingdom, where several Petrist strongholds remained and Legitimist feeling was strongest, and (unlike Navarre and Aragon) Portugal did not have the frightening weight of the Kingdom of France, the principal of supporter of the House of Trastámara, looming in its rear.

Citing his descendancy via his paternal grandmother Beatrice, daughter of Sancho IV of Castile, King Ferdinand I of Portugal immediately proclaimed himself the legitimate heir of Castile. Ferdinand I quickly struck alliances with the other Iberian monarchs. Peter IV of Aragon agreed to a two year commitment and to lease 1500 mercenary troops, in return for Ferdinand's promise to betroth his young daughter, Eleanor of Aragon. Muhammad V of Granada, who had been a close ally of Peter, promised to launch his own offensive and procure a force from Marinid Morocco to assist the Legitimist cause. Emissaries were also sent to old Petrist backer, King Edward III of England to endorse the project.

First War (1369-1370)
Hostilities broke out immediately. In the west, the Petrist strongholds of Carmona, Zamora, Coria, Ciudad Rodrigo and Valencia de Alcántara, declared themselves for the Legitimist cause and recognized Ferdinand I of Portugal as the rightful King of Castile. The citadels of northwestern Kingdom of Galicia (then a constituent part of the Crown of Castile), also rose up and offered themselves to Ferdinand. Among the Castilian nobles who declared themselves for Ferdinand was Martín López de Córdoba (Master of Order of Calatrava and adelantado of Murcia), Pero Afonso Giron (Master of the Order of Alcántara), the powerful Fernando Ruiz de Castro (de toda a lealdade de España, lord protector of Santiago de Compostella), his half-brother Álvaro Pires de Castro, Soeiro Annes de Parada (adelantado of Galicia), Don Afonso (Bishop of Ciudad Rodrigo), Mem Roiz de Seabra, João Fernandes de Andeiro, Fernão Peres de Deça, João Perez da Novoa, Fernando Alonso de Zamora, Alvaro Mendez de Caceres, and numerous others.

In the Summer of 1369, Ferdinand I of Portugal launched an invasion of Galicia, although there was very little fighting to do. Groundwork prepared by the Legitimists, the Portuguese invasion was little more than a calm procession. Ferdinand was accompanied by Galician nobles Álvaro Pires de Castro and Nuno Freire de Andrade (Master of the Order of Christ) (soon joined by others), and tracked by a small support fleet commanded by Nuno Martims de Góis City after city, Salvaterra de Miño, Baiona, Tuy,  Lugo, Orense, Santiago de Compostella,  La Coruña threw open their gates to welcome the Portuguese monarch. Ferdinand's open-handedness - shipping food supplies from Lisbon to war-starved Galician populations,, liberally expanding town charters and handing out the property of Trastámara loyalists to Legitimist partisans - gave his invasion the atmosphere of a triumphal tour. Galician nobles rushed to pay homage to Ferdinand (and receive their share of the patronage). Ferdinand allowed money to be coined bearing his name at the mints of Zamora, Tuy and La Coruña. In the meantime, Legitimist Galician nobles set about seizing the remaining strongholds (e.g. Monterrei) and sealing off the mountain passes between Galicia and the Leónese plateau.

In the meantime, in Toledo, Henry II of Castile assembled his loyalist forces, supplemented by French mercenary companies on break from the Hundred Years' War, under the command of Bertrand du Guesclin (whom chronicler Pero López de Ayala calls "Mosén Beltrán de Claquín"). By July 1369, Henry had marched his army into León to lay siege to the Legitimist citadel of Zamora. Upon hearing of the entry of Ferdinand into Galicia, Henry lifted the siege and led his armies northwest, towards La Coruña, where Ferdinand was staying. Fearful of being cornered, Ferdinand hurriedly ordered the Portuguese army to return to Portugal, leaving behind only a small force of 400 men under Nuno Freire de Andrade. The king himself boarded the support fleet, which ferried him from La Coruña to Porto.

Hearing of Ferdinand's departure, Henry II and Guesclin broke off their march on La Coruña, and wheeled their army south. The Castilian army crossed the Minho River into Portugal itself. Henry II proceeded to the citadel of Braga, which fell swiftly by negotiation. Henry's army proceeded Guimarães on September 1, but the town was resolved to resist, and forced the Castilian army to settle down to a siege. Henry II allowed the Petrist Galician noble, Fernando Ruiz de Castro (de toda a lealdade de España, who had been in Henry's custody since Montiel), to open parlay with the defenders of Guimarães. But upon nearing the walls, Castro gave his Castilian guards the slip and joined the Portuguese defenders.

In the meantime, Ferdinand, having re-assembled the Portuguese army at Coimbra, set on a march north to relieve Guimarães. Hearing of Ferdinand's approach, and with Guimarães still putting put up stiff resistance, Henry II lifted the siege and headed into the hills of Trás-os-Montes. The Castilian army took a quick succession of Portuguese strongholds - Vinhais, Braganza, Çadavi (sic), Outeiro da Miranda - and then crossed back over the Castilian border to winter in Toro.

Despite his romp through northern Portugal, things were not going well for Henry II. Although a few Portuguese prizes had been taken, none of the defiant Legitimist citadels in Galicia or Léon had fallen. Ferdinand I had evaded a confrontation and the charismatic Castro was now on the loose in Galicia, rallying supporters of the Legitimist cause.

In the south, news was troubling. In May 1369, Lançarote Pessanha, admiral of Portugal had set out with a large Portuguese fleet of 32 galleys and 30 sail-powered ships for the coast of Andalusia. The Portuguese fleet did great damage along the Andalusian coast, sacking and destroying Cadiz. Pessanha then led the galleys up the Guadalquivir River to blockade Seville, leaving the larger sail ships (under the sub-command of Legitimist Castilian noble Juan Focin) patrolling the mouth. Pessanha steadily maintained the naval blockade of Seville, the Portuguese fleet continuously (if spottily) replenished by convoys from Lisbon. On the landward side, Legitimist columns were sent out by Martín López de Córdoba from Carmona to ravage the backlands of Seville.

In the meantime, Muhammad V of Granada had gone on the offensive. His army seized and sacked the important Castilian-held port of Algeciras, clearing the way for the ferrying of Moroccan auxiliaries from across the Straits of Gibraltar. The Emir bought a truce from the two Castilian frontier commanders, Gonzalo Mejía (master of Santiago) and Pedro Muñiz de Godoy y Sandoval (adelantado of Andalusia and rival master of Alcántara) whom Henry had left to keep him in check. Granadan forces were now joining the Legitimists in the Andalusian countryside. From the west, Portuguese freelancers set out on cavalcades deep into Extremadura, raiding and breaking up Castilian supply lines.

It was probably the news of the fall of Algeciras and the blockade of Seville that had prompted Henry II to hurry out of Portugal. Wintering in Toro, the French companies clamored to be paid so they could return back to France, where the Hundred Years War had restarted. Henry II was forced to divide his remaining army, sending forces south against Granada, others into Galicia and still others around Leon, to keep up the pressure on the Legitimist citadels and prevent their reinforcement from Portugal.

In February, 1370, Henry II himself set out from Toro to lay siege to Ciudad Rodrigo and sent his own wife, Queen Juana Manuel to supervise the siege of Zamora. But with city defiant and the French troops complaining, Henry lifted the siege in March 1370 and proceeded to Medina del Campo, where his treasurers awaited him. Bertrand de Guesclin and the French companies were paid off and set off back to France.

Bills settled, Henry II dispatched two of his lieutenants, Pero Manrique de Lara (adelantado of Castile) and Pero Rodriguez Sarmiento (new ''adelantado of Galicia) to Galicia, to chase down Fernando Ruiz de Castro, while he himself set off with his army to Andalusia to rescue Seville.

The Portuguese naval blockade would last for over a year in a half, its supplies continuously (if spottily) replenished by convoys from Lisbon.

Arriving in Seville, Henry preparared the embarcation of 20 galleys, and placed them under thecommand of Genoese captain Ambrosio Boccanegra. However, a scarcity of oars in Seville rendered the Castilian galleys poorly maneouverable. Boccanegra decided to fill the galleys to the brim with armed men and aim to quickly rush-and-grapple the Portuguese blockade galleys. But the Portuguese admiral Lançarote Pessanha, finding the conditions in the river unfavorable for a fight, decided to lift anchor and set sail out down the Guadalquivir River, hoping to unite with the sail fleet at the mouth. Boccanegra gave pursuit, but was unable to catch up. The Castilian fleet halted at the mouth of the Guadalquivir, Boccanegra realizing his oar-deficient galleys stood little chance in an open sea battle. When night fell, Boccanegra sent the the Castilian fleet back to Seville and taking a small squadron with him, slipped out out of the river without being seen by the Portuguese. Boccanegra raced west, around the peninsula to the ports of the Bay of Biscay to pick up oars and the remainder of the Castilian fleet which had been ordered to assemble at Santander and Castro Urdiales.

Pessanha, believing the coast was clear, calmly resumed his old position with his galleys inside the Guadalquivir River, and sent the sail fleet back to Portugal to pick up resupplies. In x, Boccanegra finally returned to the Andalusian coast and sailed up the river, trapping Pessanha in the Guadalquivir. Pessanha, who had earlier intercepted two Spanish commercial boats loaded with olive oil, turned them into fireships and sent them downriver against Boccanegra's fleet in the dead of the night, forcing the Castilians to quickly cut their anchors and clear the way. Pessanha's fleet, following tightly behind the fireboats, clear the Castilian blockade and safely made their way down to the sea and back to Lisbon.

Ferdinand I had evaded a confrontation. The French companies were clamoring to be paid and the, Legitimist cities in

In the meantime,

before turning into Portugal itself, seizing Braga and laying siege to Guimaraes. Ferdinand I hurried his army back to Portugal, before he was cut off. Alarmed at the swelling size of the Trastamaran army, Ferdinand did not offer battle but merely sought to position himself to prevent Castilian penetration into central Portugal.

In the Spring of 1370, as the positional war continued in the west, Ferdinand I managed to secure the active participation Peter IV of Aragon in an agreement signed in Barcelona in June. Peter IV promised to recognize Ferdinand as King of Castile and launch an invasion from the east, in return for which Ferdinand betrothed his eldest daughter Eleanor to Peter IV, promising have her deliver Murcia and the lordship of Molina to Aragon as dowry, once they were conquered. Realizing the danger, Henry II ordered his lieutenants Pedro Manrique (adelantado of Castile) and Pedro Ruiz Sarmiento (adelantado of Galicia) to go on the immediate offensive in Galicia and dislodge the Galician strongman Fernando Ruiz de Castro. The decisive battle was fought at Puerto de los Bueyes (near Lugo). Castro was defeated and fled to Portugal.

With the Portuguese gains in Galicia all but lost, Ferdinand I sought a truce, but Henry II demanded a permanent treaty. With the mediation of Pope Gregory XI, the Treaty of Alcoutim was signed in March 1371. It was to be cemented by marriage of Ferdinand I of Portugal with Eleanor of Castile (Henry II's daughter), for whose dowry Henry would deliver a large sum of money and the frontier settlements of Ciudad Rodrigo, Valencia de Alcantara, Allariz and Monterrey.

[by Alcoutim, Count of Andeiro exiled to England (OM, p.139)

The peace was fragile. The legitimist party within Castile was still strong, and Aragon still waiting. The frontier adjustments were poor compensation for Ferdinand's claims on the crown of Castile, and the marriage to Eleanor no consolation for any future claim, as Henry II already had a son of his own and thus dynastic security. Ferdinand has been forced into it by the military setbacks and was likely to repudiate it at the first opportunity.

It was not long in coming. Before the consumation of the marriage, Ferdinand fell into a passionate love affair with Portuguese noblewoman Leonor Teles de Menezes and secured the annulment of the marriage with the Castilian princess, putting an end to Alcoutim. (The discarded Eleanor was eventually passed on to Charles III of Navarre in 1375, settling that conflict.)

The blow turned into an opportunity for the Trastamara camp. In January 1362, the impetuous Ferdinand married Leonor Teles de Menezes, who quickly set about imposing herself on the government of the country, provoking a popular uprising against her. At the high level, the opposition was led by the Galician-Portuguese nobleman Álvaro Pires de Castro (half-brother of the Galician strongman), who took up the cause of his nephews, the Infantes John and Denis (illegitimate sons of the earlier King Peter I of Portugal and Inês de Castro), whose rights were being encumbered by the ambitious Leonor Telles. Henry II furthered the conflict along, by backing the claims of the disgruntled Infantes. Ferdinand's domestic squabbles were not only a distraction, they also undermined Ferdinand's representation of himself to the Castilian nobility, as the champion of legitimacy and order.

[Oliveira Martins, p.137] On July 10, 1372, Treaty of Braga, signing an alliance with John of Gaunt against Henry of Trastamara. (Henry inquires by sending the spy Pacheco to gather Ferdinand's intentions. When Pacheco replies he seems earnest,Henry requests Ferdinand to please give it up and maintain the peace.  But Ferdinand, goaded on by Galician Afonso Telles, who tells him Henry's request rests on his weakeness, continues his preparations.  Henry decides it is best to invade than be invaded, and launches an attack through Beira (central Portugal). Siege of Lisbon in 1373, a fleet from Seville closes it from sea.)  All the while,Ferdinand is immobilized in Santaraem. Pacheco and INfante Diniz de CAstro (accompany Henry II) plead with Lisbonites to surrender, but to no avail.

After seeing no English help, King left Santarem and went to Vallada to sign armistice.

The second war played out pretty much like the first, Pedrist strongmen emerged in Galicia, Juan Alfonso de Zamora and Men Rodriguez de Sanabria, and rapidly seized much of the province for Ferdinand, against Henry II, but they were soon dislodged. In December 1372, Henry II launched an invasion of central Portugal. In quick succession, Castilians took or besieged Almeida, Pinel, Celorico, Linares and Viseu. Henry II then proceeded to lay siege to Coimbra, where the Portuguese queen Leonor Telles was at that moment giving birth to Beatrice of Portugal, the future heiress of Portugal.

In the Spring of 1373, Henry II laid siege to Lisbon. The Portuguese Cortes, via the papal legate Guido of Bologna and Pedro Tenorio (Bishop of Coimbra), opened negotiations with the Castilians.

Peace was restored by the Treaty of Santarém, signed March 19, 1373. Among the conditions of this treaty was the promise to expel all pedrist exiles and refugees from Portuguese territory, and a triple betrothal between the Portuguese and Trastamara families:
 * (1) between the Portuguese princess Beatrice of Castro (of the Castro brood, half-sister of King Ferdinand) and Count Sancho of Albquerque (brother of Henry II)
 * (2) Isabel of Viseu (natural daughter of Ferdinand), with Alfonso Enríquez de Castilla, Count of Gijon-Noreña (a natural son of Henry II), for which she would bring the Portuguese city of Viseu, and the towns of Celorico, Linhares and Algodres as dowry
 * (3) newborn Beatrice of Portugal (legitimate daughter of Ferdinand and Leonor Telles) with Don Fadrique, Duke of Benavente (Henry II's illegitimate son).

The third betrothal was a particularly humiliating pill to swallow, as Ferdinand, the champion of legitimacy, would have to hand over his sole legitimate child to a bastard son of a bastard son. The sole saving grace is that Fadrique of Benavente had little to no chance of inheriting the throne of Castile, thus implicitly guaranteeing the continued independence of Portugal. From the Castilian poit of view, the three marriages, served to mix bastard Trastamara blood in the Portuguese royal family. By forcing liasions with the illegitimate children, implicitly meant Ferdinand accepted the concept of illegitimacy itself, putting the two families on an equal footing and ending any and all Portuguese dynastic claims to the Castilian throne.

Beatrice of Portugal came with a huge dowry, in three parts - in the Tras-os-Montes region (Braganca, Chaves, Montforte de Rio Livre, Miranda do Douro and Santa Comba), in the region around Coimbra (Lousa, Pedrogao, Figeuro, Hilhauo) and in the Alentejo (Alcacova,Ferreira do Alentejo, Evora Monte, Terena and others). To ease the blow, Henry II threw some Galician frontier towns into the pot for the new couple - Milmanda, Allariz and Monterrey (already promised in the treaty of Alcoutim, but now "given" to Portugal, albeit packaged as Beatrice's dowry). Confisacted estates of Galician rebels, notably the Castro family, were consolidated into the giant Duchy of Benavente for Don Fadrique.

The end of Ferdinand's claim, opened the door to Constance of Castile, the daughter of the late Peter I of Castile and Maria de Padilla, who now took up the legitimist cause. Leaving Portugal, the Pedrist exiles flocked to Guyenne, to be received by Constance and John of Gaunt at their court in Bordeaux.

Gaunt began preparations.

Position secure, in 1373 Henry II force Charles II of Navarre to yield disputed borderfortresses he had held since Castilian Civil War. Charles II turned to John of Gaunt, and at a meeting in Dax (Gascony) in March 1374,offered to put Navarre at his disposal, if he helped them capture those fortresses back. Gaunt agreed, but a few days later, suddenly changed his plans and left for England. Taking this as betrayal, Charles II opened contact with Henry II. Agreed to marry Leonora in May 1375.

Charles II reopened intrigues with England in 1378, but his missives were intercepted and he suddenly faced the onslaught of a French invasion of his Norman estates,and a Castilian invasion by John of Trastámara (John I of CAstile), devastating Navarre, before retiring. Charles II fled to Bordeaux, fo English protection. Governor Sir John Neville sent small force under Sir Thomas Trivet to protect Navarra in the winter, but accomplished little Henry II announce John will ravage Navarre again, Charles II sued for peace. Treaty of Briones (March 31, 1379) commited Navarre into perpetual military alliance with Castil and France against England, surrender 20 foretresses, including Tudela, to be garissoned by Castilians.

Henry had pipped John of Gaunt by quickly negotiating the treaty of Briones in May 1375 with Charles II of Navarre, thereby sealing that part of the Pyrennees from the passage of the English army. Peter IV of Aragon was now the only remaining Iberian monarch who had not yet recognized the bastard Henry of Trastamara, but his hand was held by fear that Henry might throw his weight behind the claims of the Infante of Majorca (then in exile in Narbonne). John of Gaunt's delays in organizing himself gave Henry II time to win the Aragonese king over with an agreement in May 1375, which was sealed by the betrothal his Henry II's son and heir (the future John I of Castile) with the Peter IV's daughter Eleanor of Aragon.

After two indecisive military campaigns, culminating in the defeat of the Portuguese invasion forces and allied Castilian nobles at Puerto de los Bueyes (near Lugo) in march 1371,

Pope Gregory XI mediated a truce between the parties, and settled the question with the Treaty of Alcoutim in 1371, cemented by the marriage of Ferdinand I of Portugal with Eleanor of Castile (Henry II's daughter). However, before the consumation of the marriage, Ferdinand fell into a passionate love affair with Portuguese noblewoman Leonor Teles de Menezes, and secured the annulment of the marriage with the Castilian princess. Although the king's affair provoked a popular insurrection within Portugal, it did not mar relations with Henry II (the discarded Eleanor was passed on to Charles III of Navarre in 1375, settling that conflict.)

Second War (1372-1373)
Ferdinand I of Portugal was induced to break the peace by the powerful English royal prince John of Gaunt (1st Duke of Lancaster), who had swiftly married Infanta Constance of Castile (eldest daughter of Peter I) in 1371. John persuaded Ferdinand to support his claim on the Castilian throne. The war that followed had little success, and peace was restored by the Treaty of Santarém in 1373

Third War (1381-1832)
With the death of Henry II of Castile, John of Gaunt resumes his claim on the Castilian throne, and once again secures Ferdinand I of Portugal's support for his cause.

This war was terminated by the Treaty of Elvas in 1382, which was to cemented by the betrothal of Beatrice of Portugal (Ferdinand's eldest daughter and heir) with the son and heir of John I of Castile. In the end, Beatrice ended up marrying John I himself.

This arrangement ended up provoking the 1383-1385 crisis. When Ferdinand I died on October 22, 1383, Beatrice of Portugal was slated to accede to the throne. Ferdinand's powerful and unpopular widow Leonor Teles de Menezes was nominated regent of the realm on behalf of the young Beatrice of Portugal. But the prospect of John I of Castile becoming consort King of Portugal provoked a popular uprising. Resistance was rallied by John of Avis (Grand Master of the Order of Avis, and illegitimate half-brother of the late Ferdinand I), and the 1382 Treaty of Elvas was repudiated, unleashing a new war with Castile. It would eventually culminate in a victory for John of Avis, who ascended as King John I of Portugal, and inaugurated the Avis dynasty.