A potential source of the character of Don Pedro is King Piero d'Aragona from Bandello's twenty-second "novella". In the "novella", the favourite of King Piero woos a young woman named Fenicia. This parallels how Don Pedro's favourite, Claudio, pursues a young woman, Hero. King Piero, in the Bandello story, was based on the historical figure Peter III of Aragon who became King of Sicily in 1282 after the violent uprising of the Sicilian Vespers.