Juan de Castilla y Haro, most commonly known as Juan el Tuerto (the one-eyed) (b. ? - d. 31 October 1326, Toro), was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Great B ...

of the

House of Haro The House of Haro was one of the most powerful families of Castile during the Middle Ages and strongly supported the expansionist policies of Alfonso VI of Castile. As a reward, Íñigo López was named the first Lord of Biscay. In the early 16t ...

and of the royal line of the

Kingdom of Castile The Kingdom of Castile (; es, Reino de Castilla, la, Regnum Castellae) was a large and powerful state on the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region. It began in the 9th centu ...

descended from

Alfonso X of Castile Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, es, el Sabio; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 30 May 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Germ ...

. He was the Lord of

Cuéllar Cuéllar () is a municipality in the Province of Segovia, within the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. The municipality had a population of 9,730 inhabitants according to the municipal register of inhabitants (INE) as of 1 Janu ...

from 1319 to 1325 and the

Lord of Biscay The Lordship of Biscay ( es, Señorío de Vizcaya, Basque: ''Bizkaiko jaurerria'') was a region under feudal rule in the region of Biscay in the Iberian Peninsula between 1040 and 1876, ruled by a political figure known as the Lord of Biscay. On ...

from 1322 until his assassination by order of King

Alfonso XI of Castile Alfonso XI (13 August 131126 March 1350), called the Avenger (''el Justiciero''), was King of Castile and León. He was the son of Ferdinand IV of Castile and his wife Constance of Portugal. Upon his father's death in 1312, several disputes en ...

in 1326.

Family Origins

He was the son and heir of

María II Díaz de Haro Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

, from whom he inherited the Lordship of

Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. B ...

, and her husband the infante John of Castile. His paternal grandfather was King

and his maternal grandfather was

Diego López III de Haro Diego López III de Haro (b. ? – d. October 4, 1254, Bañares). Was the eldest son of Lope Díaz II de Haro and of Urraca Alfonso de León, the illegitimate daughter of King Alfonso IX of León. Diego succeeded his father as the Lord of Bisc ...

Marriage and Descendants

Juan married Isabel of Portugal, Lady of Penela, the daughter of

Infante ''Infante'' (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as Infant or translated as Prince, is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to t ...

Afonso of Portugal, son of King

Afonso III of Portugal Afonso III (; rare English alternatives: ''Alphonzo'' or ''Alphonse''), or ''Affonso'' (Archaic Portuguese), ''Alfonso'' or ''Alphonso'' ( Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonsus'' (Latin), the Boulonnais ( Port. ''o Bolonhês''), King of Portugal ...

, and his wife

Violante Manuel Violante Manuel of Castile (c. 1265 – Lisbon, 1314) was a Castilian noble, daughter of Manuel of Castile and his first wife Constance of Aragon. She was Lady of Elche, Elda, Novelda, Medellín and half of Peñafiel in her own right. Tom ...

, the daughter of Infante

Manuel of Castile Manuel of Castile (1234 – 25 December 1283, The first Lord of Villena and Peñafiel, Cuéllar, and Escalona, was an ''Infante'', son of Ferdinand III of Castile and his wife Elisabeth of Hohenstaufen. Life Born in Carrión de los Condes, ...

. This marriage produced the following children: * María Díaz II de Haro- would go on to inherit the

Lordship of Biscay The Lordship of Biscay ( es, Señorío de Vizcaya, Basque: ''Bizkaiko jaurerria'') was a region under feudal rule in the region of Biscay in the Iberian Peninsula between 1040 and 1876, ruled by a political figure known as the Lord of Biscay. On ...

from Maria II Diaz de Haro. She married

Juan Núñez III de Lara Juan III Núñez de Lara y de la Cerda (born Juan Fdez. de la Cerda y Núñez de Lara: 1313 - Burgos, 28 November 1350), Lord of Lara and Vizcaya, son of Ferdinand de la Cerda (1275–1322) and Juana Núñez de Lara ''the Little Dove''. Despit ...

, the head of the

House of Lara The House of Lara (Spanish: ''Casa de Lara'') is a Nobility, noble family from the medieval Kingdom of Castile. Two of its branches, the Duques de Nájera and the Marquesado de Aguilar de Campoo were considered Grandees of Spain. The Lara family ...

, son of the infante

Ferdinand de la Cerda Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...

and great grandson of Alfonso X.

Political intrigues

The chronicle of the reign of Alfonso XI of Castile describes the minority of the young king as a time of violence and social tension, when knights and powerful lords robbed and oppressed those weaker than they.

Linehan, Peter Peter Anthony Linehan (11 July 1943 – 9 July 2020) was a British historian of medieval Spain. He was a fellow of St John's College, Cambridge, where he was Dean of Discipline, and a fellow of the British Academy. Life Linehan was born in Mor ...

. ''History and Historians of Medieval Spain'', Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1993 In 1325, the fourteen year old king announced his intention to rule in his own right, without the aid of the regents who had exploited their time in control. Many of his subjects had fled to nearby kingdoms to avoid the turmoil. All hoped the king would restore order. Among the princes prepared to oppose the king militarily if necessary was ''el Tuerto''.

Death

Juan el Tuerto was lured to Toro with the prospect of a pardon and reconciliation with the King Alfonso. On the Feast of All Saints, the king ordered the murder of el Tuerto and two of his knights, then summoned the nobles to the square to hear an account of the infante's treasonable conduct.Ruiz, Teofilo F., "Towards a Symbolic History of Alfonso XI of Castile: Power, Ceremony and Triumph", ''The Emergence of León-Castile c.1065-1500: Essays Presented to J.F. O'Callaghan'', (James J Todesca, ed.), Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2015

References

External links