Queen: Catherine of Lancaster, Queen of Castile, 1373-1418

Royal and noble women in Medieval times had more to do than have babies and preside over courts.  They also had to have keen survival skills to protect themselves and their offspring, and to take charge of their husband's or son's domains when the occasion demanded.  Catherine of Lancaster, 1373-1418, the daughter of John of Gaunt by his second wife, Constance of Castile was more than a match for whatever life threw her way.

Catherine was born at Hertford Castle, one of her father's many splendid residences throughout England.  Her mother, Constance, was a Castilian princess, the daughter of King Peter of Castile.  Pedro has come down in history as either the Cruel or the Just, depending on who tells the story.  A brilliant man with more than a touch of crazy, it didn't help to get on Peter's bad side.  He was eventually assassinated by Constance's half-brother Henry II, and a war for the Crown of Castile ensued, John of Gaunt even claiming the title for himself at one point.  In 1385, King John I of Portugal defeated King John I of Castile, the successor of Henry II.  This victory encouraged John of Gaunt and Constance to press her claim to the Castilian throne.  Another of their daughters, Philippa, would marry John 1 of Portugal and then Portugal and England would join in alliance against Castile.  Catherine accompanied her parents on the campaign to Castile.

Years before Napoleon, John of Gaunt learned how hard it was to rule in Spain.  He conquered Santiago de Compostela, Vigo and Pontevedre, then turned to the neighboring Kingdom of Leon.  At that point, he and Constance decided that it would be better to keep her birthright safe through the marriage of her daughter, Catherine, to the heir of John I of Spain.  Then, Constance herself would renounce her rights to the Castilian throne to Catherine.  A treaty drawn up in Bayonne, Gascony sealed this deal, bringing an end to Spanish intervention in the Hundred Years War.  At the age of about 15, Catherine agreed that she entered into the treaty and marriage voluntarily and was given a dower of several Castilian cities.  She and Henry married in Palencia Cathedral.  Henry succeeded his father as Henry III in 1390 and was declared of age in 1393.  Catherine and Henry had 2 surviving daughters and a son, John II of Castile. 

In 1406, Henry III died, leaving his year-old son John II as his heir.  Henry's will specified that Catherine would share regency with the King of Aragon (another Ferdinand) and give custody of her son to two high-ranking nobles.  Catherine drew the line at this.  Plantagenet mothers of lions raise their own cubs and Catherine barricaded herself in the Alcazar of Segovia, prepared to withstand a siege before she would give up her baby to anybody.  The regency council relented and allowed Catherine to keep physical custody of the young King.  There were constant tension between Catherine and the King of Aragon.  With her sister Philippa in Portugal and her family's backing in England, she was able to maintain her hold on the regency.  The King of Aragon died in 1416 and what should have been Catherine's chance at a bid for power came to naught in tragedy.  She suffered a stroke and was forced to relinquish custody of her son and allow the regency council to do most of the ruling.  She died in Valladolid in 1418 of another stroke.  She was buried in the Chapel Royal in Toledo, Spain.

Her son, John II, would go on to have a daughter, Isabella I, whose own daughter, Catherine, would return to England first as Princess of Wales and King of England, coming down in history as the tragic but determined Katherine of Aragon, first wife of Henry VIII.