Inês Peres de Castro (1325- January 7, 1355) was a Galician lady best known as the lover and posthumously exhumed and declared lawful wife of King Pedro I of Portugal (April 19, 1320- January 18, 1367). The story of their romance reads like Romeo and Juliet; Pedro was engaged to Constanza of Castile and they first met in 1340, but Pedro lost interest in Constanza when he saw her cousin and lady-in-waiting, Inês. Fair-haired and elegant, Pedro was instantly smitten with her. Pedro's father, Alfonso IV, was not happy. Despite many forceful attempts to discourage them, Pedro and Inês secretly married after Constanza died in 1345 and they produced four children, but Inês was assassinated on orders of Pedro's father, who deemed her ineligible to be queen and a bad influence on his son. Pedro grieved for her for the rest of his days and upon becoming king in 1357, he had his Inês exhumed and crowned after he declared that she was his lawful wife and his queen. "Inês" makes me think of this unfortunate young woman who snared the heart of a king and paid a terrible price.
The story of their romance reads like Romeo and Juliet; Pedro was engaged to Constanza of Castile and they first met in 1340, but Pedro lost interest in Constanza when he saw her cousin and lady-in-waiting, Inês. Fair-haired and elegant, Pedro was instantly smitten with her. Pedro's father, Alfonso IV, was not happy. Despite many forceful attempts to discourage them, Pedro and Inês secretly married after Constanza died in 1345 and they produced four children, but Inês was assassinated on orders of Pedro's father, who deemed her ineligible to be queen and a bad influence on his son. Pedro grieved for her for the rest of his days and upon becoming king in 1357, he had his Inês exhumed and crowned after he declared that she was his lawful wife and his queen.
"Inês" makes me think of this unfortunate young woman who snared the heart of a king and paid a terrible price.