Violante Sánchez of Castile

Violante Sánchez of Castile(before 1281 — after January 1330), was aCastiliannoblewoman and by marriage Lady ofLemos,Sarria,Cabreraand Ribera.
In her own right, she was Lady ofUcero,OímbraandVilamartín de Valdeorras, among other towns,and after becoming a widow, she professed as a nun in theOrder of Santiago, to which she gave all her possessions in 1327, and was a patron and commander of theMonastery of Sancti SpiritusinSalamanca.
Violante Sánchez was the illegitimate daughter of theinfanteSancho of Castile(who became King Sancho IV in 1295) and María de Meneses, Lady of Ucero. Her paternal grandparents were KingAlfonso X of CastileandViolante of Aragon(after whom she was probably named)and her maternal grandparents were theRicohombreAlfonso Alfonso de Meneses "the Tizón" and Mayor González Girón.
In addition, Violante Sánchez was the full-sisteror illegitimate half-sister (although most modern historians assure the latter), of Teresa Sánchez of Castile, who marriedJoão Afonso Telo, 1st Count of Barcelos;other illegitimate half-siblings were Alfonso Sánchez of Castile and Juan Sánchez. Among her legitimate half-siblings were KingFerdinand IV of Castile, infantePeterand infantaBeatrice, who becameQueen consort of Portugalby her marriage to KingAfonso IV.
Violante's exact date of birth is unknown, although she must have been born before 1281.During her childhood she was raised in the Castilian court, andMaría de Molina(who married her father in 1282) was her godmother.Her mother, Maria de Meneses, who belonged to the high Castilian nobility and had been married to Juan Garcia de Ucero, Lord of Ucero,entered a convent when the infante Sancho married with María de Molina, granddaughter of KingAlfonso IX of Leónand his first cousin-once removed.
Some authors, such asAntonio de Benavides y Fernández de Navarrete, erroneously called her María instead of Violante,and others wrongly pointed out that in 1285 she marriedFernando Rodríguez de Castro, although the historianLuis de Salazar y Castrodemonstrated, based on different documents, that the marriage was carried out in 1293, as it can be deduced from a document granted in Layosa on 17 April of that year by Fernando Rodríguez de Casto, in which he revalidated thecarta de arrasthat his father,Esteban Fernández de Castro,had granted in 1291 in the name of his son for him being a minor a that time.
In the mentionedcarta de arras, Esteban Fernández de Castro gave his daughter-in-law Violante the town and castle ofVilamartín de Valdeorras, located in theprovince of Ourense,and thecotosof Arcos de la Condesa, Sauceda, Valladares, Gullaes, Noguera, Caldelas and Pías, which were located in the lands ofSantiago de Compostelaand Toroño,and to which were added the states ofUceroandTraspinedo, in the Esgueva Valley, which Violante inherited from her mother, and other possessions that it inherited from it inBurgos,Sahagún,Ceaand Villafamor.Her husband, Fernando Rodríguez de Castro, inherited the Lordship of Lemos and many other possessions and, like his father, held the position ofpertiguero mayor(a title similar to the FrenchVidame) of Santiago de Compostela, which made him the most powerful Galician noblemanduring the reigns of Sancho IV and Ferdinand IV.
In 1295 Violante's father King Sancho IV of Castile died and her half-brother Ferdinand IV ascended the throne, and in theCrónicaof this sovereign was mentioned that Fernando Rodríguez de Castro died in 1304 during the siege ofMonforte de Lemos, while fighting against infantePhilip of Castile, Lord of Cabrera and Ribera, son of Sancho IV and another half-brother of Violante,although other authorsas Antonio López Ferreiro, argued that in reality the siege of Lemos and the death of Fernando Rodríguez de Castro must have occurred in 1305, based on the testament that he granted on 17 December 1305 and that was consigned in theTumbo Bof theSantiago de Compostela Cathedral.
After the death of Fernando Rodríguez de Castro, his assets were confiscated and most of them were handed over to Violante's half-brother infante Philip, who became, among other things, Lord of Lemos and Sarria,pertiguero mayorof Santiago de Compostela,Adelantado Mayorof Galicia andComenderoof the church of Lugo.Violante then placed her eldest son,Pedro Fernández de Castro, who was about 15-years old, under the tutelage of the Galician nobleman Lorenzo Suárez de Valladares, who enjoyed, as various historians point out, "notable influences in the Portuguese Court". Lorenzo Suárez send his ward to theKingdom of Portugal, in order to prevent Pedro Fernández from being persecuted by King Ferdinand IV of Castile, and entrusted him to Martín Gil de Riba de Vizela, Count of Barcelos,alférezof King Denis of Portugal, and mayordomo of his son and heir, the InfanteAfonso, who educated and raised Pedro Fernández and in 1312 gave him the castle of Zagala.The historian Eduardo Pardo de Guevara pointed out,based on an affirmation of the chapter CLV of theCrónica de Alfonso XI,that Pedro Fernández de Castro indeed grew up in the Portuguese Court with the infantePedro, son and heir of King Afonso IV of Portugal, which would leave a "deep mark on his life".
On 9 June 1305 in the Ourense municipality ofOímbra, the Count of Barcelos, Martín Gil de Riba de Vizela, paidhomageto Violante Sánchez for the castle of Oímbra and for the house of Guizón on the hands of Pedro Fernández de Castro, eldest son and heir of Violante, who had been entrusted by her to be raised by the Count of Barcelos.And the latter also acknowledged in the document where the homage was recorded that he had those assets in her name, that they had been delivered to her by her father, King Sancho IV, and together with other minor provisions stated that the homage for these goods had been made in the presence of many noblemen.
On 18 February 1316, in Ourense, Violante and her son Pedro reached a concord and shared all their assets, and agreed that he would have "for life" all the assets that her mother owned in theKingdom of Galicia, including all her lands (heredamientos), houses, castles, churches orencomiendas, and that she would enjoy while she lived on all the assets that her son had in theKingdom of Leónand would maintain ownership over the castle and the town of Vilamartín de Valdeorras.In addition, Violante and her son mutually named themselves heirs in the event that one of them died, and agreed that they could not sell, alienate orpledgenone of these assets,and the French historian Charles García pointed out in 2006 that these clauses were probably suggested by Pedro Fernández de Castro, since that way he could dispose of his mother's assets in the future.
On 15 December 1320, being in thePalenciamunicipality ofDueñas,Violante donated to her son Pedro, as recorded on page 287 ofTumbo Cof the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, all the goods, including castles, fortified houses, churches, patronages or lordships that could belong to her in the Kingdoms of León and Galicia by either donations made to her by her father King Sancho IV, donations received from her late husband Fernando Rodríguez de Castro, or by whatever correspond to her of the inheritance of her mother María de Meneses and her uterine half-brother Juan García,although there is no evidence that Violante had a brother named like that.In this way, Pedro Fernández de Castro began to recover some of the assets that had belonged to his father, although it would be KingAlfonso XI of Castilewho would return most of them along with other charges, throughout of his reign.
In 1325 Violante Sanchez de Castilla began to exercise patronage, despite the discontent of theGrand Masters of the Order of Santiagoand the nuns of theMonastery of Sancti SpiritusinSalamanca, who claimed their right to choose their own commander.At that time, the Monastery of Sancti Spiritus was one of the two most prominent hospital foundations that theOrder of Santiagohad in theKingdom of León, followed by the town and castle of Castrotorafe, an uninhabited municipality located in the currentprovince of Zamora.Historian Charles García pointed out that the fact that Violante preference to profess as a nun in the Order of Santiago and not in amendicant ordercould be due to her interest in obtaining political, economic and social power thanks to the possession of some of the assets of that Order, and also possibly due to the flexibility of the institution, since the nuns were not obliged to live cloistered.
María Echániz Sans pointed out in 1991 that the patronage of the Monastery of Sancti Spiritus was exercised between 1268 and 1379 by four women, the first being María Méndez de Sousa, founder of the community and wife ofMartín Alfonso de León, illegitimate son of KingAlfonso IX.The other three were Queen María de Molina, Violante Sánchez and QueenJuana Manuel of Villena, wife ofHenry II of Castileand daughter of the famous magnateDon Juan Manuel.Although the Kings of Castile didn't donate any possessions to the monastery, they confirmed its privileges on several occasions and protected it during their conflicts with the Order of Santiago or with the Salamanca city council.
Charles García also pointed out that it was Violante herself who askedPope John XXIIto entrust her with the administration of the Monastery of Sancti Spiritus in Salamanca and that of otherencomiendasof the Order of Santiago,and by means of two documents issued on 13 November 1325 inAvignon, the Pope entrusted theArchbishop of Toledo,John of Aragon, to grant the habit of the Order of Santiago to Violante, with the government of the Monastery of Sancti Spiritus and that of otherencomiendasof the Order of Santiago,which would ratify, in the opinion of said historian, a "factual situation".During the brief period in which she was patron of the Monastery of Sancti Spiritus, Violante continued to request the Pope to entrust her with the administration of other properties of the Order of Santiago that would allow her to increase her income, since the rent extracted from Sancti Spiritus was of only 300florinsper year, and that surely, as Charles García pointed out, would be insufficient for her, so she asked the pontiff to grant her the direction of theencomiendaof Puerto and the administration of the properties that the Order of Santiago owned inToroand in the Dioceses ofAstorgaandZamora, who could earn her an annual income of 750 florins.
And in a document also issued on 13 November 1325 in Avignon, Pope John XXII entrusted the Archbishop of Toledo to follow the cause or lawsuit maintained by Violante and theBishop of Osma, Juan Pérez de Ascarón, for the possession of the Lordship of Ucero, which legally belonged to her due to her mother's inheritance and had been illegally occupied and retained by said Bishop, according to her,since he bought it on 23 May 1302 for 300,000maravedís, and together with other properties, to the executors of Juan García de Villamayor, as stated in the deed of sale published in the volume II of theMemorias de Fernando IV de Castilla.But despite the above, Violante continued to consider herself the owner of the Lordship and in 1327 she donated it, along with the rest of her possessions, to the Order of Santiago, despite the fact that Ucero belonged definitively from 1302 to the Bishops of Osma.
A few days later, on 29 November 1325, Pope John XXII entrusted to theArchdeaconofValderas, of theBishopric of León, the cause of appeal that Violante, referred to in the document as the "patron" of the Monastery of Sancti Spiritus of Salamanca, had presented against Fernando Rodríguez, prior of theConvent of San Marcosof León, who had taken her to court for the thirteenth part of the income that the Salamanca monastery of Sancti Spiritus was supposed to deliver, astithe, to said Leonese convent.
At this time, as noted by theheraldistFaustino Menéndez Pidal de Navascués, Violante used apersonal sealin whose center appeared the coat of arms of her husband, sixroundelsof theHouse of Castro, surrounded by eightcastles and lionsplaced on the outer lobes,perhaps due to her condition of being the illegitimate daughter of King Sancho IV.In the mentioned seal, which was drawn in the 17th century by the genealogist and historianLuis de Salazar y Castroin his workPruebas de la Historia de la Casa de Lara, also appeared the legend «+ S. DOÑA VIOLANTE FIJA DEL REY DON SANCHO».
On 30 May 1326, in theCiudad Realmunicipality ofCampo de Criptana, Violante renounced to the habit of the Order of Santiago and the administration of the Monastery of Sancti Spiritus in Salamanca and the otherencomiendasof the Order that had been granted to her by the Pope John XXII, which included everything that the Order had in Toro and in the Bishoprics ofAstorgaandZamora.In act of renunciation she claimed to be unaware that all of this attempted, despite the pontiff's provisions, «contra la constituçion e estableçimiento e ordenamiento» of the Order of Santiago, that is, against its rules and constitutions.Immediately after the renunciation, Violante Sánchez accepted again the habit of the Order of Santiago, this time from the Grand Master García Fernández himself, whom she promised to obey in the future as her master and lord.
One year later, on 27 December 1327,Violante handed over to the Order of Santiago and to its his new Grand master Vasco Rodríguez de Coronadoall the assets and rights she possessed, among which were included the Lordships and castles of Ucero and Vilamartín de Valdeorras, numerouscotosin Galicia, her lands in Burgos, which he inherited from her mother in Soria and Valladolid,and all her other possessions in the Kingdoms of Castilla, León and Portugal, also providing that all those goods could be delivered, sold, pawned, exchanged or disposed of by the said Order,since to be admitted to it, it was necessary for her to renounce all her personal assets.
In the same day of the act of donation, Violante also granted the Grand Master of the Order of Santiago and his successors at the head of the Order a "letter of representation" (carta de personería) or general power of attorney so that they could represent her in any legal act, in ecclesiastical or secular trials, and also so that they could sue for her or on her behalf and defend her, along with other minor provisions on that general authorization, in which she had her seal stamped.
On 24 January 1330 Violante made herwill, in which she provided everything related to her executors to pay her debts and collect others, she bequeathed various amounts and other goods and belongings to numerous people, and requested the Grand Master of the Order of Santiago to allow that her remains be buried in the Monastery of San Francisco in Toro, to which he bequeathed various goods and objects and to whose friars he allocated a sum of 200 maravedis for a "pitanza" (distribution of food among poor people).Historian Charles García also highlighted the fact that she didn't ordermassesfor her soul, which contrasted, for example, with the provisions of her stepmother, Queen María de Molina,who had commissioned 10,000 masses sung for her soul in her will,and stressed that Violante's will allows knowing her intimate thoughts, her social relationships, and the functioning of the world of the high Castilian nobility at the time of King Sancho IV and his grandson King Alfonso XI, who reigned in Castile at that time.
At the beginning of her will, Violante declared that she was "en mio sano seso e en mía sana memoria" (in my healthy brain and in my healthy memory),which was an indispensable requirement to be able to be atestator, and she entrusted her soul toJesus Christ, theVirgin Mary, andSaint Mary Magdaleneand theapostle James,at the time which provided that upon her grave:
In her testament, Violante Sánchez again handed over all her assets to the Order of Santiago, asked the Grand Master of the Order to enforce her last wishes, annulled all the wills or codicils that she had granted until then,and mentioned the inheritance that she had received from her parents, although not the assets she had received from her husband, Fernando Rodríguez de Castro, which led historian Charles García to point out that Violante's eldest son, Pedro Fernández de Castro, did not attempt to prevent the assets of his family went to the hands of the Order of Santiago.And on 29 January 1330, five days after having granted the will, Violante added a clause to it in which she also designated her niece QueenMaría de Portugal, wife ofAlfonso XI, as executor, begging her to respect and enforce her last wishes.In addition, Charles García also pointed out that the fact that the priest of the church of San Julián de los Caballeros of Toro was mentioned in the will could indicate that Violante resided in the city of Toro at the end of her life.
Violante's exact date of death is unknown, although she must have died after January 1330.
Violante's remains, in contravention to the provisions of her will, were buried in the Monastery of Sancti Spiritus of Salamanca, according to historians Ricardo del Arco y Garay,Gil González de Ávilaand Bernardo Dorado, although the latter specified that she was buried in the church of the monastery,whereMartín Alfonso of León(illegitimate son of King Alfonso IX of León) and his wife María Méndez de Sousa, were also buried.
From her marriage toFernando Rodríguez de Castro, Lord ofLemosandSarria, Violante had two children: