Reseña
Maria of Castile and Lancaster was a queen and lieutenant who governed alone during twenty-six years because her husband, Alfonso V of Aragon, went to Naples. Maria of Castile took her responsibility fully respecting the rules and customs of the Crown of Aragon. She was a great advocate of peace and dialogue who listened to the subjects of any social condition and gave particular attention to women. Her letters, always signed by her, make up one of the most complete and interesting political collected letters of the 15th century for the personal and sincere style they draw. These letters portray a queen that maintained and strongly defended her decisions with arguments and comptence. She was a respected and well-considered monarch within and outside her domains.
Justificaciones
- Lieutenant of the Crown of Aragon for twenty-six years, infant of the Kingdom of Castile.
- She governs through the letters, which contain traits of the production of the Royal Chancellery.
- Regarding the sovereigns of the Iberian Peninsula, her epistolary production constitutes the most beautiful and complete political documentation of the 15th century.
- She founded the convent of the Trinity in Valencia and was the protector of the great writer of the 15th century, the abbess Isabel de Villena.
- A highly influential queen who developed an intense political activity.
- She was fond of reading and music. She left a large library made of 76 books.
- She protected artists, especially the modest ones, and women such as the trobairitz Isabel de Sant Jordi.
- She took measures against ostentation, so as to reduce prostitution and improve the conditions of prostitutes.
Biografía
Maria, by the grace of God, queen of Aragon, Sicily, from here and beyond the lighthouse, of València, Jerusalem, Hungary, Mallorca, Sardinia and Corsica, countess of Barcelona, duchess of Athens and Neopatras, and also countess of Roussillon and Cerdanya, lieutenant general.
Queen Maria entered Valencia via Requena, in June 1415, to get married in the cathedral, decorated with two hundred torches. She was fourteen years old and it would still take two years for her to write to her mother and her mother-in-law, that "I have had what women are willing to have every month, and that I had never had before". Nevertheless, the queen had no children, but she exerted as a queen when the king left and did not come back, for twenty-five years. Alfonso V of Aragon named her lieutenant, and put her over civil and ecclesiastical authorities, he gave her military power, the capacity to summon courts and parliaments, dictate laws, name and cease governors and judicial authorities.
The queen's court became a centre of influence, a platform of political power and a space for promotion, especially for women. From there, the queen ruled through the letters that she spread across the Crown, the Iberian Peninsula and Europe. She was able to negotiate with the subjects and serve the interests of the Crown while the king was in Naples. She was in favour of peace and agreement. But hard, fair and determined. Tireless worker, book and music lover. Vigorous and loyal. According to the critics, the letters of Maria of Castile are part of the document production of the Chancellery of the Crown of Aragon, and it is one of the most beautiful and complete productions of the 15th century all around the Iberian Peninsula. This vast epistolary documentation is not the only one, since letters from other queens such as Violant of Bar, Maria de Luna or Sibila de Fortià are also preserved.
The foundation of the convent of the Trinity, in Valencia, where she wanted to be buried, is part of her legacy. The queen laid the first stone, she achieved the support of the pope, the nobility, and the municipal institutions. Her niece, better known as the abbess Isabel de Villena, author of Vita Christi, concluded the construction of the monastery.
She behaved moderately, prudently and wisely, but with self-confidence, and without giving importance to criticism. Over the years, she maintained the confidence of the king to govern. According to the opening of her letters, Maria, "the queen", was born in Segovia and died on Monday at 8pm in València.
And I do not mind news, since truth and justice stand for me.
Source: Roig Celda, Rosa (2021). Les nostres escriptores, Presidència Generalitat Valenciana, València (Pictures Manola Roig Celda), retrieved on 17/03/2022, https://presidencia.gva.es/documents/172345415/174577058/LES+NOSTRES+ESCRIPTORES.pdf/72fffe5a-b899-4e04-bc64-1b64df5cf49b
Bibliografía
Mandingorra Llavata, Mª Luz (2014). “Entre dos reinos. Cartas de María de Castilla, reina de Aragon” in Ars longa: cuadernos de arte, no. 23, pp. 41-58.
María Rodrigo Lizondo, Mateu (2012). “Personalitat i cultura de Maria de Castella”, Dones i Literatura, IAEM, pp. 471-526.
Narbona Cárceles, María (2009). ”Noblas donas”: Las mujeres nobles en la casa de María de Castilla, reina de Aragón ( 1416-1458)". Studium: Revista de humanidades, no. 15, pp. 89-113.
Silleras Fernández, Núria (2003). «Queenship en la Corona de Aragón en la Baja Edad Media: estudio y propuesta metodológica», La corónica: A Journal of Medieval Hispanic Languages, Literatures & Cultures, Vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 119-133.
Soldevila, Ferran (1928). «La reyna Maria, muller del Magnànim» in Sobiranes de Catalunya. Memorias de la Real Academia de Buenas Letras de Barcelona, https://raco.cat/index.php/MemoriasRABL/article/view/205697/300350, (retrieved on: 17/03/2022).
Toldrà Parés, Montserrat (2013). La reina María, dona d'Alfons el Magnànim: vida i obra de govern (1401-1458). Barcelona, Open access thesis in Universitat de Barcelona, https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/tesis?codigo=85867, (retrieved on:17/03/2022).
Roig Celda, Rosa (2018). Contem històries de dones d’ací, València, Vincle Editorial (Pictures Manola Roig Celda).
Roig Celda, Rosa (2021). Les nostres escriptores, Presidència Generalitat Valenciana, València (Pictures Manola Roig Celda), https://presidencia.gva.es/documents/172345415/174577058/LES+NOSTRES+ESCRIPTORES.pdf/72fffe5a-b899-4e04-bc64-1b64df5cf49b (retrieved on: 17/03/2022).
Enfoque Didáctico
The character of the queen and lieutenant Maria of Castile can be used for the subject of Valencian language and literature as historical and fundamental figure of the Middle Ages; her letters can be worked in all the courses and blocks. She can also be studied in history and geography.
Given that she wrote part of her letters in Spanish and was related to the Kingdom of Castile, she can also be studied in the subject of Spanish.
As an epistle writer, she can also be used for universal literature.
Documentos
