Dead Queen: A romantic love story or the most sinister coronation in history

Portuguese prince Pedro I and Ines de Castro are real personalities who lived in the 14th century. Here is just the story of their love, which defeated death itself, over the years has grown into such a huge number of various legends that it is simply impossible to say for sure what is true and what is embellished or invented by people in it. But we will tell her the way she came to this day.

Pedro was the crown prince of the Portuguese king Afonso IV. His marriage to Constance Manuel was organized not by love, but by the will of his father, and had, as it often happened, political motives. However, along with the future bride, her maids of honor arrived at the ceremony, among whom was Ines de Castro, a representative of the noble Castilian family. It seemed that the prince fell in love with her as soon as he saw. To his happiness, the girl reciprocated. Their relationship lasted secretly for several years until the moment when his wife died during childbirth.

Then the future king moved Ines to the palace and announced his intention to marry her. The Portuguese nobility, as well as the king himself, was not happy about this turn of events, because the de Castro family was known for their desire to return the country to the rule of Castile. They were afraid that this marriage and the influence of Ines relatives on the prince would lead to another war. To separate the lovers, they resorted to a variety of methods and intrigues, but everything was in vain.

His beloved Pedro gave birth to four children, but with each new child, the king's advisers feared that when they grow up, sooner or later they will inevitably begin to claim the throne, leading the country to a civil war. They convinced the ruler that there was no other way but to kill Ines. Following their lead, Afonso IV found an excuse to send his son out of the palace, and he sent hired killers to his wife.

As soon as Pedro found out about the death of his beloved, he became furious. In revenge on his father, he rebelled against him. Afonso soon died, and the prince took his throne. However, the dream that the beloved became his queen did not leave him even after the death of Ines. He decides to marry her, no matter what. On his orders, the body of the deceased girl was brought from the crypt and dressed in a wedding attire, seated on a throne next to the new king. After that, the courtiers were to bow over the dead queen and swear allegiance to her. There is an opinion that Pedro did this with very reasonable motives. After all, as soon as Ines became the queen, she should have been buried in the royal tomb, where, when the time comes, they will also bury him. And so it happened. After the death of the king, his sarcophagus was placed next to the sarcophagus of Ines, so the spouses, whose love survived even death, were able to be together again.