CASTRO, INEZ DE, whose mournful fate is the subject of several tragedies and poems, was the daughter of Pedro Fernandez de Castro, and sprang from a branch of the royal family of Castile. She was appointed lady-in-waiting to the wife of Dom Pedro, son of Alfonso IV. of Portugal. Her beauty captivated Dam Pedro, and, after the death of his wife, in 1315, he secretly married Inez. Their stolen interviews took place in the convent of St. Clara, at Coimbra, until the secret was discovered and revealed to the king, who was made to believe that this union might prove injurious to the young Fer dinand, son of Dom Pedro by his deceased wife. Questioned by his father, Dom Pedro had not the courage to reveal the whole truth, while he refused to marry another. In the king's council, it was determined that Inez must die. To see this sentence exe cuted. the king hastened to Coimbra, while his son, I)om Pedro, was engaged in hunting (1335); but the sight of the beautiful Inez, who, with her children, cast herself at the feet of the king, and prayed for mercy, diverted him for a few moments from his pur pose. His advisers, however, soon obtained from the king permission to execute the sentence, and, in the course of an hour after the interview, Inez fell pierced by the dag gers of assassins. Dom Pedro attempted a revolt against his father, but was pacified by the queen and the archbishop of Braga, and promised not to seek revenge for the death of Inez. Two years afterwards, the king died, having shortly before his death recom
mended the murderers,. of Inez to leave Portugal, and seek shelter in Castile, where Peter the cruel was then ruling. As several of Peter's nobles had escaped into Portugal, to avoid his oppression, he now proposed to Dom Pedro an exchange of fugitives, to which the latter (now king of Portugal) consented. Two of the assassins accordingly were delivered up, and were tortured and burned. Two years afterwards, the king, in an assembly of the nobility, declared that he had been lawfully married, by papa] sanc tion, and in the presence of the archbishop of Guards, to Inez de Castro. When this statement had been confirmed by several testimonies, the king eve orders that the corpse of Inez should be removed from its grave, clothed in royal attire. with a crown on the head, and seated on a throne, should receive homage as queen. This strange ceremony was performed, the nobles of Portugal bowing before the enthroned dead, and kissing the hem of the royal robe. The body was then removed to Alcobaga followed by the king, with the bishops and the nobility, all on foot. A splendid marble monument was erected over the grave of Inez, surmounted by her statue, wearing a crown.