Beatrice of Portugal

Who was Beatrice of Portugal?

Beatrice was the only surviving child of King Ferdinand I of Portugal and his wife, Leonor Telles de Menezes. She married King John I of Castile. In the absence of a male heir, her husband claimed the throne of Portugal by the right of his wife. This led to the 1383–1385 Crisis, in which a good part of the Portuguese aristocracy and the people resisted their claim, invoking the Treaty of Salvaterra, and prevented the annexation of Portugal by Castille. The crisis ended with her uncle John, Ferdinand's illegitimate brother, being elected and acclaimed King of Portugal, the first from the House of Aviz.