Leonor Teles

Leonor Teles
D. Leonor Telles de Meneses
Queen consort of Portugal
Tenure	5 May 1372 – 22 October 1383
Born	1350 Trás-os-Montes, Kingdom of Portugal
Died	27 April 1386 (aged 35–36) Tordesillas, Crown of Castile
Burial	Royal Convent of Santa Clara, Tordesillas, Spain
Spouse	Ferdinand I of Portugal
Issue	Beatrice of Portugal
House	Meneses
Father	Martim Afonso Telo de Meneses
Mother	Aldonça Anes de Vasconcelos
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Leonor Teles (or Teles de Meneses) (1350 – 27 April 1386) was a queen consort of Portugal and regent during the years 1383–1385. She was the wife of a Portuguese nobleman from whom she was forcibly divorced by King Ferdinand I, who afterward married her. She is called the Treacherous (Portuguese: a Aleivosa) by the Portuguese, who execrate her on account of her adultery and treason to her native country; she is considered "a sort of Portuguese Lucrezia Borgia".^[1]

Early life

A redheaded beauty, Dona Leonor Telles (or Teles) was the daughter of Martim Afonso Telo de Meneses, a nobleman in the Trás-os-Montes. She was a descendant of Teresa Sanches, one of the illegitimate daughters of King Sancho I of Portugal by his mistress Maria Pais Ribeira. At a young age she married João Lourenço da Cunha, 2nd Lord of Pombeiro, with whom she had a son, Álvaro da Cunha, 3rd Lord of Pombeiro.

Leonor's sister, Maria Telles de Meneses, was a lady-in-waiting to Infanta Beatrice, daughter of Peter I of Portugal and Inês de Castro. While visiting her sister Maria at court, Leonor had the privilege of attending Beatrice's marriage to Sancho, Count of Alburquerque. There, Leonor met Beatrice's elder half-brother, the Infante Ferdinand, heir to the Portuguese throne, who fell passionately in love with her and proceeded to seduce her, in spite of his promise to marry Eleanor, daughter of Henry II of Castile.^[2] Leonor did nothing to resist Ferdinand's advances and lashed out at her sister Maria for her attempts to prevent the affair from developing.

Queen of Portugal

King Ferdinand managed to annul Leonor's first marriage to João Lourenço da Cunha on grounds of consanguinity and on 5 May 1372 they were secretly married.

Upon the death of Ferdinand (1383), Leonor was nominated regent in the name of her daughter Beatrice. From 1383 onwards, Leonor ruled with her lover, João Fernandes de Andeiro, 2nd Count of Ourém, also called "Conde Andeiro", which angered the nobility and the lower classes. Beatrice's marriage to the Castilian king John I led to the expulsion of both mother and daughter.

The loss of independence had been unthinkable for the majority of Portuguese nobles. A rebellion led by the Master of the Order of Aviz, future John I of Portugal, started in that year, leading to the 1383–1385 Crisis.

Leonor died in exile in Valladolid.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Leonor Teles

16. João Afonso Telo de Meneses, Lord of Albuquerque (grandson of Sancho I of Portugal)               8. Gonzalo Yáñez de Meneses                       17. Elvira Gonzalez Giron               4. Afonso Telles de Meneses, O Raposo                             18. Fernão Anes de Lima               9. Urraca Fernández de Lima                       19. Teresa Anes de Sousa               2. Martim Afonso Telo de Meneses                                   20. Soeiro Pais de Valadares               10. Lourenço Soares de Valadares                       21. Estevainha Ponces de Baião               5. Berengária Lourenço de Valadares                             22. Nuno Martins de Chacim               11. Sancha Nunes de Chacim                       23. Teresa Nunes Queixada               1. Leonor Telles de Meneses                                         24. Rodrigo Anes de Vasconcelos               12. Mem Rodrigues de Vasconcelos, Lord of Torre de Vasconcelos                       25. Mécia Rodrigues de Penela               6. João Mendes de Vasconcelos                             26. Martim Peres Zote               13. Maria Martins Zote                       27. Maria Vicente               3. Aldonça Anes de Vasconcelos                                   28. Afonso Pires Alcoforado               14. Vasco Afonso Alcoforado                       29. Aldara Gomes Frade               7. Aldonça Afonso Alcoforado                             30. Martim Fernandes Barreto               15. Brites Martins de Berredo                       31. Maria Rodrigues de Chacim

Notes and references

1. Stephens, 101.
2. Jackson-Laufer, Guida Myrl. Women Rulers Throughout the Ages, ABC-CLIO, 1999, ISBN 9781576070918

Bibliography

• Stephens, Henry Morse. "The Reign of Ferdinand". Portugal. Putnam, 1903.